Viet Son Net

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has awarded Apple a new patent that outlines a location-based social networking application for its iPhone platform. According to PatentlyApple, which first discovered the patent filing (originally submitted in Q3 2008), Apple is at work on a solution dubbed ‘iGroups” that allows friends or colleagues attending group events like concerts, weddings and trade shows to share information or reactions to live events as they unfold; the service leverages a cryptographic key generation system to guarantee communications security and privacy. The patent adds that in the event a particular device within a group does not support geolocation technology, Apple’s MobileMe service can provide “virtual GPS” capabilities to that user in order to interact with their contacts.

PatentlyApple adds that iGroups represents the fourth Apple social networking application made public in 2010, indicating the company is intensely focused on the segment.

For more on iGroups:
- read this PatentlyApple article

Google announced the introduction of its Orkut social networking service across its Android mobile operating system, promising users tools to stay in contact with friends wherever they go. Launched in early 2004 and named after its creator, Google staffer Orkut Büyükkökten, Orkut currently boasts more than 100 million active users worldwide–while the service lags some distance behind rivals Facebook and MySpace in the U.S., it is far more popular in markets like Brazil and India. Google issued its first Orkut mobile app in mid-2009; the new app for Android smartphones includes live homescreen folders enabling single-click communication with friends, photo uploads to albums, and notifications for new “scraps” (i.e., communication between users). The free Orkut app is available for download from Android Market.

In related news, Google also touted the release of a new Google Buzz widget for Android. Introduced in February, Google Buzz integrates Gmail with social networking features; the new app promises single-tap text and photo posts, complete with geolocation tags identifying the post’s point of origin. For now the widget is available in English for Android phones running v1.6 and later, with additional languages forthcoming.

For more on Orkut for Android:
- read this Official Google Mobile Blog entry

Yahoo announced a definitive agreement to acquire social networking solutions provider Citizen Sports. Financial terms were not disclosed. Citizen Sports delivers online and mobile social media applications including live scores, fantasy games, bracket challenges and breaking news spanning football, hockey, soccer, baseball, racing, rugby, hockey and cricket; according to Yahoo, it plans to integrate its content and aggregation technology into Citizen Sports’ products, enabling Yahoo Sports users to cheer for their teams and talk smack via iPhone and Android apps as well as social networks like Facebook, MySpace and hi5. The deal is expected to close in the second quarter of 2010.

For more on the Yahoo/Citizen Sports agreement:
- read this release

Annual revenues from Web 2.0-based mobile services like social media and geolocation solutions will increase to $18.9 billion in 2014, according to a new forecast issued by Juniper Research. While Juniper anticipates presence-enabled services like mobile VoIP will emerge as the primary market driver, social networking, user-generated content and mobile dating will also fuel growth, with geolocation also a central component of many Web 2.0 mobile mash-up services.

Juniper contends that while many online service providers are grappling with Web 2.0 pricing models and monetization strategies, the mobile segment faces numerous opportunities tied to advertising, messaging, premium services and virtual economies, bolstered by micro-billing capabilities. However, the report adds that off-portal applications as well as services like mobile IM and VoIP pose a significant threat to operator revenues.

For more on the Juniper forecast:
- read this release

AT&T announced a suite of new cloud-based data services promising to deliver smartphone-like messaging, video/photo sharing and contacts management experiences across a range of mass-market handsets. Introduced in conjunction with four new Quick Messaging devices–the Samsung Strive, the Samsung Sunburst, the Pantech Link and Pantech Pursuit–the new services include AT&T Mobile Share, which promises subscribers tools to transfer and manage their photos and videos across PCs and social networking accounts. In addition, consumers can access pictures and videos stored in their personal, web-based AT&T Locker at any time from any Internet connection or from their phone. AT&T Mobile Share offers 50 media transfers per month for $10; subscribers can also pay 35 cents per transfer. The service includes free online storage of 250MB, with an additional 10GB of storage available for $5 more per month.

AT&T will also roll out a cloud-based Address Book that syncs contacts online, allowing users to manage their contact list from their handset or PC. Synchronization occurs automatically when any change is made, guaranteeing contact information is always backed up–subscribers may also import contacts from other web-based address books like personal e-mail accounts, and send text messages to their contacts’ mobile numbers. Also new: Next Generation Messaging, which updates the texting experience to include group messaging and “reply all” functionality for up to 10 contacts as well as a threaded conversations format, consolidated inbox and enhanced multimedia display.

For more on AT&T’s new data services:
- read this release

Digital services giant Yahoo announced an agreement with Twitter to integrate the microblogging phenom’s social experiences across its global network. Per terms of the deal, users can now access their personal Twitter feeds via multiple Yahoo properties including Yahoo Mail and Yahoo Sports–in addition, they can update and share their status and content from Yahoo in their Twitter stream.

According to Yahoo, the deal–which follows on the heels of a similar agreement with social networking kingpin Facebook–represents the latest step in its efforts to create more customizable, social experiences. It adds the new partnership includes access to the complete Twitter public data stream, which Yahoo will use to enhance the relevance and freshness of content across its properties and drive more profound user engagement, promising new opportunities for developers, advertisers and publishers.

Earlier this week, Twitter reported users are now tweeting 50 million times each day, translating to an average of 600 tweets per second. By comparison, users were tweeting 5,000 times a day in 2007, 300,000 times a day in 2008 and 35 million times a day a year ago.

For more on the Yahoo/Twitter deal:

-read this release

Less than six months after reaching the 65 million mobile user milestone, Facebook announced that more than 100 million people each month are actively accessing the social networking site via mobile device. Writing on the Facebook blog, vice president of user growth, mobile and international Chamath Palihapitiya said its mobile footprint stretches across virtually every operator worldwide, adding the company collaborates with all major device manufacturers and operators to optimize the user experience for thousands of different handset models as well as multiple operating systems and networks.

Palihapitiya also noted a number of recent Facebook Mobile additions including redesigned mobile websites expanding browser access to over 70 languages alongside FB.ME, a URL-shortening service making it easier for users to share and access content by limiting the number of characters in text messages. Palihapitiya additionally touted recent upgrades to Facebook’s mobile applications for Android, BlackBerry, iPhone, Nokia and Samsung.

For more on tbe Facebook Mobile milestone:
- read this Facebook Blog entry

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