GeoSentric announced a version of its geo-location social networking application optimized for mobile Internet devices (MIDs) incorporating the Linux-based Moblin stack. The Gypsii application is “the first application of its kind that enables people to record their life based on their location,” says the… company.

(Click for larger view of Gypsii's friend finder feature)

The Gypsii social network is based in Amsterdam, and together with the mobile browser client, offers points of interest (POI), user-generated content, and friend-location capabilities, says GeoSentric. Features include:

• Capture, create, geo-tag, and upload photos, video, audio and text
• Create content with location context
• Configure to automatically upload content to sites like Gypsii, FaceBook, Digg, and Del.icio.us
• Geo-locate individuals on a map, and click to contact via email, SMS, IM, or voice
• Integrate with proximity-based advertising system

Gypsii's proximity search feature

Designed for GPS-enabled MIDs that use the Intel Atom Z5 series, Gypsii supports the Linux-based Moblin stack that Intel is promoting for use with MIDs. Gypsii is also said to support MIDs that run Windows XP or (should someone attempt it) Vista.

The MID version of Gypsii is the first Linux-compatible Gypsii release. The software is also available on Symbian, Windows Mobile, BlackBerry, and Apple iPhone platforms, as well as “browser-based Internet connected devices.” The company says it plans to support other Java and BREW phones “very soon,” but does not mention whether it plans to support Linux-based phones that include GPS, such as Google's Android, the OpenMoko Neo FreeRunner, or selected LiMo Platform models such as the Motorola Rokr EM30. In particular, a wide variety of location-aware social networking applications appeared as winners in the first round of the Android Developer Challenge.

GPS is not a requirement of Intel's broadly defined MID format, but it is increasingly becoming standard issue on smartphones and handheld devices. GPS is the defining feature in the first formally announced device that appears to fit the MID profile: Clarion's ClarionMind personal navigation device (PND).

MIDs and Moblin have both attracted recent support from a number of software vendors, in conjunction with last week's Intel Developers Forum. Other supporting vendors include RealNetworks, FST, and Move Networks.

Availability

Gypsii-enabled MIDs will be available in the second half of 2008, says GeoSentric.

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