Virtual Worlds Forum

Nielsen Online has released some stats on the most popular websites in the UK, but also the fastest growing ones in terms of total minutes. Two virtual worlds make it into the top ten of the latter chart. Read on to find out which...

Work continues apace on the line-up for this year's VWFE, which is taking place in London on 6-8 October. We've signed up 20 international speakers already, with a new crop of names just being announced, including the likes of Sulake, Gaia Online, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, BBC Children's Interactive, and IBM. Click below to see a full list of the freshly confirmed speakers, and details of how to book.

Another day, another new virtual world aimed at kids. This one's called Revnjenz, and its focus is on cars. To be specific, users buy 'collectible driver's licences' in real-world stores, which give them access to the Revnjenz virtual world.

US firm 8D World has raised "meaningfully more than $1 million" in its first-round of funding, from Spark Capital. The company is reportedly working on a massively multiplayer online game, although the company is in stealth mode, so hasn't given many details on its plans.

There's a clear upsurge of interest in Second Life and virtual worlds from the medical profession, from hospitals to healthcare charities. The latest to get involved is Cigna, which is launching a pilot virtual health project within Second Life.

Okay, so the publishing of a logo isn't big news normally, but Lego Universe's is worth covering. Partly because the MMO/virtual world is one of the most hotly anticipated, but also because of the way Lego set about creating the logo, enlisting the help of fans of the brand. The company asked for people to create their own logos for the world and post them on the Lego Universe messageboards, and were inundated with responses. You can see some of them at this post on the subject, which explains more about the thinking process behind the eventual logo.

The big guns of the media world are certainly training their sights on the virtual worlds space, resulting in intense competition between the likes of MTV, Disney and Nickelodeon. Turner subsidiary Cartoon Network is in the fray too, and has just announced a new virtual world developed by its Cartoon Network New Media division. It's called Mini Match, and it's got a clear focus around gaming.

We've seen just a few virtual worlds launch in the last year or two, and a few 3D web browsers too. However, Yoowalk aims to combine the two. It's an intriguing new virtual world launched by a French firm, which also ties in instant messaging clients and avatars.

There's a big buzz today around an HTML comment that someone's discovered in the source code for search.secondlife.com - it reads "placeholer page for XBOX, PS3, and iPhone versions of client when they launch next real soon now". The idea of Second Life running on an iPhone isn't new, of course - Comverse has already shown its technology to make this happen - but it's the first time there's been any kind of (seeming) official plan from Linden Lab to make its virtual world accessible to consoles.

The Virtual Economic Forum team is off to Berlin today to host tonight's first Berlin Salon at Victoria Bar. The Salon is a great place to meet like-minded professionals interested in virtual worlds and MMOs, and you get a flavour of the great party atmosphere we create at the great speakers announced. We're expecting lots of people tonight, and delighted to be partnering with our Salon sponsors Second Interest, Smeet and Twinity. We'll see you guys later. And there might still be time to come along - check here.

Buried down the press release for a new extra-healthy Burger King kids meal (it “boasts an exceptional nutrition profile” apparently) is news that the fast-food chain is getting into the online interactive entertainment business with the help of one of the biggest games brands around - Nintendo's Pokemon.

Crisp Thinking describes itself as an 'online child protection specialist', so it's not surprising to see it setting its sights on the virtual worlds sector. Its NetModerator chat-monitoring technology has just been signed up by virtual world Xivio.

The Japanese Cabinet Office is getting into the virtual worlds space, albeit through Second Life rather than its own world. Its plan is to open a Disaster Prevention Museum, showing its plans to cope with earthquakes, storms and floods.

What to do after trousering $160 million when your first virtual world is bought by Viacom? If you're Neopets founders Adam Powell and Donna Williams, you turn your attention to the pure MMO space, albeit with a twist. The pair have started a new firm, Meteor Games, which is working on an innovative new project.

Social network Hi5 has acquired PixVerse, one of the application developers creating apps for Hi5 and its rivals. The company was responsible for the popular Pix Chat and Pix Wall applications, which let users communicate with each other.