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"There aren\u2019t many sites with 5 million users that we haven\u2019t heard of, but Power.com is just that, and it\u2019s a name you might be hearing a lot more of after it launches in the US today.  \nPreviously available in Brazil and India, the site bills itself as a \u201CMeebo for social networking\u201D of sorts, allowing you to simultaneously login to accounts on both social networking services like Facebook and MySpace and instant messaging networks like MSN.  \nFrom there, you can view new activities from friends on those services, see who\u2019s online across all of them via a buddy list, and use the \u201CPower Communicator\u201D to simultaneously send a message to your friends on any site you have synced with Power.com.  In other words, if your friends are spread across many social networks, you can see an aggregate view of their activities and message them on their native network, all from inside the Power.com interface.\nIsn\u2019t this just like Friendfeed?\nNot exactly.  For one, the instant messaging aspect is something Friendfeed doesn\u2019t have - if you\u2019ve synced your Facebook, MySpace, and MSN accounts with Power.com, you\u2019ll get a buddy list that shows all of your friends who are signed on to those services, even if they don\u2019t use Power.com.  Additionally, Power.com is far more of a two-way communicator.  In addition to aggregating activities from your friends across multiple services, it lets you respond to them and send messages to their native app.  \n\n\n\n\nSo it\u2019s like Facebook Connect, Google Friend Connect, etc?\nStill a bit off.  While those services will let you access your friend\u2019s list on third-party websites, Power.com isn\u2019t looking to be your universal profile or social graph.  And, it doesn\u2019t matter at all if your friends use it \u2013 you\u2019ll still be able to communicate with them using Power.com so long as you\u2019ve synced your account.\nHow does it have 5 million users already?\nInitially, the only social networking service supported by Power.com was Orkut, which, is big in Brazil and India.  These are where most of Power.com\u2019s users are currently \u2013 Alexa shows that the site is in the top 1,000 in both markets.  Additionally, the service has lots of built in viral marketing.  For example, when you send a message to friends on other networks, it includes a \u201CSent by Power.com\u201D message (like Hotmail circa 1996).  Power.com also has a communicator app that is added to social networking profiles, allowing friends to contact you through it (similar to MeeboMe widgets).\n\n\n\n\nWill it take off in the US?\nAt launch, Power.com supports Facebook, MySpace, Hi5, MSN Messenger, Orkut, and YouTube.  While there is certainly some overlap between those services, Power.com will become much more valuable when it adds LinkedIn, Twitter, Flickr, Hotmail, Yahoo, Gmail, AOL, and Skype, all of which are expected to be added soon.  \nUltimately, you end up with a combination of an aggregation service like FriendFeed, a multi-protocol IM tool like Meebo, and an all-in-one email application.  Like Meebo, getting started is as easy as logging in with one of your existing accounts on one of the supported services, making user acquisition a breeze.  The viral features mentioned above should presumably have the same big impact in the US, further fueling growth.  \nDespite flying under the radar in the US, Rio-based Power.com has already raised $6 million from Draper Fisher Jurvetson, in addition to well-known angel Esther Dyson.  The company has 70 employees."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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