Like it or not, the iPhone boasts the best platform and App store for mobile social media and networking.  A couple worthy mentions should go to Google’s G1, and maybe even Samsung for its latest batch of TouchWiz-equipped handsets.  

Working from that assumption, I’d point out that iPhone sales have soared recently, even considering the fact that AT&T, a carrier not known for its shining quality, is the only service that can claim the iPhone.  The mass adoption of the iPhone coupled with the success of the Apps store is making the iPhone the best platform for real mobile social networking to occur.

As I’ve said so many times before, there’s quite a ways to go before we reach true mobile social networking.  But, if you believe as I do that the iPhone will most likely be the platform to boast true mobile social networking, you’ll have to agree that a couple of updates announced yesterday certainly go a good way towards brining true mobile social networking closer.

First up: push notifications.  The iPhone (and iPod Touch) will now automatically receive application updates even if the app in question is not running.  You might be thinking, “Well, gee, why didn’t they already have that?”  A very good question.  

Now that apps can receive updates automatically (that is, without a user having to open each individual application, such as Mail, Twitterfon, Loopt, Facebook, MySpace, etc.), users will be alerted of updates to their different social accounts real-time.  Being aware is a huge tenet of social networking, and having your apps note updates displayed as they come in without having to update each app individually will help users streamline their online social activity.  

Second: maps access inside other apps, and turn-by-turn directions.  I consider both of these to be big steps towards advancing mobile social networking.  Loopt, perhaps the best mobile social networking aggregator app out there, allows users’ locations to be visible to other Loopt users on a map.  What better way to help users connect with each other on-the-go than to provide mapped, turn-by-turn directions to activities or your friends?

Let’s say you’re in the city.  Your friend updates her status on Facebook, raving about this band that’s about to play live in a venue across town from you.  You aren’t familiar with the quickest way to get there, so you open Loopt and use your current location and your friend’s location to generate turn-by-turn, GPS-rendered directions, which get you there before the second opening band comes on.

I can’t say as to whether the Loopt team has any designs on integrating the functionality I just described, but my point is the technology is there, and it is now possible.  Talk about a very real way to bridge your online social presence with your real world social life.  THAT is what mobile social networking is about.  

Third: data tethering.  Yes, that sounds quite lame in comparison to what I’ve detailed above, right?  Though I’m all about having everything you need in the palm of your hand, the fact is we just aren’t there yet.  Failing those advancements, there’s not much better than whipping out your Macbook wherever you are at and doing some surfing or social networking when you’re out of WiFi range.

 If mobile social networking still isn’t quite realized (and I’d say that it certainly isn’t), then why not use your familiar and powerful, computer-based social networking tools wherever you’re at by tethering your iPhone’s data to your laptop?  It’s social networking made mobile, is it not?  A bit cumbersome, but it fits the description.  

There you have it: three updates to the iPhone that will further the cause of mobile social networking.  

P.S. – If you weren’t aware, Loopt isn’t just limited to the iPhone…it’s available on the G1 and Blackberrys, just to name a couple prominent handsets.

Of course, now that I have an Apple Touch device, my first move was to jump on the Apps store and look for all the mobile social networking applications I could find.  I have to say, I was a little disappointed.  There just weren’t the plethora of applications I expected to find.

That isn’t to say I didn’t find some great tools.  First off, the Facebook app for the iPhone and iPod Touch is simply stunning.  It is far superior to its counterpart for Blackberry.  If I wasn’t already a Facebook junkie (and I was), I’m probably a lost cause, as it will now be fused to my hip in waking and sleeping.  

I also found a fantastic Twitter platform called TwitterFon, a FREE app that, in my opinion, bests any offering I’ve seen thus far either for mobile phones or computer platforms.  You’ll probably hear me harping on “free” for quite some time, as I’m sure there are many great mobile apps available for all mobile phones, but it seems some developers feel the need to charge for their creations.  I’m all for paying for apps that are well-developed, but there aren’t any trial opportunities for many apps that could be very good…in that sense, developers lose out because many won’t be willing to pay for something they’re not sure of, and consumers lose out because they’re more apt to stick with free apps than apps that might very well be superior. 

Also, I installed the Yelp! app to my iPod Touch.  Though it’s far from perfect, it’s a nice addition to anyone’s mobile device as it offers great search and localizing functionality for finding activities, restaurants and businesses in your area.  Today I searched for Starbucks, and found one 1.5 miles away; when I clicked “Google Maps” to get directions from my house, Google didn’t know the location existed.  Luckily I already knew where it was.  The point being, it isn’t perfect but it’s better than not having it.

And yet, I still find myself less than enthused with the current plight of mobile social networking.  Why?  Because, dear friends, the mobile social networking world is in serious need of multiple cross-platform social aggregators.  By cross-platform, I mean available with every major cellular carrier in the U.S, and by social aggregator, I mean a platform that ties in most of the best and most popular social networking and media sites like Facebook, Twitter, FriendFeed, LinkedIn, YouTube, Flickr and others.  Though it’s all well and good to update each application separately, it just isn’t time effective to type out the same message for all your different services. 

I was surprised to find no evidence of a FriendFeed application for the iPhone/iPod Touch.  Though it isn’t my favorite computer-based aggregator, I think it would be a huge hit on mobile platforms. I’m familiar with what is currently the most widely-used aggregator for the iPhone, Blackberry, and other platforms — Loopt — but I find it lacking.

It does seem to be a perfectly fine social locator that integrates Facebook and Twitter, but if that’s it, there’s certainly a lot of room for improvement.  If you can use it, give it a try and see whether it fits your needs.  But it isn’t the be-all end-all to me.  

There are options, and mobile social networking has certainly come a long way from where it was even a couple years ago.  But competition between developers, and more so carriers, has effectively stunted the growth and restricted the adoption of universal mobile social networking.  For now, the best offerings seem to be available on the iPhone and the G1 (T-Mobile), and some of Samsung’s latest phones with the TouchWiz interface have some interesting (albeit limited) social applications.  For now, Facebook and Twitter seem to be the two big platforms, and your best bet is to find an app that suits your needs for each of those platforms.

I’m a Blackberry user.  You might even say that I am a Crackberry addict.  I won’t say it, because that means I have admitted that I have a problem, and experts tell me such admittance must preclude a recovery of some sort.   But for better or worse, you might say my life revolves around the shiny little Blackberry Curve Sunset that never escapes my person.

I have the Facebook application for Blackberry.  I can update my status, post photographs, and send messages to friends.  You’d think that I’d also be able to receive notifications of messages, comments and wall posts made by my friends to me.  In theory, that should work…but in execution, it doesn’t.  I don’t know whether T-Mobile, RIM or Facebook is to blame, but I know this: they probably aren’t suffering like I am.  After all, nobody likes a tease, and having a Facebook icon situated fashionably on my menu is really only torturous when it never talks to me.

Twitter is also a favorite social tool of mine, and one of the few Twitter clients developed for Blackberry is Twitterberry. I also installed that client, and within a few hours, uninstalled it along with Facebook.  Blackberrys are handy in that their indicator lights flash red when a new update, message or call has been received.  Unfortunately, Twitterberry won’t alert you to updates.  In fact, not only won’t it blink red for updates, it caused my Blackberry to flash red when I had no messages.  I found myself checking my Blackberry every 15 seconds in hopes that I was not being deceived by the flashy red light, which was both time-consuming and irritating.

My much-belabored point is this: the entire reason social media and networks were modified for mobile devices was so users could enjoy the convenience of accessing their content abroad.  If you remove the convenience factor and insert frustration, well…you certainly haven’t moved ahead, have you?  I consider my social networks to be a source of enjoyment; I don’t need more complication or frustration, thank you very much.

Of course, there really isn’t any one entity to point a finger at; data networks still aren’t really where they should be for proper enjoyment of mobile social content, nor are handsets (I’m sorry Apple, Google, et al, but sometimes the truth stings).

A large problem is that carriers don’t feel the need to vastly improve their networks so that they can handle proper mobile social content because, aside from monthly data plans, there isn’t a penny in it for the networks.  Believe me, providers are itching for ways to hook users into paying for mobile social platforms, but it hasn’t quite caught on yet.  Unfortunately, the free social platforms can’t move forward in design until carriers start providing data networks and handsets capable of seamlessly integrating those platforms that don’t pay dividends.  The closest thing might be Apple’s iPhone on the AT&T network, and I certainly don’t think it is correct to say they’ve nailed it.

For now, there isn’t much to do besides wait.  That, and make it very clear to providers by way of social networks, platforms and blogs that robbing people blind for mediocre services and devices won’t stand.  Say what you like, but I’m not willing to pay exorbitant prices for lackluster data service when I can’t access those things that make having the internet in my pocket worth my time or money.

Probably everything you’ve heard about Google, T-Mobile and HTC’s new superchild, the G1 handset, is that it is the phone that will revolutionize the handset industry, take open software to a new level, and most significantly, crush the iPhone betwixt its powerful jaws (or something to that effect).  I won’t refute that completely, but there are some points I feel the mainstream media is leaving out when it comes to T-Mo’s new flagship device.

Let me start of by saying I completely intended to buy this device on the very first day of the pre-order period.  I’ve been a long-standing T-Mobile customer, and have followed all updates on the G1 since its baby pictures started circulating the intertubes.  In fact, I had set aside the money to purchase the device and darned near had my finger posed on my mouse to pre-order it, but some nagging thing in the back of my mind stopped me.

The biggest problem I had with the device, before it even was officially demoed, was that early reviewers were noting that the touch-scrolling function wasn’t as smooth as the iPhone.  Call me a nitpicker or what you will, but that was something with which I took issue.  At the very least, it kept me from ordering the device on day one.

So the other day, I decided to jump into a T-Mobile retailer to try the device myself.  After playing with it for five minutes, I decided that I was quite glad I hadn’t purchased it.  The G1, ladies and gents, is ugly.  Granted, that isn’t far from the aesthetic appeal of many late HTC devices, but with handsets like the Touch Diamond and Touch Pro on the market, I was left a little underwhelmed by the brutishly ugly cheap plastic look the G1 boasts.  Sure, the QWERTY keyboard is great and the slide-away screen made me happy, but the G1 looks like a device that will be replaced in short order for lack of a pretty face.

I have to say the early reviews that the interface didn’t scroll fluidly are accurate; I hate to do this, but compared to the iPhone, it just isn’t there.  The scrolling issue many reviewers thought might be easily resolved with a simple software update, but it seems Google doesn’t care or missed all those reviews, since no patch has arrived.

There is my completely unqualified review of the G1 for everyone to hate on.  I think there is something much deeper that needs to be discussed regarding the G1′s position in the handset market, that being Android itself on the device.

The iPhone is simple.  It is limited, much like the other products that Apple retails.  Everyone who knows anything about software will say that the iPhone’s interface isn’t as open as it might be (though Apple has worked to remedy this with the 3G), and that other platforms, where platforms as Linux-based platforms, Windows Mobile and Android are considered to be open.

For all that being open is worth, Apple’s approach to product simplicity has won the game in the mobile handset, personal computer and music player arenas quite unequivocally, wouldn’t you agree?  Android, for all the nifty slide functionality and multiple screens, just doesn’t feel as simple as the OS on an iPhone.

The reason this matters so much is that new handsets and operating systems need to be simple so that those who are switching from old-school handsets aren’t lost in translation.  If mobile customers are going to start adopting high-end smart handsets, there really can’t be a large learning curve; sure, Apple does Genius tutorials at their retail locations, but the iPhone isn’t that hard to pick up and use.  I can’t say the same about the G1.

I’m currently in the market for a new phone for my dear mother.  She’s not the most tech savvy of them all, but I do my best to get the right equipment in her paws so she has what she needs without calling me every five minutes to get a personalized tutorial.  She, too, is a T-Mobile customer, and as much as I think she’d like some of the functionality of the G1, I have to admit she’d probably be more comfortable with a Sidekick or the forthcoming Samsung touchscreen handset than the G1, simply because the G1 isn’t that user-friendly right out the door.

My mother wouldn’t be the only exception; there are no doubt more out there who will pick up a G1 and get utterly frustrated with the device in short order.  That won’t be good for adoption rates.

Don’t get me wrong; conceptually, I love Android on the HTC G1 handset.  I think the next generation (which is rumored to be coming out within a year) will probably rectify many of the problems that plague the current iteration.  But more importantly than aesthetics of the hardware and smoothness of the scrolling, Google’s Android team needs to be concerned with balancing simplicity with functionality if they have any desire to steal a piece of Apple’s pie.