Fresh from the country that knows a few things about mobile technology and social networks, Sogo Shosha ITOCHU Corporation and Excite Japan Co Ltd have announced the UK release of mobikade – a highly successful ad-funded mobile social networking service from Japan.
mobikade provides personal mobile space to keep track of what’s new in your life, by posting updates on ‘What’s up now?â€Â. By typing in a few words you and your friends can keep track of where you are and what you are doing. Users can also download a wide variety of cool games, mainly puzzle games such as Sudoku and enjoy them – all for free (except data charges to the mobile carrier). Currently, mobikade provides 20 games and plans to add 3 to 5 games monthly.
In addition to the above mentioned features, for every action on mobikade, users are rewarded with points. These points can be used to send free text messages to friends, or redeemed for a chance to win fantastic prizes every month. mobikade aims at acquiring around 200,000 users by March 2008.
Atul Sasane, Head of new business at GNS Europe, says ‘My aim is to successfully introduce Japanese mobile strategies to the UK and Europe. mobikade is so cool it will change the lives of mobile users in the UK. GNS Europe pleased to have been associated with sourcing the technology and capability to deliver the mobikade launch as a successful project – on time and within budget. We will use this experience to bring in more innovative businesses from Japan to Europe.â€Â
Yuki Wada, VP, international business at Excite Japan says ‘mobikade has changed my life to the point where I’m actually going to live in London. This project is important for Excite Japan to build inroads into the European mobile market. We are also planning to release this service in Italy and Germanyâ€Â.
