• http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/09/28/virtual.tokyo.ap/index.html

Transcosmos is releasing a virtual world called "Meet Me" specifically designed for the Japanese market.  They hope to create a more conservative environment as an alternative to SecondLife.  Clearly the hope is that Meet Me will find a large niche market as a virtual environment, similar to the success Mixi has had in the social networking space.  I'm always happy to see these environments that are somehow language specific so that we can use them in our language courses.  I found this link via Bryan Alexander's Infocult blog:

Meet Me

Croquet has also developed significantly from when I last saw it, as seen in their demo on YouTube.  The ability to create windows that can contain content or link to other parts of the world is fascinating.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKi-fkyAtg8 

Metaplace has also been released in alpha.  User can create their own web based 3D environment without coding, think Ning or Elgg for social networks.  In addition, these networks could be linked to each other.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7002479.stm

Finally, Mashable is also speculating the Google may be developing a virtual 3D environment that would be integrated with Google Earth.

http://mashable.com/2007/09/23/google-earth-social-network/