Of course, now that I have an Apple Touch device, my first move was to jump on the Apps store and look for all the mobile social networking applications I could find.  I have to say, I was a little disappointed.  There just weren’t the plethora of applications I expected to find.

That isn’t to say I didn’t find some great tools.  First off, the Facebook app for the iPhone and iPod Touch is simply stunning.  It is far superior to its counterpart for Blackberry.  If I wasn’t already a Facebook junkie (and I was), I’m probably a lost cause, as it will now be fused to my hip in waking and sleeping.  

I also found a fantastic Twitter platform called TwitterFon, a FREE app that, in my opinion, bests any offering I’ve seen thus far either for mobile phones or computer platforms.  You’ll probably hear me harping on “free” for quite some time, as I’m sure there are many great mobile apps available for all mobile phones, but it seems some developers feel the need to charge for their creations.  I’m all for paying for apps that are well-developed, but there aren’t any trial opportunities for many apps that could be very good…in that sense, developers lose out because many won’t be willing to pay for something they’re not sure of, and consumers lose out because they’re more apt to stick with free apps than apps that might very well be superior. 

Also, I installed the Yelp! app to my iPod Touch.  Though it’s far from perfect, it’s a nice addition to anyone’s mobile device as it offers great search and localizing functionality for finding activities, restaurants and businesses in your area.  Today I searched for Starbucks, and found one 1.5 miles away; when I clicked “Google Maps” to get directions from my house, Google didn’t know the location existed.  Luckily I already knew where it was.  The point being, it isn’t perfect but it’s better than not having it.

And yet, I still find myself less than enthused with the current plight of mobile social networking.  Why?  Because, dear friends, the mobile social networking world is in serious need of multiple cross-platform social aggregators.  By cross-platform, I mean available with every major cellular carrier in the U.S, and by social aggregator, I mean a platform that ties in most of the best and most popular social networking and media sites like Facebook, Twitter, FriendFeed, LinkedIn, YouTube, Flickr and others.  Though it’s all well and good to update each application separately, it just isn’t time effective to type out the same message for all your different services. 

I was surprised to find no evidence of a FriendFeed application for the iPhone/iPod Touch.  Though it isn’t my favorite computer-based aggregator, I think it would be a huge hit on mobile platforms. I’m familiar with what is currently the most widely-used aggregator for the iPhone, Blackberry, and other platforms — Loopt — but I find it lacking.

It does seem to be a perfectly fine social locator that integrates Facebook and Twitter, but if that’s it, there’s certainly a lot of room for improvement.  If you can use it, give it a try and see whether it fits your needs.  But it isn’t the be-all end-all to me.  

There are options, and mobile social networking has certainly come a long way from where it was even a couple years ago.  But competition between developers, and more so carriers, has effectively stunted the growth and restricted the adoption of universal mobile social networking.  For now, the best offerings seem to be available on the iPhone and the G1 (T-Mobile), and some of Samsung’s latest phones with the TouchWiz interface have some interesting (albeit limited) social applications.  For now, Facebook and Twitter seem to be the two big platforms, and your best bet is to find an app that suits your needs for each of those platforms.

And 2009 should have a few big stories up its sleeve as well. There’s a lot coming, and hopefully most will be good. Here’s what I see happening…

I, like others, are predicting intense competition between high-speed internet providers to offer greater bandwidth at lower prices. Frankly, it’s about time. For the longest while, Comcast and a few select cable companies dominated the market, keeping bandwidth low and prices high. No longer. 2009 should see some good, old-fashioned capitalistic competition between high-speed broadband providers.

Expect to see a large number of Android-based handsets. Google has made it very clear that it intends to do what it can to drive Apple into the ground in the mobile arena, and there’s a good chance that simply due to the quantity of phones that will carry Android, that could happen. The iPhone will still amass followers, but Android will the year’s OS.

You can be sure you’ll see even greater drops in smartphone prices, as well as BIG jumps in handset hardware. Real camera phones will be everywhere, and manufacturers will need to build better, cheaper handsets to remain competitive. 8-10 megapixel camera phones will be available on every network. WiFi, 3G, UMA, high storage capacities, and GPS will be built into most smartphones.

With the increased competition between handset manufacturers, expect to see more competition between wireless carriers as well. Lower termination fees, plans that allow more people to be in your “circle,” cheaper upgrades, and big steps towards improving customer satisfaction will be the name of the game.

Apple, Apple, Apple! Though Apple has been steadily building a following in the computer market, I’m guessing we’ll see a big boost in adoption rates. Rumors are already going around that Apple is preparing a tablet-sized version of the iTouch with a screen of 7 or 9 inches, which should be announced at Macworld in January. If that device launches, expect to see it become just as popular, if not more popular, than the iPhone.

Smartphones will be everywhere, carried by everyone, and apps stores like those of Apple and Google will be offered by all carriers and manufacturers. Mobile social networking will receive massive support with new and improved mobile applications, which will push the adoption of social media and networking in general. You’ll live by your handset, not your computer.

Twitter, Twitter, Twitter (I like saying things three times when its important)! Facebook made a move last year to acquire the micro-blogging platform, and Twitter wisely refused. All the haters will try to imitate and replicate the popular client, but Twitter will stay on top. Even more people will use it, and Twitter will find a way to monetize its operation without ruining the experience.

Let’s not forget Obama. No, he isn’t social media or technology directly, but the man is more popular right now in media than JFK was. I’m honestly excited and curious to see what develops in Washington with Obama and his interesting potpourri of cabinet members in 2009.

There’s probably a lot more predictions that could be made, but these are the few that top my list. What are your predictions?

Mobile social is the new hotness, but most mobile applications and sites still get it wrong, reducing function for users. Having full featured applications available for our favorite sites is key to the continued growth of the hot mobile social sector. Everyone from FaceBook (iPhone App) to Verizon (SocialLife) seems to be picking up on the importance of the mobile social arena, but FaceBook may be one of the few who have gotten it right with this upgrade to their iPhone App.

The new app includes the full news feed now, which is nice for following many friends – it helps you keep up with the ones who are active. It also lets you add and request friends from your iPhone now, an essential component to using FaceBook. The fact they launched the first version without this feature floored me.

The folks at FaceBook also improved photo functionality, and made it easier to handle your FaceBook inbox and outgoing messages. They even included a better attachments model. also included is photo tagging and other options previously left out of the application. Overall I think this new version is a vast improvement on the original. Now if someone would just get on a decent mobile app for Twitter and for FriendFeed we’d be set with the big three.

Signing up for Nutsie was extremely fast and painless. It took less than two minutes from the moment I logged on to the Nutsie web site to the moment I received confirmation that my iTunes Library had uploaded into the Nutsie server. Downloading Nutsie to my phone to use the mobile version of the application was a little less painless.

After I received my confirmation from Nutsie, I clicked the link and was taken to my home page. There I saw my playlist, uploaded and ready to listen to. Nutsie only lists the songs in your playlists that it already has on its server. This means that more than half of my music was missing, as I like a rather esoteric blend of punk, alternative and other similar tunes. I wasn’t expecting them to have the punk songs I listen to, but I was surprised that some of the more mainstream songs were not there.

There was no lag time on the player at all when using it online. Nutsie also gives you the chance to view your list by CD instead of by song, and grabs the artwork that goes with the CD for you to browse visually. When you listen to the playlist it defaults to shuffle mode. You can switch to listening to each CD by switching views.

It took some finagling to download Nutsie to my phone, an F9200 by LG. Nutsie’s automated system sent the activation link to my phone immediately, but my phone had some trouble downloading the application. Once I got past its issues, the application loaded immediately, giving me access to my Nutsie iTunes playlist on the go.

I am enjoying Nutsie, but with an iPod already I’m not sure how often I’ll use the mobile phone application. Not only that, I’m already involved in so many other social music sites like MOG making room to actively participate in one more that offers fewer features seems redundant. As far as I can tell, Nutsie’s sole purpose is to listen to your own playlist and share it with a few people you already know. There is no way to make new friends with similar musical tastes that I could find, or to expand the application in any other way.

Nutsie gets a semi-positive reaction from me. It’s a cute, attractively designed, easy to use applicaton that gives you access to youriTunes library in a new way. It lets you share it with your friends, but has limits that keep it from going to the next level. I’ll keep it on my MacBook, but I don’t think it will see daily use.

My original version found at Profy site.