A landing page for what appears to be a Microsoft social-networking site was discovered Thursday night, sparking rumors that the software giant is building a social network to rival Google+. But not Facebook.
Before it was replaced with a tight-lipped message from Microsoft, Socl.com displayed a welcome note for a service called "Tulalip" (the name of an Indian tribe in Washington).
"With Tulalip you can find what you need and share what you know easier than ever," it read. On the side of the screen (see below) the page showed dummy buttons for signing in through Facebook and Twitter.
When you click into the site now, you'll find it replaced with a message from Microsoft. "Thanks for stopping by. Socl.com is an internal design project from a team in Microsoft Research which was mistakenly published to the web. We didn't mean to, honest," it reads
Facebook and Google may share a respect/hate relationship (remember when Facebook hired a PR firm to smear Google? Or when they blocked each others' contacts importing function?), but Facebook and Microsoft's Bing have enjoyed a long, mutually beneficial relationship. Most recently, in May Microsoft expanded its use of Facebook within its Bing search engine by adding Facebook "Like" buttons. Facebook also appears all over Microsoft's upcoming mobile OS build, known as "Mango." In his review of Windows Phone 7 "Mango," PCMag mobile analyst Sascha Segan said "Mango is the most Facebook-oriented OS available in the U.S."
Socl.com was discovered when the editor of domain news blog Fusible was investigating the owner of Social.com.
Even if it is nothing more than an intern messing around with Photoshop, the prospect of Microsoft, Facebook, and Twitter collaborating to launch a formidable rival to Google+ is exciting, especially when you throw in new Nokia handsets, Windows Phone 7 Mango, and Skype integration. PCMag columnist John Dvorak, however, thinks otherwise: "Why Social Media-Centric Search Won't Work."
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