Tag: Second life
Virtual Worlds Week: Top 10 alternatives to Second Life
You’d be forgiven for thinking Second Life is the only virtual world in town, from the acres of press hype in the last year. And there’s no doubt that Linden Lab’s world has deserved many of the plaudits (and fat marketing expenditure) coming its way, having been arguably the first non-gaming virtual world to excite mainstream attention.
But it’s not alone. Industry body Virtual Worlds Management recently estimated that 35 virtual worlds companies had trousered over a billion dollars of investment in the last year (although that research has since been questioned, with some of those companies not actually being involved in virtual worlds, and $700 million of the figure coming from one acquisition).
Virtual Worlds Week: CSI:NY going live in Second Life
The latest example of the crossover between virtual worlds and television comes in a new project around forensic investigation show CSI:NY, thanks to a partnership between CBS and Second Life.
This Wednesday, an episode of the show will air in which the CSI team end up chasing a killer's avatar in Second Life. Once the show's finished, fans will be able to explore a dedicated CSI:NY zone within Second Life, playing mini-games and doing some detection of their own.
Virtual Worlds Week: Five companies who SHOULD launch virtual worlds
The metaverse is an increasingly crowded place, given the number of startups keen to take a slice of Second Life’s hype and revenues. We’ll be profiling some of the main rivals later this week, as well as taking a look at the hot young guns showing their worlds off at the Virtual Worlds Forum Europe conference.
But what about companies who should be launching their own virtual worlds, but haven’t yet? I’ve had a think, and come up with five firms for whom it’d make sense to go virtual. Starting with…
Virtual Worlds Week: Second Life gets Facebook application
It was only a matter of time before Second Life was sucked into the parallel world of Facebook applications. Second Life Link is a new app that lets you show off your SL avatar on your Facebook profile, and show which of your Facebook friends are online in Second Life.
There’s also an option to specify your home or favourite SL location, allowing friends to teleport straight there from within Facebook. Makers Fire Centaur say privacy hasn’t been forgotten, so users can choose from several settings to decide whether or not their friends can see their online/offline status.
Virtual Worlds Week: Second Life gets new Google-powered search engine
Linden Lab has announced a new in-world search engine for Second Life, which aims to make it easier to find cool places and products within the world.
It’s using Google Search Appliances for indexing and search results, although before you get excited, that just means Linden has bought a licence to use Google’s technology – it’s not an actual partnership between the two firms.
Welcome to Virtual Worlds Week on Tech Digest
Meatspace? Schmeatspace! This week, it’s all about virtual reality here on Tech Digest. To be specific, we’re going to be focusing on all things virtual world related, from Second Life and PlayStation Home to the many startups angling for a slice of your avatar.
Watch out for a bunch of stories looking at the latest virtual world developments, while on Wednesday and Thursday we’ll be liveblogging from the Virtual Worlds Forum Europe conference, where the biggest companies in the area will be showing off their new developments and talking about the latest trends.
Vodafone Inside Out – mobile phones for Second Life
Vodafone’s latest service has just gone into beta testing – and it’s only available to the odd inhabitants of Second Life. Vodafone Inside Out is an in-game mobile system, letting users call other avatars and even connect the call to proper phones out here in the proper world, if that’s not too frightening a prospect.
Once you’ve picked up a free handset (future money making potential – selling special editions) from an in-game Vodafone vending machine…
Insane companies are doing job interviews in Second Life
Now, chances are you spend a lot of time on the internet. There’s nothing wrong with that. In fact, it’s definitely better than spending your evenings worrying about the sex life of Ian Beale and which moron’s going to get voted off whatever abysmal reality show is currently fashionable.
But doing job interviews? Online? In the odd fantasy world of Second life? It’s corporate suicide for…
Cancer charity holding 'World's Biggest Coffee Morning' in Second Life
At last, a reason to log back into Second Life that doesn’t involve getting spammed by a brand. UK charity Macmillan Cancer Support is holding what it says is the ‘World’s Largest Coffee Morning’ this Friday within the virtual world, at its new virtual cancer information centre.
It’s been created for Macmillan by Second Life creative firms New Business Horizons and Phoenix Film & Television. Visitors to the centre will be served virtual coffee all day, while giant coffee cups are being placed around the Second Life world to attract donations, with every donor getting a free virtual t-shirt by way of thanks.
Is Google planning to launch its own virtual world?
Okay, so Google already has a virtual world: it’s called Google Earth. But I’m talking a Second Life style virtual world, with avatars and community features and big furry-penised love machines all over the shop. Well, maybe not that last one.
The rumour’s come from Arizona State University, where students have been asked to sign up to beta test a new product from “a major internet company”, with the signup form mentioning 3D modelling, gaming and avatars, and asking specifically if they have a Gmail account. The university has strong ties with Google in other areas.
