In its first day, Google’s OpenSocial already has third party developers announcing plans for applications to be created on the new platform. Using a combine and conquer approach, OpenSocial’s simplicity and multiple network compatibility has sent shock waves throughout the Web community. So how does it work?

First – in addition to Google’s partnership with MySpace, OpenSocial has solicited a number of participating social networks who will host OpenSocial APIs: Friendster, Slide.com, Flixster, iLike, Oracle, Viadeo, Hi5, Plaxo, Orkut, Ning, LinkedIn and Salesforce.com to start.

The ability for developers to work with a standard tools, includingHTML, JavaScript and XML, as well as the ability to embed Flash elements to create applications compatible with multiple networks will make it a serious competitor for Facebook’s custom programming language.

Another OpenSocial appeal - because OpenSocial is built upon Google Gadget technology, develops have the ability to create top-end, viral social apps with little to no serving costs. Through the Google Gadget Editor and a simple key/value API, complete social apps can be built with no server at all.

Code is released under Apache 2.0 license and all OpenSocial docs are Creative Common.

To learn more or get started with development, go to http://code.google.com/apis/opensocial/.