Friday, July 18, 2008

Local firms jump on iPhone 3G platform

By Efrain Viscarolasaga

The launch of Apple Inc.’s 3G iPhone last week may not have created the media frenzy of the first generation’s launch last year, but it has spurred a cottage industry of mobile application development from local companies.

Yesterday, online quiz developer Pangea Media LLC became the latest local group to join the fray with the launch of its Quibblo Polls widget for iPhone and iPod Touch. Quibblo is a social polling application that allows users to create and participate in polls and view results by geography.

Formed almost two years ago by Seth Lieberman, the founder of Focalex Inc. in Newton (which was sold to Intermix Media Inc. in 2004), Pangea focuses mainly on online properties, but with the growth of Internet connectivity through handsets like the iPhone, executives thought the timing was right to launch its first mobile offering.

“It’s a natural extension of our online product,” he said, adding that the application is not limited to the 3G iPhone. The company will be supporting other platforms later this year.

The location function of the widget is built on the WHERE location-based technology platform from Boston-based uLocate Communications Inc.

The launch of the 3G iPhone has been a boon for uLocate, which this week announced that its WHERE GPS application was among the most popular applications on the new iPhone App Store.

Aside from Pangea’s Quibblo Polls, the WHERE application also features widgets from Cambridge-based Zipcar Inc., which uses the application for finding the closest Zipcar; and HeyWhatsThat, a terrain-focused mashup from Maine-based software developer Michael Kosowsky.

Other local companies that have launched 3G iPhone-centric versions of their applications include Waltham-managed IT service provider MindShift Technologies Inc., with an application called 123Together.com; Needham-based Mobicious Inc., with SnapMyLife; and Norfolk-based 1stWorks Corp., offering Files2Phones and PC2Me.