SEATTLE — June 30, 2006 — Blue Dot, Inc., a Seattle-based company led by a group of former Microsoft® and Amazon® developers, announces today the launch of a Web site (www.bluedot.us) that changes the way people communicate and share. Taking social networking one step further, Blue Dot allows users to easily find, save and share Web content with their friends and family. Through this new type of communication, which Blue Dot describes as Social Discovery®, users are able to learn more and ultimately discover new things about one another.
Many social networking sites ask "Who do you know?" and require users to share personal information. Blue Dot asks "What can I learn from my friends?" and answers with Social Discovery — the use of the Web as a way to communicate and share with friends. By installing two buttons onto their Web browser, users can instantly share personalized Web links, called Dotssm. Blue Dot users can create Dots about news, events, videos, music, books, restaurants, shopping, or anything else they find on the Web.
But, a Dot is more than just a bookmark to a Web site. Through the use of Blue Dot technology, users are able to add comments, select a thumbnail image from the source Web page, categorize, and rank Dots as they are created — making Dots informative and visual. Once saved, all Dots are organized and displayed in Blue Dot’s searchable online collection of personally-selected content.
Blue Dot has been in a closed Beta test, but the site was launched to the public on Friday, June 30, 2006. Now, anyone can join by visiting www.bluedot.us, which is a free site. Once registered, users can start Dottingsm by sharing Web content with friends or the entire Blue Dot community. Blue Dot can also be integrated into blogs or social networking sites to keep personal pages fresh with very little effort.
Mike Koss, a former Microsoft developer who spent 19 years developing application software including Excel and Outlook, is an investor and the self-proclaimed Head Cheerleader at Blue Dot. Koss immediately saw Blue Dot’s potential saying, "By using Blue Dot, I’ve not only learned more from my friends, I’ve learned so much more about my friends."
Kabir Shahani, the Dot Connector (in charge of communications) at Blue Dot, adds, "By Dotting places I go and things I find interesting on a daily basis, I’ve found a great way to maintain relationships with people I don’t see often. Now, when I meet friends I haven’t seen in a while, it’s like no time has elapsed because we’ve been connecting through Blue Dot."
Co-founded in October 2004 by Mohit Srivastava, Blue Dot, Inc., is a Seattle-based company whose mission is to help people stay connected with their friends, wherever they are, whenever they want. Through a new type of communication described as Social Discovery®, Blue Dot’s free Web site allows users to find, save and share interesting Web content with friends and family. The company’s technology lets users quickly communicate and share information on a wide range of topics in a way that can be easily incorporated into their daily activities. Blue Dot is led by an experienced group of developers formerly from local technology companies including Microsoft® and Amazon®. To learn more about Blue Dot, please visit www.bluedot.us.
Natalie Dent / Erin Petrie
Richmond Public Relations
(206) 682-6979 / cell: (206) 605-1802
