BARRY-born bestselling author Dr Dean Anthony Gratton has been announced as editor-in-chief of a new multi-million-dollar-funded US-based social media platform called Eden.

The platform, due to launch in December, has attracted investment from global companies including Intel, Proctor & Gamble, S C Johnson, Clorox, Avaya, and Siemens.

An advertising and production deal with interactive video network MingleMedia aims to ensure a rapid adoption for the platform, and this will be the first social network of its kind to afford opt-in subscriptions to its members worldwide.

Gratton spoke at a press conference in New York last week, saying he is 'proud and excited to be involved with a platform of emerging communities that will both integrate media partnership and promote user enhanced services worldwide'.

He is due to return to South Wales in mid-January to start promotion of his forthcoming book, The Handbook of Personal Area Networking Technologies and Protocols (Cambridge University Press), which will be published mid-2013.

He is currently completing his seventh book dedicated to the next generation of Bluetooth wireless technology.