S'pore firm develops social networking tool

S'pore firm develops social networking tool

It connects mobile phone and desktops to same service, writes AMIT ROY CHOUDHURY

A SINGAPOREAN IT company, Velvet Puffin, will today release a unique new social networking service here and in the United States that allows users to instantly communicate, create and share various multimedia content with others, either through a mobile phone or desktop computer.

Speaking to BizIT, R Chandrasekar, president and CEO of Radixs Pte Ltd, the parent company of Velvet Puffin, said the service, also called Velvet Puffin, is the first of its kind in the world.

It provides connectivity and cross communication between existing instant messaging solutions like MSN and Yahoo! and repositories of content like YouTube, Google Video and Metacafe.

Mr Chandrasekar said the service also allows the sharing of user-generated content. He noted that till now, other sites have attempted to capture individual features of desktop-based social networking sites on the mobile phone, 'but this effort has been fractured'.

'By aggregating all features associated with social networking, Velvet Puffin creates a holistic mobile social networking experience . . . Whether users are at their desktop computer or on the go with their mobile phone, no functionality is lost.'

Velvet Puffin's operating system - MXI - allows all user-generated content, including videos, photos, blogs and more to be delivered on mobile phones or computers in real time. The Velvet Puffin official added that the service is completely carrier independent and software is offered at no cost to the consumer as a free download.

On the PC, Velvet Puffin provides a 'socially active desktop' environment allowing users to be always connected to friends. Users can also access shared content without the need for a Web browser, Mr Chandrasekar said.

'Instantaneous alerts are generated to notify 'buddies' on both the desktop and the mobile device whenever new content is posted,' he added.

Radixs was founded in 2002 by Mr Chandrasekar and his childhood friend Sam Hon. Radixs owns and licenses the flagship Motion eXperience Interface (MXI), a mobile data operating system built on open standards, which serves as the backbone of Velvet Puffin.

Explaining the inspiration behind the idea, Mr Chandrasekar observed: 'As users, we had poor mobile experience in relation to services and functionalities when compared with the desktop . . . We could not understand why we should put up with a stripped down experience on mobiles.'

This drove the two to find a solution, he said. 'We believe that the user experience through any access devices should be consistent and rich and that is reflected with Velvet Puffin. Communication and the need to network is an inherent human trait and we have merged both of that with our approach in Velvet Puffin.'

Explaining the business model of Velvet Puffin, Mr Chandrasekar said users will enjoy the service for free and the company's revenue streams will be generated through contextual advertisements (much like ads on Google), licensing of service to mobile operators and royalties.

'Contextual Ads will be served on both the desktop and mobile phones. Ads delivered to users are specific and relevant to their usage patterns. For example, a user who searches for Liverpool videos will be served relevant ads such as Liverpool merchandise. This ensures that users will find ads that are being delivered useful,' he added.

Through contextual ads, advertisers will get a greater return on investment as they are targeting their ads to relevant target groups, he added.

'Google serves contextual ads to desktop users. Our model is similar in that regard. However, we have the benefit of an integrated desktop and mobile service.'

The second revenue stream will come from licensing of the service to mobile operators as they represent another distribution channel, Mr Chandrasekar said.

'Operator licensees of the service will co-brand Velvet Puffin and distribute it to their captive user base. Velvet Puffin will generate additional data revenue for operators and we plan to do a revenue split with the operators on incremental data revenue generated through Velvet Puffin,' Mr Chandrasekar said, adding that the company is in talks with a major regional telco in this regard.

The company's third revenue model involves generation of royalties from device manufacturers who pre-load Velvet Puffin client in their mobile phones.

Mr Chandrasekar and Mr Hon, both 26 years old, were classmates and, before setting up Radixs, took up several freelancing projects since they were 17 years old. They are born and raised in Singapore.

Both hold an advanced diploma in computer science. They deferred their degree programmes in computer science from Monash (for Mr Chandrasekar) and Portsmouth University (for Mr Hon) to focus on Radixs full time.

Velvet Puffin has received US$10 million in funding from both institutional and private investors in Asia.

'We are in our second round of funding and major investors include Purple Ray and Artisan Encipta while the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB) was a Seeds investor,' Mr Chandrasekar said.

Headquartered in Singapore, there are currently 60 Radixs employees worldwide.

'We have a diverse team comprising Singaporeans, Indians, Chinese, Britishers, Australians and even a French Canadian . . . (software) developers make up 80 per cent of Radixs workforce,' Mr Chandrasekar said.