Date: 03-28-2008
Microsoft has bound itself in a partnership with five top social networking sites — Facebook, Bebo, LinkedIn, Hi5, and Tagged are all endorsing Windows Live Contacts API, which allows contact info portability. The alliance will help users of any of the above networking sites to find friends on any of the other sites in the union. The features of the API are two-way, with Windows Live as the node. Microsoft’s John Richards, director of Windows Live Platform, said in an interview, “We think that allowing users to take their data with them is a really important commitment that we want to make as a company to put the user at the center of their online experience.” On another front, Facebook is for the time being ignoring the OpenSocial initiative which includes MySpace, Yahoo!, and Google as its prime supporters.
