Original URL: https://www.theregister.com/2008/02/26/second_life_mobile/
Second Life comes to the third screen
LinkedIn also goes mobile
Posted in Networks, 26th February 2008 10:18 GMT
Residents of Sadville will soon be able to get out more, thanks to a mobile version of their virtual utopia currently being beta-tested by mobile software house Vollee. Meanwhile, grown-up social networkers using LinkedIn can already access those vital business contacts while on the move.
Mobile social networking is supposed to be the next big thing coming to mobile, though whether or not wandering around empty buildings whilst avoiding flying-penis attacks is an experience which translates onto phones remains to be seen.
LinkedIn is little better - Facebook allows you to end friendships, but business contacts on LinkedIn are inviolate, leading to a moribund network of old contacts which is little more than a CV repository. Still, it is a CV repository you can now access from your mobile phone. The mobile version offers much of the same functionality, though critically lacking the option to reject new connection requests.
The Second Life beta is also far from complete - you can't build things or buy from shops, but most of the experience is recreated in miniature. Getting the 3D virtual environment to work on a mobile isn't easy, and the application is more a demonstration of Vollee's technology than a commercial proposition. Vollee reckons it can get any PC title working on a mobile by shifting all the processing onto its servers and just running the display on a mobile with a thin client, over a 3G network connection.
LinkedIn Mobile is available now at m.linkedin.com, but desperate Sadville residents will have to wait until May for the launch of their mobile client. Happily though you can sign up for the beta, and to be alerted when the commercial version is available. ®