Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jul 18, 2026

ImaHima

ImaHima was a mobile location-based social-networking service created in 1999 and shut down in 2006. This service was launched by the Japanese company of the same name, founded by Neeraj Jhanji. This Japanese name means "are you free now?" This company pioneered the concept of sharing current status among friends using mobile phones. Initially ImaHima started out as an "unofficial" service but was later accepted inside the walled garden of the Japanese mobile carriers. At its peak, ImaHima had over 500,000 users in Japan and was also made available in Switzerland and Australia. The service won a few awards including the coveted Prix Ars Electronica in 2001. The fundamental patents for mobile checkin, status updates and location-based advertising pioneered by ImaHima were acquired by Facebook in 2013.

Last revised
Jul 18, 2026
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Wikipedia ↗

ImaHima was a mobile location-based social-networking service created in 1999 and shut down in 2006.1 This service was launched by the Japanese company of the same name, founded by Neeraj Jhanji.2 This Japanese name means "are you free now?"3 This company pioneered the concept of sharing current status (location, activity, mood) among friends using mobile phones. Initially ImaHima started out as an "unofficial"4 service but was later accepted inside the walled garden of the Japanese mobile carriers (NTT DoCoMo,5 KDDI, Softbank). At its peak, ImaHima had over 500,000 users in Japan and was also made available in Switzerland and Australia. The service won a few awards including the coveted Prix Ars Electronica in 2001.6 The fundamental patents for mobile checkin, status updates and location-based advertising pioneered by ImaHima were acquired by Facebook in 2013.7

See also

See also

References

References

  1. "Prix Ars Electronica Archives". 2001-09-03. Archived from the original on 2011-05-31. Retrieved 2009-08-17.
  2. Choudhury, Saheli Roy (9 June 2016). "Neeraj Jhanji created mobile status updates and check-ins, long before Facebook". CNBC. Retrieved 11 September 2024.
  3. "US Patent". 1999-12-14. Retrieved 2009-08-17.
  4. Guth, Robert A. (2000-08-18). "The Wall Street Journal". Retrieved 2009-08-17.
  5. "Wired - Listening Post". 2001-04-01. Retrieved 2009-08-17.
  6. "Prix Ars Electronica Archives". 2001-09-03. Archived from the original on 2011-05-31. Retrieved 2009-08-17.
  7. "Facebook Buys 100 Patents To Spur Virtual Reality, Video, Speech". Forbes. 2014-09-02. Retrieved 2015-01-06.
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