Motorola buys into Australian social networking site, Tilefile

Stuart Corner
Friday, 16 November 2007 00:36

IT Industry - Market

Motorola's venture capital arm has taken equity in Sydney-based Tilefile, the developer of a social networking site based on proprietary technology that combines different forms of content into a single integrated file. Tilefile (www.tilefile.com) says it aims to "bridge the experience gap between the large screens of PCs and televisions and the small screens of mobile devices." It says that, with its proprietary file format, a 'Tile', "you don't have to distinguish between photos, videos, audio or messages. Everything becomes simply a 'Tile'. When you upload a piece of media to Tilefile it gets automatically turned into a Tile. This way everyone shares one format for organizing and combining their experiences."

A Tile starts simply as a photo, a video clip, an image, or an audio file. "However over time you can add a description and others can add comments and tags, all of which will 'travel with' the Tile wherever it goes. In this way each Tilefile is its own 'relevance magnet'."

Tilefile claims that "This clear distinction results in a less fractured media experience. Rather than navigating through Internet pages, users have a non-linear view of multiple 'social media packages' suitable for both phone and web. Tiles can be joined with others to form combinations that can be easily shared or launched to other locations on the Internet."

Tilefile's goal is "to become your personal content channel, where the content you care about will be fed to you in a constant stream of Tiles, without you having to do anything." Bolliger, said: "The Tilefile.com web application is just the beginning. We intend to see the Tilefile format make its way to at least three types of screen...Motorola's investment will enable us to continue to strengthen the Tilefile vision and meet the needs of our rapidly-growing user base."

Reese Schroeder, managing director, Motorola Ventures, said: "It is clear that Tilefile is powering the next generation of social interaction around media through its unique and content neutral approach."

Tilefile is presently backed by a number of venture investors including ngi group (formerly Netage), which earlier invested in Mixi, Japan's dominant social network. Details of Motorola's investment were not disclosed.