Habbo, arguably the
largest virtual world aimed at the teenage demographic, has announced a new community
toolbar that will enable its users to keep in touch with what is happening on
the site even when they are occupied on other tasks.
In keeping with the spirit of individuality that
all virtual worlds strive to accommodate, Habbo?s new toolbar is engineered to
allow for a high level of customisation.
Powered by web syndication company Conduit,
the toolbar can be personalised using a wide range of applications such as chat,
forums, community news feeds, My Habbo homepages, requests from the network and
alerts as to which of the user?s friends are currently online.
President for North America of Sulake Inc.,
Habbo?s parent company, Teemu Huuhtanen stresses the new toolbar?s potential
for driving traffic to the Habbo website, ?The functionality lets members see
their friends, messages and Habbo news from anywhere online: It's a constant
reminder of the community that's waiting for them, and therefore encourages
them to keep coming back."
Comment by Ronen Shilo, chief executive officer
of Conduit makes explicit a second underlying objective, "The secret for
capturing the attention of the discerning and tech-savvy audience? Delivering personalized content, services, and
cool technologies in one, convenient location that suits their Internet
lifestyles."