hi5 Taps Widgetbox for OpenSocial Support and Access to the World's Widest Selection of Widgets

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 26 /PRNewswire/ -- Widgetbox, the world's first and largest widget community, today announced that hi5, the world's fastest growing top-10 social network, has opened up its App Gallery to widgets created by the Widgetbox community, giving hi5's members access to thousands of widgets for every purpose. hi5 tapped Widgetbox's support for OpenSocial to get access to the unsurpassed choice of web widgets Widgetbox provides.

Since hi5 began its support of Widgetbox widgets in early July, hi5 members have seen over 2 million Widgetbox widgets, and subscribed to over 65,000 widgets from the Widgetbox network.

"Widgetbox's large community of developers provide millions of hi5 members a variety of new widget options enabling a more immersive and engaging social networking experience," said Ramu Yalamanchi, CEO at hi5. "hi5's popularity in countries around the world meshes with Widgetbox's global reach."

Using the OpenSocial support that Widgetbox provides, any of the over 89,000 widget creators in the Widgetbox community can easily submit their widgets to the hi5 platform. Hi5 can make any of these widgets available to its members without requiring them to ever leave the hi5 website.

"With the increasing pervasiveness of OpenSocial, it is more important than ever for widget creators, users and advertisers to be assured that their widgets will reach beyond just one or two of the day's hottest networks," said Will Price, Widgetbox's CEO. "By partnering with Widgetbox, hi5 will give its users access to that reach and variety. And it's very important to the Widgetbox community to continue to expand its presence everywhere on the web."

"As a leader in the OpenSocial movement, hi5 encourages Widgetbox to provide users with rich, immersive and efficient widgets that serve a variety of purposes -- communication, gaming, sharing. It is through OpenSocial that containers like hi5 can provide Widgetbox's community of developers with a one-standard-fits-all solution that allows them to focus on creativity, innovation and a better user experience," said Paul Lindner, Managing Engineer of Platform at hi5.

With over 1,800 applications, 68% of user engagement and over 66 million installs, hi5 provides its OpenSocial development community with a seamless solution to building widgets on its platform. Some of the most important benefits include:

-- RESTful APIs that are uniform across containers will allow developers to build a consistent experience

-- Applications are faster and less expensive to scale

-- Developers have more features such as friend updates, presence, IM for the same amount of code

    -- Deeper, seamless integration and reach with worldwide partners
    -- Support a wider variety of programming models and skill-sets

Widgetbox connects advertisers and creators with the largest audiences on the web by providing the only consumer-focused widget gallery. The company pioneered the rise of widgets and is in a natural position to accelerate the next online revolution through unlimited access to and easy use of widgets. Widgetbox widgets are embedded on more than 1.1 million unique websites, and are seen by over 60 million monthly unique viewers, giving widget creators and advertisers more reach than any other widget company.

About Widgetbox

With more than 125,000 widgets and 60 million monthly global and unique viewers on over 1.1 million domains, Widgetbox is home to the world's largest widget community. Since 2006, Widgetbox has pioneered the rise of widgets and is now home to the world's largest widget community. Widgetbox connects widget creators, consumers, and advertisers by providing choice to those who want it and reach to those who need it. By leveraging its massive widget exchange, and understanding the desire for users to have online freedom, Widgetbox is accelerating the Internet revolution through unlimited access to and easy use of web widgets. For more information, please see http://www.widgetbox.com.

About hi5

Launched in 2003, hi5 is now one of the world's largest social networks -- ranked as a top 20 website globally and the #1 social network in 26 countries across Latin America, Europe, Asia and Africa. According to comScore, more than 56 million individuals every month visit hi5, which is currently available in 27 language options, and will grow to 40+ by the end of 2008. hi5 is a privately held company, headquartered in San Francisco, California.

    Media Contact

    Christina Williams
    Page One PR for Widgetbox
    503-206-7775
    christina@pageonepr.com

    Adriana Gascoigne
    hi5
    415-962-7075
    agascoigne@hi5.com