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Google to Blow Minds With Facebook Rival ‘Maka-Maka’

Upcoming rollout could revolutionize social networking

By Jonas Oransky,  Newser Staff

Posted Oct 29, 2007 2:35 PM CDT
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(Newser) – Google is set to launch its hush-hush rival to Facebook next month. Code-named “Maka-Maka,” the watershed social networking service will introduce a completely open source platform and a slew of new applications. Details are scarce, but the vision is a social layer that combines all of Google’s existing services—think GoogleChat, iGoogle, Orkut—and incorporates outside data, TechCrunch reports.

The grand Maka-Maka plan won’t come out all at once, and the first peek, expected sometime next week, will only try to match its competitors. The potentially Facebook-killing applications—which make piles of Google data available to outside developers and allow importing of Friendster, Twitter, or Digg information—won’t be unleashed on unwitting consumers quite yet.

Visitors look at an information screen at the Google Book Search stand at the International Frankfurt Book Fair 'Frankfurter Buchmesse' in Frankfurt, Germany, Thursday, Oct. 11, 2007. The world's largest book fair with this year's focal theme on Catalan Culture is open to the public from Oct. 10 to 14,...
Visitors look at an information screen at the Google Book Search stand at the International Frankfurt Book Fair 'Frankfurter Buchmesse' in Frankfurt, Germany, Thursday, Oct. 11, 2007. The world's largest...   (Associated Press)
Google employees work on their laptops at Google headquarters in Mountain View, Calif., May 30, 2007. Google Inc. reports earnings for the fiscal third quarter on Thursday, Oct. 18, 2007. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)
Google employees work on their laptops at Google headquarters in Mountain View, Calif., May 30, 2007. Google Inc. reports earnings for the fiscal third quarter on Thursday, Oct. 18, 2007. (AP Photo/Paul...   (Associated Press)
A Google sign inside Google headquarters in Mountain View, Calif., June 18, 2007. Google Inc. reports earnings for the fiscal third quarter on Thursday, Oct. 18, 2007. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)
A Google sign inside Google headquarters in Mountain View, Calif., June 18, 2007. Google Inc. reports earnings for the fiscal third quarter on Thursday, Oct. 18, 2007. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)   (Associated Press)
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Blogger: Are people too lazy to take advantage of Maka-Maka?
NoseRub

Blogger focuses on short term, wants to see the hot new apps
downloadsquad

 
Google • Facebook • Orkut • Maka Maka • iGoogle • Friendster • open source

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