Close
  • Latest News
  • Cybersecurity
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Mobile
  • Networking
  • Storage
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Menu
Search
  • Latest News
  • Cybersecurity
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Mobile
  • Networking
  • Storage
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Applications
    • Applications
    • IT Management
    • PC Hardware

    LinkedIn Now Part of Xobni’s Social Inbox

    By
    Clint Boulton
    -
    June 26, 2008
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      Updated: Xobni, the startup that Microsoft almost bought to socialize its dated Outlook inbox, has now done a mind-meld with professional social network LinkedIn, another company Microsoft was reported to consider buying at one point.

      While computer users are increasingly relying on the e-mail within social networks such as Facebook, or corporate developed social networks behind firewalls, Xobni (inbox spelled backwards) makes a software plug-in for the Microsoft Outlook inbox that helps users more easily find people, contact information, e-mails and attachments.
      The tool sits as a sidebar next to the community page inside Outlook, so that when a user clicks on a message, it automatically generates a profile of his or her interactions with the sender of the message.
      The profile includes a photo of the contact, when he or she checks e-mail, and the number of ingoing and outgoing messages. It also pulls the contact’s phone number from his or her signature and enables click-to-call capabilities via Skype.
      Now Xobni is talking to LinkedIn’s APIs, so the sidebar can include LinkedIn public profiles, which typically include information about current a contact’s employer, job title and link to their LinkedIn profile and contact photo.
      The move comes a month and a half after Xobni exited beta and about three months after Xobni Co-Founder Matt Brezina told me to expect integrations with other networks such as LinkedIn. Still waiting for Xobni to create a plug-in for Gmail but that will probably take awhile.
      Also, Xoopit already does that, so there’s probably no rush. Read this fresh ReadWriteWeb post for more info on Xoopit.
      Still, as I’ve written before, traditional e-mail applications such as Outlook need to start including social applications or risk losing out to Facebook, MySpace and, yes, LinkedIn.
      Consumers and business workers are increasingly living in their social network, so e-mail tool providers will want to give them the comforts of a digital home in Outlook. This includes detailed social contact information, which Xobni renders visible in Outlook.
      Can a company build an entire business around an inbox tool? They can integrate it with as many on-premise or Web mail apps as they want but I’m not so sure these businesses are viable on their own.

      Plus, these tools just seem like they would naturally have happier homes at Microsoft, Yahoo or some e-mail provider.Some larger vendor will pick Xobni or Xoopit up this year or next.

      The acquirers of Xobni and Xoopit may not be Microsoft, who according to TechCrunch failed to acquire Xobni, or Google, which seems intent on upgrading Gmail on its own.
      But IBM, Oracle or SAP could be interested in these applications as people come to require more social e-mail experiences.

      Avatar
      Clint Boulton

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Android

      Samsung Galaxy XCover Pro: Durability for Tough...

      Chris Preimesberger - December 5, 2020 0
      Have you ever dropped your phone, winced and felt the pain as it hit the sidewalk? Either the screen splintered like a windshield being...
      Read more
      Cloud

      Why Data Security Will Face Even Harsher...

      Chris Preimesberger - December 1, 2020 0
      Who would know more about details of the hacking process than an actual former career hacker? And who wants to understand all they can...
      Read more
      Cybersecurity

      How Veritas Is Shining a Light Into...

      eWEEK EDITORS - September 25, 2020 0
      Protecting data has always been one of the most important tasks in all of IT, yet as more companies become data companies at the...
      Read more
      Big Data and Analytics

      How NVIDIA A100 Station Brings Data Center...

      Zeus Kerravala - November 18, 2020 0
      There’s little debate that graphics processor unit manufacturer NVIDIA is the de facto standard when it comes to providing silicon to power machine learning...
      Read more
      Apple

      Why iPhone 12 Pro Makes Sense for...

      Wayne Rash - November 26, 2020 0
      If you’ve been watching the Apple commercials for the past three weeks, you already know what the company thinks will happen if you buy...
      Read more
      eWeek


      Contact Us | About | Sitemap

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      Terms of Service | Privacy Notice | Advertise | California - Do Not Sell My Information

      © 2021 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×