Google Buys Zingku, Mobile Social Network

Google's plans to extend in the mobile space could include the launch of a mobile phone. For now, Google bought another mobile social network: Zingku. "We've entered into an agreement to have Google acquire our Zingku service," informs us Zingku.com.

Our service is designed from the mobile phone, outward, allowing you to create and exchange things of interest ranging from invitations to "mobile flyers" with friends in a trusted manner. On the mobile phone, Zingku uses standard text messaging features that come with every phone. On the web, our service uses your standard web browser and instant messenger. There is nothing to install.

With Zingku, things you wish to promote or share, can easily be created and fetched via mobile, instant messenger, and web browser. Our service integrates your mobile phone with a personalized web site so that you can easily move (zing) things back and forth between the web and and your mobile as well as powerfully connect with friends and optionally their friends.

Zingku's features include:

* Store & fetch mobile photos and txt reminders with alarms on your companion mobile web site.

* Share mobile photos and posts with friends and friends-of-friends with txt msg'ing, instant messenger, & web.

* Gather a big crowd & their friends with txt messaging, IM, and email, all at once!

* Take an instant poll among friends, all with txt messaging. "Hey what should we do ? 1. Movie 2. Dan's party"

* Your own mobile cards that people fetch by txt'ing a magic code. Make as many as you want & link them together.

* Fetch postings from any blog or any syndicated feed (RSS, Atom) to your mobile phone via txt message.

The service is limited to the US and, until Zingku migrates to Google's servers, you can't create a new account.

In 2005, Google bought dodgeball, another mobile social network, but the product stagnated and its founders decided to leave Google. Grandcentral, another Google acquisition, links all your phone numbers. Zingku could unify instant messaging, SMS and email.

Update. Google confirms the acquisition: "It is true that we acquired certain assets and technology of Zingku. We believe these assets can help build products and features that will benefit our users, advertisers and publishers."

{ Thank you, Mark and Andrew. }