Four of 25 “hot startups” are virtual worlds
Game designer Raph Koster linked to the “World’s Most Valuable Digital Startups” as chosen by the Silicon Alley Insider. Four of them are companies well-known to followers of the virtual worlds industry.
New SL site rankings may signal end to camping
Linden Lab is working to revamp its current traffic ranking system, which has long been manipulated by landowners who pay users to camp out for hours or days at a time in an attempt to climb to the top of the “Popular Places” list.
Video: Rosedale discuses new CEO
Linden Lab founder Philip Rosedale explains why he has chosen online marketing executive Mark Kingdon to succeed him as CEO. Rosedale dropped by the Thomson Reuters building in London to discuss the transition with Technology Correspondent Matt Cowan.
VW analysts sees boom in kids and branded worlds
The casual gaming market, which includes virtual worlds, grew by 29% last year to total over US$1 billion, says a report by market analysts.
Linden Lab picks online marketing executive as CEO
Linden Lab said on Tuesday it has selected online marketing executive Mark Kingdon as its new chief executive, replacing founder Philip Rosedale.
Kingdon is CEO of digital marketing agency Organic Inc and a former senior partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers. As of May 15, he will take control of day-to-day management and operations from Rosedale, who will become Linden Lab chairman and work on product development and strategy.
New Linden CEO could be named within weeks
Virtual world Second Life has the potential to become mainstream once computers and connections catch up with the aspirations of its creators, its founder told Reuters in an interview on Monday.
Philip Rosedale also said he was close to finding a new chief executive for Linden Lab: “We may have some news in the next few weeks.”
SL posts strong economic growth on dwindling enrollments
Fewer new users are signing up for Second Life, but the faithful are spending more time and money than ever inside Linden Lab’s virtual world.
Mitch Kapor unveils SL navigation via 3D camera
Linden Lab Chairman Mitch Kapor just sent over a video for a project that he first disclosed to Reuters in Davos: Hands Free 3D, a novel way of navigating Second Life using only your own body movements and a 3D camera.
Frustrated virtual agencies look beyond Second Life
The fledgling virtual agencies and service companies who made it big during the boom years of Second Life are looking toward greener pastures, weary of unmet promises from Linden Lab and drawn by competing virtual worlds.
Linden to increase land supply, drop prices
Linden Lab announced on its blog yesterday it would be increasing the land supply in Second Life for the second quarter of 2008.
Second Life on The Daily Show
Jon Stewart had his own take on the appearance of Philip Rosedale and other virtual worlds experts before Congress last week: “Virtual worlds hearings! It’s official: Congress has given up on the actual world!”
At VW08, kids are the focus
At one of the largest gatherings of the virtual worlds industry, the energy of platform developers, consultants, and marketers was focused on how to target the under-18 crowd.
Cisco in Second Life to stay
“We’re definitely committed to Second Life,” Cisco’s Jeanette Gibson told Reuters at the Virtual Worlds Conference in New York. “Second Life is here to stay, and so are we.”
Ondrejka looking to get out of academia
Reuters caught up with Linden Lab ex-CTO Cory Ondrejka at the Virtual Worlds Conference in New York. Ondrejka teased us for getting our coverage of his departure from the company wrong. “I didn’t leave Linden Lab. Philip fired me,” Ondrejka corrected.
Vivox to Lipsync, Part 2: Call us!
On the heels of yesterday’s blog post that virtual worlds voice implementer Vivox would keep its service closed to third party developers like Lipsync, company executives told Reuters they’ve wanted to cooperate but didn’t know how to get in touch.
Vivox to Lipsync: No voice for you
Vivox executives told Reuters at the Virtual World Conference there’s no plan to open access to Second Life’s voice stream to external developers, limiting the practical usefulness of planned “lipsync” technology.
Logitech subsidiary debuts “3D Mouse” for Second Life
3Dconnexion, a subsidiary of computer peripherals giant Logitech, debuted a made-for-Second-Life “3D Mouse” at the Virtual Worlds 2008 Conference in New York.
Nickelodeon explores virtual worlds including ‘SpongeBob’
Nickelodeon is expected to announce Thursday that it is developing an entire virtual world, involving games, avatars and a strong social-networking component, based on network hit “SpongeBob SquarePants.”
IBM to host private Second Life regions
IBM said on Wednesday it will become the first company to host private regions of the Second Life Grid on its own servers, marking a new focus by Linden Lab on serving corporate customers.
Apology to IBM and Linden Lab
Due to a technical error, I accidentally transmitted a story well in advance of the embargo set by IBM and Linden Lab. My sincerest apologies to all involved.
