Social networking site for both online and mobiles
By
Ashley Clark
21 July 2008 04:13PM
Tags:
social | networking | site | both | online | mobiles
Loop Mobile launched its MOKO Online service today as one of the first social networking sites to work fully across both online and mobile platforms.
Loop founded MOKO for mobile phones a couple of years ago, and has integrated it across 3 Mobile networks in both Australia and the UK.
The site is primarily live chat-based, with Facebook-like profiles, and photo and video uploading capabilities.
Unlike most other social networking sites, MOKO’s mobile and new online sections have integrated functionality, which means the user experience is the same on either platform.
“It’s quite a big development; there aren’t social networking sites where all the functionality is available across both devices,” said Loop Mobile CEO Martin Hoffman.
“Usually, the mobile service is just an add-on to what is normally a PC-centric experience, but we’ve built everything to be equally accessible across both platforms.”
That cross-platform capability seems to be a popular attraction for the site, according to Hoffman wgi said about 92 percent of MOKO users used the site both online and on their mobiles.
The online version of the site is free to all users, while the mobile version is paid through mobile carriers in one flat fee that covers both the MOKO subscription and data usage.
In the future, Hoffman said Loop may develop a premium, paid online version of the site, with added new features, like private chat and ‘gift’ sending. However, he said the company’s main goal is expanding the site to other countries.
“The main focus for us is to continue to grow online and work in other countries and work with other mobile phone carriers,” he said.
“We have strong bases in Australia, the US, and the UK, but now we really want to branch out to regions in southern Asia.”