Social platform Ning weaves in smartphone contacts
Social website platform Ning on Monday went mobile with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch applications that weave lists of contacts into virtual cliques that people can take with them on the go.
Free Mogwee software lets people exchange text messages, photos, YouTube videos and even sheep cartoons while talking on their smartphones, according to Ning chief executive Jason Rosenthal.
"We are striving for the re-invention of communication through your phone," he said.
"We took (text) chat and rewrote it completely... We added a bunch of social actions like the ability to throw a sheep at someone while you are talking to them, or toss them a heart or toast them."
Ning provides the first five virtual gifts free, and then charges 99 cents for each time the stock is replenished.
Along with sharing pictures or videos people can use Mogwee for "hang-out" actions such as finding movies or restaurants that friends want to enjoy together.
"We think the address book on the phone represents the most important social graph you have," Rosenthal said. "Those are the people you carry around with you."
Next week Ning -- which allows users to build websites with social networking features -- will release a version of Mogwee tailored for smartphones running on Google-built Android software.
Mogwee is available globally in several languages, including French, Spanish, German, Japanese and Chinese.
Technology entrepreneur Marc Andreessen co-founded Ning with Gina Bianchini in 2004. She left Ning shortly before the startup's workforce was reduced.
Andreessen also founded Netscape and is a member of the Facebook board of directors.
(c) 2011 AFP
