Tulalip
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Microsoft's Socl social network gets iOS, Android and Windows Phone 8 apps
The Microsoft Research team launched Socl in beta form a little over a year ago -- and yes, it is still very much alive. Now, Redmond's experiment could potentially have a more extensive reach, thanks to newly launched applications on iOS, Android and, of course, Windows Phone 8. These mobile apps bring many features to the mix, including the ability to create/share collages and "funny memes," as well as being able to network with different people on the social site, among other things. For those unfamiliar with Socl, the service was known internally as Tulalip during its early days, a time in which Microsoft dubbed it as a project that was meant to help folks "find what you need and share what you know easier than ever." Eventually, Tulalip became what we now know as Socl, a search-based social network that relies heavily on images and videos you collect from across the internet. Don't think Socl is aiming to compete with the big players, however (at least not yet); Microsoft Research believes it is "actually quite complementary" to sites like Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and Pinterest. Either way, we'll leave you with all the necessary links below, just in case you're interested in getting involved with yet another sociable environment on the web.
Microsoft takes the wraps off of So.cl, a search-based social network for students
A few months back we got a quick sneak peek at Microsoft's social experiment which was, at the time, called Tulalip. Now it's finally gone official and scored an even harder to pronounce name So.cl. The basic premise is this: you sign up and search for stuff (using Bing, naturally) and your queries are automatically shared with your friends. From there things get even stranger. The Video Party feature lets users group chat while watching the same clip online, but there's no video chat. You also can't upload photos, but you can make a "montage" of images collected from around the web. To kick start what Microsoft sees as less of a social and more of a learning network, the company has partnered with NYU, Syracuse and the University of Washington. Hit up the source link for more details and to add your name to the waiting list -- for now Redmond's social search toy is in a limited beta.
Microsoft leaks Tulalip internal project, planning to launch social search... thing?
Google's Social Search may have to make room for an extra guest at the table, now that Microsoft has leaked the homepage for what looks like a new social service -- of some sort. Fusible first discovered the page sitting at socl.com, a domain that MS recently purchased. Known as Tulalip (also the name of a group of Native American tribes near Redmond), the project promises to help users "find what you need and share what you know easier than ever" -- which, at this early stage, is pretty difficult to do, considering that the page's search field is non-functioning. The platform also features sign-in buttons for Facebook and Twitter, the latter of which leads to an authorization page explaining that Tulalip is an "experimental app," and that it will be able to "update your profile" and "post tweets for you" (see the screenshot, after the break). It's too early, of course, to say whether or not the service will launch as a direct competitor to Social Search, or if it'll even get off the ground, though Microsoft insists that it didn't mean to tip its hand so early. The Socl.com welcome page now reads: "Socl.com is an internal design project from one of Microsoft's research teams which was mistakenly published to the web. We didn't mean to, honest." [Thanks, Brian]
