Rumours of who will acquire Plaxo, including talk of possible interest from search engine giant and Google and social network darlings Facebook, can now be put to rest. Plaxo have signed an agreement to be acquired by Comcast, with whom they've been working on a number of interesting projects over the past year. This seems to be another savvy move for Plaxo. Their internet acumen was last demonstrated when Plaxo Pulse went live with Google's OpenSocial application back in November 2007, an embrace of new technology that resulted in a sudden boost in traffic.
This new acquisition deal by Comcast is suspected to have cost between $150 million to $170 million, according to Techcrunch, and is a good strategic move for the company's internet portfolio which already includes Fancast and Fandango. All of this is said to be leading towards making social media more widely available by various means, including your own TV. Plaxo gives an example in its own blog about the recent acquisition:
"...you should be able to securely post family photos online in Pulse, and have them viewable by any of your family members, whether they are online, at work, on their mobile device, or in their living room watching TV. And you should be able to discover new shows to watch, based on what your friends and coworkers have recommended."
Their blog also states that Plaxo will remain an independent operation in Silicon Valley, reporting into Comcast Interactive Media. With Comcast's high traffic portal Comcast.net, popular interactive entertainment properties such as Fancast, and Fandango, it will be a big help in bringing Plaxo's innovations to life. This should be great news for the Internet industry as a whole as Plaxo have already proven to be a strong advocate for opening up the Social Web.
The latest developments in the online social sphere leave us wondering what will be next for the home networking experience - will our televisions join computers and mobiles and become the latest way to stay in touch with our friends? We'll certainly stay glued to our screens until we find out.
