Point and click on the go

Perhaps integrating similar and/or related services will improve Google Street View?

Geovector, Cybermap local search solution for mobile phones
Geovector, a provider of pointing based search solutions, and CyberMap Japan, owner of mapping services provider Mapion, have launched Mapion Pointing Application 2.0, called Mapion Pointing Appli, for mobile phones in Japan. This upgrade reportedly transforms Mapion's existing Geovector pointing mobile search service into a fully commercial application. Mapion Pointing Application allows users to easily find and launch content by pointing and clicking mobile phones at retailers, restaurants, historical sites or any of Mapion's 700,000 Points of Interest (POI) across Japan. The service combines Mapion's POI data with Geovector's pointing based technology and spatial search engine. The new release include features such as user driven opt-in advertising, sponsored categories and preferred placement. The service was initially launched over the KDDI network in January 2006, and is now available for download with Sony Ericsson models W32S, W41S, W44S and W51S phones, the W41K by Kyocera, the W42CA by Casio; and in July, with the W52S from Sony Ericsson. [source]


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Coca-Cola sets up mobile social network

Coca-Cola Co. is creating a virtual teenager hangout like MySpace and Facebook, only on cell phones, to lure more youngsters to its sodas and flavored drinks, starting in the United States and China. Eyeing the success of mostly desktop computer-bound teen social sites run by media companies, like News Corp's MySpace, the world biggest soft drink maker said on Wednesday it was creating a cell-phone network under its Sprite brand where members can set up profiles, post pictures and meet new friends.

Coke, part of a growing group of advertisers putting ad campaigns on cell phones, will make the U.S. site available to Web-ready phones on June 22. It launched in China last week and is eyeing other markets in regions like Latin America.

"The Coca-Cola Company needs to continue to recruit future generations of consumers," said Mark Greatrex, senior vice president of marketing for Coca-Cola. "Mobile marketing is absolutely where it's at for us going forward." [more]


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Community classifieds

The "classified ad" is another day-to-day task which the Internet is clearly apt to take on. Web sites are basically interactive advertisements, with the "interactive" bit added relatively recently. Small ads for business use might help businesses decide whether or not there is a web-based market for their goods or services. It might also be a way to circumvent conditions which are impeding a more elaborate use of web-building techniques, particularly in less-connected locations (for example).

But I am also interested by the popularity of community-level classified sites, such as craigslist and LoQuo. It seems almost obvious that the Internet be used in this way to connect people who live in relatively close geographical proximity. How much can be said about the people in the places listed on these sites based on their use of them? What kind of impact do they have? I have recently been heavily reliant upon LoQuo to find out details regarding my impending relocation. Then I imagined someone doing the reverse with the craigslist page from my hometown. Would they find what they were looking for, or would they be gravely misinformed? I'm not actually sure.

It is also significant, I suppose, that I saw fit to call these 'community' classifieds based upon their tendency to list items by geographical location. Is that an incorrect assumption on my part? Probably. But it does bring to light new and interesting permutations on the term 'community' that are essential for research in this area.




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