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One of the biggest assets of a mobile phone is its ability to gather location co-ordinates which adds context to a situation. I have talked about mobile social networking and location in my previous posts. In this post, I am going to talk about two of my favorite mobile applications that have become more relevant due to context. There purpose here is to illustrate how mobile enhances the experience of social networking as compared to that on PC and why mobile social networking is likely to be successful in future:

TuneWiki (Music Social Networking Site)

TuneWiki is an interesting mobile application that brings music and social networking together along with context. In other words, TuneWiki is a consumer media product that allows people to experience music with others in their social network. The concept of TuneWiki is very simple. It allows the listeners around the world to listen to their favorite music as well as listen to what others are playing. TuneWiki MusicMap allows the users to navigate on the Map and see what other users are playing at different locations around the world. LiveCharts allows consumers to access a real-time music popularity list by country or state, and listen to music from other cultures with lyrics translation to their preferred language. So, I can listen to my favorite song or listen to what is popular in Beijing or in Sao Paulo and also get lyrics in my language. Currently, TuneWiki has lyrics for over 2.7 million songs and that too legal.

TuneWiki’s social media player is the first to integrate music and video with legal, synchronized lyrics and a social network. The lyrics, data and synchronization are contributed by the community, using wiki technology and are been licensed from the publishers. TuneWiki is an internet radio with a difference. Here I decide what I want and what I want my friends to listen to. No wonder this application was the winner at the Android Developer Competition.

The TuneWiki mobile application can be downloaded from the Ovi store if you are a Nokia user or App Store if you are an Apple iphone user or Android Market if you are using an Android based phone. The PC version can be downloaded from its website

Enjoy this video on TuneWiki!!!

Qik (Video Social Networking Site)

Qik enables live video casting from a cell phone via any 3G/GPRS/Wi-fi Internet connection. It also provides a mash up on the maps and hence it tells about the location from where the feed is being generated. Unlike sites where you have to wait for the video to be uploaded, Qik streams the video straight into the site almost immediately. The users can form communities on the website of Qik to get comments on their video and can follow other Qikkers. It is a complete video social networking site. Since the Wi-Fi can also be used to stream the videos, the costs can be controlled.

This is a great tool. Think about it – you are on a visit to North Korea (God knows why you are there but you happen to be there!!!) and you realize that there is mutiny that has broken in Pyongyang. You know that the international media is not present in Korea as it has been barred from entering the country. It is your moment to become the citizen journalist. You can click on the Qik application icon and start broadcasting the event live using the GPRS (I hope they have mobile internet) and can relay your location also to prove the authenticity of the event. The video can be viewed by anyone across the world on ww.qik.com/wusername. Qik could have been a great tool to report from Iran during the recent election controversy when even CNN failed to report the event.

Not only this, you can watch what the other users are generating. You can embed the videos in your blog or website or even publicize your video by tweeting it.

Qik mobile application can be downloaded from the Ovi store if you are a Nokia user can be downloaded from its website. In future, all Nokia Symbian 60 phones would come preloaded with Qik.

Enjoy this video on Qik!!!

Also Read:

Potential of Mobile Social Networking

Mobile Operators and Social Networking

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• Potential of Mobile Social Networking
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• Mobile Operators & Social Networking