Facebook goes mobile

Rudolph Muller

Rudolph Muller is the editor at MyBroadband and covers telecoms and broadband news. Rudolph comes from an academic background, but left the University of...

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Called Nudgemii, the application effectively integrates Facebook’s existing “poke” functionality with text messaging by allowing users to send short text messages (of up to 50 characters) as a “nudge” to their Facebook friends worldwide.

According to Fontera, the main benefit of Nudgemii lies in the fact that one can stay in touch with friends across the world even if one is offline – for free.

Simon Leps, CEO of Fontera said that, “For something to be considered a true form of social networking, it needs to go beyond your computer. Creating an application that links to your cellphone therefore seems like the logical next step.”

Facebook users can install the Nudgemii application on Facebook as they would any of the applications ranging from virtual fortune cookies to horoscopes. Once installed, a Nudgemii button appears as part of the user’s Facebook profile. From here the user can send “nudges” together with short text messages to their Facebook friends.

Recipients receive an SMS on their phone, containing the “nudge” as well as their friend’s short message. To receive a “nudge”, recipients need to have the Nudgemii application installed on their Facebook profiles as well.

Fontera is currently in the process of developing more cell phone applications for Facebook.

With more than 30 million active users, Facebook is the first social networking site to open its system to outside developers. It currently has a growing menu of 1400 applications ranging from virtual food fights to applications that compare friends’ taste in movies.