BLACKBIRD, THE BLACK CULTURE AND NEWS BROWSER, LAUNCHES OAKLAND AND LOS ANGELES START PAGES

Introduces Local Features to focus on Oakland/Bay Area and Los Angeles African American communities

San Jose, California – May 19, 2010 – Blackbird, the only browser connecting you with content and news from the African American community, launches a new set of Local area features for Los Angeles and Oakland.

Blackbird is announcing Local Start Pages that highlight Black news, events and multi-cultural content.  Blackbird is the first browser that provides active tools to help users find African-American content, resources and applications.  Access to information is essential to build and sustain online and increasingly offline, Black business.  Blackbird Local Start Pages are tools anyone can use and with these tools Black cultural websites, businesses and news is now at user’s fingertipseveryday.  Blackbird is the only web browser application that actively promotes Black websites, online events, and businesses.  Blackbird’s online tools are seamlessly integrated into the web browser for an ideal and easy-to-use experience.   Blackbird Local Start Pages can be used with the Blackbird web browser or any other browser as well.  The first two cities supported are Los Angeles and Oakland at the following URLS: www.blackbirdhome.com/LA www.blackbirdhome.com/Oakland.

screenshot of blackbirdhome.com/LA

screenshot of blackbirdhome.com/Oakland

Blackbird is getting the word out that Blackbird is going Local. Please help spread the word, especially to users and potential users in Los Angeles and Oakland.

Later this summer, Blackbird will release a new update to the PC version of Blackbird based on Mozilla’s 3.5 base code and subsequently will release an Android mobile version by the end of Q4 2010.

“Now the Black community in LA and Oakland/Bay Area have a new place to start their PC/Mac browsing experience, said Ed Young, CEO of 40A, maker of Blackbird. “Blackbird continues to break new ground and it continues to strive to provide the best tools to connect communities and empower communities with the information tools that are so vital in today’s world.”

Blackbird continues to look for partners to improve and expand on its mission, for example partners to provide productive ways to use twitter to improve people’s lives.  For more information on Blackbird or 40A, contact info@blackbirdhome.com.

Since the browser was introduced to the public, Blackbird has regularly introduced new and enhanced features including the Live News (live.blackbirdhome.com), Black Search, and more. Anyone interested in the Black culture and community is encouraged to experience this new frontier in web productivity and entertainment by downloading the Blackbird Beta browser free at www.blackbirdbrowser.com. Current Blackbird users can download Blackbird Beta version 0.999 to access Blackbird Grapevine and other software updates.

About Blackbird – Connect. Empower. Entertain.

The Blackbird Browser (www.blackbirdbrowser.com) is the industry’s first browser designed to connect, empower and entertain people interested in African American culture. Built on the Mozilla Firefox architecture, Blackbird puts Black related content at your fingertips and allows you to interact with other community members by sharing stories, news, commentary and videos. Launched in December 2008, Blackbird has already been downloaded more than 350,000 times. 40A, Inc., the company behind the Blackbird Browser, is private equity backed and is located in San Jose, California and Newark, New Jersey.

Blackbird is all about getting people, not just Black - we want everyone to use Blackbird - to understand that Black is a positive thing.  We want Chris Matthews to look at our President, remember that he is Black and take comfort that someone with such a deep cultural heritage has much to reflect upon to lead all of us as a nation.  There is no negative, only positive in that.

Monique Morris and John Templeton present award to Dr. Andrew Williams

Also, the founders of Blackbird were recognized at the event. Thank you to John.

One of the things that seemed to be clear during discussions at the event was that there are real issues disproportionately affecting the Black population in America, like the lack of jobs, access to education and rate of incarceration; and technology can play a role in helping to improve conditions for all and for a reduction in some of these disparities. In the area of communications and access to information, hopefully, Blackbird can play a role.

The creators of the Blackbird Browser need you to help Black people and others that are truly interested in expanding their worldview and knowledge base to find out that the tool for doing so is freely available – the Blackbird Browser. The Blackbird browser was started by three Black men who sincerely believe that America and the world can be made better by enabling, promoting and expanding the voices, ideas and dialogue of Black people throughout the world. Since its launch 11 months ago many have joined in this belief and downloaded the browser, but many, many more are needed. Over 250,000 people have downloaded Blackbird and the vast majority are still using it and discovering more of the Internet and their community than ever before, but more need to know about Blackbird and the freedom it promotes.

www.blackbirdbrowser.com

So many of our historically Black colleges, magazines and other media are currently struggling in this challenging economic environment. Some argue that it is because they are no longer necessary as we live in a post-racial environment now that there is a Black President of the US, but this is not the whole story. These institutions are struggling, not because the people no longer need them but because they have relied on the good graces of major non-Black owned institutions for advertising and support. This support is now leaving, as they no longer feel the public relations need to spend dollars with Black-owned or focused businesses and institutions. As a result Black businesses and institutions are in jeopardy and money is leaving our communities at a faster rate than ever. Post-racial seems to be translating to now-broke for many in the Black community.

The founders of Blackbird saw this coming and Blackbird is a tool to turn the tide for the better for Black communities and the nation as a whole. The position of Black people in society affects everyone, not just we who are Black. Blackbird promotes Black business, charitable organizations and drives traffic to web sites that cater to a Black point of view (and yes, there are many different Black points of view – Blackbird helps people to discover them all). There are many non-Black users of Blackbird and their eyes are opened to the many aspects of society that they would not otherwise see, and thus understanding is promoted. Blackbird does this all without limiting one’s experience of the Internet, rather it broadens the Internet that one experiences.

So, please let your friends, family, church, colleagues, everyone know about Blackbird at www.blackbirdbrowser.com and help to make understanding, communication and thriving Black business happen.

Blackbird – Discover More.

I just want to go on record as saying that I feel that the entire name
calling debate is a distraction as I was raised to know who I am and
that was true regardless of what anyone decided to call me. So, for the
record, neither Black people are “monkeys” nor are any other group of
people “monkeys.” And those that choose to cast these aspersions are
simply stupid people with whom we, “thinking people”, need not be
concerned.

So, please, excuse the name of our survey company and let us know how
you feel and how we may improve Blackbird for you.

All the best,

Ed

Support for Obama after 100 days is generally widespread

As we look at the first 100 days of Obama, we here at Blackbird have been reflecting on the historic presidency and also on the first quarter of Blackbird usage.  We continue to push new features out to Blackbird Browser.  We appreciate your feedback as we continue to enhance Blackbird.   There is a Feedback link under the Help menu of the Browser.  Many of you have discovered this…. Keep it coming.

Some of the new features include Blackbird Local Business and a more extensive Blackbird News Ticker.  Please keep checking back as we make more changes to Blackbird Video and look to add new features and support more computer platforms.

This picture of Obama celebration beer from the coast of California is an example of how far reaching the enthusiasm is for Obama — after 100 days the hopefulness continues.

As my partners and I developed Blackbird Local we realized that this function brought some interesting questions to the fore.  Most compelling is what constitutes a Blackbird Local Business?  Is it only Black businesses, businesses that cater to Black locations, businesses that cater to a Black clientele, businesses that make products for Black people, businesses that want Black customers, or businesses that welcome all people including people that use the Blackbird browser?

Our sincere hope is that all businesses that desire a diverse and enlightened customer base will desire to be listed as Blackbird Local Businesses.  For Blackbird users it will be a pleasure to frequent these businesses that have taken the time to say, by signing up, “we want you as a customer.”  Sadly, there are business owners that do not want certain people as their customers, but that is their prerogative.  We, however, seek a more broad, diverse and interactive society and so we encourage our users to frequent the Blackbird Local Businesses and make it known that they applaud their efforts at expanding their customer base.

All the best,
Ed

Enhances News Sharing Capabilities for African American Community

Sunnyvale, California – March 2, 2009 – Blackbird, the only browser designed for the African American consumer, celebrated its growing community with its 100,000^th download. Launched in December 2008, Blackbird offers relevant information to anyone interested in African American culture.

“It’s been a whirlwind since Blackbird was released to the general public, with more than 100,000 people downloading the application in only two and a half months,” said Ed Young, CEO and Co-Founder of Blackbird. “Our community is rapidly expanding, and therefore we will continue to develop relevant resources and bring people together in a social media, Web 2.0 setting.”

By simplifying the everyday online experience, Blackbird makes it fast and easy to find relevant Black content. Based on the Mozilla Firefox Architecture, Blackbird makes News, Search, Black Blogs, Lifestyle Websites, Networks and Business Associations, Non-Profits and Universities a simple click away.

The majority of its users make Blackbird their default browsers, positioning Blackbird as their main gateway onto the Internet.

Blackbird offers the popular News Ticker feature, with relevant news headlines scrolling across the top of the screen, keeping people instantly informed of current events. The ticker can be turned on or off based on preference.

Today, Blackbird introduced Blackbird Grapevine, a new social media feature that allows people to submit stories from a website and then vote on the relevance to the community and subsequently create online conversations, upload photos and email them to friends.

“Blackbird Grapevine has the ability to quickly have viral appeal,” added Young. “We invite current Blackbird users to start sharing their favorite stories about sports, politics, entertainment and more as they happen.”

Since the browser was introduced to the public, Blackbird has regularly introduced new and enhanced features including the corporate Blackbird Blog, improved bookmarking and more. Anyone interested in the Black culture and community is encouraged to experience this new frontier in web productivity and entertainment by downloading the Blackbird Beta browser free at www.blackbirdbrowser.com. Current Blackbird users can download Blackbird Beta version 0.999 to access Blackbird Grapevine and other software updates.

About Blackbird – Connect. Empower. Entertain.

The Blackbird Browser (www.blackbirdbrowser.com) is the industry’s first browser designed to connect, empower and entertain people interested in African American culture. Built on the Mozilla Firefox architecture, Blackbird puts Black related content at your fingertips and allows you to interact with other community members by sharing stories, news, commentary and videos. Launched in December 2008, Blackbird has already received over 100,000 downloads. 40A, Inc., the company behind the Blackbird Browser, is private equity backed and is located in Sunnyvale, California and Newark, New Jersey.

As we inaugurate our first Black President, we, as a nation, should be proud that we can be so different in background, ethnicity, and color, and still so American as a whole. It is a great testament to the richness that makes us the great, and potentially even greater, nation that we are. Proof of this is that I have had a large number of people that are not Black that have let me know that Blackbird is now their default browser. These are the people that are catching on to what Blackbird really is – a window to a wider World Wide Web. So stay tuned as we bring out ever more improvements and refinements to Blackbird and thanks for all the support.

All the best and God bless America,

Ed