A Cambridge firm said it is making an application available that will transform the iPhone into an ideal mobile device for “virtual flirting.”

The company is Viximo, which says it specializes in technologies that “enhance communication and open massive monetization opportunities for social networks, online gaming and dating social applications, consumer brands, and digital creators.”

In a press release out today, Viximo noted that more than half of the 50 to 100 text messages sent daily by the average person between the ages of 14 and 24 are “flirtatious in nature.” The company added that its TrueFlirt application will enable iPhone users in this lovestruck demographic – as well as technically savvy older folks – to send romantic text messages that not only feature animated imagery but that are also capable of responding to “user interaction.”

For example, a geeky Romeo or Juliet can send “a virtual love potion that bubbles and pours” when the recipients of such a billet-doux tap or shake their mobile devices, said Viximo, which added that another option is a “virtual fortune cookie that can be opened by shaking to reveal a tempting prediction” about the love bird’s “blossoming romance.”

Viximo calls such electronic missives “Flirts,”and its press released said, “The app comes preloaded with 11 irresistibly interactive Flirts.”

The TrueFlirt application also seeks to exploit the iPhone’s touch-screen features. Pushing the envelope of decorum to a degree that might even make an immoderate Hotspur blush, the press release went on to note that users of the TrueFlirt application “can even ‘set the mood’ with an over-the-top-kitschy bachelor pad Flirt, where users can tap objects in the scene to uncover sexy essentials like a hidden waterbed and disco ball.”

The graphic above this post, which was provided by Viximo, shows how the virtual bachelor pad looks on the iPhone screen.

Viximo chief executive Rob Frasca, said “TrueFlirt was designed to make flirting less stressful, more playful, and fun. The iPhone is an ideal device for adding a deeper layer to the social dialogue and taking the art of flirting up a notch with the TrueFlirt app.”

Social Networking is spreading like a wild fire.

If you are a member of the 150-million-strong Facebook nation, you have probably learned some fascinating — or, let’s face it, some not-so-fascinating — facts about your friends as part of the latest fad, the pass-it-forward viral game “25 Random Things About Me.”

Like a mutating chain letter, though more artful and less threatening, 25 Things arrives as a Facebook note from a friend. That friend posts 25 facts about himself and “tags” 25 people and asks them to do the same thing.

The phenomenon continues to snowball. Facebook can’t quantify activity specific to 25 Things as it does applications such as Flixster. But spokeswoman Brandee Barker says that over the past week the number of daily “notes” has more than doubled and the number of daily tags of a Facebook member in a note has grown by five times.

“I would say that anecdotally I’ve never seen a note spread as quickly as this has on Facebook,” Barker says. “What is really unique about this is it’s a really meaningful piece of content. Some of the these notes are touching and frankly very insightful.”

Unlike most unsolicited (and unwanted) e-mail chains, 25 Things is usually welcomed. “It’s one of my favorite Facebook things,” says Pete Hines, vice president of public relations and marketing at Bethesda Softworks. “I’ve learned a lot about people I’ve known for a long time and people I only know a little.”

A random thing about Pete: “I am one of the least organized people I know. I don’t do well with paper, or filing things away, but I am religious about my e-mail inbox.”

Should you choose to join in the 25 Random Things craze, media consultant Shelly Palmer recommends that “you shouldn’t put anything online that you would not want to see on the front of the newspaper or that you would not want a potential client or your boss to see,” says Palmer, whose book Get Digital: Reinventing Yourself and Your Career for the 21st Century Economy is due this spring.

Social networks represent a paradigm shift in communicating. “This is the beginning of what will be a never-ending raft of social network games like this,” he says.

How true. Already appearing in Facebook pages is a new note: “A Bunch of Questions — Share.”

I did very poorly!!!! This is an example if viral marketing but I am not sure it is a good example.
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Pedigree used to do the most boring ads on the planet…this one is cute…

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Kelly Brooks appears in ads featuring QR codes. The 2D dot matrix bar code technology is close to a tipping point in Europe and Asia. Brooks features in a Pepsi campaign that has gone live in December and images of her clutching a QR code have featured in most of the tabloids.

QR (short for Quick Response) codes are 2D postage stamp sized barcodes that can pack in up to half a page of data. The technology was originally devised to track goods in a supply chain but has found its way into the consumer mobile sector in tagging application. Its a neat format that lends itself to a mobile phone screen.