With the rise in popularity of traditional online social networking, it was only relevant for the popularity to shift to mobile. There’s already a handful of companies developing mobile applications that meld a user’s several social networking profiles into one easy-to-read mobile format.
We’ve covered Yahoo’s attempt here, called OneConnect which among other things scours the internet for a user’s social profiles, and organizes them nicely within a single mobile app.
Logia Group, which calls themselves “the leading global provider of innovative mobile internet services.” has introduced a new version of their social networking aggregator dubbed 8Hands Mobile. The original 8Hands application was a desktop-based social networking aggregator that was one of the first of it’s kind. They expanded on it’s popularity to extend the same functionality to mobile devices.
Some of the new features outlined in the press release are as follows:
- Real time notifications from all your social networks – Stay in the know, wherever you go
- Real time content from your blogs and feeds – Stay up to date with the news you care about
- Phone book integration – Dial and text friends in your unified address book
- Top Friends – 8hands calculates friends you interact with the most, providing a “Social Speed Dial”
- Dynamic integration of new social services – Stay current with the latest trends
It’s estimated that more than 5.5 million U.S. & European wireless subscribers now access social networks via mobile devices, according to a new study released by media research firm The Nielsen Company. Ofer luft, head of Logia’s Innovation Division and 8hands said it was the perfect time, in the beginning of the mobile social networking uprise, to introduce such an application;
“We believe that by bringing 8hands to mobile, we are truly revolutionizing the way people will interact with each other. Not to mention, help increase the number of wireless subscribers that will access social networks via mobile devices. No longer is being tethered to a PC a requirement to participate in your online community. Now your favorite social networks are just as far away as your mobile device!”
From what I read, there was no mention of the price for using the app, but I would imagine it’s ad-funded like others that have entered the market. Social networking apps are a great way for advertisers to reach their audience. Not only are they using the app much more than others, given it’s social nature, but with the majority of it’s users being of a younger demographic, it’s even more appealing to marketers.