Avatars and freedom of speech at the CeBIT

CeBIT visitors can meet avatars at stand A26 in hall 4. Under the roof of Microsoft, more precisely as one of the companies promoted by the start-up initiative “unternimm was” launched by Microsoft Germany, weblin has the chance to show just where things are going. That is quite ambitious, but weblin has a lot to offer. Making the Internet alive, reclaiming the information highways for the people, that is exactly what we have set out to do. Freedom of speech for everyone, on every website, with no boundaries. “Reclaim the Web” is the objective. Weblin makes the largest virtual world of all, the Internet, come alive. Every person counts. And that is what we want to show the CeBIT visitors. With avatars who can speak freely wherever they may be.

But that is not all. Weblin will be showing selected journalists the prototype of “weblin lite”. weblin lite dispenses with downloading and is not dependent on the operating system. It can therefore also be used with Apple Mac and Linux. weblin lite does not yet have all the features of the Windows client but the core function “reclaim the web” can be experienced by everyone.
The weblin lite version is expected to be accessible to all Internet users by the end of March or beginning of April. Freedom of speech, with no boundaries.

weblin on the way to LeadAward

weblin is on the way to earn further awards in 2008. weblin is currently nominated for the LeadAwards in the category Online - Web Community of the year. The awards show will take place on March, the 5th, in Deichtorhallen, Hamburg.

Kissable weblins with Kiss before Midnight

Kiss before Midnight and weblin are celebrating Valentine’s Day together. The flirt simulation “Kiss before Midnight” and weblin have teamed up and are cooperating as of February 14. How appropriate :-)

Those who are fascinated by the amorous adventures in the PC game from dtp now have the chance of looking for partners on the Internet themselves: For example, all visitors to the game’s web site can see each other in the browser window and chat - or flirt - with one another.

In dtp‘s romance simulation “Kiss before Midnight“, one steers individual characters through amorous adventures in Paris, the city of love. In ingeniously interwoven episodes, it is all about passionate love, jealousy, intrigues and broken friendships. It quickly becomes clear what will lead to a kiss and what will lead to a rejection. The game’s fans can now apply their skills together with kindred spirits outside the game. Just a few clicks and you can create a virtual likeness on the official homepage of “Kiss before Midnight” and, as weblin avatar, get into a conversation with other users on any web site.

Twelve Valentine’s Day presents

Shortly after midday it has become clear that this will be weblin’s ultimate record day as far as sending presents is concerned. More than twice the normal number of presents has already been sent from weblin to weblin.

Under the heading “Valentine“, you will find twelve new gifts. Another 66 gifts are available every day and there are always new ones on special occasions. So, if you have not already sent a gift today, pluck up some courage and send one. It does not necessarily have to be to the person dearest to you. Simply send gifts to the weblins you meet when visiting the Internet today. Your reward will be a grateful smile and perhaps a gift sent in return.

Great article about Behavioral Targeting

Thanks Andy Chan for this brilliant article about "The Emotional Side of Behavioral Targeting" and mentioning weblin like this:

Old-timer powerhouses such as Amazon and eBay (with recommendation functions) are certainly steadily raising the bar, but it's newbies such as Like (a visual search-based shopping engine) and weblin (software that enables people on the same Web page to see and communicate with each other) that are taking the power of social proof to the next level to bridge the gap between real-life and virtual behavior.

T-Online Venture Fund invests in weblin

The T-Online Venture Fund is investing in the Hamburg company zweitgeist. Weblin, the Web 2.0 application developed by zweitgeist, makes a completely new, entertaining form of contact and interaction possible. With the aid of a virtual character, Internet users are able to communicate with one another quickly and easily on any website. The start-up founded in 2006 is thus further expanding its cooperation with the Deutsche Telekom group which had already got off to a successful start when weblin entered into a cooperation with Gamesload, Germany’s leading online portal for PC game downloads.

Weblin not only benefits from the worldwide connections of the global player but also from the many interesting cooperation partners belonging to the Deutsche Telekom network.

“With Web 2.0, communities, blogging and personalised services, the consumer is playing an increasingly stronger role in an interactive Internet world,” says Christian Schmahl, member of the Investment Committee of the T-Online Venture Fund and Member of the Segment Board, Products & Innovations Deutsche Telekom AG. “In this connection, weblin is a highly innovative and unique communication product making it possible for the user to build his own personal social network. Apart from the fantastic team, we were particularly impressed by the combination of individualisation with a personal avatar companion and the advantage of having a high-performance browsing tool. Our investment in zweitgeist is an innovative contribution by the T-Online Venture Fund to this dynamic market.”

For further information please read the press release:Press Release: T-Online Venture Fund invests in zweitgeist

weblin points now activated - get update now

(like one of the two above). Just wait and see!

Weblin is getting better and better, the weblin world is growing from week to week. And a lot has happened in the last three weeks since the last fat update version. There are new functions and new avatars, check out weblin now!

It is great to see every day how active you all are in weblin. We would like to give you something back and reward you with weblin points. There are points for many different activities such as, for example, chatting, surfing, sending webositions and web pages. But also for inviting friends to try out weblin and thus supporting the growth of the weblin community. So, whoever chats a great deal or visits a particularly large number of web pages can look forward to being awarded weblin points. This is how it looks: the points are shown under the name of your weblin.
But that is not all; you will soon be able to do more with the points. One of the many bonuses will be that, as of a certain number of points, you can choose an exclusive avatar