Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Three Interesting MyHeritage Announcements

There have been three interesting announcements from MyHeritage.com this month:

1)  Today, in MyHeritage Announces Major Collaboration with 23andMe, they announced that users of 23andMe (a personal genetics company that pioneered autosomal DNA analysis) will be able to access MyHeritage research tools and access to MyHeritage family trees, while MyHeritage users will offer 23andMe services to all of their users.  Both companies have a subscription or fee cost at present.  The first phase of product integration will be in early 2015.  You can read the press release on Dick Eastman's blog here.


Gilad Japhet, the founder of MyHeritage, was interviewed on Bloomberg TV today - the YouTube video is below and at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1MefhlGTA8#t=14.



In addition to the information about MyHeritage and 23andMe, there is an interesting question near the end of the video about a MyHeritage initial public stock offering (IPO) in the future.

The press release and blog post are useful, but they raise an umber of questions that I, and probably other observers, have, including;

*  Will MyHeritage users receive a discount on the 23andMe autosomal DNA test?

*  Will 23andMe users receive a discount on a MyHeritage Family Tree and Data (record collection) subscriptions?  Or will access to one or both be free?

* Will MyHeritage Family Tree users be able to see their autosomal DNA matches from 23andMe users, and their tree on MyHeritage?  Perhaps a list of matches, links to the 23andMe chromosome browser, and a chart of the lines from the common ancestor(s)?

*  Will the 23andMe family tree feature be replaced by the MyHeritage tree?

What other questions do you have about this?  Perhaps a MyHeritage executive will answer our questions.

2)  On 7 October 2014, MyHeritage partners with EBSCO Information Services to bring MyHeritage to libraries and educational institutions worldwide was posted on GeneaPress.com.  This announced MyHeritage Library Edition for subscribing libraries.  At subscribing libraries, users would have free access to MyHeritage record collections to research their ancestral families.  

There is more information, and a tutorial video, at http://www.myheritagelibraryedition.com/support.  The video is an excellent overview of the MyHeritage offerings.

I did not find a link to public or academic libraries that have the EBSCO service.  The MyHeritage databases are not yet listed on the EBSCO Digital Archives website in the "History and Genealogy" dropdown menu.

3)  MyHeritage is hosting a webinar on Wednesday, 22 October 2014 at 2 p.m. EDT, 11 a.m. PDT, on Spooky Genealogy: Death Records, Gravestones, and More!  You need to register for free to attend the webinar online - see https://www4.gotomeeting.com/register/228679207.

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Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver




2 comments:

Gadget Surplus said...

The blog post you reference is often inaccurate on technology and this case no different. 23andMe is not a subscription service. One time fee. A discount is not in order. for the cheapest entry price in the market, you get more than anyone else offers. Would have to spend over a thousand dollars at other genealogy DNA sites to get what 23andMe offers. And there are many things that are in 23andMe base price that no one else even offers. Not to mention 23andMe has 10x greater testers than all others combined so chance of matching is so much higher. It is a shame 23andMe does not offer a yDNA-STR test because then they would be the best for surname projects like I run.

Saskey said...

Interesting. I checked the 23andme web pages and cannot really tell what it is they are offering. Would be interested to know what they are offering for which on e "Would have to spend over a thousand dollars at other genealogy DNA sites to get what 23andMe offers" Just wondering. Also, how many of their clients are doing genealogy as opposed to medical testing?