After Twitter & Jaiku (check what your friend say), the latest trend (in the web and mobile convergence), is Google latitude and Nokia FriendView (check where your friends are).

These concepts are not really new, we had some early prototypes in 2004-2005, a paper I co-authored shows some of the ideas and screenshots of the early applications: Creating next generation applications and services for mobile devices: challenges and opportunities.

But it is good to see that now times are mature for the creation of very interesting applications in the digital convergence world. The barriers to entry are lower and new ideas can be put into practice thanks to the web and mobile platforms.

The forecast of the next trends:

• check what your friends do
• check their surrounding, outdoor temperature, atmospheric pressure,  images, etc.
• check what your  friends think and feel (e.g. heartbeat)