Xobni unveils new Gadget Store

The popular social e-mail plugin, Xobni ("inbox" spelt backwards), made a major announcement today by unveiling their new Gadget Store based on the standards-based OpenSocial set of APIs which were created by Google. The Gadget Store allows users to access free and paid apps within Xobni for Outlook, enabling developers to integrate their services seamlessly into Outlook’s email workflow. Gartner analysts Matt Cain sees the tremendous potential and value in a service like Xobni: "Most business users are e-mail-centric and feel most comfortable working in the inbox. Xobni enables the user to continue working productively in the inbox and still access a wide range of social services from the e-mail client".

This is not Xobni's first foray into integrating third-party applications into its product as the company launched a feature last year that allowed users to integrate Gmail Gadgets within Outlook. Xobni CEO Jeff Bonforte commented on the pent up demand for third-party applications for Xobni: "We've had [vendors, partners and customers] approaching us forever on this one, desperate. They've tried to develop Outlook plug-ins in the past and it has been nothing but misery,". Both Microsoft and IBM have come out with similar services called Outlook Social Connector and Lotus 8.x notes respectively.

Xobni's Gadget Store will begin with 20 applications including Dropbox, Evernote, GoldMail, Google Translate, Atlassian JIRA, WebEx, Huddle, Microsoft SharePoint, Salesforce Chatter, Yammer, Facebook, Flickr, Hoover’s, Klout, LinkedIn, Twitter, Xing, YouTube, Yelp and Salesforce CRM.

While the Gadget Store is exclusive to the Xobni’s Outlook version, it will eventually extend to the Gmail plugin. The company, which has raised over $30 million in funding to date, has amassed nearly seven million downloads.

"We've had [vendors, partners and customers] approaching us forever on this one, desperate." - Xobni CEO Jeff Bonforte

Xobni has free and fee-based versions of its Outlook software. There is also a version for BlackBerry devices with iPhone and Android versions still in the works, while a version for Gmail is currently in beta testing.

The Xobni Gadget Store will begin with 20 applications.

(Sources: PC World, TechCrunch)