Not even five months into the project, Google's Lively Team announced that the gadget-based mini-metaverse will be discontinued at the end of December.

Web search giant decides to end service so it can focus more on its core businesses.

Google has decided to put an end to its browser-based virtual community service Lively, effective from December 31.Click here to read the full article

According to the latest news on the web, the well known motherboard manufacturer ABIT, once a leading provider of high-performance products, will close its gates on December 31st this year. The company will cease to exist, as Universal Scientific Industrial is undergoing through a restructuring process meant to help it cut down costs.

In the latest expansion beyond its main mission of organizing the world's information, Internet search leader Google Inc. hopes to orchestrate more fantasizing on the Web.

The Mountain View-based company unveiled a free service Tuesday in which three-dimensional software enables people to congregate in electronic rooms and other computer-manufactured versions of real life. The service, called "Lively," represents Google's answer to a 5-year-old site, Second Life, where people deploy animated alter egos known as avatars to navigate through virtual reality.

Google yesterday launched Lively -- its own version of the 3D, Avatar-based virtual world -- as an embeddable gadget. But social data barriers remain between Google and Facebook, which is granted separate but equal access to Lively rooms.

Massively is running a story about Google's short-lived virtual environment, Lively. The article examines why Lively shut down so quickly, and how its simplicity and its attempts at user-friendliness did more harm than good. Quoting: "The idea here is that any interactive system has a certain amount of complexity, usually involving the number and type of tasks which can be performed. Obviously, it is detrimental if the interaction interface is more complicated than it needs to be. That just makes things harder.

Out of the blue, Google has announced a new 3D virtual world called 'Google Lively'. The world is similar to Second Life, or the upcoming 'Home' for PS3.Users can create their own 3D "rooms," and deck them out with furniture and other accoutrements, in addition to being able to add themed music to complete your personalized virtual space in Google Lively. Users will be able to visit others' rooms, leave items for other Google Lively netizens as well as being able to stream photos and video.

Out of the blue, Google has announced a new 3D virtual world called 'Google Lively'. The world is similar to Second Life, or the upcoming 'Home' for PS3.Users can create their own 3D "rooms," and deck them out with furniture and other accoutrements, in addition to being able to add themed music to complete your personalized virtual space in Google Lively. Users will be able to visit others' rooms, leave items for other Google Lively netizens as well as being able to stream photos and video.

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Internet Relay Chat (IRC) clients don't usually get the exposure that some of the other, more well-known chat clients do, but they can be even more useful than their big-name cousins. While most online chat has evolved into a way to communicate exclusively with friends, family, and coworkers, you can still meet new people with common interests if you use the right program.