Unype: Connecting Orkut Users With Everyone Else (In Real Time)

While searching through Google's 390 plus Orkut Apps, I stumbled across a really interesting Orkut App that seemed to be a cross between Orkut's Friend Maps (which they closed down) and a basic group chat feature.

Its called Unype, and you can basically meet random strangers who live in your area from different social networks (ranging from Facebook to Bebo to even Hi5 and MySpace).

This app was created by Unype.com, who have also built a mobile version (which should help users with advanced phones connect with each other regardless of whether they are on Orkut or not).

One thing about this app that ladies might enjoy is the fact that they do not have to put their exact location (at least within Orkut) which should help them discover knew people without revealing too much info to random strangers.

Users can add this app to their profile over here, and let me know what you think about this app in the comment section below.

Finally: Orkut Mobile For Smart Phones

The boys and girls at Google have launched a smart phone version of Orkut that includes several features lacking from the "bare bones" version of Orkut mobile.

(Official Orkut Blog) Many people access orkut from their smartphones, many of which can support more advanced functionality. So today we are launching a new mobile orkut experience that is optimized for Symbian Series 60 (3rd edition) phones. The new orkut works on many popular phones, including Nokia's Nseries (N95, N82, etc.) and Samsung's SGH models. We have added a bunch of new features including photo uploads, picture galleries, click-to-call, and quick friend searches. Best of all, everything is available without the need to download any special client.

This is a great move by the Orkut team, as I was hoping that they would focus on courting smart phone users in general, instead of simply focusing on the iPhone (as not everyone prefers Apple--something my friends often remind me about ;-)).

Google previously released a feature on Orkut alowing users to receive SMS notifications for scraps (hat tip: Rahul) and I would not be too surprised to see Google developing an Orkut iPhone App (especially with the iPhone coming to India this August).

Note: Now that Orkut has a smart phone version of its site (at least for Nokia and Samsung smart phones), hopefully someone from Google will remember to add a link to Orkut on the Google mobile pages for both Nokia and Samsung.

(Image Credit: Google)

Orkut Gaming Apps (That You Should Not Play At Work)

While surfing the list of Orkut Apps available I came across over a dozen (or two) high quality programs, with a large number of them falling into the "gaming category."

Of those, here are a few games that users may enjoy--although I would not recommend playing them at work (as they may not only suck up all of your time, but they could get you fired as well).

McDonald's gone wrong

Simply called the McDonald's Video Game, this Orkut app does an excellent job of teaching users how to "successfully" run a McDonald's restaurant--all the while making fun of the corporate giant.

The game is powered by Molleindustria, which has a strange taste in developing games that tends to "push the limits" as far as social norms go (as one can easily see in this example).

While the game does actually use humor to teach a user about how to run a business (so you could at least argue that its educational), I would not be surprised if Google removed this app in order to avoid being sued by McDonalds.

Users can grab it (while it is still available) over here.

Sonic The Hedgehog?

For those of you unfamiliar with Sonic the Hedgehog, this was one of the "hot" video games when I was kid, surpassed only by Mario (which is also ironically on Orkut as well).

The app comes in both English and Portugese, and also allows users to adjust the screen size (not to mention chat as they play). Users can also select other video games ranging from Tetris to Duck Hunt to even Mario as well. :-)

The Orkut app seems to be powered by Menace.ch (which is under construction) and users can grab the Orkut app over here.

Group Games

For those of you who prefer to play games with their friends (or even strangers) then you may want to check out Come2Play, which has almost 20 different games ranging from Checkers, to Sudoku, to Reversi (note: one of my personal favorites) to even Chess (pictured below).

One of the cool things I enjoy about Come2Play's Orkut apps is that you only need to install one of their apps in order to have access to the rest, which means users do not have to worry about going over the 25 Orkut app limit established by Google.

These are only a few of the games I came across on Orkut, and if you have found any others worthy of mention, be sure to let us all know in the comment section below!

Awesome: Style Your Orkut Profile With HTML Orkut

One of the many questions I usually recieve in my inbox and scrapbook from new Orkut users is how they can change their theme layout pages on their Orkut profile.

Even though Google has given users a limited ability to change the layout of their profiles, many users often hunger for more.

Fortunately it seems as Gaurav (of Orkut Plus fame) has created a site called HTMLOrkut which hosts well over 1,000 themes one could apply to their profile. Here is my profile sporting the Apple layout (since I am a fan of their phone after all).

Note: These themes will only work on Firefox, as it requires GreaseMonkey (sorry IE users). Also, these themes will only be visible to you (and not your friends).

There are plenty of themes to choose from on HTML Orkut, which should be more than enough (in my opinion) to satisfy those who desire to spice up their profile beyond the blue and purple colors Orkut is famous for.