MySpace and Facebook are the two leading mobile social networks, according to ABI Research. Does this present an opportunity for marketers?

Consumers do not want to recreate entirely new and separate social networks for mobile. They would rather tap into their existing social network and have it go with them via the mobile phone.

Orkut has announced its new mobile website. The new site is optimized to work with Webkit-based S60 browser, meaning that it uses JavaScript/AJAX to provide users with better experience. As a matter of fact, new features are also included in the mix, allowing users to upload their photos, browse picture galleries, perform click-to-calls and quick friend searches.No software is need to be installed in order to access the optimized-for-S60 orkut. Simply point your S60 browser to m.orkut.com and take it from there.

Have you ever found yourself sitting in a restaurant and completely turned off by the service you received? Or maybe you experience the best crab cake you have ever had? Thummits The idea is simple, and builds on the successes of other mobile companies like Twitter: You send a text message to a designated number with your thumbs up, thumbs down, so-so markup and the service stores that review.

Socially, the service assumes that as a user, you will get your most use out of it if you have trusted connections of friends and contacts who provide great reviews and might be inline with your own tastes. By cultivating that community and social network aspect, they hope to provide tailor-made results to you based on your preferences and trusted social connections.

Hopes 'invitation only' Blinko community will become a top three brand in ten countries.

Italy-based D2C mobile content provider Buongiorno has launched a mobile-only social network called Blinko.

The launch ups the ante in the mobile social networking space, with rival D2C giant Zed also making headway in the space.

Buongiorno says it's aiming to make Blinko a 'top three' social networking brand in at least 10 countries.

The meteoric rise of online social networking has yet to be fully replicated on the mobile medium. If and when it does, huge rewards await, says Nick Lane…Maybe it’s the business models. Subscription remains an option, even if some of the earliest subs offerings are being phased out in favour of free. Of course, it’s easier to introduce a subscription at launch than one year down the line.

Next generation of social networking platform Palgloo, seamlessly integrates online and mobile social networking with more personalized recommendation and search experience. Palgloo is available for free to individuals and organizations.

Palgloo knows its members and recommends events, groups, people, and more that match their interests. The more powerful, personalized search enables members to find relevant information more accurately and faster. Palgloo also matches events and friends based on members’ location and free time. With the Palgloo client, members can seamlessly share information between their cell phones and online web including location, photos, and mobile contacts.

A new bluetooth-based social networking application has launched today and looks set to rival "actually talking to people", which is the older, more established method of social networking with those within a 10 metre radius.

"Bluehoo" is an application that will run on mobile phones and Windows Mobile and will scan for other users who are also running the application - who they insist on referring to as "hoos" - over bluetooth. Apparently when you find someone else you'll be able to view their profile and stuff.

qeep, the successful mobile community, is excited to celebrate its two year launch anniversary and has reached the half-million mark in users. Young people in 192 countries, everywhere from the USA to India and Greenland to South Africa, are using the network to keep up with their friends while on the-go and to find new chat friends. Currently between 4000 and 5000 new users are signing up each day giving qeep a monthly growth rate of 25 to 30 percent.

I have put together a pretty extensive chart on the leading mobile social networking players. I can't verify that 100% of the information is accurate, but I did a pretty thorough job. I'd be happy to make any changes if there's any mistaken info. This kind of information gathering takes time to do and is worth sharing. I included our product Fidg't.

Another new location-aware social networking app is available from Scout (Beta).

Creating an account if fast and simple and you can start sharing your media immediately. I’ve just started testing but so far it looks VERY promising. Obviously a social network without friends is kind of dull though so we’ll have to see where this one goes. Like so many apps, if nobody else I know is using it it could turn out to be boring so we’ll wait and see.

"To capitalize on this unprecedented market opportunity, the BlackBerry Partners Fund is helping entrepreneurs drive innovation and develop cutting-edge mobile applications and services with a compelling user experience. Our goal is to be the primary destination for entrepreneurs that are building behavior changing smartphone applications and that are determined to be the architects of the mobile ecosystem of the future."

Microsoft's Azure cloud version of Windows may only just be out the door, but it already seems to be attracting application developers. First cab off the rank is social networking application Bluehoo, which lets you connect up to other mobile phone users with Bluetooth connections. Admittedly it sounds a bit like the fake 'toothing' craze from a few years ago, but it's a good example of network-dependent development.

Social networks have a large opportunity in the mobile space, but much of that potential remains untapped, according to a mobile researcher from Direct2 Mobile. Nick Lane, chief researcher of Direct2 Mobile, said networks like MySpace and Facebook haven’t fully convinced their users to migrate to mobile handsets. Both companies are making aggressive attempts though, as Facebook’s iPhone application is routinely one of the most-download, and MySpace mobile is featured prominently in the Android Market.

Did you know that even the Pope is now live video streaming from its mobile phone? Can't believe it? In this video conversation with Bhaskar Roy, co-founder of QIK, one of the most popular live mobile video streaming services, Robin Good uncovers the Vatican story as well as other unheard of uses and applications of powerful and yet inexpensive personal video-casting technology.

But these look like a great time to be a mobile application developer. With the right amount of effort and experience and of course appeal, your products could target a huge number of mobile users. A lot also depends on how the Mobile Application stores cope with the inflow of applications, clear out the useless ones and make it easier for users to browse and switch apps.

Next2Friends™ (www.next2friends.com), the real-time mobile social media platform, today announces the availability of its innovative ‘Live’ mobile video broadcasting application for the BlackBerry® Bold™ smartphone from Research In Motion

Based in Manhattan, Beautiful Stranger.TV connects in-vogue visitors to the latest wearable designs and personal care items. The company conducts impromptu interviews with ‘beautiful strangers’ found at various venues and events and streams the content online using the Internap CDN. With each streamed interview, Web links to the products, brands or services mentioned by the style-setter appear so visitors can locate and purchase the items that appeal to them. Als there is support for mobile devices.

HTC is not the only manufacturer to create Android phones, because Motorola is reportedly working on a handset of its own that is powered by Google’s smartphone platform.

While the T-Mobile G1 seems to approach the messaging end of the equation with its QWERTY keyboard, the Motorola take on Android may have a slightly different focus.

From what we hear, Motorola wants its Android-based cell phone to serve as a mobile hub for all of your social networking needs. Dubbed the “new Android Social Networking SmartPhone”, this handset will presumably provide quick and easy access to such services as Twitter, Flickr, Wordpress blogs, Facebook, Digg, and so on.

Just a few days ago, mobile social network GyPSii received considerable appraisal from the house of Nokia. The service’s PlaceMe application, which enables users to geotag photo, video, and audio recordings to be shared with friends, was given a Symbian Star Developer Award for its efforts.

Brightkite is one of the hottest mobile social networks on the scene. With a vast array of offerings and an active network of users to boot, you're bound to find someone near you or something new to check out. Recently this promising mobile social network released an official iPhone app to compliment its web app. Here's our take on what could be the best mobile social networking app available for the iPhone.