KickApps Enables Mobile User-Generated Content Authoring

KickApps, a hosted social media platform, announced new, Mobile User-Generated Content (UGC) Authoring functionality for sites powered by the KickApps platform.

“By supporting mobile phone media capture we've expanded user-generated content authoring to a new and very broad community,” said Alex Blum, CEO of KickApps. “Together with today’s announcement about our collaboration with VeriSign to design and develop new multi-screen solutions that will work on the broadest set of mobile devices and networks across the world, KickApps continues to set the bar for the industry around innovative new features that further eliminate the barriers for both publishers and their communities."

One of the inaugural clients to take advantage of the Mobile UGC Authoring functionality is the Cleveland-based, CBS affiliate, 19ActionNews

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Kickapps, social media platform now integrates with Joomla

KickApps, social media platform, announced the integration of the community-building platform with one of the industry’s most commonly used open source content management systems (CMS),
Joomla! Developers and web publishers using Joomla CMS can now easily integrate their KickApps powered communities with their existing websites to fuel audience growth and engagement via social networking, user-generated content, programmable video, and Widgets for content syndication.


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KickApps Enables Web Video on iPhone

KickApps Corp., which provides white-label, hosted social networking capabilities to corporate Web sites, announced Monday that any video uploaded to its sites is now viewable on the Apple Inc. iPhone mobile device.

The company said that the latest version of its social networking platform, introduced Monday, automatically converts all uploaded videos to the format that can be read by Apple's Safari web browser.

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Justin Timerlake Concert online

HBO recently launched a Social Media contest to promote their upcoming Justin Timberlake concert on 9/3. The KickApps-powered site invites anyone to upload a video about why they’re JT’s biggest fan.

The winner will get a free 52? HDTV, so do it yourself and tell a friend.

The site looks great, by the way.

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MyRide.com New Online Auto Community powered by KickApps

Autobytel Inc. is welcoming consumer participation in the new online auto community available at http://community.MyRide.com. Featuring original editorial and user-generated content such as video, audio podcasts, photos, blogging and message boards, this new community is designed to give consumers unique opportunities to express their opinions on - and love for - all things automotive. The MyRide.com Auto Community is part of MyRide.com, the world’s first fully-integrated automotive vertical search experience.

In the MyRide.com Auto Community, consumers are already building and joining communities around the automotive topics they are most passionate about – from Hot Rods and Classics to Driving Green - thus enabling user-generated content to play a key role in the evolution and growth of MyRide.com. By also giving consumers the opportunity to participate via surveys, polls, reviews and ratings, the community can help inform future car buying and ownership decisions for the millions of people who are expected to use MyRide.com.

“The MyRide.com Auto Community is not just for those who are knowledgeable about cars,” said Jim Riesenbach, president and CEO, Autobytel. “It is an interactive destination for people who simply love their cars to swap stories, whether through sharing photos and videos or by blogging about their experiences. We expect it to evolve to become the best meeting place online for consumers to express their opinions about anything and everything automotive.”

The MyRide.com Auto Community is powered by KickApps’ social media platform. This Auto Community marks a bold step by one of the largest automotive marketplaces to integrate social media functionality deeply into its user experiences. Ultimately, the plan for the platform is to span beyond the company’s core sites, powering localized rich-media communities for the thousands of car dealers, prospective buyers and auto enthusiasts that comprise Autobytel’s expanded network.

“Our collaboration with Autobytel demonstrates the ease with which social media can be deployed and the breadth and robustness of the KickApps Platform,” said Alex Blum, CEO of KickApps Corporation. “As seen with MyRide.com, social media is an extremely powerful tool for online brands and publishers of all sizes to grow and engage their audiences.

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KickApps launches a new release of the KickApps platform

On the morning of Friday, May 18, KickApps launches a new release of the KickApps platform designed to make social community easier to manage and to make members’ experiences more fun.

It includes improved page usability and navigation, site performance, message board updates, improved advertsing options.

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Run your own MySpace or YouTube

KickApps Corporation today announced the launch of KickApps Version 2.0 (KickApps 2.0), a hosted platform designed to quickly and easily add social media experiences to any Web site. Unlike other platforms, KickApps provides sites of all sizes with a full range of building blocks that include user-generated content, social networking, video players, Web cam applications, Widget-building, media/member management and reporting.

KickApps 2.0 is the only social media platform offering three levels of customization. Consumers can use KickApps’ preconfigured set of building blocks to quickly create social media-enhanced Web sites. Developers can create uniquely branded solutions through the platform’s extensive component library and reach even higher levels of customization through KickApps’ standard APIs.
“With this latest release of our platform, we continue to broaden an already robust set of building blocks necessary to transform existing destinations into live community-oriented open portals,” said Alex Blum, CEO of KickApps. “Very quickly these building blocks will be thought of as core elements for all Web sites rather than optional add-ons.”
Specific enhancements to KickApps 2.0 include:
Premium Player Widget – The fastest way to deploy programmable video players on any Web site.
Video Enabled Message Boards and Private Messaging – Members can post text, audio and video messages on community message boards and in private messages to peers.
New Widgets – 25 new Widget options are now available, including Forum, Slideshow, 3D Cubes and a variety of HTML-based List Widgets.
One-Click Home Page – Anyone can create their own community site with one click.
Updated Member Profiles and Roles – Community members can be designated “editors” to enable them to view and approve media.
Webcam Video Upload – Members can instantly post videos with no editing skills or software required.
Advanced Tagging and Categories – Sites create their own tag and category hierarchy for selective display media and members.


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Should a newspaper be a social network?

In light of USAToday's re-design, should a newspaper be a social network?

1. Yes, newspapers should become social networks

2. No, leave the social networking to MySpace, Facebook, KickApps

Barack Obama launches his own social networking website

U.S. Senator Barack Obama (D-Ill.), who recently announced his intention to run for President, has become the first candidate to launch his own online social networking website.

While many campaigns have created profiles for their candidates on sites like MySpace and Facebook for previous elections, Obama appears to be the first to launch a social network on his own site.

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Fastest-growing companies making use of Social Network

The nation's fastest-growing private companies are making use of social media — including blogs, social networking and podcasts — at a rate more than twice that of Fortune 500 companies, according to a new study.

P.S. For the social networking solution, try KickApps. It could be branded or changed as needed.

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KickApps Names Internet Technology and Media Veteran Alex Blum as CEO

KickApps Corporation announced today that Alex Blum will join the company as CEO beginning February 1. Backed by Spark Capital and Prism Ventures, KickApps offers a hosted platform that provides major media and high traffic websites with a full range of user-generated video, social networking and media management functionality.

"Alex has a proven track record of identifying important technologies and Internet trends," said Eric Alterman, KickApps founder and chairman. "He has a deep understanding of the needs of Internet properties looking to establish enduring relationships with their website visitors. Alex and I share a common vision and his presence will create an immediate impact."

Blum was previously the president and COO of JumpTV, Inc. (AIM, TSX: JTV), the world's top multi-cultural Internet Protocol Television Network. Prior to JumpTV, Blum spent eight years with AOL, most recently as vice president of product marketing for AOL's Audience Business. Blum's team oversaw the re-launch of the AOL.com web portal, the development of AOL's media products (including AOL Video and streaming advertising platform), and the development of AOL's AIMPages social networking initiatives.

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