Funambol Does Mobile Social Networking

New Code Sniper Projects Encourage Community to Write Apps that Sync Contacts, Events and Photos and Between Mobile Phones and Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, Plaxo and other Social Networks

Funambol, the leading provider of Mobile 2.0 messaging software powered by open source, today announced new Code Sniper projects to encourage its global community of mobile open source developers to write apps that sync content between mobile phones and social networks.
Code Sniper is Funambol's community program that rewards developers with monetary bounties to work on open source projects that benefit mobile users around the globe. This new slate of Code Sniper projects ranges from syncing pictures of friends on social networks to the address book on a mobile phone, to making it easy to invite your mobile contacts to join your
favorite social network. All of the apps developed as part of Code Sniper are made freely available under standard open source licensing.
"Funambol has always been about delivering cool new mobile open source services, apps and data to the broadest array of mobile phones for free or low cost, and these Code Sniper social networking projects are no exception," said Fabrizio Capobianco, CEO of Funambol. "There's a tremendous amount of content on social networks that users would like to access on their cell phones, and these projects enable this. I personally can't wait to use some of these new mobile social networking apps."

950 Million Users Will Access Social Networking Sites via Mobile Devices, says Pyramid Research

Pyramid Research - Mobility is set to play an important role in social networking. As social networking goes mobile, social networking sites (SNS) could play an important role in mobile operator strategies for increasing mobile data usage, according to Pyramid Research.
Today's active social networking members represent more than one-third of the total worldwide Internet user base, for a figure of 530 million members worldwide. Looking ahead, Pyramid Research expects social networking sites to gain prominence as sites add increased functionality and more people are introduced to them by friends and acquaintances. By the end of 2012, there will be 950 million users accessing social networking sites via their mobile devices.
As social networking develops as an industry, mobility will play a vital role in shaping the future. There are strong forces bringing SNS and mobility together including the industry-wide trend toward presence and personalization. For social networking sites, the ability of members to access the sites from anywhere will enhance the utility of the sites and thus the advertising revenue that the sites can generate.
For mobile operators, SNS could greatly increase mobile data usage, which has so far been lackluster in most markets, and open the door to new revenue streams from subscription fees or advertising. To that end, a broad range of handset suppliers, network equipment providers, and software developers have been making progress in addressing technical obstacles to mobile social networking -- such as the need for bandwidth, devices and browsers.

LocaModa Connects Social Networks to Social Locations

BOSTON, Feb. 27 /PRNewswire/ -- LocaModa Inc. today introduced
breakthrough social connectivity to its interactive Out-of-Home platform.
LocaModa 3.0 enables mobile consumers to control and interact with social
media around them using any mobile phone on any network, while also giving
their friends online a window into what's happening via websites such as
Facebook.



  "By connecting social networks to social locations, our platform is
uniquely positioned to deliver the same kind of measurability for
Out-of-Home networks as advertisers and brands expect from the web," said
Stephen Randall, CEO LocaModa.

  LocaModa 3.0 offers a full range of mobile interactivity that
seamlessly enables multi-channel integrated marketing. Out-of-Home
advertisers can now extend their reach to the web and the phone, while
networks and location owners can tap into web-based user generated content
and bring in incremental revenue via online advertising.

  Applications designed for LocaModa 3.0 can run on existing digital
signage platforms or be installed as part of a complete LocaModa
interactive Out-of-Home solution. The platform is ideal for cafes, bars,
colleges and public spaces, but can also be used for conferences,
conventions and campaigns.