Virtual worlds on phones

First there was cellphone access to social sites on the Web (e.g., MySpace Mobile). Then there was social networking on phones themselves (e.g., loopt.com, dodgeball.com, hookt.com). Next: whole virtual worlds on phones – sort of SecondLife meets MySpace meets loopt. A San Mateo, Calif.-based company called Gemini Mobile plans to provide cellphone companies like Cingular and Verizon software that allows their customers to interact in virtual worlds. The first company to bite is Softbank Mobile in Japan, which "created the S! Town online village community," InsideBayArea.com reports. "In S! Town, users [using a phone with the Gemini software] move in a 3-D world as avatars, and chat online as well as talk to each other through the voice connection of the phone. They share photos with other S! Town visitors and shop at retailers posting on S! Town." Just as kids see no border between online and offline socializing, soon there will be little distinction between social environments or virtual worlds (pick your favorite terminology) on phones or on the Web.