Alternative title: Wee’s in Space
What the heck! WeeWorld and Eve Online! Maybe they’ve been reading this post…
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KZero services:
Archive for the ‘Company directory’ Category
WeEveWorld Online
Tuesday, September 29th, 2009Brands in virtual worlds. A definitive list (virtually)
Tuesday, September 29th, 2009A little while ago we started tracking brands in virtual worlds. Here’s our latest take on this activity – screenshots of brands and companies inside virtual worlds. Of course, Second Life plays a major role here, but we’ve now got some more recent examples from WeeWorld, Playstation Home, Football Superstars, Stardoll and a few more (and we’ll be adding in some more examples pretty soon). Click-away…
Second Life rings the changes with Avaline
Friday, August 21st, 2009Linden Labannounced mid-week that its AvaLine: Dial an Avatar service completed its beta program (launched in May) and is now available for subscriptions online. It claims that use of the AvaLine application “makes it easier than ever to connect with the real world.” For 1,200 Linden Dollars per month, a Resident can sign-up for the service to call and receive calls from anyone in the world, given that the Resident is inworld. The application will also be offering a voicemail service (price to be announced) to subscribers.
Taka Linden, SL’s new product and business manager of communication services, explains that the service allows SL Residents to take calls while staying immersed in the virtual world without having to manage an independent application – it’s built directly into SL. Taka clarified how the AvaLine works in his blog:
“To talk with a Resident, a caller simply dials a nearby local access number (available in more than 40 international cities), and enters the Resident’s personal connection code. If the Resident is online and accepts the call, the two parties can begin talking immediately, just as on a regular phone call or inworld voice chat. If the Resident is not inworld or declines the call, the caller may leave a voicemail message that the Resident will receive as an email attachment. The caller pays only what’s required to connect to the local number, and the Resident pays only the flat-rate AvaLine subscription fee, regardless of the geographic distance between the parties, the number of calls received, or the number of minutes used.”
Sounds like Linden Lab is working hard to address the alternatives of inworld communication platforms. Will it work given the global popularity of Skype? Maybe not, but it might be a solution to chopped off IM messages commonly noted in community forums.
More Avaline discussion over on Massively.
Intel Labs and Fashion Research Institute Collaborate
Thursday, August 13th, 2009Intel Labs and the Fashion Research Institute (FRI) have entered into a new research collaboration that will help fashion designers make more efficient usage of virtual worlds.
The Fashion Research Institute is providing visual content to aid Intel’s 3D Internet research, while Intel supplies the technology. Shenlei Winker, CEO of FRI, explains in his blog that “this collaboration is currently scheduled to run for a year, during which time FRI will provide increasingly complex, highly detailed, large scale (beautiful) designs which will be showcased in Science Sim with hosting and hardware provided by Intel Corporation.”
FRI is interested in virtual worlds because the fashion industry, which uses soft consumer goods, does not use 3D computer aided design tools used in the durable goods industry. Designing clothing and fashion accessories, real-life 3D objects, are more accurately displayed with 3D sketches rather than 2D sketches. The advantage of using a 3D environment, such as a virtual world, in design concepts will reduce errors when replicating, manufacturing, and producing the design.
Furthermore, fashion designers and manufacturers can greatly reduce environmental waste as well as time by designing and re-creating prototypes in virtual worlds. One example is that designs can be reviewed simultaneously by designers and manufactures on different sides of the globe.
Virtual World logos – Q209 update
Friday, July 24th, 2009No data or graphs in this post – just a whole load of logos.
Updated Kids, Tweens and Teens in Virtual Worlds report
Tuesday, July 14th, 200932 pages of virtual goodness are contained within our latest report on Kids, Tweens and Teens (KT&T) in virtual worlds.
Included in the report are overviews of many worlds in the sector as well as strategies for success for both marketers wishing to take their brands in-world as well as companies considering developing worlds for these demographics.
Where in the world is everyone?
Thursday, January 29th, 2009Just a little map showing the head office locations of companies operating virtual worlds. Here’s the direct link for the map URL.
100 Rules of Second Life
Friday, January 16th, 2009This made me smile. Prad Prathivi over on the Metaversally Speaking blog has a list of 100 Rules of Second Life. Here’s the first 50 and second 50. Arguably NSFW.
My favourites:
2. If her breasts are bigger than your head, shes a man in RL.
17. Yes and No are perfectly acceptable answers.
37. If youve been DJing to an empty room for over an hour, its probably time to go home. (more…)
Predictions for 2009: Real world brands
Friday, January 9th, 2009The success of real world brands such as Mattel, Buildabearville and Disney creating virtual worlds coupled with pending launches from Lego and others confirms our believe in high growth potential for this category. Here’s a link to a press release from Mattel specifically about their digital plans in 2009.
Companies with strong real-world brands and of course existing brand awareness and customer bases have a major advantage over pure-play virtual worlds in the KT&T space.
The Mattel Digital Network
Friday, January 9th, 2009Mattel announced today at the 2009 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) Kids@Play Summit that it will be transforming the companys online strategy from brand Web site platform to interactive programming and content provider. The aggressive initiative is called the Mattel Digital Network, a new online destination for kids and families that is being driven by the companys experience and observations about how kids play today. The Network is a gateway to a world of open-ended online play ?¢‚Ǩ‚Äú it will be user-focused and will become the portal to Mattels powerhouse brands, such as Barbie?ǬÆ, Hot Wheels?ǬÆ, Matchbox?Ç¬Æ and Radica?ǬÆ.
Todays kids don’t recognize technology, they recognize magic that engaging play experiences deliver, said Chuck Scothon, General Manager and Senior Vice President Mattel Digital Network. Mattel is known for providing magical play experiences through traditional toys, and now with the launch of the Mattel Digital Network, we extend our great play experiences into the digital space for kids of all ages.
The network is being created with a simple, defining touchstone – that it will be the place where the kid in all of us comes to play. Even its name, the Mattel Digital Network, was thoroughly dissected. More specifically, it is truly an all-brand initiative (Mattel), ensures a continued focus specifically on the space (Digital), and requires an ongoing commitment to keeping both the content and each target audience – from kids to tweens and teens to adults and collectors ?¢‚Ǩ‚Äú in mind when building their online experience (Network).