The Verge: Last summer, Microsoft made a slip-up that revealed it was working on a social networking service at Socl.com. While the page has since been taken down, The Verge reports that Microsoft has continued work on the super-secret project.
While it may never go public in its current form, Socl combines social networking with search. It also includes a unique “video party” feature that allows users to chat while watching YouTube videos together. Rumors say that Microsoft may soon be testing its alternative to Facebook and Google+ publicly.