There.com developer Makena Technologies has made several new announcements concerning the virtual world (recently profiled in an Online World Atlas here at Worlds In Motion) – There.com is to become available for Mac OSX "before the end of the year"; the development of ThereIM, a 3D instant messaging tool that integrates with the virtual world; and a There.com Facebook application, "Facing There".

The release states the impetus for these announcements, noting that while according to NPD sales of Windows desktops and notebooks has been flat in the first quarter of this year, they found that "Apple has increased its market share," with sale of Apple notebooks experiencing 50 to 60 percent growth, while desktop sales were up 45 percent in the quarter," plus a recent comScore report that claimed that Facebook had 115 million members.

Makena Technologies expects a beta release for the OSX platform before the end of the year, offering all the features and functionality of There.com for PCs.

"Social networking continues to explode and in order for virtual worlds to continue to grow, we, as site operators, have to make it as easy as possible for consumers to access them," said Michael Wilson, CEO of Makena Technologies. "We've seen awareness for virtual worlds increase dramatically over the last year, and There.com has seen steady growth. To foster further adoption by mainstream consumers we have to offer several ways to access the virtual world platform so they can experience how the 3D experience takes socializing to another level. These three new access points will enable us to reach more consumers with our platform."