NEW YORK – The brains behind social-networking company Ning have launched a new venture, a smart-phone communication tool called Mogwee.
Mogwee is short for "more great weekends." That's what Ning CEO Jason Rosenthal and chairman Marc Andreessen, the Web pioneer, hope people will get from using the service.
Mogwee is a free application available on the iPhone. An Android version and others are coming soon. It combines into one package elements of chat, photo sharing and group-outing planning that people already do on their phones.
Rosenthal said Mogwee is different from social networks such as Twitter and Facebook because it was built for mobile devices from the start. And it works in real time, the way people communicate on their phones, as long as an Internet connection is available.
"Smart phones have changed the way people think about their phones, but no one has yet reinvented the way people communicate on their phones," Rosenthal said, adding that the main way to communicate remains text messaging.
Mogwee plans to make money by letting users buy virtual gifts such as a burger, a heart or a zombie sheep that they can send to their friends. Five of these cost 99 cents, though the first five are free to get you hooked.
The app also lets users access and share restaurant and movie listings, with other types of events coming later.
Rosenthal said the people behind Ning had the time to develop the app because Ning is in good shape and growing its revenue. Ning, which lets people create their own social networks, started charging all of its users for the service last year. Ning has about 90,000 paying subscribers.
Mogwee is short for "more great weekends." That's what Ning CEO Jason Rosenthal and chairman Marc Andreessen, the Web pioneer, hope people will get from using the service.
Mogwee is a free application available on the iPhone. An Android version and others are coming soon. It combines into one package elements of chat, photo sharing and group-outing planning that people already do on their phones.
Rosenthal said Mogwee is different from social networks such as Twitter and Facebook because it was built for mobile devices from the start. And it works in real time, the way people communicate on their phones, as long as an Internet connection is available.
"Smart phones have changed the way people think about their phones, but no one has yet reinvented the way people communicate on their phones," Rosenthal said, adding that the main way to communicate remains text messaging.
Mogwee plans to make money by letting users buy virtual gifts such as a burger, a heart or a zombie sheep that they can send to their friends. Five of these cost 99 cents, though the first five are free to get you hooked.
The app also lets users access and share restaurant and movie listings, with other types of events coming later.
Rosenthal said the people behind Ning had the time to develop the app because Ning is in good shape and growing its revenue. Ning, which lets people create their own social networks, started charging all of its users for the service last year. Ning has about 90,000 paying subscribers.
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