LinkedIn For iPhone 3.0 Launches
December 29, 2009
Professionals who both own iPhones and are members of LinkedIn are in for a treat. LinkedIn for iPhone 3.0 has been released, and the new app (which remains free) represents an improvement over the old one in almost every way.
The most obvious change comes in the form of a fresh user interface. Adam Nash, Vice President of Search and Platform Products at LinkedIn, explained in a blog post, "We've worked to bring the most common and important features to the top of the application, to make it easy to get what you need as quickly as possible. We wanted to make sure that even if you only have thirty seconds to spare, you can get something done."
Nash and LinkedIn's designers seem to have achieved their goal, too. The search feature's been overhauled. New profile screens offer important details, a list of common acquaintances, and the option to "favorite" a person. And it's possible to filter updates according to favorite people, all updates, status updates, profile updates, and discussions. (Plus users can now comment on updates.)
Finally, LinkedIn for iPhone 3.0 introduces an interesting new feature called In Person. Nash wrote, "Leveraging the new Bluetooth capabilities in iPhone 3.0, In Person allows you to find and connect with other people running the LinkedIn application in real time."
Users' reactions have been largely positive so far. Some people are waiting for Android and BlackBerry versions of the new app, and there have been other complaints, but LinkedIn has promised it's not just resting on its laurels following this release.
On the whole, it looks like LinkedIn's taken a significant step towards becoming more common and popular.
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Now LinkedIn Will Be Featured in a Lot More Apps
November 24, 2009
LinkedIn has opened up its platform to developers. It can be accessed at developer.linkedin.com.
"Over fifty million users entrust their professional identities and relationships with LinkedIn, helping build LinkedIn into the largest global professional network today," says LinkedIn' Adam Nash. "However, professionals around the world use a wide variety of applications and Web sites to get their work done, and they have spoken loud and clear that they want the ability to leverage their professional networks wherever they work."
Now developers can integrate LinkedIn into their business applications. LinkedIn's developer site has APIs and widgets.
"Over the past months, LinkedIn has supported integrations with some of the most prominent and critical software applications in the enterprise," says Nash. "Partnerships with companies like IBM, Blackberry (Research in Motion), and most recently Microsoft, have given us time to invest in both functionality and scalability of the platform."
Developers interested in using LinkedIn in their apps need only fill out a form at the site. The LinkedIn platform leverages the open OAuth standard, so integrations should be that much more simple.
On a related note, Twitter client TweetDeck is already utilzing the LinkedIn platform. They just announced that you can view or take action on your LinkedIn network updates from within the TweetDeck application.
It should be interesting to see the kinds of apps that start taking advantage of LinkedIn's APIs. This could turn out to be a very significant event for increasing business networking, and even matching prospective job candidates with jobs.
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