iPling :))

Helping our clients go viral!

2011-12-04T09:13:00.001-08:00

At iPling, we encourage our corporate clients to create viral marketing campaigns to promote their SMS groups. The task is not an easy one though. According to research by ProBlogger.com, whatever makes a video or message go viral is mysterious, but also follows certain patterns. Following is an infographic that will hopefully provide some useful tips...

Text JOIN SAMS to 99123!

2011-11-14T23:03:00.001-08:00

iPling has (quietly) been selected as the mobile marketing engine for Sam's Club in Mexico. Sam's members are now being asked to update their info and to agree to be contacted with highly targeted promotions via text messages. We can't wait for the group to grow so that we can show the biggest retailer in the world how effective our channel is. Congratulations to our Mexico City based sales team!

We're officially live across the spectrum!

2011-11-02T16:20:00.000-07:00

Yeah!!! Just a quick note to tell you that iPling's SMS apps now officially reach 99% of U.S. cell phone subscribers and about 88% of Mexico's. It's a good time to start plinging!

Coordinating farmers in Zacatecas through SMS!

2011-10-28T01:58:00.000-07:00

SMS reshaping the world!

2011-10-16T19:26:00.000-07:00

iPling thanks mbaonline.com (and Mauro) for the following insightful infographic. We are glad to see how texting is helping people all over the world connect with each other in so many ways. iPling's apps and services take advantage of the trends here highlighted and allow users to maximize the power and utility of even the most simple cellular phone.

iPling is one step closer to obtaining approval by all major U.S. cellular carriers.

2011-09-19T09:38:00.000-07:00

We are happy to report that Verizon Wireless, the last major U.S. carrier still reviewing our SMS services, is now in the final stages of the review process and last week began allowing the flow of text messages to and from iPling's 99123 short code. We expect to have successfully completed all aspects of the approval process and be officially "live" on their network by the end of the month. Stay tuned for upcoming news from our marketing crew!

Send messages to your entire group, or just to those members within selected Zip Codes!

2011-08-19T15:44:00.000-07:00

San Francisco, California - August 19, 2011. iPling today announced that Zip Code filters are now available on its group SMS platform. Anyone with an iPling SMS group may continue to notify his/her entire group in the usual way, or may now specify one or more Zip Codes so that the notifications sent reach only certain members of the group. Following are a few examples of how to use our Zip filters:

IPLING ACME @94105 This is a group notification to group members in Zip Code 94105 only.
IPLING ACME @941 This is a group notification to any member within Zips from 94100 to 94199.
IPLING ACME This is a group notification to all members of the group.

If you have any questions regarding this feature, send SOS IPLING to 99123 and one of our customer support specialist will give you a call.

SMS traffic still growing by leaps and bounds!

2011-07-20T16:28:00.000-07:00

Research by Informa Telecoms and Media finds that global SMS traffic is expected to increase to 8.7 trillion messages in 2015 from 5 trillion messages in 2010, signaling a big opportunity for retailers and marketers alike. SMS revenues are expected to reach $136.9 billion in 2015 from $105.5 billion in 2010.

As forecasted by iPling, SMS is increasingly being used by banks and financial institutions, brands, retailers and transport providers to deliver alerts, information services, mobile marketing campaigns, appointment reminders, tickets, coupons, banking and payments, and loyalty programs. They are all finding that SMS is a quick and cost effective channel to spread the word.

If your company is still missing an SMS marketing strategy, send SOS IPLING to 99123 and together we will get you started right away.

Corporate accounts, here we go!

2011-06-28T13:16:00.000-07:00

The iPling sales & marketing crew has been busy at work in Mexico City meeting with some of the country's biggest consumer goods and services companies. We are enjoying the fact that we are the only company down there offering a fully functional SMS platform that complies with all of the requirements imposed by both, the local carriers and the regulatory agency (COFETEL). Since May, we've had the opportunity to meet with with companies like Dell, Peugeot, The Home Depot, Alsea (Domino's), Grupo Televisa, OXXO, Jafra, and we are happy to report that most of the feedback is very encouraging. We are now gearing up to handle some big corporate accounts :)

iPling's find & be found! app is now available on iTunes!

2011-05-02T11:24:00.000-07:00

We are very happy to tell you all that iPling has a brand new "social discovery" app for the iPhone... find & be found! As the name implies, this app is all about reaching out and discovering people around you that share your interests at a given point in time. We've also included a very cool "group SMS" feature that will save you lots of time when getting in touch with your affinity groups.

All of you with iPhones in the U.S. and Mexico may now download our app to begin exploring your own unique worlds and making new real life connections! Just click on the link... http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/iplings-find-be-found/id430394197?mt=8

Twitter Gets Hit With Class Action Lawsuit Over Unsolicited SMS Notifications

2011-04-29T07:54:00.000-07:00

Two California residents, Drew Moss and Sahar Maleksaeedi, have filed a rather peculiar class action lawsuit against Twitter. Basically, they’re suing over the fact that Twitter sent a confirmatory SMS to their cellphone after they themselves used an SMS command (‘STOP’) meant to turn off all phone notifications.

The two men allege that Twitter has engaged in unlawful conduct by contacting them on their mobile phones without their consent, which they say is a violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 (TCPA) and an invasion of their privacy.

iPling's SMS groups showcased on the floor's big screen!

2011-04-12T21:26:00.000-07:00

Lots of Interest at Security Expo in Mexico City

2011-04-12T21:17:00.000-07:00

Today was the first day of Expo Seguridad 2011, the largest of its kind in all of Latin America. iPling was invited to the inauguration ceremonies and the keynote speech by Alvaro Uribe, the former President of Colombia. We were all very encouraged by the words of Mr. Uribe, which went from fundamental social and government policies to practical tips on how to improve our day-to day lives.

After mingling with the celebrities we spent the rest of the day at the conference expo floor, both working with the staff of the Police Department and talking to lots of exhibitors that want to create their own iPling groups. We had one of those days where you just feel in the right place, at the right time, with the right solution!

How to triple your valuation in a few weeks...

2011-03-18T12:07:00.000-07:00

Just follow these two steps:

1) reject an offer from Google
2) turn around and listen to your savvy investment banker

That's exactly what is going on at Groupon. Don't get us wrong, it is very exciting to see a company go from zero to over $500 million in revenue in a little over two years. Here at iPling we admire the talent and execution of the Groupon team and we take our hats off. However, it is disappointing to see how fast our dear investment bankers forget that they actually have a responsibility to match fundamental value with an offer about to be made to the general public. What are the actual valuation metrics? 100 x TTM EBITDA? The implied growth must be tremendous, considering mighty Google and Apple are trading roughly at 16x EBITDA.

And so it happened... Android operating system is now the dominate mobile platform!

2011-03-01T12:13:00.000-08:00

Hi folks. Just to let you know that according to the very latest data from Nielsen, Android now commands a 29% market share of smartphone users in the US. Meanwhile, Blackberry has fallen to 27% and Apple's iOS platform remains largely flat at 27%. Wondows 7 at 10%, Palm OS at 4%, and Nokia's antiquated Symbian with 2%, thanks only to people who have legacy Nokia phones as there are no current Symbian smartphones on the market in the US.

Mexico City's Police is now plinging!

2011-01-25T22:56:00.000-08:00

Here at iPling we are happy to see how most folks down in Mexico City can now receive quick tips and alerts from their police department. Until a few weeks ago, such information was only available to a tiny segment of the population affluent enough to have a smartphone and a Twitter account.

If you are interested in receiving plings from Mexico City's Police Department and have a Telcel or Movistar phone (any device will do), just text CARGA POLICIADF to iPling's 99123 short code.

Happy New Year from iPling!

2011-01-01T09:57:00.000-08:00

All the best to you and yours for a great year in 2011! Here at iPling we have some exciting plans for the coming months. Stay tuned to the blog for updates...and may we suggest an excellent resolution: Pling a friend in 2011!

Happy New Year from the iPling team!

Companies We Like: JobRooster

2010-12-18T20:41:00.000-08:00

Innovation continues in business models that, like iPling's, focus on the broad reach, timeliness, ubiquity, and level playing field of services built around text messages. Among the new entrants: JobRooster. Think of it as iPling for jobs.

JobRooster's mission statement rings true: "As a social enterprise, Job Rooster is working to redress social and economic inequalities that prevent everyone from enjoying the full range of opportunities."

"By building our...services around an easily accessible and widely available platform – the mobile phone," JobRooster crowed, "we hope to connect underserved communities to the...opportunities that will help them realize a rich life." We're down with that!

Cell Phones... everywhere in the world and always with you!

2010-12-03T12:30:00.000-08:00

MOBILE Wilson Electronics, Inc. just published this interesting (rather large) infographic outlining the demographics of cellphone use, which underline the great market opportunities iPling is pursuing.

The infographic illustrates, among other things, the number of cellphones per capita in various countries, the rate of cellphone adoption in the U.S. during the past decade and the acceptability of certain behaviors regarding cellphone use.

How do you say "tweet" in Spanish?

2010-11-05T15:39:00.000-07:00

Good question!
The answer is pling!

South of the border, apps like facebook and twitter only work on smartphones with data plans and the market penetration of these devices is still very very small. Here is where iPling's new SMS based grupos... ¡ya! service comes into play. Anyone with a Telcel or Movistar phone in Mexico can now create a group and ask as many people he/she wants to join it. The author can then send pling blasts to the entire group and keep everyone informed. Group members if they so choose can reply to the author, who in turn decides when, or not, to receive replies. All via text messages!

iPling is busy building a critical mass in Mexico and hopes to soon offer you its groups service here in the U.S. We'll let you know...

Android vs iPhone... here we go again! (that is, open vs closed)

2010-11-05T14:06:00.000-07:00

The Google vs Apple battle heated up this week when the latest data showed Google’s Android platform has taken the lead in the U.S. smartphone market.

According to market research firm NPD Group, devices with the Android operating system accounted for 44% of new smartphones sold to U.S. consumers in the third quarter. Apple iPhone’s came in second place with 23%.

That number may not shock anyone, considering the variety of Android phones available from handset makers like Motorola and HTC, while there is just one iPhone. But it’s a big change from a year ago, when the iPhone dominated the thoughts of the independent developers who write applications for smartphones.

As the battle intensifies, venture capitalists and developers are considering which platform they want to invest in, bank on and develop for. Here at iPling we are happy to see some healthy mobile OS competition and are looking forward to soon supporting both iPhone and Android phones... and not to forget, BBs as well ;)

What We're Reading: "A Simple Swipe on a Phone, and You’re Paid"

2010-10-02T21:26:00.000-07:00

We've had an eye on Square for a few months. The electronic payments startup has been around since Summer 2009 and began testing its product late last year. This spring, Square released iPad and iPhone apps along with their necessary hardware: a credit card reader that plugs into your i-device's headphone jack. Now that some initial glitches have been cleared up, Square has been in the limelight, with a featured appearance at the DEMO Fall 2010 conference last month and, this week, a glowing review from the New York Times's David Pogue.

Like everyone we admire Square's prescient identification of a market opportunity, radically democratizing the ability to accept credit card payments, as well as its impressive ability to raise enough money to get a complex product off the ground in little over a year. But of course the aspect that really caught our attention was the idea of expanding electronic payment options to the masses. Square's iPhone app is a great complement to iPling's Instant Classifieds for iPhone. Shop any where, any time for items nearby; pay any where, any time, any how. Sort of has a ring, doesn't it?

iPling coming to a university near you!

2010-09-07T15:41:00.000-07:00

We are happy to report that our Back to School campaign has met all of our expectations. Students and faculty alike are finding ways to benefit from our "instant classifieds" and "groups" services. After all, it is easy to introduce services with such a natural demand... students texting and making a few extra bucks for the weekend and teachers enjoying a fast and effective channel to keep their classes properly informed. Here, a nice photo of one of our evangelist teams, who have enjoyed being part of this colorful campaign.

What We're Reading: "Back-to-School Shopping Goes Mobile"

2010-08-30T00:40:00.000-07:00

When we saw the headline in the Washington Post, "Back-to-school shopping goes mobile," we thought they must have been reading the iPling blog! Turns out we're not the only ones to connect the on-the-go back to school shopping season with mobile advertising and text messages. Major retailers including Sears, J.C. Penney, and Sephora are among those putting a toe in the water.

The article also cites a survey by Deloitte this summer, showing that 29 percent of U.S. consumers said they planned to use their phones for back-to-school shopping. While mobile shopping already accounts for a healthy $1.2 billion in revenue in the U.S., that's just 2 percent of online sales, according to the Post, so there's lots of room to grow around the world - and once again, iPling is pleased to be in the vanguard!

iPling notifications! doesn't get any faster or easier...

2010-08-23T15:11:00.000-07:00

So we are officially launching our SMS notifications service next week, as part of our Back to School campaign in Mexico City! We are so excited about it. It is something lots of faculty and staff members asked for back in May and June, when we were visiting schools, and complements nicely our instant classifieds that we launched a few months ago.

iPling’s group notify! (beta) is a service that allows virtually anyone with a mobile phone to create a group and notify its members instantly via SMS messages. Give it a try! text NEWGROUP to 99123 and follow the simple steps. And when the group is no longer needed... disband it with just one simple command.

Wish us luck! We'll keep you posted.

Getting ready for back to school!

2010-07-28T09:14:00.000-07:00

No one is more excited for the return to classes than iPling! We've got some cool stuff coming down... a new SMS notification service, more features for our classifieds, another iPhone app, cool posters, trivias & challenges, etc. With so many things happening really the big challenge is to get the word out ;) For the time being, we'll continue to focus our marketing efforts on the biggest city of the continent... Mexico City!

Enjoy the summer and stay tuned!

May & June were lots of fun and we owed you some photos, so here they go...

2010-07-16T22:07:00.000-07:00

We had a blast going to high schools and universities over the last coupe of months. We are taking a two month break do to summer vacation but the crew looks forward to the return of classes, when we are planning lots of fun stuff at some of Mexico's largest universities, leveraging our always evolving SMS platform and apps. For the time being... enjoy the summer!

Ok ok, so if you wear iPling gear climbing the Himalayas you get to be on our blog ;)

2010-07-11T18:48:00.000-07:00

News from Gareth,

"Pete and I were trekking in the Kinnaur/Spiti region, right on the India/Chinese border. We pitched our tents at about 14,500 feet not far from the Kundzom Pass. The snow prevented us from crossing the pass, but the place was incredibly beautiful.-Gareth"

Mobile OS Race Heating Up...

2010-07-07T15:47:00.000-07:00

Keeping an eye on some of our industry fundamentals, it looks like iPhone OS will soon reach RIM as far as mobile market share. Nokia's Symbian remains the choice for lower end devices and Android is the rising star that will most likely shake things up in 2011 and 2012. All others are by now losing market share and we don't see how they will turn things around (some people at Microsoft have a lot of explaining to do). Here at iPling we are happy to see how our SMS Only service works on ALL operating systems! Soon to be released though... a BB client!

iPling wishes you a happy 4th of July!!!

2010-07-04T06:57:00.000-07:00

Ads popping up all over Mexico City :)

2010-07-01T14:22:00.000-07:00

It's so nice to see ads popping up all over the place in the Mexico City area. The iPling crew gets so excited to see people using its service and look forward to soon posting some success stories of plingers finding each other and getting together.

We wish we could run some ads here in the U.S. but, for the time being, need to focus all of our resources on building critical mass where our service is most useful... big cities in emerging markets!

Talk about a cost effective campaign!

2010-06-07T14:19:00.000-07:00

The Mexico City subway system (known as Metro) carries over 5 million people every day and the bulk of its users are prime candidates for iPling's services... young, active, from the city's growing middle class, and carrying cell phones. So as we were analyzing the various ways to spread our word, no one came close to the potential impact of a well run Metro campaign. We recently installed over 100 "Dovelas" and "Cabeceras" inside the trains, and people, who in average spend 28 minutes commuting, can now use their phones to post or search whatever they want (yes, most lines are wired for cellular services!).

Post an ad on iPling and spread the word!

2010-05-17T10:29:00.000-07:00

This morning the iPling crew was pleasently surprised by an article in Mexico City's popular newspaper "Publimetro", which predicted the end of classified ads in their current printed format, to be replaced by nothing else than... iPling's instant classifieds!!! So there you have it. The expectations are very high, and so our committment to make it happen. The challenge remains to create a critical mass fast. We're already working on several fronts to spread the word, but if you have any ideas of your own please by all means join our efforts and email lena@ipling.com.

Now in iTunes: Instant Classifieds v1.2 - More Listings to Choose From!

2010-04-25T22:32:00.000-07:00

We're pleased to announce the release of Version 1.2 of the iPling Instant Classifieds iPhone application, now available for free download from your choice of the U.S. or Mexican iTunes. Version 1.2 complements your iPling search results by adding millions of directory listings. With Version 1.2, when you conduct a search iPling will first present the most relevant classified ads, then we enhance the results with nearby directory listings that may be of interest. We're continuing to respond to your input and roll out product upgrades to make your iPling experience more fun and useful. We appreciate all the feedback so far. Let us know how we're doing!

More Attention to SMS Apps

2010-04-11T13:57:00.000-07:00

The fantastic new iPad takes mobile connectivity to a new level - but at the same time, it's interesting to see more companies focusing on the opposite end of the market, people with less sophisticated mobile devices. The advantage of this strategy: it reaches deep into the population, bringing benefits to those for whom cutting-edge devices are either too expensive or too complex.

We've noticed a mini-boom in recent months in text-message apps from companies that recognize the opportunity of empowering the masses, similar to iPling's Instant Classified service. For example, Bank of America now offers Text Banking. Another company on our radar, Gumiyo, has a platform for mobile marketing via SMS. The takeaway: keep it lightweight and simple. We love the breathtaking iPad, but sometimes a quick text message is all you need!

Hmm... what could I use iPling for?

2010-04-07T12:01:00.000-07:00

With a Little Help from Your Friends...at iPling?

2010-03-20T14:23:00.000-07:00

We were excited to see the recent news that Mexico's Carlos Slim Helu has moved to the top of the list as the richest person in the world. You see, among his many business interests, Carlos controls Telcel, iPling's partner for our ¡Anunciate al Instante! (Instant Classifieds) service that's currently available in Mexico in beta.

Even though it's only in beta, ¡Anunciate al Instante! is already bringing in some revenue. So we're tempted to ask, was it iPling that helped push Carlos over the top??

¡ya! what?

2010-03-15T14:49:00.000-07:00

¡ya! It's Spanish for done!

The word ¡ya! is the theme for the official Spring launch of our classifieds service in Mexico City.

It's really short and full of meaning. Perfect for the crowd we are going after.

Our spin... if you want to buy, sell, promote a service, find someone, etc. with iPling you are done before you know it. Go ahead, give it a try... it's so simple.

But wait... there is more. ¡ya! is often used to say "enough already!", and we are certainly taking advantage of this meaning too. Our campaign highlights how iPling can help replace all those street signs that visually pollute Mexico City (there are home made signs and graffiti literaly on every street) and how by using iPling we are all transforming an industry that is so paper intensive.

We are on track for our April launch and look forward to sharing the advertising collateral, even if in Spanish, on this blog soon. And don't worry, when press time comes we'll be sure to use recycled paper only ;)

We just had to share this posting...

2010-02-17T10:12:00.000-08:00

News Release: iPling's New iPhone App Revolutionizes Classified Advertising

2010-01-31T11:50:00.000-08:00

SAN FRANCISCO February 1, 2010--iPling Inc., the company that brings you fun mobile services that instantly connect you to like-minded people, has released iPling Instant Classifieds, its second product for the U.S. market, as a downloadable iPhone application. Now available free in the iTunes App Store, iPling Instant Classifieds revolutionizes classified advertising by empowering you to post or browse location-aware classified ads instantly from your iPhone.

iPling Instant Classifieds offers many improvements over traditional print or online classified ads. For example, with iPling Instant Classifieds it’s easy to find nearby items and services for sale, rent, or barter. You can also search for events, people, jobs, and more in your vicinity. Because it operates through virtually any cellular phone, the service is available anytime, anywhere. You can post, browse, or delete ads instantly. Location-awareness means the most convenient, nearby ads are displayed first. Another benefit: the iPling system anonymizes buyers and sellers for your protection. Best of all, there’s no charge to use the service!

iPling Instant Classifieds has been available in Mexico since 2009 as ¡Anunciate al Instante! a text-message service that launched through a partnership with Telcel, the country’s largest carrier. “The potential in emerging markets is huge,” says iPling CEO Manuel Monroy. “We’re actively exploring several other large markets around the world. But although our main focus is developing markets, we also want to offer iPling Instant Classifieds in the U.S.”

Monroy noted that iPling is currently evaluating various go-to-market opportunities, including strategic partnerships similar to the agreement with Telcel or raising a round of venture capital.

Based in San Francisco and Mexico City, iPling was launched in January 2007 by a group of Silicon Valley entrepreneurs with a track record of innovation at leading companies including Andersen, Apple, Oracle, and Yahoo. The founders share the vision of creating fun, innovative mobile services that empower people to reach out and enrich their lives. The company’s first product, Find and Be Found, is a real-time, location-based mobile service that doesn’t just build your social network, but expands it. Find and Be Found was released the same day as the iPhone (June 29, 2007) and was quickly named one of the “Top 25 Web Apps for iPhone.”

iPling Instant Classifieds was developed in a technology partnership with Spime, Inc., a leading provider of location-enabling technologies based in Fremont, CA.

What We're Reading: New York Times on iPhone Apps

2010-01-31T11:36:00.000-08:00

Interesting reading in the Times this weekend: When Phones Are Just Too Smart. The average iPhone owner may have many more, but uses less than a dozen apps on a regular basis. App discovery emerges as a problem awaiting a solution. We learned about some fun-sounding apps from this article and we bet you will too. And while you're in the store downloading apps, give the iPling Instant Classifieds app a try!

Movistar expands iPling's reach in Mexico

2010-01-28T17:06:00.000-08:00

Down in Mexico, when you add the market share of the top two cellular carriers you get to (believe it or not) close to 90%. When iPling launched its instant classifieds service late last year with Mexico's Telcel, we proudly stated that our service reached approx. 70% of the country's mobile base. Today we are happy to report that iPling has signed an agreement with Movistar and, with its 20% penetration, we are within weeks of being avaiable to virtually everybody in this great country.

With our instant classifieds service reaching 90% of users, we are so excited to let loose our marketing folks down here, who've been so patiently (not really) waiting for our technical team to reach this important milestone. So what's to come from our creative bunch..... we were told not to say anything quite yet! soon though.

Download It Now: iPling Instant Classifieds for iPhone

2009-12-29T13:12:00.000-08:00

We're excited to announce that iPling Instant Classifieds are now available in the US market via our new iPhone app! The convenient mobile phone classified advertising service that's already available to millions in Mexico has expanded north of the border! Simply go to the iTunes Store and search for iPling. The download is free.

The US version is still in beta and we're experiencing occasional service delays from our text messaging provider, but our technical team is aware of the issue and working to resolve it. In the meantime, try out the app. Post a classified ad to buy that special something you really wanted for Christmas but didn't receive--or to get rid of the gifts you did receive but wish you hadn't! Once you try iPling Instant Classifieds you'll be hooked. We want to hear from you. Leave your comments and feedback here on the blog.

Looking ahead, we're already working on our next iPhone app, a downloadable version of our popular, original service, iPling Find & Be Found. 2010 is looking like a big year for iPling. Stay tuned to the blog for all the latest news, and a very Happy New Year to you and your loved ones from all of us on the iPling team!

News Release: Ground-Breaking Mobile Classified Ad Service Fulfills a Mexican-American Entrepreneur's Dream

2009-11-16T01:07:00.000-08:00

SAN FRANCISCO, November 16, 2009—When iPling Inc.’s ¡Anunciate al Instante! (Instant Classifieds!) mobile-phone-based classified advertising service launches in Mexico City this month, it will be the culmination of a dream for Manuel Monroy, a Mexican entrepreneur working in Silicon Valley. Monroy’s vision is to provide simple yet revolutionary tools wherever mobile technology can be leveraged to connect and empower people. Equally gratifying to Monroy, the ¡Anunciate al Instante! service will first be available in his home country and come later to the U.S. Too often in Mexico it has been the other way around, with U.S. services belatedly migrating south of the border.

Monroy explains, “While the world is in the midst of a mobile revolution, most emerging markets remain wide open for creative localized solutions. When we looked at the decades of stagnation of Mexico’s classified ad industry we just had to step in. If our launch goes as planned, iPling will soon host the largest second-hand and personals marketplace in the country.”

¡Anunciate al Instante! operates entirely through text (SMS) messages, meaning it’s available to virtually everyone with a mobile phone. Initially it will only work on phones served by Telcel, the country’s dominant carrier, but Monroy is in talks with other carriers to ensure that the service is ubiquitous in the near future. Using the service is as simple as sending a text message. Using the Short Code 99123 you can post an ad to sell, barter, or rent goods and services, as well as post jobs, events, and personals ads or manage your account. Users can browse listings by entering keywords and categories, and correspond safely/anonymously among themselves. Each message sent through the iPling gateway costs MXN1.50 (roughly US$0.11).

¡Anunciate al Instante! improves upon traditional classified ads because it’s available for posting or browsing any time, anywhere you have your mobile phone—instantly, whenever it’s convenient or timely. In addition, the service is location-aware, automatically ranking browsing results according to the proximity of the interested parties. For example, if you want to trade a DVD with someone within walking distance; if you’re looking for a handyman in the neighborhood; or if you want to buy a used TV without having to pay for shipping and wait for delivery, iPling’s ¡Anunciate al Instante! is at your fingertips, ready to connect you with people nearby. It’s also affordable, costing only a few pesos per interaction, compared to MXN100-400 for a newspaper ad.

A native of Mexico City, Monroy earned an undergraduate engineering degree from the University of Southern California and an MBA from UCLA. He worked at Mattel, Inc., and at Andersen’s Silicon Valley office prior to moving full-time into an entrepreneurial career. For the past several years Monroy has worked with the Silicon Valley chapter of Mexico’s Technology Business Accelerator (TechBA) and has been an active speaker at Mexico’s Secretary of Foreign Affairs Red de Talentos events. He’s also served on the board of Hispanic-Net, a thriving community of Bay Area Hispanics in High-Tech. In 2007 Monroy founded iPling Inc., a company devoted to mobile, location-enabled social networking services. iPling’s first service, “Find and Be Found,” launched on June 29, 2007, the same day as the iPhone, and was soon named one of the “Top 25 Web Apps for iPhone.”

Later this month iPling’s ¡Anunciate al Instante! will be available as a downloadable iPhone application in both Mexico and the US, in Spanish and English. The ¡Anunciate al Instante! service was developed through a technology partnership with Spime, Inc., of Fremont, CA, a leading provider of location-enabling technologies for the mobile market.

OECD: Moblie Platform Fueling E-Commerce Growth

2009-11-15T10:52:00.000-08:00

In the What We're Reading category, couldn't have said it better ourselves: According to a new OECD report, e-commerce is booming globally even as in-store commerce falls victim to hard economic times. In fact, OECD says, the global financial crisis has fueled e-commerce growth. A big driver and area of future growth: mobile e-commerce. The report, "Empowering E-Consumers," observed the phenomenon worldwide, in Europe, North America, and Asia.

The growth isn't limited to sales of new merchandise. In the US, the study says, the average e-tailer sales growth this year is 11% - but Craigslist expects twice as much, 23%. Here are links to the 47-page report and AFP's article summarizing it.

The View from Our New Digs!

2009-11-02T17:26:00.000-08:00

iPling is moving up in the world, literally, to the 36th floor of Spear Tower, part of the 1 Market complex right on San Francisco's Embarcadero. Our new address is 1 Market Street, Suite 3600 Spear Tower, San Francisco, CA 94105. We have such a great view that we wanted to share!

While we were building our technology and business alliances and conserving cash we reluctantly closed our former Financial District office on Montgomery Street and operated from cyberspace. Now that we have a commercial product in Mexico and are close to launching our iPhone app for the US market we wanted to reestablish our physical presence in San Francisco.

Stay tuned to the blog, there are more exciting announcements coming in the near future.

iTunes Store... here we come!

2009-10-30T11:16:00.000-07:00

14 days we've heard! So here we go with our instant classifieds app for the iPhone. Good ol' V1.0... we'll make little noise for the time being but if you happen to have an iPhone around then download the app (actually wait until November 10), post a few ads and let us know what you think by sending an email to feedback@ipling.com. Any and all comments are greatly appreciated. Yours truly, the iPling tech team.

Hitting More Milestones...And Something to Ponder

2009-10-07T01:04:00.001-07:00

iPling is moving forward toward our goals! iPling Anunciate al Instante (Instant Classifieds) began public beta tests in Mexico City last month. Our technology partner, Spime, is working on some issues that arose with scaling, but in general the service was received with enthusiasm and we're looking forward to ramping up the promotion engine within a few months now.

We're also preparing to submit the iPhone app version of the service to Apple later this year, a move that will open up Instant Classifieds to the US market. We're really excited about the US potential and will let you know as soon as it's ready for download.

Finally, on the list of what we're reading, did you see this article in Monday's New York Times? At iPling we believe necessity is the mother of invention, and there's lots of necessity in developing economies. That's why we love to keep an eye on mobile innovation around the globe, even in countries that aren't normally on the technology radar.

October should see some big announcements from iPling. Stay tuned and we'll keep you posted here on the blog!

Hard work, no play

2009-09-09T14:44:00.000-07:00

Hi there to all,

Altough Virginia has been keeping you informed of many relevant stories I have to admit that it's been way too long since my last post. I've been focused on getting things done, traveling to Mexico City on a monthly basis and time just flies by. I actually just got back last Friday to say hi to my wife and kids and I will be heading back down for another two weeks in a few days.

The great news to briefly tell you at this point is that we have an agreement in place with Telcel, the largest cellular carrier in Mexico, and we have finalized the marketing and operating joint ventures that will allow us to effectively launch our "anúnciate al instante" service by the end of this week. Our launch has been carefully drafted and is targetting some of Mexico's busiest commercial districts. We will be planting a few seeds and then will create the buzz for the word to get around. the timing seems just right and all our hopes are riding high.

Our iPhone app has been delayed by a few last minute requirements form Verizon Wireless, but things should be resolved within the month and we expect to have a fully functioning iPhone app ready for download on the U.S. and Mexican iTunes stores sometime in October.

Below are a couple of examples of the many different (case spacific) flyers that are being distributed in Mexico's Villa Coapa neighborhood, as I'm writting this note. We'll post some pictures of the action in the streets in a few days.

thanks for your interest in iPling... please stay tunned!

Anunciate al Instante Now Live in Mexico!

2009-08-11T19:38:00.000-07:00

In the latest step toward bringing our iPling Instant Classifieds product to market in Latin America, our Anunciate al Instante service is now live in Mexico on Telcel short code 99123. The service will officially launch in the next few weeks, and coming shortly afterwards, the US version.

It's exciting to see all of our plans and hard work start to take a firm shape at last. Stay tuned for here on the blog for the latest news as the countdown progresses!

Google Sees the SMS App Opportunity

2009-06-30T09:23:00.001-07:00

"In many places around the world, people look to their phones, rather than their computers, to find information they need in their daily lives."
--Google, June 29, 2009

We were interested to see this announcement by Google yesterday. Like us, the search giant understands that there are markets with millions of users who don't have access to a full-featured computing device but are avid cell phone users, so they're releasing a suite of SMS applications for search, sharing information, and exchanging goods. And, Google says, they'll be paying more attention to this space going forward. For now, Google's SMS services are focused on Africa.

Google's Trader SMS app works a lot like iPling Instant Classifieds, offering buy, sell, and browse functions through text messages. At the moment, Trader is only available through one carrier in Uganda.

It's exciting to see Google starting to pay attention to the potential of SMS; it signals a new round of interest, innovation, and technology enhancements. This summer is a great time to be launching iPling Instant Classifieds!

Start the Countdown!

2009-06-29T21:54:00.000-07:00

Ok, so a year ago if we'd taken a poll, who would you have voted Most Likely to Succeed in 2009? iPling or...Lehman Brothers?

Well, the world is an unpredictable place, but we've been promising an exciting new product debut in Latin America and, undeterred by global financial meltdown and pandemic, our indefatigable CEO Manuel Monroy has marshalled scarce resources, kept the core team in place, brought on a strong technology partner, and hammered out key deals with Mexican cellular carriers to make the dream a reality. Now the product is ready and after the last business pieces fall into place over the next couple of weeks, sometime in July we'll go live with the pilot of iPling Instant Classifieds in Mexico City.

Initially the service is available on the dominant Telcel network. Before long we'll be adding more carriers to broaden coverage. Unlike our original Find and Be Found US application, it doesn't depend on an iPhone. If your phone can send and receive text messages, you can participate.

Later in Q3 we'll release an iPhone version of the application for the US market.

In a nutshell, iPling Instant Classifieds lets you post, browse, and correspond about brief, location-aware classified ads for goods and services via text messages. Users are untethered from a computer and free to connect any time, anywhere the need arises. Twitter's exploding popularity has opened the door to a wide range of SMS-based interactions. iPling Instant Classifieds is a logical evolution of the SMS medium in a commercial and transactional direction.

We can't wait to take the wraps off of our launch promotions and get the ball rolling. Check back here on the blog soon; we'll keep you posted as the clock counts down!

What We're Reading: NY Times on Skyhook Wireless

2009-06-01T19:06:00.000-07:00

The New York Times had an interesting profile today on Skyhook Wireless, the location lookup service that powers the iPhone and other devices. At iPling, we see location awareness as a powerful new dimension in the information matrix, one that's only beginning to be fully exploited. Kudos to the Skyhook team for their paradigm-changing vision and innovation. We're on board!

Anticipating a Launch in Summer '09

2009-05-15T18:27:00.000-07:00

We've been working hard on iPling Instant Classifieds products during the first months of 2009 and want to give a progress report. We anticipate launching with a large Mexican partner within the next three months. Negotiations continue with a couple of companies while our development group is finalizing the app, which we're currently testing in internal alpha. We're also interviewing Mexican PR and marketing firms that can help us take this long-anticipated service live with a big splash.

At the same time, we're working on an iPhone app for the instant classifieds, localized for the US market. We look forward to making it available in the App Store mid-summer. The global recession, funding and credit crunch, swine flu, and the complexities of a new startup have all slowed things down over the past several months, but the original vision of freedom, empowerment, and connection that have motivated iPling from Day 1 continue to burn brightly, and we're all committed to bringing our new services to market in 2009.

Stay tuned to the blog for updates on the availability of our new apps.

Happy Holidays from the iPling Crew!

2008-12-20T10:43:00.000-08:00

All of us at iPling wish you happy holidays as we close out 2008! This has been a busy and exciting year for iPling. We kicked off 2008 with our fun Macworld Treasure Hunt event in January. Shortly afterward, we expanded features and added new languages (including Portuguese, Chinese, and Italian) for our flagship "Find and Be Found" service.

Based on the frequency of tags users were placing in profiles, Plingers predicted Barack Obama's election back in March. In April we initiated a new product, iPling Instant Classifieds, and signed an LOI with a large mobile carrier in Latin America to launch and host the new service in their market.

iPling was frequently in the news in 2008. We saw nice coverage from Dow Jones Venturewire, Venturebeat, KillerStartups.com, and the Best iPhone Apps blog. We were also nominated for the AlwaysOn Global 250, a list that highlights "the top 250 private companies from across innovation" and aims "to identify leaders and future leaders."

The iPling family expanded in 2008. To get Instant Classifieds up and running faster we joined forces with Spime as a technology partner. Both SMS and iPhone versions of the Instant Classifieds app are scheduled to go into testing in early 2009, as we continue to negotiate specifics of marketing and launch. In October we welcomed Jorge Guzman Herrmann to the team. He's based in Mexico City and is facilitating our Latin American operations.

Turning the page on a challenging business environment in 2008, we have high hopes for iPling in 2009 and look forward to sharing more information here in the blog as plans firm up. In the meantime, have a great holiday season with friends and family, and we'll pling you in 2009!

What We're Reading: Innovation in an Economic Downturn

2008-11-01T22:41:00.000-07:00

On the iPling reading list this week: from the New York Times, "It’s No Time to Forget About Innovation." Author Janet Rae-Dupree comments that while the process of innovation may appear inefficient and therefore be a tempting target for budget cuts during economic downtime, it's actually a critical component of future success that must be judiciously nurtured.

Some advice:

Foster "a companywide atmosphere of innovation--encouraging everyone to take risks and to think about novel solutions, from receptionists to corner-suite executives"
Instill "five core values to entrench innovation in the corporate mind-set: questioning, risk-taking, openness, patience and trust." Use all five together; you can't pick and choose
"Companies that survive are those that keep creativity and innovation foremost"

Great points to ponder for all of us building companies against the headwind of a challenging economy!

iPhone: Desktop on the Go

2008-10-30T20:07:00.000-07:00

Interesting new research from Comscore today: the "All About iPhone" report that shows the fastest growing demographic of iPhone users is those with an income in the $25,000-$75,000 range. Importantly, for these consumers, "the device is used in lieu of multiple digital devices and services, transforming the iPhone from a luxury item to a practical communication and entertainment tool," according to Comscore analyst Jen Wu.

These customers are using the iPhone as a mobile web and email device, the study confirmed. Even as the economic belt tightens iPhone usage looks to remain strong, with Apple's all-in-one gadget augmenting or replacing other options for staying connected.

The report confirms a key product philosophy at iPling that demand for mobile services will continue to expand as the platform provides greater utility than conventional web-based offerings. We're all about realizing that utility through fun, easy-to-use products and services that empower you to do things you never imagined, on the go. Our exciting Latin American project is continuing to move forward. Stay tuned!

Sequoia Capital's Advice to Portfolio Companies

2008-10-10T20:03:00.001-07:00

If you haven't seen it yet, check out Sequoia Capital's analysis of the current economic panic and advice to its portfolio companies. Bottom line: go back to the fundamentals and make sure you execute very well. We all know that...but sometimes we need to jog our memory. With the NASDAQ losing over a quarter of its value in less than a month, jogging accomplished.

View SlideShare presentation or upload your own.

Welcome to the Newest iPling Team Member!

2008-10-05T22:19:00.000-07:00

As we move forward with our Latin American "Instant Classifieds" product we're excited to add a talented new member to the iPling team, Jorge Guzman Herrmann. Jorge's experience in the wireless industry includes seven years with Telcel, Mexico's largest mobile phone carrier, where his positions included Value Added Services Manager and Chief of Content and Alliances. He's based in Mexico City and will be our point person with Telcel and Seccion Amarilla.

Welcome, Jorge! It's great to have you on the team.

Glitch Alert

2008-08-27T14:20:00.000-07:00

All the changes/upgrades made to the iPhone operating system are great for users, but they've caused a couple of unexpected glitches in our "Find and Be Found" iPhone application at iPling.mobi. We're working on getting everything back in shape, but in the interim you may experience different behavior on some familiar features. Feel free to report any issues you experience on the iPling Community Forum.

iPling: A "Best iPhone App"

2008-08-24T22:35:00.000-07:00

We're excited by the latest accolade for iPling's flagship "Find and Be Found" iPhone service: plaudits from the Best iPhone Apps blog, which calls us "like a mind reading phenomenon," "really a cool concept" that "brings the element of human touch and connection to iPhone," and finally, "a sweet surprise."

Experience it for yourself: give iPling a try and see what the buzz is about. Then leave us your feedback here on the iPling blog or in the iPling Community Forum.

Brief Outage

2008-08-17T19:31:00.001-07:00

Apologies to anyone who couldn't access the mobile app (www.ipling.mobi) late last week. We had a brief technical outage, but everything should be back to normal now.

Meanwhile, Manuel and the dev team are going full steam on our Latin American partnership. The SMS app is in the prototype stage while we continue to nail down details of the business relationship. More info coming soon.

Need Help Downloading iPhone 2.0 Software?

2008-07-11T14:16:00.000-07:00

Today's the long-awaited day, and if you're among the many having problems updating your (old) iPhone's software via iTunes today, there's a handy back-door download; details in comments by davehuston to this Macworld article. It's a bit complex, so read the instructions carefully. Essentially you're downloading the software directly, then "restoring" your iPhone to the new version. We at iPling can't vouch for this method officially, but it worked for me after I spent an hour unsuccessfully trying to get in through the "front door." I had to restore twice; the first restore sent the phone back to "emergency" mode. Not sure if that's unavoidable or if there was a glitch. In any case, good luck! Even for those of us who, for the moment, have the suddenly uncool 2.5G phones, there are lots of fun apps to explore in the new App Store. It should be a busy weekend!

It's Coming, It's Coming!

2008-07-08T23:21:00.000-07:00

Celebrity is like that: last week we all felt so cool; next week many of us will be has-beens. When the new 3G iPhone finally reaches the market on Friday, for many of us "old" iPhone users the coolness factor will expire like old milk. The drumbeat of news about the 3G iPhone is becoming deafening this week. Not to worry, iPling will still run on your iPhone, either the old or the new model!

A few top technology writers have already published hands-on reviews, including the Wall Street Journal's Walt Mossberg and the New York Times's David Pogue. Mossberg says the 3G phone is as fast as you would hope, the GPS is great, and audio is much better, but it's easy to drain the battery. Pogue adds that with 3G, you can talk on the phone while also surfing the web. He says the new iPhone "feels even better in your hand" than its predecessor.

As exciting as the new phone on Friday will be the release of iPhone 2.0 operating system, which opens both old and new iPhones to a universe of third-party applications. There's no telling what innovations these developers will bring to the platform. Stand by to observe a flood of creativity...and maybe the next "killer app" for mobile.

Happy Birthday iPling!

2008-07-07T23:46:00.000-07:00

Things have been so busy at iPling the last few weeks we hardly had time to blow out the birthday candles, but last week marked an important milestone: one year since our official launch on June 29, 2007--the same day as the iPhone.

It's been an exciting ride. After making big waves with the launch (for example, we were named one of the "Top 25 Web Apps for iPhone" and "one of the most ambitious of the new iPhone features to come from developers outside Apple") we hunkered down to make our "Find and Be Found" app more robust and scalable. 2008 started off with a bang as we held the popular iPling Treasure Hunt that had Macworld Expo attendees "plinging for treasure" during the event. This spring we closed a bridge financing round that got VentureBeat, Killerstartups.com, and Dow Jones VentureWire, among others, buzzing. We were also nominated for the 2008 AlwaysOn Global 250, an honor that “highlights the top 250 private companies from across innovation.”

Most recently there's been exciting news from Latin America, where we have an LOI with a top carrier to develop a mobile, SMS-enabled classified application, "iPling Instant Classifieds."

So Happy Birthday iPling! It's been an exciting start. We can't wait to see how Year 2 stacks up.

Update from Manuel in Mexico

2008-06-12T19:55:00.001-07:00

Manuel's in Mexico talking to our Latin America partner and reports the demo of the "iPling Instant Classifieds" SMS app went well today. Now that we've demonstrated that we can execute technically the discussions turn to the business side. The next goal is to finalize the partnership agreement and move toward implementation. More details as things progress!

WWDC Excitement: 3G iPhone and More

2008-06-10T16:29:00.000-07:00

Lots of exciting announcements coming out of WWDC this week. Here's Macworld's hands-on review of the new 3G iPhone. There's also a good analysis in Business Week of some of the business considerations around the new iPhone applications store. Apple is linking to details about the 3G iPhone, MobileMe, and the WWDC keynote from their home page. And the New York Times had this interesting article about how a growing number of women are attracted to smart phones.

Manuel is missing the fun; he's in Mexico this week in partner meetings. It's a busy month on the mobile scene.

Steve Jurvetson on Innovation and the Startup Scene

2008-06-06T20:37:00.000-07:00

Today the San Francisco Chronicle ran a brief interview with Steve Jurvetson, cofounder and managing director of Draper Fisher Jurvetson, one of the top venture capital firms in Silicon Valley. Unfortunately he doesn't discuss mobile, but he does share his views on innovation, what it takes for a technology to be disruptive and create profit opportunities, and risk, among other topics.

"As an investor, when we look for disruptive change, we often look for weird cross-pollinations of talent," Steve commented. "A lot of these companies if not all, or almost all, have a key insight that's some weird combination across academic disciplines that hadn't been thought of before."

From the investing perspective, "For us, a natural starting point is close to markets we know something about," he added.

iPhone Inspires Other Cool Mobile UIs

2008-06-06T20:30:00.000-07:00

Speaking of iPhone, as predicted, its groundbreaking mobile user interface (UI) has generated a lot of imitation and even some improvements. Here's a look at what the device manufacturer HTC has on the drawing board, an intriguing "TouchFLO 3D" interface.

HTC is suddenly a hot company. There's a rumor--denied by HTC--it may soon be bought by Sony Ericsson.

Apple Creates New Position: SVP of iPhone Software

2008-06-06T12:57:00.000-07:00

Apple is apparently so pleased with progress on iPhone software development--and sees the iPhone as such an important part of the company's future--that they've created the new position of Senior Vice-President of iPhone Software and named Scott Forstall to fill the post, Macworld is reporting. The position reports directly to Steve Jobs.

Forstall, an 11-year Apple veteran, joined Jobs onstage to announce the rollout of the iPhone SDK in March. He previously worked on the Mac OS and interface.

The announcement leaves no doubt that Apple is planning on keeping iPhone front and center and evolving rapidly for some time to come.

More Kudos for iPling

2008-06-02T22:13:00.000-07:00

More good coverage for iPling, this time on the Dow Jones VentureWire. Reporter Timothy Hay summarized the company and our current private placement financing round. The successful bridge loan campaign--$225,000 raised to date--has sparked a flurry of interest in iPling.

In addition, we just learned that we've been nominated for the AlwaysOn Global 250, a list that highlights "the top 250 private companies from across innovation" and aims "to identify leaders and future leaders." Historically, about a third of the selective group has exited either via IPO or acquisition, according to AlwaysOn. The selection process will conclude with a conference at Stanford July 22-24.

The phone is still ringing this week. Stay tuned for more updates soon!

iPling: Now an Official "Killer Startup"

2008-05-30T10:31:00.000-07:00

The latest coverage of iPling comes from KillerStartups.com this morning. Answering the question "Why It Might Be a Killer," the blog names three areas where iPling stands out:

"iPling.com has an amazing graphic design, the site is very visually captivating." Kudos to our graphic designer, Houston Berry!

"iPling has a great concept, social networking should focus on making new connections and expanding social networks not just keeping in touch with old friends." We agree: there's so much room for innovation beyond simply putting existing web-based social networks on a mobile platform. At iPling, we're devoted to finding solutions that expand your horizons.

"iPling could be very popular among traveling business men and business women who spend a lot of time in new places." Yes, travel is just one area where our "Find and Be Found" application can open new opportunities to make friends and connect with people who share your interests.

After a quiet period this spring when we've been retooling our apps to make them more robust and working on a major new product line for Latin America, it's exciting to see iPling back in the news. Stay tuned, you'll be hearing more soon.

Check Out Our Coverage on VentureBeat!

2008-05-29T18:19:00.000-07:00

We just got some nice coverage in VentureBeat this afternoon, courtesy of reporter Anthony Ha. Anthony calls iPling "a fun new approach to the crowded mobile social network market" and "a more interesting use of location-based technology than, say, just finding out that one of your friends is nearby." He also included a screenshot of the app on the iPhone. The article summarizes both our beta web app and our SMS-only application for Latin America, currently in development. It also mentions our ongoing private placement funding round.

Check it out!

Microsoft Touts Upcoming Touch Screen Capability

2008-05-28T10:15:00.000-07:00

It seems the iPhone's touch screen is contagious. Today Microsoft is saying its next-gen operating system, Windows 7, will be touch-screen compatible. The feature is getting top-level endorsement at Microsoft. CEO Steve Ballmer personally announced the future feature at the Wall Street Journal's "D: All Things Digital" conference, while Chairman Bill Gates articulated the company's vision of input beyond the keyboard: "Today almost all the interaction is keyboard-mouse. Over years to come, the role of speech, vision, ink — all of those — will be huge."

Windows 7 is slated to replace Vista in 2009.

As fans have predicted, the iPhone has kicked off the next round of innovation in user interface.

More details and a demo on a Microsoft corporate blog.

MIT Students' Take on the Future of Mobile

2008-05-28T00:38:00.000-07:00

You may have seen the recent news about a class of MIT students set loose on the challenge of developing interesting mobile applications with Google's upcoming Android platform. Almost all of the 20 students, organized into 7 teams, chose location as a key feature of their ideal apps. Several then intersected different forms of social connection with the time and space attributes.

One of the proposals sounded familiar to us at iPling. Called Re:Public, it was described as "a social networking program that helps people make new friends in their area."

Here are the other six projects:

Locale, which adjusts phone settings for different locations, for example, not to ring when you're in a movie theatre. Locale won a US$25,000 prize and advanced to the finals of Google's $10 million Android developers challenge.
GeoLife, which allows users to create lists and have the phone remind them when they are in a specified location: for example, to buy bread when they go to the market.
Loco, which locates events in the area and facilitates inviting friends.
Flare, which helps delivery businesses track drivers.
Snap, which helps users find interesting places and events nearby
KEI, which enables locking and unlocking the car via mobile phone

"This class is a glimpse of the future, and what's nice, the not-so-distant future," according to the class's professor, Hal Abelson...who reportedly gave all of the students As.

iPling Receives Official Certificate from Apple

2008-05-16T19:26:00.000-07:00

Requesting an SDK for iPhone 2.0 software is one thing; receiving one of the few official Apple certificates released to date that allows full testing is another. Earlier this week iPling got its certificate and we're excited!

According to Apple, the certificates provide an extra layer of security so Apple can track and identify anyone who provides bad code. However, so far they've been a bottleneck in the SDK process, with reports that many have been requested but few released. As blogger Dan Moren explains on Macworld's iPhone Central: "unless you have a valid certificate issued by Apple as part of the developer program, your apps will no longer run on the iPhone or iPod touch—they will, however, still work in the iPhone Simulator on your Mac. Code Signing is a big part of the touted security of the iPhone OS."

In other words, without a certificate, you can't test your app on an actual iPhone or iPod touch. No such worries for iPling. We'll be ready for the official iPhone 2.0 release next month.

A View of Mobile Opportunity Areas from Bell Labs

2008-05-10T19:30:00.000-07:00

Earlier this month I sat in on a live online chat event with Gee Rittenhouse, a VP at Bell Labs. Gee's topic was the worldwide reality of anywhere, anytime communications, but the chat touched on all sorts of mobile and wireless opportunities, and how we've only begun to recognize the opportunities that ubiquitous broadband suggests. A few notes on Gee's view of the future:

Gee likes the way Web 2.0 taps into crowdsourcing on both the front end--through user-generated content--and the back end--through what he called the ability to grab pieces of existing applications and combine them in entirely new ways. Millions of people are empowered to collaborate. He sees future evolution in the direction of adding more interactions such as enterprise mashups, telesensing, and presence.
He also sees a lot of potential in intersecting location with communication, for example, sending an SMS when the school bus is on the way or when someone you know enters or leaves an area or happens to be in the vicinity.
Related, he's very interested in "anywhere social networking," which can involve creating and sharing content on location, as part of the experience.
The "next big thing?" Gee says it's mobile video, once standards are ironed out.
Two areas he sees driving lots of bandwidth in the future are "better than being there"--data channels that enhance experiences with information beyond text and images--and machine-to-machine communication, such as your phone talking to your home appliances or a network of sensors.
Gee also noted that Bell Labs' efforts have been focused on mobile applications, but the interface is another area that's ripe for dramatic innovation.

10 More Countries Get iPhones

2008-05-06T10:50:00.000-07:00

The "official" iPhone is slowly making its way around the world. Today Vodafone announced that later this year it will sell iPhones in Australia, the Czech Republic, Egypt, Greece, Italy, India, Portugal, New Zealand, South Africa and Turkey. iPhones are already available in the US, UK, France, Germany, Austria and Ireland. Of course, iPhones unlocked by hackers have been exported around the globe.

Bloggers have been speculating that when Apple releases the 3G iPhone next month they may sell an unlocked version. iPhone sets the standard for the next generation of mobile devices, particularly in terms of design and interface. It's good news when more users in advanced mobile markets can experience iPhone for themselves and continue the innovations, especially with Apple poised to release iPhone 2.0 software.

Visions of the Mobile Future

2008-05-05T22:59:00.000-07:00

Here at iPling we're always keeping an eye out for future trends in the mobile space. Some recent items that caught our eye:

At the recent Web 2.0 Conference here in San Francisco the founders of Zumobi, a mobile widget application, listed six attributes needed for success in the mobile space, summarized in Tom Krazit's One More Thing blog on CNET:

Immediacy: the entire interaction with the device should occur with 15 seconds
Adaptability: input on mobile devices is still a challenge and continues to evolve. Applications shouldn't depend on a single input method--it might become obsolete
One-handed use: research shows that with mobile devices, people tend to create content with two hands and consume it with one hand. Mobile users consume far more content than they create, so devices should be optimized for this interaction.
Visual elegance: devices such as the iPhone have raised the bar in terms of expectations about the visual user experience. Going forward, successful applications will need to meet or exceed these standards.
Put the user in control: Based on their experience with PCs, users are used to a certain level of control over the desktop, applications, etc. The mobile market, now dominated by carriers, doesn't offer comparable configurability, but it should.
Thinking differently: never forget, mobile is a whole new world; quite possibly the rules that govern the web don't apply. For example, while online applications aim to be "sticky," in mobile it's ok to be "bouncy," allowing people to dip in and out of the application quickly. If your application is easy to use on the go, people will come back frequently.

More kudos for the iPhone: the Zumobi founders praised it as a device that points toward the future of mobile computing, specifically because, as Krazit says, it represents "the successful amalgamation and commercialization of design tidbits that had been circulating for years." You can innovate with recipe as well as with the ingredients.

Meanwhile, yesterday's San Francisco Chronicle noted that in the US, the Latino demographic is the early and frequent adopter of a spectrum of mobile services beyond voice, including "messaging, downloading music, surfing the Web and e-mailing." A professor quoted in the article commented, "Things other people do on computers, a lot of Latinos do on cell phones."

It took marketers awhile to catch on to the power and vision of the Latino mobile opportunity. At first they had patronizing stereotypes that the demographic would prefer cheap, simplistic phones. On the contrary, Latinos were early adopters of the original $600 Motorola Razr. The Chronicle concludes, "Latinos are quick to embrace new technology, seeing in it a way to get ahead in life."

Finally, some of the observations in the Chronicle article came from a recent study by the Pew Internet and American Life Project on Mobile Access to Data and Information. The December 2007 survey reveals that 62% of American adults have accessed mobile data and tools, using either a mobile phone or PDA for a non-voice data application, or a wireless laptop connection. A majority of Americans (51%) now say their mobile phone would be the hardest technology to give up--ahead of the internet (45%), television (43%), and email (37%).

Currently 75% of Americans have a mobile phone and/or PDA. Of those, 77% have used the device for at least one non-voice application, and 42% say that they engage in mobile data activity on a typical day. The Pew study found a strong affinity between mobile data applications and the Latino market, where 84% have mobile phones. Regardless of ethnicity, age is also highly correlated with mobile data use: 96% of the 18-29 age group who have mobile phones have used them for at least one data application, and 73% say they do so on a typical day. In that demographic, 62% say it would be hard to do without a mobile phone, compared to 51% who feel that way about the internet.

WWDC Discount Extended

2008-04-29T09:04:00.000-07:00

Apple just announced that they're extending the "Early Bird" registration discount for the upcoming Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) until May 9. With the discount, you save $300 off the normal registration cost of $1,295.

WWDC 2008 is the first official Apple meetup with a track devoted to the iPhone operating system. Apple is expected to release updated iPhone 2.0 software and new versions of the iPhone at the event.

WWDC 2008 is June 9-13 in San Francisco, iPling's home town! We look forward to seeing you there.

Apple Posts More WWDC Details

2008-04-15T19:03:00.000-07:00

Apple has updated the web site for the upcoming Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) with more details of the event. WWDC 2008 is June 9-13, in San Francisco. If you buy a ticket before April 25, you save $300 off the regular price of US$1,295.

Reflecting the importance of the iPhone at WWDC 2008, 80 of the 150 newly posted sessions are in the iPhone track, covering such topics as graphics and animation, audio and video, enterprise iPhone management, iPhone OS security, and offline data. Apple also announced awards for iPhone Developer Showcase, highlighting "innovative and compelling new iPhone applications built using the Beta iPhone SDK" and Best iPhone Web Application, which focuses on "web applications designed specifically for Safari on iPhone, which offer iPhone users innovative, compelling, valuable, and highly desirable capabilities."

Eccola! iPling in Italiano

2008-04-15T12:55:00.000-07:00

Benvenuti, italiani! We just rolled out the Italian version of the iPling web site. Italian joins Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, French, and of course English as language options for plingers across the globe. Stayed tuned for German and Japanese, coming soon.

iPling is all about connecting folks with shared interests, wherever you may be. For example, use it to find others in the vicinity who speak your favorite language. Enter a language or country as a tag on an active profile to locate countrymen nearby. Give it a try!

New Partnership: LOI Signed for Mexican Product!

2008-04-12T11:50:00.000-07:00

It's been a busy spring at iPling, as we've been moving forward on several fronts--both on the business and product sides. Now we can announce that Manuel has just returned from Mexico with a signed Letter of Interest (LOI) with a major Mexican telecom player. We're developing a niche application of the core iPling technology that our partner can roll out as an exciting new proprietary mobile service.

The upcoming service leverages the basic iPling platform but takes the "social search" value proposition in a whole new direction that opens up lots of interesting business possibilities. Under terms of the agreement we'll present a prototype within eight weeks. To make that happen we're working with a Bay Area company that provides back-end location-enabling services to assist in the development effort. More details on all of this as things move forward over the next few weeks.

Meanwhile, we haven't been ignoring the core iPling "Find and Be Found" product and the opportunities presented by the iPhone SDK. Did you see Michael Arrington's blog post earlier this week, "iPhone: The Future of Social Networking?" Check it out; we thought the "killer app" for iPhone-based mobile social networking that he described sounded very familiar!

CTIA's New Guidelines for Location-Based Services

2008-04-05T21:32:00.000-07:00

Last week CTIA, the international association for the wireless telecommunications industry, released Best Practices and Guidelines for Location-Based Services, a document aiming to ensure user privacy as LBS grow in the mobile market. CTIA explains that the guidelines "rely on two fundamental principles: user notice and consent."

According to CTIA, "the hallmark of these Guidelines is notice. LBS providers must inform LBS users about how their location information will be used, disclosed, and protected so that a potential LBS user can make an informed decision whether or not to use the service or authorize the disclosure." Also, "LBS providers must obtain user consent before initiating an LBS or disclosing location information. The form of consent may vary with the type of service or other circumstances, but the LBS provider bears the burden of establishing that informed consent has been obtained before initiating an LBS or disclosing location information." Providers should also allow LBS users to revoke previous consent.

Finally, the document urges LBS providers to offer safeguards in terms of security, retention and storage of location information; reporting abuse; and education of users in safe practices.

At iPling we applaud the industry's efforts to come together and develop standards to build confidence in LBS across the spectrum of interested parties. LBS have tremendous promise to enrich our lives; the innovations will come even faster with everyone on the same page regarding best practices. For our part, we're committed to ensuring the safety, comfort, and control of plingers. Your privacy is our top concern! For example:

In the current service, you manually declare your location. As a further safeguard, when we map your location we mask it within the radius of about a five-minute walk.
Your location is only visible when you activate a profile and one of the tags in your active profile matches a tag in someone else's profile. You're never visible to other users at large. You can become invisible at any time simply by deactivating your profiles. You're in control!
Your personal information is never shared with other iPling users or third parties
For further details of our privacy policy, click the "Terms of Service" link in the footer of our web site (you'll need to select a language before the footer is visible).

Loopt on Verizon: Find and Be Found...But Only by Your Friends on Certain Carriers

2008-04-04T10:09:00.000-07:00

You may have heard the news last week that Loopt signed a carrier deal with Verizon. That's a sign of growing demand for location-based social services that all of us in the market are glad to see.

Loopt, based in Mountain View, has a map-based application somewhat similar to ours, but it takes the more conventional social networking approach of helping you connect to a preexisting set of friends. At iPling, we believe you're missing a lot of opportunities if you limit your horizons to people you already know. What about all the great folks nearby who share your needs and interests but whom you haven't met yet? iPling is about reducing the missed opportunities in life.

The carrier strategy at Loopt also means the service is only available to subscribers of its partners: Verizon and Sprint. The service is priced at $3.99 per month on Verizon and $2.99 on Sprint, a deal that was signed last summer.

More Details on WWDC

2008-04-02T16:11:00.000-07:00

Today Apple posted more details on the agenda for its 2008 Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC). The event is June 9-13 in San Francisco. For the first time, the iPhone has its own track, focused on the iPhone operating system. iPhone sessions and labs are organized into categories including Getting Started, Essentials, Integration, Tools, and Media.

Apple says additional details on the conference will be released soon. With the iPhone 2.0 software's exit from beta and the potential release of a rumored 3G iPhone, this year's WWDC is stacking up to be a landmark event, much anticipated by iPhone aficionados such as us here at iPling.

Mark your calendars, we'll see you there!

SDK: 100K Downloads in Four Days

2008-03-14T13:51:00.001-07:00

The news from Apple is that there were over 100,000 downloads of its iPhone 2.0 beta software and included iPhone Software Development Kit (SDK) in the first four days after its release on March 6. The company crowed, "developer reaction to the iPhone SDK has been incredible."

The SDK opens the iPhone platform to third-party developers and enterprise applications, greatly expanding the utility of the device. At iPling we're excited by the opportunities for product enhancements, but also by the prospect of our core device being adopted at an even faster rate in the future. More iPhones, more plingers! As the New York Times put it, "I can't tell you how huge this is going to be."

The next big milestone will be Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) in June, when the iPhone 2.0 software will officially be released. Stay tuned for lots of iPhone excitement throughout 2008.

Mark Your Calendars: WWDC Is Coming June 9

2008-03-13T16:47:00.000-07:00

Apple just announced the dates for the 2008 Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC): June 9-13 in San Francisco. The conference is always much anticipated, but even moreso this year because of the iPhone 2.0 software and companion software development kit. Apple calls it "the best of the Apple developer universe."

There are three tracks at the $1,295 event: one for the iPhone, one for the Mac, and one for IT.

At iPling we can't wait! The software release opens big opportunities for the iPhone platform, so there's lots of fun ahead for iPhone lovers. We look forward to seeing you here in San Francisco in June!

Full details on 2008 WWDC.

The SDK Is Here!

2008-03-06T20:15:00.000-08:00

Today Apple released the long-awaited beta of its software development kit (SDK) for iPhone applications. The kit allows third-party developers to create applications that run on the iPhone 2.0 software, which will be released in June.

In practical terms, the SDK opens the door for a proliferation of new iPhone applications. That's great news for companies such as iPling, whose products are iPhone-based. Come June, the iPhone will be an even more fun and essential mobile device. Stay tuned!

Learn more:
Video of Steve Jobs announcement
Apple Press Release
Macworld coverage

Obama Leads in "Plinger Poll"

2008-03-02T09:19:00.000-08:00

Everybody's watching the polls in this election year here in the US. So to chime in from the iPling perspective, Barack Obama has taken the lead.

It's not the most scientific gauge of voter sentiment, but there are more Plingers who have activated profiles that include Obama-related tags than tags indicating support for Hillary Clinton or John McCain.

iPling is a great way to connect with others nearby who share your interests...including your political affiliation! Give it a try: create a profile that features your favorite candidate. We'll update details on the informal "Plinger poll" as we count down to election day in November.

Hot Topic: Social Networking for the iPhone

2008-02-25T17:07:00.000-08:00

Real-time, location-based mobile social networking for the iPhone--iPling's sweet spot--is a hot topic in the blogosphere. Michael Arrington kicked things off with a TechCrunch post yesterday hypothesizing that the iPhone's cult following makes it an ideal platform for a social network. "I think an iPhone-only social network, if it had the right features, would be a huge hit with these users," Arrington says.

He specifically calls out the importance of a location feature in a mobile network, plus the ability to detect and connect not only with friends but with others nearby whom you might want to meet. "The goal here isn’t just to let users see where their friends are and what they are up to. The killer app is to facilitate meeting new people," he argues.

Arrington continues, "whoever gets there first will have a far more valuable asset than the existing networks at MySpace and Facebook today."

Arrington's post spawned another discussion today in Philip Elmer-DeWitt's Apple 2.0 blog on Fortune.com. Titled "The iPhone’s secret blindspot, revisited," it claims "Apple (AAPL) missed a huge opportunity with the original iPhone because, at a fundamental level, Steve Jobs doesn’t understand social networks."

As of the time of this post the TechCrunch and Fortune discussions combined had attracted more than 200 comments. It's exciting to see such spirited debate around the core insights that motivated us to create iPling. While others chatter we hustled to put a product out in the market so people could try it and we could start learning how to make it better. Trial and iteration are the heart of innovation online.

iPhone in China

2008-02-18T10:42:00.000-08:00

Speaking of the iPhone, have you been following the news that almost half a million unlocked iPhones are now in use in China? That's over 10% of all the iPhones Apple has sold. The New York Times also reported on the amazing popularity of iPhones in the country where they're manufactured but aren't yet offered through a carrier tie-in, thanks to Apple's insistence on carrier agreements with many more restrictions than other device manufacturers'.

In China, unlocked iPhones aren't priced like designer knockoffs. They sell for around $555--almost a 40% premium over the US price. Clearly the highly evolved Asian mobile market places a high value on the iPhone's impressive design and features. How much longer will Apple and China Mobile both continue to leave money on the table by not doing a deal that legitimizes the iPhone's presence in the world's most populous, and mobile-mad, country?

iPling welcomes Chinese-speaking iPhone users! Earlier this year we launched the Chinese translation of our web site. Next up, we'll put our talented Chinese translation team of Shirley Hu and Katheleen Yu to work on the mobile UI. The choice of a mobile, versus web-based, platform for iPling is all about ubiquity. We don't want to limit iPling to one language or culture. We're about connecting, not carving out. One world, one iPling.

Mobile World Congress, Barcelona

2008-02-18T09:18:00.000-08:00

If the iPling team hadn't been hunkered down here in San Francisco plotting our upcoming meetup and volunteer QA corps recruitment event (stay tuned for details coming soon) we would have loved to have been at last week's Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. This event showcased the tremendous promise of the mobile platform, carried by a billion or so people around the globe. Of course, we believe the way iPling uniquely empowers users to reach out to others nearby who share their interests at that point in time is part of that potential!

The huge event showcased the latest devices, business models, carrier strategies, content, and of course technology. Those of us who had to stay at home could keep up with the news via the show daily. We also followed extensive news coverage of the new products and companies on display in Barcelona. Here are a few items that caught our eye:

New Zealand's Mobile Data Now shares our conviction that sending some form of text-based message (SMS, email, IM) will be the preferred mobile communication format for the short-to-mid-term, until the mobile web browsing experience is improved and gains ubiquity. While mobile web browsing is growing quickly in the US, so far this type of service isn't a high priority with the majority of mobile users globally.
Yahoo's oneConnect further validates our belief that social networking will prove to be one of the "killer apps" of mobile.
Location-based-services, especially those powered by GPS, are a huge growth area with far-reaching consequences that businesses are just beginning to capitalize on.
Google's comment that it's seeing an astonishing 50x more searches coming from iPhones than from other mobile devices reinforces the dominance of Apple's device. As we've said before, we couldn't ask for a better platform than the iPhone as the preferred device for iPling's initial product.

Conclusion from Barcelona: mobile rocks! At iPling we're determined to be part of the commotion.

Join iPling's Volunteer QA Corps

2008-02-12T11:44:00.000-08:00

Want to participate first-hand in improving iPling's innovative next-generation mobile social networking tool? Join our Volunteer QA Corps! Then all you have to do is use iPling and report anomalies via our web-based bug tracking system. To join the QA Corps you must:

Be at least 18 years old
Have an iPhone
Sign a Nondisclosure Agreement (NDA) with iPling
Be a registered iPling user

For more information, contact us at info@ipling.com. And if you're in the San Francisco area, stay tuned, we're planning a fun, free meetup for Plingers and recruiting event for the QA Corps here in the city later this month. Details coming soon.

iPling: An Official iPhone Web App...Now in Portuguese!

2008-01-31T19:20:00.000-08:00

For our friends from Portugal and Brazil and language buffs everywhere, we recently added Portuguese to the list of languages in which our web site is available. It joins a growing list that, in addition to English, also includes French, Spanish, and Chinese.

German, Italian, and Japanese are coming soon.

iPling is the perfect tool for finding others nearby who speak your language. Simply enter your preferred language as a tag on your profile to locate fellow countrymen. Give it a try!

In other news, we're pleased to announce that Apple now lists iPling as an official iPhone web app. Appropriately for our "find and be found" technology, they categorize us as a Search Tool. The Apple listing makes it easier for users to find iPling, which adds value to everyone in the network. Thanks Steve!

What's New at iPling

2008-01-22T23:11:00.000-08:00

iPling is off to a fast start in 2008. While the marketing team was busy with the Macworld Treasure Hunt, our technology team has been working around the clock to enhance existing features and introduce new ones.

We've already released a few things this month, including the ability to conduct multiple Pling conversations simultaneously and a Chinese language option for the main web site.

Coming in the next couple of weeks:

List view option, in addition to the current map view, for identifying nearby Plingers
Ability to permanently terminate a Pling conversation by deactivating the profile with the tag that created the original match; alternatively, you can keep the conversation open indefinitely if both parties leave their profiles active.
More language options for the main site

Check out the new features and come back soon to see more improvements!

Congratulations Treasure Hunt Winners!

2008-01-20T12:52:00.000-08:00

Well, iPling's first Treasure Hunt is history and it was a lot of fun plinging for three days straight with Macworld attendees and other contestants. Players set up profiles with relevant tags and started plinging each other, creating a real critical mass of plingers in the Moscone Center area. We gave away several iPods, ranging from a 16GB Touch to some Shuffles, as well as a number of gift certificates to online retailers including the Apple Store, iTunes, Amazon, Fandango, and StubHub. Congratulations to all you prize winners! If you missed the excitement you can read more about the Treasure Hunt here.

We also gave away hundreds of special edition iPling t-shirts to iPhone owners at Macworld. Were you among the lucky elite who snagged one of these collector's items before we ran out on January 15?

There's a lot of competition out there, but iPling is the real-time, location-based mobile social expansion app for the iPhone with a difference. While most networks simply connect you to people you already know, iPling empowers you to connect to folks nearby you may not have met yet, but who share your interests and affinities--a tennis partner, a babysitter, a carpooler, a fellow Green Day fan. You name it! You'll be surprised by all the amazing people you pass by every day who could enrich your life. The Treasure Hunt introduced lots of new users to the fun and utility of iPling. Now just keep on plinging!

iPling's Macworld Treasure Hunt (yes, with caps!)

2008-01-14T11:40:00.000-08:00

Flyers, checked, t-shirts, checked, prizes, press release, blog, translations, b-cards, check, check, check, check and check! Ok then, so here we go folks... iPling to Macworld attendees: you don't have to shout at lunch time to find eachother... just go to iPling.com on your iPhone, and to get familiar with our app, what better than a treasure hunt with all kinds of cool prizes (no PC stuff of course).

marketing leads... tech follows

2007-12-21T09:15:00.000-08:00

Yes... we started the right way. A market need turn into a web app and now back to marketing again. For those getting started this is really the only way to go, so there you go with a few words of wisdom from the iPling team :) Actually, this is a good time to also say that you should definetely leverage your network. A few years ago some of us went to business school at UCLA, and thanks to the good 'ol alumni network we were able to find Virginia and Virginia was able to find us... and now the marketing team feels like the Patriots offensive line! Welcome to the team Virginia!!!

iPling launches in the UK

2007-10-03T14:15:00.000-07:00

A couple of changes in the lineup. What can I say... welcome Houston!!! and so long MsgMe.

We're now getting ready for the launch of the iPhone in London on 11/8. Our SMS folks could not support us overseas so we're having to go with a new partner... sorry all for the downtime.

We hope the UK is ready for iPling!