Google had announced the launch of Orkut Sandbox to develop applications for Orkut in November 2007.  Though the applications have not gone live on Orkut yet but developers are ready with their application to be deployed once Orkut makes the platform open.  Here is the preview of all the 8 applications which are ready and going to be launched on Orkut.

TypeRacer

TypeRacer is a test of your keyboard skills put in the form of car racing game.  TypeRacer gives you a text to type and a car which races against the competitors’ cars  i.e. the cars given to your Orkut friends.  The cars speed depends upon your typing speed and once you finish typing the text given to you the scores are saved and shown on your profile.  You can race alone and see how you fare against your Orkut friends who participated in the race as well as race in real-time with your friends who are online at the same time.

Interesting application; atleast it has got some use.  Even if you do not enjoy it, you will end up improving your typing speed.

Viibee

If you are bored of reading profiles, Viibee makes it a little interesting by letting you watch videos from potential matches.  Once both you and the person you like click “Yes” on each other’s video, you will be able to send video messages.  To create your video, all you need is a webcam and a microphone and you can start recording from within the browser window.

A nice application which makes dating on Orkut more lively.

iRead

iRead, in simple words, is Shelfari for Orkut.  iRead lets you show off the books you have read in a virtual shelf and discover books based on your interest as well as find new people who have similar reading taste.

iRead already has more than 22 million books in virtual bookshelves along with reviews and ratings.

go4it

A 43Things made for Orkut which lets you set goals and achieve them with the help of your friends.  The go4it application allows you to create projects, resolutions, or objectives, share them on your profile and with your friends so that your friends can support you in achieving those goals.

Could be a helpful application provided you use Orkut for serious stuff which is not generally applicable to Orkut users.  Orkut is more of fun and less of goals and objectives.

Crazy Story

A kind of crowdsourced story writing game limited to 5 contributions.  It lets you start a funny story by putting in few words which is then completed by additions of short sentences from 4 of your friends.

I must tell you that the result of a Crazy Story Game can become really wacky and fun to read.

Hangout

Hangout resembles Meetup in its functionality.  If you are tired of hanging out with your friends virtually, Hangout comes for the rescue.  It lets you socialize with your Orkut friends offline.  Using Hangout, you can schedule offline meetings and events and invite them to attend the same.

I think more than planning an event, Hangout can be a useful application to tell your friends about where they can find you offline on a particular day.

PhotoAttack

PhotoAttack lets you decorate (or make worse) your Orkut friends’ photos by attacking them with animations, ambushing them with flying kisses, throwing a snow ball etc.  The application provides attacks for all kinds of people on Orkut including your love, friends or rivals.

Since I am not into throwing beer (an application on Facebook lets you throw a beer on your friend), I will keep myself neutral for this application.

MyMiniLife

MyMiniLife is your virtual world on Orkut.  It lets you create your own place according to your style, show off all your interests and flaunt your collection on your profile.  You can personalize your hangout with photos, music, furniture, and share your favorite movies and games.  It also lets your friends send you gifts and leave notes for you in your virtual world.

In my view, MyMiniLife is the most interactive application out of all the applications that we have reviewed.  Even the user interface looks very lively with all the objects in place.

It is essential for Orkut application developers to understand the types of users present on Orkut and what are their activities before designing any application.  Orkut, though is just like any other social networks, differs a lot in terms of its user demographics and how the users make use of it.  As far as my observation goes, Orkut users mostly have virtual relationships which are not based on their offline relationships at all.  Unlike Facebook, Orkut users have more friends whom they don’t know at all in the real world.

Now let us know which one of these application, in your view, will be most successful.

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