When Google was asked during the press conference earlier today if they had invited Facebook into OpenSocial, the answer was “yes,” and then changed to “we can’t comment, followed by “we have reached out to virtually everyone in this space” (quotes are rough, I was taking notes but not recording). Whichever one is the correct [...]

Google plans to launch a set of web-based APIs tomorrow that will allow other social networks get in on the application/widget fun that Facebook started earlier this year. OpenSocial has a lot of potential, but could also just as easily fizzle out if developers are slow to pick it up.

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Disruption. That’s what just happened. Google and MySpace just dropped a major bomb on Facebook: they are joining forces to build a new social networking application platform that overnight will be considered the standard. Chris, CEO of MySpace, about why open approach. Joe from Flixter denotes why this is SO HUGE: his app will run anywhere that the [...]

Thanks to the Gmail anti-spam engineers and the feedback they receive from their users, friends, and colleagues, the spam situation on Google’s e-mail service is improving. As most e-mail providers do, Gmail offers a "Report Spam" button that informs the company which e-mails do not deserve placement in the user’s inbox. Not only is more spam being placed in the appropriate folder, but it appears that spammers are getting discouraged. According to the anti-spam team over at Google, attempts to spam Gmail users have been levelling off over the last year and more recently, are even declining slightly. It’s too bad no numbers were actually given, seeing as for all we know Gmail accounts could be getting the most spam of all, but regardless this is excellent news for all the Gmail users out there!

News source: Google Blog

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Now, it's getting interesting: News Corp.'s MySpace is joining Google's just-announced OpenSocial program. That's Google's shot at one-upping Facebook in the race to get outside software developers to create programs for social networks. The program allows developers of social applications,...

Not so fast, Mike. The anti-Facebook coalition piling onto Google’s OpenSocial platform does not constitute checkmate for Google just quite yet. These are developer announcements. No actual consumers have changed their social networking habits because of OpenSocial. Facebook still has all the momentum with consumers (and, thus, with the developers who want [...]

So, the conversation in the hallway here at the Nokia conference that I’m now at is “what will Yahoo and Microsoft do?” Followed quickly by “what will Facebook do?” Or, “is Zuckerberg scared?” During the last panel, which funny enough was about developers and social networks, they asked the audience which social networks people used. Facebook? [...]

If you've been waiting impatiently for Google to roll out IMAP access to your Gmail account, your wait is over—IMAP access is now available to all. Now everyone can turn Thunderbird into the ultimate Gmail IMAP client.