March 25, 2008

weblin is a Finalist of Red Herring 100 Europe

Malta , March 20, 2008 – Red Herring today announced that Zweitgeist GmbH with its social software weblin was named a Finalist of Red Herring 100 Europe, an award given to the top 100 private technology companies based in the EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) region each year.
“This year’s impressive list of submissions from companies demonstrates Europe’s growing role as a major center of innovation in the global technology sector,” said Red Herring Editor-in-Chief Joel Dreyfuss. “The exceptional accomplishments of European technology startups and entrepreneurs are a testament to the rapid advancements being made in building the European innovation ecosystem.”

Red Herring’s lists of top private companies are an important part of the publication’s tradition of identifying new and innovative technology companies and entrepreneurs. Companies like Google, eBay, and Skype were spotted in their early days by Red Herring editors, and touted as leaders that would change the way we live and work.

Red Herring’s editorial staff rigorously evaluated several hundred private companies through a careful analysis of financial data and subjective criteria, including quality of management, execution of strategy, and dedication to research and development.

Red Herring will honor the Red Herring 100 Europe Finalist companies at its Red Herring Europe 2008 event. Scheduled for April 14-16, at the Westin Dragonara Resort, this intimate, three-day event is themed “The Pursuit of Disruption” and will explore how European firms are leading the charge in many technology sectors, gaining the competitive advantage, and driving entrepreneurial success in ways that create business opportunities for challengers and incumbents alike.


About Red Herring
Red Herring is a global media company which unites the world’s best high technology innovators, venture investors and business decision makers in a variety of forums: a leading innovation magazine, an online daily technology news service, technology newsletters and major events for technology leaders around the globe. Red Herring provides an insider’s access to the global innovation economy, featuring unparalleled insights on the emerging technologies driving the economy. More information about Red Herring is available on the Internet at www.redherring.com.

March 20, 2008

Easter gifts and Easter eggs

In a few days it will be Easter and weblin is not skimping on presents. You can see a small selection here:


Make and receive lots of gifts because the weblin Easter gallery is only available for a limited period until March 28, i.e. until Friday next week. With six Easter gifts you can fill the Princess Album. If you receive enough gifts to fill the album, you get the special princess avatar. Have fun and Happy Easter!

March 19, 2008

Happy weblin Birthday

Weblin is one year old today. On March 19, 2007, zweitgeist decided that enough testing had taken place, the product was ripe and the time had come to get rid of the “BETA” version, a name with which so many a web 2.0 software is tagged for a lifetime. The name weblin was introduced exactly one year ago today and weblins have been populating an unlimited number of websites since then. Of the just 30 animated avatars in the Beta version which were licensed from Rocketbox at the time there are now around 150, ranging from all kinds of creatures, animals, comic figures, branded corporate avatars and fantasy figures. And a construction kit has been available since December. Users can create their own animated figures using the modular principle. So there are now several hundred avatar versions available.

A lot has happened since 19.3.2007 and many new functions have been added. At the beginning there was the buddy list. And then it soon became possible to send websites and bookmarks. New functions include virtual gifts, minigames, quizbots and treasure chests which one can find and plunder on websites. Weblin arranges virtual events and, in the gift sets, one can find special gifts for special occasions, for example Halloween, Christmas or Valentine’s Day, or “Horton hears a who” gifts provided by our advertising client 20thCentury Fox. These special gifts are always only available for a short period.
Today, weblin’s first birthday, weblin users are being given a special gift by weblin: all gifts that have ever been available are available again online today. So make the most of it, you can make as many presents as you can because, in the meantime, you can also exchange gifts and collect whole sets. I have heard that there are some very sought-after items out there which can no longer be sent as gifts in the customary way.
Happy Birthday!

March 18, 2008

weblin at the Virtual Worlds conference 2008

The Virtual Worlds conference will be taking place in NY on April 3-4 and it is there that weblin will be making its first public appearance in the USA. Virtual Worlds is a small but important conference and exhibition where the who is who of the US scene meet up. From Linden Labs to Sulake, from Multiverse to Metaverse, from IBM to the Electric Sheep Company - they are all there as exhibitors at the relatively small number of 60 stands. weblin has seized the favourable opportunity, when calculated in dollars, and booked stand number 60 :-). We are really looking forward to our first close contact with the US market.