SLim™: offline online

Awesome news: Official Press release found in the Linden Lab® Pressroom:

Linden Lab Builds Bridge Between Second Life and Real World With New Voice-Driven Instant Messaging Client
Launch of SLim™ Enables Residents to Communicate With Second Life Friends In and Out of the Virtual World

SAN FRANCISCO — September 3, 2008 — Linden Lab®, creator of 3D virtual world Second Life® (www.secondlife.com), has announced a new voice and instant messaging client that will enable Second Life Residents to connect and communicate with their Second Life contacts whether or not they are actually inworld. The thin client, called SLim™, provided by Vivox (www.vivox.com) in partnership with Linden Lab, enables Residents to conduct voice or text conversations with members of their Second Life Friends list in and out of the virtual world. While the Second Life viewer will still serve as the primary inworld communication engine, SLim is capable of running on any computer and offers users a voice-enabled instant messaging client that extends the value of the Second Life platform beyond the virtual world.

SLim significantly lowers the barriers between virtual world and real world communication and ensures that Second Life users will always be able to connect to friends, regardless of location or broadband connection. SLim is also a compelling tool for the Second Life enterprise offering, which will enable employees to communicate and collaborate with colleagues meeting inworld without having the Second Life application running.

Additional features of the SLim client include but are not limited to:

* Provides Residents with access to their Second Life Friends list with real-time "presence" status updates
* Enables users to seamlessly migrate a text conversation into a voice call
* Allows SLim users to leave voice mails for offline friends

Linden Lab was one of the first companies to understand the truly transformative effect that Vivox voice can have in a virtual world. SLim is a bold, important next step in the evolution of Second Life and the industry in general," said Rob Seaver, CEO of Vivox. "Second Life is the perfect partner for our services and we look forward to supporting Linden Lab as it continues to push the limits of the medium and enhance the experience for its Residents."

Since launching Second Life's voice services on the Vivox Network, Linden Lab has become one of the world's largest providers of VOIP services, with over 8.5 billion minutes logged by Residents since August 2007. SLim is the latest step in Linden Lab's voice strategy, with further announcements planned in the near future.

"With Second Life becoming integrated into more aspects of our Residents' daily lives, we saw a need to expand the world beyond its borders, enabling constant connection regardless of location," said Joe Miller, Vice President of Platform and Technology Development, Linden Lab. "In addition to all the enhanced communication benefits, SLim also helps solidify the value proposition of Second Life for enterprise use by providing a highly powerful VOIP and instant messaging client."

For more information about the SLim client visit www.secondlife.com.

Linden Lab and Vivox will be demonstrating the benefits of SLim at the Virtual Worlds Conference in Los Angeles, California, on September 3-5. To see a demonstration please visit booth 207.

About The Second Life Grid and Linden Lab
Consisting of a series of sophisticated content creation, land management and transactional tools, the Second Life Grid is the technology platform used to power the Second Life virtual world. Provided by Linden Lab, the Second Life Grid platform enables businesses of all sizes to develop their own virtual world environments. Whether connected to the Second Life mainland or secured and blocked off from public access, custom virtual environments increase internal collaboration, enhance customer engagement and reduce overall business costs.

Linden Lab is the company that created The Second Life Grid platform and hosts the Second Life virtual world. Founded in 1999 and headquartered in San Francisco, Linden Lab was created by former CEO and current Chairman of the Board Philip Rosedale. The company is led by CEO Mark Kingdon, former CEO of Organic, Inc. and counts noted software pioneer Mitch Kapor, founder of Lotus Development Corporation, among its board members.

Press contact:
Peter Gray
Linden Lab Press Office
LEWIS PR for Linden Lab
Tel: (415) 992-4434
secondlife@lewspr.com