14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft has added a total of 19 feed partners to Windows Live, the most prominent of which being Google’s YouTube. As of November 11, 2009, Windows Live users will be able to enjoy an additional 19 online hotspots to the list of existing Microsoft web activity partnerships. The Redmond company has made sure to build an impressive list of partner websites from across the web, placing Windows Live at the heart of what has grown to be a mammoth collection of no less than 74 sites from around the world, covering a total of 35 languages. The role of Windows Live is to provide end users with a bridge among the 74 web companies offering a wide range of online activities from social networking to video and photo sharing, but also to blogging, reviews, ratings, etc.
“This means that if you choose to add, for example, the YouTube web activity to your profile on Windows Live, then whenever you post a video or mark your video favorites on YouTube, the people in your Windows Live network will see an update about your activity in their What’s new feed in Messenger, in Hotmail, on Windows Live Home, etc.,” revealed Jeff Kunins, Windows Live engineering team.
For those users that are wondering, Windows Live can be positioned as the central hub for over 70 websites because of a technology dubbed Activity Streams. Microsoft, along with such companies as Facebook, MySpace, SixApart, the DiSo project, and even Google, Yahoo, and Netflix, have all joined forces into developing the Activity Streams standard. Activity Streams is designed to ensure that websites implementing the standard can share feed information or activities in a consistent format. Microsoft pointed out that Activity Streams was the key element making possible the bundling of activities from around the Internet into Windows Live.
“Here is the list of our newest feed partners: 4Travel (Japan), Azbuz (Turkey), Baby Kingdom (Hong Kong), Biip.no (Norway), Break.com (US), BuscaPe (Brazil), CNET (US), L’internaute Copains (France), Doctissimo Community (France), IRC-Galleria (Finland), Libimseti.cz (Czech Republic), lokalisten.de (Germany), Multiply (US), MyVIP (Hungary), Neogen (Romania), PIXNET (Taiwan), Qype (Germany), Wat.tv (France), and YouTube (US),” Kunins added.