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Socialight is Back!

After raising funds back in October, the guys at Socialight have been hard at work, and last week announced that Socialight is back.  In an e-mail sent on Friday, Micheal and Dan highlighted the following new features:

* more ways to access Socialight while mobile - new mobile web (WAP) and text messaging (SMS) interfaces let you find and create Sticky Notes anytime, anywhere.

* more ways to connect with other people – message users directly, post on users’ pages and invite contacts through easy address book importing.

* enhance the networks and content you've already got by importing GeoRSS feeds from sites like Flickr to share content from specific places. If you have your own site like a blog or a MySpace page, you can also embed Socialight widgets right there.

* tools for publishers (even you!) to create opt-in channels. WCities and Movie Locations Guide are already programming Socialight channels, with many more coming soon.

Has GPS enabled Mobile Social Networking arrived??

In the middle of November I blogged that Boost Mobile (subsidiary of Sprint Nextel) had launched a mobile buddy finder application called Boost Loopt.  This weekend I saw ads for the service plastered on ESPN.  It was a cool ad, playing off of the Boost "Where you at?" tag line.  Two guys go back and forth asking each other where they're at....next you see their locations as dots on the screen.  The ad concludes with a call to action to text the word "dots" to the short code BOOST - 26678. 

So, main stream marketing does not necessarily mean that a product category has arrived, but it looks like Boost is putting a lot of effort behind the ad campaign.  Soon after the launch Boost boasted 40,000 users on Boost Loopt.  I wonder what they have today.

Comcast gets into the Cell phone business

Last week, Comcast announced that they are beginning to offer cell phone service through Sprint in the Boston area.  While this goal has been widely know, there was an interesting piece in this story at Reuters that included the following comment: "Comcast is offering wireless as an add-on for subscribers of its "triple play" package of cable TV, telephone and Internet services. The price is $33 a month for 200 minutes and such services as voicemail, navigation and call forwarding."  Interesting to note that the $33 service will include navigation.  I know that Sprint offers navigation services from MapQuest, Telenav, Garmin and Rand McNally.  I wonder if one of them got a deal to bundle in the service. 

20 Million Buddy/Friend/Family Finder users by 2011

According to a press release from ABI Research, the mobile friend and family finder  market in North America will reach 20 million by 2011.  ABI is estimating 500,000 users on currently deployed solutions such as Sprint Family Locator , Verizon Wireless Chaperone, Family Locator from Disney, and other recently launched services such as Helio's Buddy Beacon.  According to the research, the customer base for these services will more than double every year for the next 5 years. 

The press release is a sales pitch for the full blown research report, so it is unclear what will drive the growth, but the release does mention the expectation that GSM operators (read: Cingular) will begin to deploy location based services in 2007.