Virgin Mobile has two new social networking features: Connect a new social networking connector and Mobile Lounge, a new mobile community exclusive to Virgin Mobile.
Connect
Connect ushers in a new era of community integration for Helio By
Virgin Mobile members, allowing them to display friend updates and
activity from social media and networking sites such as Facebook,
MySpace, Flickr, Twitter and YouTube in an easy-to-use, dashboard-style
mobile interface which connects users directly to those sites.
Launching first on Helio devices - the Ocean, Mysto, Fin, Heat and
Drift - Connect will roll out to Virgin Mobile USA prepaid mobile
phones during the first quarter of 2009.
Instead of logging out of a social networking site in order to
access another one, customers can use Connect to conveniently aggregate
status updates, invitations and requests, new photos and videos,
comments, messages and more, all in one place, free of charge. Virgin
Mobile USA customers can also use Connect's integrated standard RSS
reader to stay up-to-date with their favorite news sites, blogs and
e-zines.
Mobile Lounge
"Mobile Lounge," the first mobile-only community exclusive to a
single wireless carrier, provides a social network for Virgin Mobile
USA customers to share ideas and opinions. Its robust user interface
allows users to see which friends are online and features
micro-blogging capabilities, discussion boards, chat rooms and profile
creation and contests.
Virgin Mobile USA also continues to offer rewards to its customers.
Members of Mobile Lounge can earn points for writing blogs, posting
photos and winning contests, and then redeem those points for credits
for wireless usage. This builds on the success of Sugar Mama and Studio
V, an online community where Virgin Mobile USA customers create, share
and sell their own ringtones and wallpapers for rewards.
Mobile Lounge is accessible on Virgin Mobile USA mobile phones such
as the Shuttle, Flare, Slash and others from the VirginXL storefront,
which provides members with access to all of the latest services,
games, ringtones and news for just 15 cents per day.