Social networking sites may seem like they are taking over the Internet, but that’s only because they are. At DEMO China, Jake spoke with Alex Kummerman, CEO of ClicMobile, about the company’s new OEM solution for easily integrating social networking into any Web site. ClicMobile’s AreYouHere platform is the solution that powers this kind of social networking integration with a combination of MySpace-like Web presence and a mobile component that feels like a more user-friendly version of Dodgeball, with some additional features for uploading and downloading content direct to your phone thrown in as well. There’s one live implementation of AreYouHere via the YooTribe site in France, but ClicMobile has its eye on entering the Chinese market in the very near future.

You can read more about ClicMobile and AreYouHere in Jake’s coverage of DEMO China.

• Steve Edelson of Jton Systems on MobiWallet
• Helping China
• Keeping Kids Safe On MySpace with Brad Weber of BeNetSafe
• Pengkai Pan on Saybot Language Learning Software
• The Politics of Security
• Hey Hey, San Jose!

The hardest part about learning a foreign language is finding someone to have conversations with. You can practice in front of the mirror all day, but until you talk to someone and know they understand what you’re saying, you don’t really know if you’ve learned anything. Shanghai-based Saybot is addressing this with software designed to teach native Mandarin speakers English with a combination of speech recognition and analysis of common speech errors to correct misused words and improper pronunciation. At DEMO China, Jake spoke with Pengkai Pan, Founder and CEO of Saybot about how the software works and how it changes the way people learn a new language.

You can read more about Saybot in Jake’s coverage of DEMO China.

• Alex Kummerman on the ClicMobile AreYouHere Social Networking Platform
• Steve Edelson of Jton Systems on MobiWallet

Every so often a company comes along promising to help eliminate transactions requiring paper currency. Outside the U.S. this is realized in a number of markets where payments tied to cell phone bills are the norm and in a few cases, RFID solutions provide a method of payment for things like highway toll booths and bus and subway fares. In the U.S., we baby step toward paperless payment with the never-empty Starbucks card that automatically refills from a credit card when the balance gets low. Jton Systems (pronounced j-tone) is aiming to tie these worlds together with their MobiWallet system, creating an integrated SIM card and RFID solution for a transaction infrastructure that works simply by passing your cell phone over the toll collection interface. Here Jake talks with Steve Edelson of Jton about MobiWallet, how it works and what the potential is for using it in handling public transportation fares as well as other transactions like paying for tickets to Olympic events in Beijing in 2008.

You can read more about MobiWallet in Jake’s DEMO China coverage.

• Alex Kummerman on the ClicMobile AreYouHere Social Networking Platform
• Pengkai Pan on Saybot Language Learning Software