How many friends have you massed on Facebook?
It’s not uncommon to have 300+. So, what’s the point? If you consider how many of your friends engage Facebook multiple times a day, it’s nearly impossible to keep up with everyone. Not only that, but you want to responded in a more timely manner to those that you are really close to.
This is where a tool like Katango is incredible.
In a system like Google+ Plus, you manual define your circles of friends, but with Katango, it will eventually pull-on other sources of knowledge:
Version 1.0 of Katango’s app analyzes your phone contact data as well as Facebook data to create your friend clusters—high school friends, friends from work, former colleagues, etc. Future versions will look at data from other sources as well.
Apps are getting smarter as they become more social. Before you know it, we won’t need to sort anything. It will simply watch our behavior and bend to it.
This is how you use Katango on your iPhone or iPad:
As soon as you open it up, it explains what it’s about to do, then it asks you to Facebook Connect. Within seconds, you are dropped into a screen and you simply see your friend clusters in front of you, and you do basic functions with them—you get to name them…you get to hone them, you can add people and delete people, then you start communicating with them. It’s very simple…You can think of it as a private Facebook within Facebook.
Here’s an insightful interview with Katango’s founder, Yoav Shoham:
[tentblogger-youtube U_Et8mvEFXM]
Katango is:
- Free
Katango is free to install and use with any iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad. - Automatic
Katango automatically and instantly does the work of creating groups, so that you don’t have to sort through all your contacts, adding people one-by-one. - Private Groups
You can share updates and photos privately with your Katango groups, and your comments and replies are private, too. - Text Messages
Katango lets you easily send free, unlimited text messages and status updates to your Katango groups. - Facebook, Email and Mobile in One
The friends in your Katango groups will receive messages instantly if they have the Katango app. Group members who don’t have the Katango app installed yet will get your messages wherever they are via Facebook or email. - Photo Sharing
Katango has unlimited photo-sharing built in so you can share photos with Katango groups. Easily take photos from inside the app (including self-pics on devices with a forward-facing camera) or pick from your Photo Library. All for free.
Although I don’t see Katango turning into the next Instagram or Evernote, I do see this as being highly used in groups opposed to the masses. If you have a group of friends adopting it, Katango will see heavy use by its members.
Considering how innovative Katango is, and how it takes the Google+ Plus Circles concept one step further, I could see the Katango concept being mimicked, copied, or bought-out, if the social media battle continues to heat-up.
Learn more about Katango on the Katango website and download it for free from the Apple App Store.
[via Building43]
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