Mplayit, formerly known as Mpowerplayer, is really making its rounds. The virtual video game arcade that lets you “try before you buy” has moved from its website to Facebook, then MySpace, and now the iPhone. The iPhone Arcade is actually an application on Facebook, but it enables you to preview games as well as iPhone applications before you purchase them.

If you recall, Mplayit’s previous application on Facebook allowed you to essentially preview mobile games before you spend the money to download them onto your phone. With the new iPhone arcade, Mplayit is looking to provide an iPhone-specific resource for users of the device, while also expanding beyond the game sector. The iPhone arcade includes both mobile games and mobile applications, which are all-encompassing when it comes to the iPhone. Have you noticed?
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We love our smart phones and we love the apps that are available to make our lives easier. DubMeNow has released its DUB version 2.0, which features a slew of updates made for BlackBerry and the new iPhone 3GS. DubMeNow, a virtual business card application, aims to help you network better, and the current updates reflect the company’s aim to do so.

The biggest aspect of DubMeNow’s current updates is the added support for LinkedIn. You can now send LinkedIn invites along with your mobile business card through DUB, enabling you to immediately connect through someone’s phone address book as well as the professional networking site.
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What could make iPhone app development and monetization a more seamless operation? Combining the two to create a one-stop-chop-shop. Offerpal Media has partnered with Tapjoy to present such an offering. As part of Tapjoy’s Software Developer Kit for iPhone apps, developers can choose to optimize monetization options through Offerpal Media. It’s a package deal that covers some of the most important bases for iPhone app developers.

For Tapjoy, the inclusion of Offerpal’s monetization platform means that the company can offer a range of new features for its own clients. This holds especially true as Tapjoy already benefited from creating package deals that encompass advertising and monetization options through companies such as Google. As a core focus for Tapjoy’s SDK is to enable developers to profit from their iPhone apps, broadening options towards this end is in the best interest of Tapjoy.
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AT&T’s 3G network is being used for yet another socially savvy mobile device; the upcoming Moterolla Karma QA1 is curvy, compact and socially aware. The phone will have quick access to Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, JuiceCaster and more. From Motorola’s perspective, the idea of a mobile device is to support communication, no matter how it occurs.

That’s a good point of view to have, considering the dominance of Apple’s iPhone, and the multimedia support mobile devices need for creating, sharing and consuming content. With what appears to be a main tab for social networking, a menu of socially integrated applications are ready and able to connect you with your web world.
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Super Rewards started as a project for monetizing Facebook applications, and the company is expanding outwards to now include Twitter. The virtual goods and currency platform that works for online games and social networks has created a way to generate revenue for games that have been designed to work exclusively with Twitter, including 140 Mafia.

So how does it work? Users earn points redeemable within the game by recruiting new users via Twitter. It’s yet another exchange-based system that has proven successful, to certain degrees, on Facebook. In exchange for a user participating in certain offers and actions, they earn points and other benefits to be used in the game or social network. As Twitter continues to prove useful as a distribution platform, taking advantage of its cross-device access and usability, there are other “platforms” that are cropping up in order to build on that spreading reach.
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SGN has announced an update to its F.A.S.T. (Fleet Air Superiority Training) iPhone game. Bluetooth integration. The iPhone application was initially announced earlier this year, and was still unnamed at the time.

It’s all about jet-fighting and flying aircrafts, complete with a variety of armed aircraft that are loaded with missiles and guns. There are radar-guided and heat-seeking missiles, and let’s not forget about the accellorameter, which has become a focal point for many iPhone games but have become signature for those created by SGN.
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Whenever a platform becomes a standard, there are usually other companies that create platforms atop this initial one in order to help facilitate the available actions between third party developers and that platform. Such is the case with AdWhirl, which has announced a $1 million round of funding led by Foundation Capital.
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Another accelerometer game from Social Gaming Network (SGN) is due out this summer, along with the iPhone OS 3.0. SGN hasn’t revealed many details about the upcoming game, but based on the screenshots we received, the game looks to be a flight simulator, with some good fighting action going on.
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Social banking service SmartyPig is going mobile today, with compatibility for the iPhone, Blackberry and a number of other cellular devices. From the mobile site, SmartyPig users will be able to access their account information while on the go. They can also view the current status of their savings goals and their friends’ goals. Other functions for the new mobile offering include the ability to track the history of a transaction, and make any additional transfers directly from the cell phone.

Along with iPhone optimization, SmartyPig has taken several other handsets into account when creating the new mobile site. The upcoming Palm Pre, HTC, Blackberry and Android are all supported by SmartyPig.
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SendMe Mobile is announcing today that it has raised a $12 million series D round of funding. The total amount of funding for this mobile company has not been disclosed, but its series C round a year ago amounted to $15 million and the funds raised have enabled SendMe Mobile to pursue a great deal of development and product releases, as well as the acquisition of mbuzzy for the expansion of its network.

Below is an excerpt of an interview with SendMe’s CEO and co-founder, Russell Klein. He speaks on the current focus of the company as well as the upcoming plans for putting this latest round to work.

Kristen Nicole of Social Times: As a mobile company, what is your focus?

Russell Klein of SendMe: SendMe Mobile is 100% dedicated to the “direct to consumer” sector of the wireless entertainment ecosystem. At the company core, SendMe runs a series of our own brands, all built off our core proprietary platform. It’s all geared towards creating engaging experiences for the target demo of first-time cell phone owners to recent college grads and oftentimes leverages premium SMS as the billing model of choice. At our heart, we consider ourselves to be building the “Viacom of the web to mobile industry” by focusing on creating a series of owned and operated brands that are built off the SendMe core technology platform, that cater to a tightly-defined demographic.
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