20,000+ joggers take notes with JogNote

Health and lifestyle-related mobile services are rapidly gaining attention of various companies willing to capitalize on the emerging trend. The opportunities are there and it is good for everybody. Japan is not exclusion. Eighteen months ago the internet company Wing Style came up with an idea of niche social network for joggers called JogNote. Now they are reporting more than 20,000 members under their “wing” (pun intended). To be a successful Web-based service in Japan, one needs to address PC and mobile users’ requirements at the same time, which Wing Style did. Cell phone users can input their running records, post blogs and leave comments to fellow joggers’ blog articles. The core features of JogNote are as follows:

• Socialize with fellow joggers
• Keep personal diary/blog
• Set your milestones and track your progress towards them
• Share your favorite running tracks with other members
• Find fellow joggers to run together
• Create maps with running routes

The service also links with Google Earth and imports data from Nike + iPod sports kit. For a niche social networking service they are doing OK, but I see a room for improvements such as allowing cellphones automatically transmit the running data to Wing Style servers or getting GPS data uploaded as well, if GPS is built in a phone. In the U.S., Bones in Motion or Garmin work on the similar services.

Source: Biglobe News (Japanese)