If you never got the chance to check out Google's ill-fated stab at the virtual world market, you're in luck: Lively has returned from the dead, as the creatively titled Newlively.
A Chinese company has cloned Google's virtual world, using similar technology to recreate the look and feel of the original service. Naturally, they did this all without explicit permission. But since nothing has been stolen outright, the creators hope to ride on a wave of good will to dodge any legal ramifications. Former users of the now-defunct Lively (pictured) will have to start all over again, but much of the interface has apparently made the transition intact.
Will it work? Hard to say – Google has yet to unleash its army of lawyers, but the folks behind Newlively haven't revealed how they're going to monetize the effort, as the project is far from complete. As it stands, displaced Lively communities are approaching Newlively with a generally positive outlook on what has been developed thus far.
I'm not quite ready to download a random mysterious application, but more adventurous users and Lively fans will need a Windows-based PC running Internet Explorer or Firefox.
Newlively [Newlively.com, via DizzyBanjo]
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