First Two OpenSocial Apps Launch on Hi5

Earlier today, the extremely popular social network hi5 announced the launch of two new music applications that leverage the OpenSocial API. hi5 currently has more than 70 million registered members making it slightly larger than Facebook who is rapidly approaching 60 million users. The two applications are Qloud and iLike, both participants in competing social network platform launches including the recent Bebo launch.

CEOs at each of the participating companies appear to be satisfied as expressed in their press release. We are very pleased to increase the depth of our music offering for our members around the world, making it easier for them to find, listen to and post more of the music they like on their hi5 profiles,” says hi5 Networks, Inc. CEO and Co-founder, Ramu Yalamanchi. Ali Partovi, CEO of iLike, appears equally satisfied: “We are thrilled to offer artists and fans the ability to connect on hi5, a massive social networking site.”

Mike Lewis had an equally enthusiastic quote included in the release. He should be happy considering their other announcement that they have partnered with Thumblay, “the largest and fastest growing mobile entertainment content destination in the U.S.” The partnership will enable users to find and purchase ringtones across all of Qloud’s My Music installations. I’ve included a screenshot of the hi5 version of the My Music application.

When I spoke with the CTO of hi5 back in October, he expected their platform to be ready 12 months down the road. It appears that the OpenSocial API has enabled quicker integration of external applications. I have yet to receive comment from any of the participants about challenges faced during the development phase. I’ll be sure to update this post if I receive any further comments.

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