Plaxo
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| Type | Owned by Comcast |
|---|---|
| Founded | November 2002 |
| Founder(s) | Sean Parker, Minh Nguyen, Todd Masonis and Cameron Ring |
| Headquarters | Sunnyvale, California |
| Key people | Justin Miller, President & CEO |
| Website | Plaxo |
Plaxo is an online address book and social networking service originally founded by Sean Parker, Minh Nguyen[1] and two Stanford engineering students, Todd Masonis and Cameron Ring.[2] Plaxo, based in Sunnyvale, California,[3] is a subsidiary of cable television company, Comcast.
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[edit] History
The company launched[2] on November 12, 2002, and was funded by venture capital including funds from Sequoia Capital.[4] Plaxo announced May 14, 2008, that it had signed an agreement to be acquired by Comcast.[5] The terms of the deal were not disclosed. Comcast completed its purchase of Plaxo on July 1, 2008.[6]
Plaxo provides automatic updating of contact information. Users and their contacts store their information in the cloud on Plaxo's servers. When this information is edited by the user, the changes appear in the address books of all those who listed the account changer in their own books. Once contacts are stored in the central location, it is possible to list connections between contacts and access the address book from anywhere.
In May 2008, the website reported 20 million users.[7]
A Plaxo plug-in supports major address books including Outlook/Outlook Express, Mozilla Thunderbird, and Mac OS X's Address Book, iOS and BlackBerry though other ones can be supported through an application programming interface. Additionally, Plaxo can also be maintained online.
In March 2010, it was announced that CEO Ben Golub would be replaced by the company’s general manager, Justin Miller.[8][9] As Justin Miller took on the role of President of Comcast Silicon Valley in addition to CEO of Plaxo, in March 2011 Plaxo's head of product management Preston Smalley[10] was named general manager.[11]
In March 2011, Plaxo exited social networking, ended the Plaxo Pulse social networking service, and introduced a new address book updating service.
[edit] Partnerships
[edit] AOL
On July 7, 2005, Plaxo announced it had struck a deal with America Online to integrate its contact management service with its AOL and AOL Instant Messenger products.[12]
[edit] Comcast
On May 7, 2007, Comcast announced[13] that it had partnered with Plaxo in the launch of its universal communications service, SmartZone.
[edit] Criticism
Plaxo received criticism from technology journalist David Coursey, who was upset about receiving a number of requests from Plaxo users to update their contact information (similar to spam email), and who wondered how the company was planning to make money from a free service that collects personal contact and network information.[14] However after "changes at Plaxo and discussions with the company's remaining co-founders", Coursey reversed his stance.[15] Plaxo also responded to these issues in a section of their website.[16]
[edit] Plaxo 3.0
On June 24, 2007 Plaxo announced the public beta of a major new version of its service, called Plaxo 3.0. The service emphasizes "automated, multi-way sync."[17][18]
[edit] Plaxo Pulse
On August 4, 2007 Plaxo announced the public beta of a social networking service called Plaxo Pulse.[19] The service enables sharing of content from multiple different sources across the social web, including blogs, photos, social networking services, rating services, and others. Users can selectively share and view content according to either pre-determined categories (e.g., friends, family, business network) or customized groups. Plaxo Pulse was the first site to feature a working version of an OpenSocial container.[20]
[edit] Charging for Outlook synchronization service
On July 30, 2009, the previously-free synchronization services for Outlook moved to Plaxo's premium (paid) service. According to Plaxo, "this change will allow us to continue to invest in the development and support of this valuable (but high-cost) feature." Existing users of the free service were offered a 20% lifetime discount on Plaxo premium. This paid service is now called Platinum Sync.[21]
[edit] Exiting Social Networking
On March 16, 2011, Plaxo announced[22] it exited the social networking space (and the Plaxo Pulse service) to refocus on addressing challenges around the core online address book business.
[edit] Introducing Plaxo Personal Assistant
On March 16, 2011, Plaxo announced[23] Personal Assistant[24] which updates[25] users' address books with suggestions from publicly available information.
[edit] Announcing Plaxo Mobile Applications
On July 19, 2011, Plaxo announced a study on mobile trends and its native mobile applications: "On the mobile front, Plaxo has made it easy to stay connected and offers native applications including: an improved iPhone app; a new BlackBerry app; a Windows Mobile app; and syncing for Android phones with an app coming out by the end of Q3 (study on mobile trends).[26]
[edit] References
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This article uses bare URLs for citations. Please consider adding full citations so that the article remains verifiable. Several templates and the Reflinks tool are available to assist in formatting. (Reflinks documentation) (October 2011) |
- ^ Techcrunch. "Confirmed, Comcast bought Plaxo, Deal Closed Today Location". http://techcrunch.com/2008/05/14/confirmed-comcast-bought-plaxo-deal-closed-today/.
- ^ a b Plaxo. "Plaxo Launches". Press Release. http://www.plaxo.com/about/releases/release-11-12-02.
- ^ Plaxo. "Plaxo Location". http://www.plaxo.com/about/contact_us.
- ^ "Sequoia Capital funds Plaxo". http://www.sequoiacap.com/company/plaxo/.
- ^ Plaxo (May 14, 2008). "Plaxo's announcement of the agreement to be acquired by Comcast". Press Release. http://www.plaxo.com/about/comcast?src=plxhelp_1571.
- ^ Redgee Capili. "Now the Deal is Closed: Plaxo has Become a Business Unit of Comcast Interactive Media". blog. http://blog.plaxo.com/2008/07/now_the_deal_is/.
- ^ Plaxo (May 22, 2008). "The Plaxo Directory Is Now Live". Press Release. http://blog.plaxo.com/archives/2008/05/the_plaxo_direc.html.
- ^ http://www.plaxo.com/about/management_team?src=footer
- ^ Jason Kincaid (March 25, 2010). "Plaxo CEO Ben Golub Steps Down, To Be Replaced By Justin Miller". TechCrunch. http://techcrunch.com/2010/03/25/plaxo-ceo-bob-golub-steps-down-to-be-replaced-by-justin-miller/.
- ^ http://www.plaxo.com/about/management_team?src=footer
- ^ http://techcrunch.com/2011/03/16/plaxo-goes-back-to-being-a-smart-address-book-launches-virtual-assistant/
- ^ Plaxo (July 6, 2005). "America Online Inc. and Plaxo Inc. form agreement to help AOL members and AIM users better manage contact information". Press Release. http://www.plaxo.com/about/releases/release-20050706.
- ^ Comcast (May 7, 2007). "Comcast Announces Plans to Launch Interactive SmartZone(TM) Communications Center". Press Release. http://www.comcast.com/About/PressRelease/PressReleaseDetail.ashx?PRID=661.
- ^ David Coursey (December 8, 2003). "Why my address book is spamming you". ZDNet AnchorDesk. Archived from the original on January 5, 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20070105030148/http://review.zdnet.com/AnchorDesk/4520-7297_16-5111563.html.
- ^ David Coursey (September 9, 2004). "Plaxo Reconsidered". eWeek. http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1644423,00.asp.
- ^ Redgee Capili. "Your Contact Information: Ownership vs. Privacy". blog. http://blog.plaxo.com/2004/03/your_contact_in/.
- ^ Plaxo (June 24, 2007). "Introducing an All-New Plaxo". Blog. http://blog.plaxo.com/archives/2007/06/introducing_an.html.
- ^ Eric Auchard (June 25, 2007). "Plaxo turns address books into Web social networks". Reuters. http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSN2425982920070625.
- ^ Plaxo (August 5, 2007). "Oh geez, not ANOTHER social network…". Blog. http://blog.plaxo.com/archives/2007/08/oh_geez_not_ano_1.html.
- ^ TechCrunch (November 2, 2007). "Plaxo Implements OpenSocial, Ning Goes Live Friday Night". Blog. http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/11/02/plaxo-implements-opensocial/.
- ^ http://www.plaxo.com/products/PlaxoPlatinumSync?src=footer
- ^ http://www.plaxo.com/about/press_room/plaxo_personal_assistant_launch
- ^ http://www.plaxo.com/about/press_room/plaxo_personal_assistant_launch
- ^ http://www.plaxo.com/products/PlaxoPersonalAssistant
- ^ http://blog.plaxo.com/2011/03/an-important-milestone-and-its-only-the-beginning/
- ^ http://www.plaxo.com/mobiletrends
[edit] External links
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