NewsDude
09-16-2008, 03:51 PM
Aka-Aki is trying to put the social into social networking.
The German company makes social cell phones that allow members to detect each other via Bluetooth if they come within 20 meters, or 65 feet, of each other.
"The point is to not sit alone in front of your computer screen at home, but to meet people in the real world," said Roman Hnsler, a co-founder of the company.
Hnsler helped conceive Aka-Aki with fellow students as a university project in November 2006. This year, the company received the Innovator's Pitch 2008 award in March for the best new idea at CeBIT, the annual German technology fair. Since it was introduced in April, Aka-Aki has registered 10,000 members.
Ingo Geisendrfer, 39, who lives in Duisburg, in North Rhine-Westphalia, said that he had attended meetings of Aka-Aki members organized near home, but that he had the most impromptu encounters when he traveled to Berlin. "It is nice to get the people from the Web and meet them in the real world," said Geisendrfer, a business consultant.
As more companies scramble to take social networking mobile, some German companies are at the forefront.
Qeep, based in Cologne, allows users to connect features on their phone, like a camera, to the network. It uses Java to function as a mobile social network, offering free and unlimited messaging and chat. The user only pays for the Internet service over the phone.
Mobiloco, based in Hamburg, offers a wider range than Bluetooth. With the aid of cell phone homing provided by mobile networks, one can track a friend's location worldwide, said Lars Hartkopf, managing director of Mobiloco. "But we had to shut down in 2005 because at the time costs were too high and people were not ready for this," Hartkopf said.
John Strand, founder of Strand Consult, a company...
More... (http://www.toptechnews.com/story.xhtml?story_id=61867)
The German company makes social cell phones that allow members to detect each other via Bluetooth if they come within 20 meters, or 65 feet, of each other.
"The point is to not sit alone in front of your computer screen at home, but to meet people in the real world," said Roman Hnsler, a co-founder of the company.
Hnsler helped conceive Aka-Aki with fellow students as a university project in November 2006. This year, the company received the Innovator's Pitch 2008 award in March for the best new idea at CeBIT, the annual German technology fair. Since it was introduced in April, Aka-Aki has registered 10,000 members.
Ingo Geisendrfer, 39, who lives in Duisburg, in North Rhine-Westphalia, said that he had attended meetings of Aka-Aki members organized near home, but that he had the most impromptu encounters when he traveled to Berlin. "It is nice to get the people from the Web and meet them in the real world," said Geisendrfer, a business consultant.
As more companies scramble to take social networking mobile, some German companies are at the forefront.
Qeep, based in Cologne, allows users to connect features on their phone, like a camera, to the network. It uses Java to function as a mobile social network, offering free and unlimited messaging and chat. The user only pays for the Internet service over the phone.
Mobiloco, based in Hamburg, offers a wider range than Bluetooth. With the aid of cell phone homing provided by mobile networks, one can track a friend's location worldwide, said Lars Hartkopf, managing director of Mobiloco. "But we had to shut down in 2005 because at the time costs were too high and people were not ready for this," Hartkopf said.
John Strand, founder of Strand Consult, a company...
More... (http://www.toptechnews.com/story.xhtml?story_id=61867)