Today we published our results for the second quarter of 2010 (half year report and press release), and I’m very pleased with what we have achieved. Firstly, our EBITDA of €3.74 million is the best operative result in the company’s history, and we managed to increase our revenues yet again. Secondly, the figures prove our positive overall development and show us that our refined strategy involving several new sources of income is already bearing fruit.

Welcome to XING!

In this quarter, “Welcome to XING” rang true more than ever with member growth hitting its highest level for the last 15 months. This is largely due to the fact that we’ve been working hard over the last six months to improve functionality especially for our basic members by offering status updates, the “What’s new in your network” feature, Twitter integration within various points of the platform, an improved search feature, a “Share on XING” button, and detailed improvements when adding contacts. On top of all this, we also made sure we had something extra up our sleeves to offer our Premium Members. (more…)

Today’s the big day as the XING Android App is now available for use with any smartphone. Version 1.0 of the app offers Android phone users simple mobile access to XING’s key features while also making it easy to call up contacts’ profile data right from the device’s home screen.

Overview of available features

Users of the free app have access to a general overview of information from XING’s “What’s new in your network” section while also being able to post status updates to keep their network up to date in the event of a delay or a trade fair visit, for example. Users can also see who visited their profile, read messages in their XING inbox and then reply to them, and of course browse sent messages. (more…)

A potential future employer, a new work order, a much sought-after cooperation: Companies are an essential part of a business network like XING where the focus is on connecting and maintaining contact with business professionals.

A lot of XING members therefore use the Companies section to quickly and easily find contact persons or to get the latest information via the company’s updates. Since November 2009, companies have been able to actively provide interesting content to more than 9 million members.

XING wants to improve this service for both companies and users, and the best way for us to do this is to find out what you would like us to change or add. (more…)

As is the case every Wednesday, XING is making a number of changes to its platform. Most of these are to do with events, how search results are displayed, and some of the job ad features.

The developments we have come up with include optimizations to specific features, whereas others have an effect on the entire platform. Our microsite with the mobile XING versions has been revamped so you are now presented with clear information about using XING with your mobile end device. Improvements have also been made when diacritic characters, e.g. umlauts or cedillas, are used in company names, for example, to make your searches more precise and efficient at the same time.

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Today’s release sees a range of optimizations to our Jobs and Events functions.

Make your network aware of job ads

From now on, you can point out job offers to your contacts via their “What’s new in your network” box. You can of course still use Twitter or send messages directly via XING to recommend a job ad, and all of the options available to you appear directly below the job description. On top of all this, you still have the option of displaying recommendations in your own “What’s new in your network” box. (more…)

Recently we announced that we were working on an app for smartphones running the increasingly popular Android operating system. Well, we have some good news for you as the app is now available for download from the Android Market. For the first two months, i.e., until August, the app will only be available to users of the new Motorola Milestone. (more…)

Today’s flash release includes a number of changes and improvements to our platform.

New Features in XING Jobs

We have expanded the recently launched “Jobs in my network” box that appears on your XING Jobs homepage so that it now provides information about job ads posted by your second-level contacts. Not only that, you can also sign up to receive Search Jobs results as an RSS feed by simply clicking on the “RSS feed for these jobs” link in the top right-hand corner above the search results. If you prefer, you can of course carry on using the job alerts function that sends you job postings by email. (more…)

Editor’s note: This is a guest blog post by Michael Albers, Director Product Management at Xobni.

You know that feeling of browsing through your emails, hoping to find that crucial attachment from John, the reply from Tina or just Sarah’s phone number? You handle categories and folders like an Outlook ninja, yet there’s still so much time wasted in slow and inefficient searches? Well, then it’s time for Xobni for Outlook: the lightning-fast email search add-in for Outlook that has been downloaded over five million times and helps you search and manage your contacts and information shared in email.  It automatically creates rich profiles for every person you communicate with, including contact information, threaded conversations, shared attachments, as well as information pulled from social networks – without having to leave your inbox.

Well, today we are even more social, even more connected with the brand-new XING integration and German language edition of Xobni we’re releasing today. (more…)

Today’s release flash involves a feature that’s already been around for some time – the status update. Why? Well, from now on, the status update feature can be found in the top right-hand corner of your homepage, meaning that fewer clicks are required for you to use it. In addition, you can see your latest status update as soon as you log in, and then simply edit it to let your network know what you’re working on, where you are, or what’s going through your mind at that particular point in time. Depending on your settings, your status update will appear in your contacts’ “What’s new in your network” box. So give it a go now and take advantage of this great way to draw attention to yourself and keep your network up to date!

Today’s release mainly focuses on merging our Jobs section even further within your personal network and improving usability in order to make it easier for you to browse interesting job ads, discover exciting groups, and generate potential new contacts. (more…)