Remember OpenSocial, Google's new plan to take over the socially networked world? Well it's been hacked. Already.
The applet, built by third-party developer RockYou, was designed to run on Plaxo, a contact management website. However Google is still trumpeting the platform's opportunities.
The app was removed within 45 minutes when a developer contacted a Plaxo boss about the problem, according to ZD Net Australia. The flaw enabled the developer to make alterations to user profiles. In a post on the Plaxo blog, it said "we apologise for the inconvenience. We are at the early phase of this, so expect some ups and downs..."
Google made its OpenSocial API (Application Program Interface) available to developers last week.
Facebook apps without Facebook
Posting on the Google blog after the announcement, Joe Kraus, Director of Product Management said that the announcement "makes it easy to create and host social applications on the web." That, says Kraus, is because small development teams can't spend all their time creating apps for multiple social networking sites - Facebook, MySpace and so on.
Google's plan will reduce this need and enable different web apps to be implemented into different sites.
"It's good for developers because it makes it easier for them to focus on making their web apps better; they get lots of distribution with a lot less work," enthuses Krauss.
"It's good for websites, because they can tap into the creativity of the largest possible developer community (and no longer have to compete with one another for developer attention). And finally, it's good for users, because they get more applications in more places."
Members of the OpenSocial community include MySpace, Engage.com, Friendster, LinkedIn, orkut, Plaxo and XING.
