Friday, December 17, 2010

Someone Who Cares

SOURCE: "New Smartphone App Pretends to be Your Girlfriend" Reuters, December 14, 2010.  http://www.canada.com/health/smartphone+pretends+your+girlfriend/3974210/story.html

KEYWORDS: lonely, community, friendship, marriage, unity


Stressed out South Korean men without time to date can now at least pretend they have a girlfriend, albeit on their smartphone.

Launched on November 30 by Nabix, a South Korean developer, the iPhone application "Honey it's me!" is warming lonely hearts with the voice of "Mina," a 20-something virtual woman.

For $1.99, Mina will make video-calls four times a day, showering subscribers with a message of bliss from 100 available. With recorded messages such as "good night, sweet dreams," Nabix said it would help subscribers feel someone cares for them and is consistently thinking of them.

According to Nabix, the application was downloaded 80,000 times on the first day alone.
An Android operating system version is expected to be launched this week and Nabix plans to provide the service in other languages, including Japanese.

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