WTF is Microsoft Vine?

It’s been awhile since Microsoft introduced a game-changing social Web application, but Vine — a service that’s debuting today with a beta test in Seattle — could be a contender. Vine is a hyperlocal, personalized message and alert system. It’s intended to be a dashboard that people can use to keep tabs of their family, friends, activities and major events in their community. The dashboard — which appears as a widget on a PC screen — displays a map of the user’s community and the status of their contacts. It also has buttons to send alerts or reports, which can be sent and received on the PC or as text messages on a cellphone. Vine could be used by families, schools or soccer teams to notify people of schedules and changes. Individuals could use it as a central hub to keep track of local news and data feeds and updates from services such as Facebook. – from Seattle

Microsoft is launching a new product into private beta on Tuesday morning with the aim of keeping friends and family in touch during emergencies. The idea for product, called Microsoft Vine, came to Microsoft GM Public Safety Initiatives Tammy Savage four and half years ago during Hurricane Katrina. Development started a year and a half ago. Vine is designed to keep family and friends in touch when other communication methods are either broken or not particularly efficient. Times of crisis usually involve a breakdown in mobile phone or other key communication infrastructures, and Vine is designed to be as hardy as possible to keep people connected. Vine can be accessed via a desktop client (Windows only for now), text message or email. – from TechCrunch