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Friendster launches all-new blogs and forums

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Friendster, Inc. announced that the all-new Friendster Blogs and Forums are now available to Friendster’s over 90 million members worldwide. Both products have been enhanced with new features and redesigned.

The newly enhanced Friendster Blogs, built on WordPress, enable members of the Friendster community to quickly and easily create a personal blog. Each blog can be customized with themes and skins available on Friendster, and thousands more available across the web, or users can create their own style, colors, fonts and page layout using common HTML and CSS web languages. Friendster users can also add a variety of widgets and a personalized badge for their blog right from the design tab of every Friendster blog. Users can also embed into their blog photos directly from their Friendster photo albums and videos from popular video sites such as YouTube.

Friendster’s new Forums allow Friendster users to participate in discussions within a variety of categories including music, sports, lifestyle, celebrities, TV, fashion, health, religion, food, dating, finance and more. Users can join a current discussion or start a new one under a specified category. Posts are organized under each category by most recent. Each post is time stamped and includes a thumbnail photo linked to the Friendster profile of the user, so users can easily meet others in a discussion.

Originally posted on December 31, 2008 @ 11:11 am

Amazon.com launches Inauguration Store

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With just 15 days until a historic presidential inauguration, Amazon.com has launched the Inauguration Store. The store features everything customers need to get ready to attend the event, host an inauguration party or watch from home.

The Inauguration Store features a countdown to the event, along with a host of product ideas to help customers prepare. Those who are attending can find top cameras, outerwear and other items to stay warm and capture history at the event. For those watching from home, the store features the latest in home entertaining and Barack Obama-related souvenirs and memorabilia.

Originally posted on January 5, 2009 @ 11:18 am

CityWatch by Zannel keeps you abreast with what’s happening in your city

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citywatchZannel has launched CityWatch, a new location-based iPhone application which allows users to instantly see, share, and talk about what’s going on around them.

Now available at the Apple App Store, CityWatch enables users to select a location on an easy-to-maneuver map which shows the latest multimedia and text updates, including pictures imported from Flickr. CityWatch users can also post their own geo-tagged updates to start real-time discussions around them via threaded commenting.

In addition to CityWatch, the Zannel community uses their “channels” to instantly and visually communicate what’s happening in their lives across mobile and the web, including all major social networks. People use Zannel to capture and share authentic moments in their lives, tell their stories, debate issues, and communicate with their community.

Zannel.com is available online and on all mobile phones in the US. Instant-membership is available by texting “Join” to 58888 to start creating your own mobile channel.

Originally posted on December 30, 2008 @ 3:08 pm

TheKnot.com hits record-breaking new membership year

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TheKnot.com closed the year end 2008 with its highest number of new registered members in the company’s history.

The Knot posted membership increases over the previous year of more than 40% for the second, third and fourth quarters of 2008 for an overall increase of 12 percent for the year. This is the highest number of new members on record for the company.

With a combined annual membership base of 1.9 million new registered members across their wedding brands, The Knot captures the names, email addresses and wedding dates of the vast majority of the 2.2 million couples getting married in the US. Despite the recent economic downturn, brides and grooms continue to plan for significant wedding, gifting and home-related purchases in 2009.

Pageviews for the site also increased 11% over 2007, while time spent on the site increased 13% over the prior year. These numbers demonstrate that, despite growing online competition the site continues to increase user engagement with this incredibly loyal user base. TheKnot.com maintains its position as the unparalleled leader in the online wedding category.

The company attributes this year’s success to its investment in new platforms and system upgrades, along with a strong increase in rich and interactive features, like enhanced video and new planning tools.

Originally posted on January 5, 2009 @ 11:05 am

Filed Under: Web

Young Money launches stock market game with UpDown.com

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UpDown.com, the online community that allows young people to practice investing, has partnered with Young Money to power YoungMoney.com’s “Stock Market Game.”

The Young Money “Stock Market Game” features real-time trading simulation and multiple contests. Beginning investors can practice stock market trading, compete with friends and investors, and even win real money.

UpDown.com is a free community for investors that allows members to practice trading in a lifelike brokerage simulation. By participating in the community, UpDown.com members learn the ins and outs of Wall Street by investing $1,000,000 in virtual money. UpDown.com also provides a platform for investors to improve their financial analysis skills by sharing stock tips with other members.

Originally posted on December 29, 2008 @ 4:12 pm

Filed Under: Web