UK-based startup Little World Gifts is opening a Christmas Store on iPhone selling 3D virtual gifts, entering the $1billion/year virtual goods market.
The gift store takes the form of an iPhone app, also called “Little World Gifts”, which has recently been submitted to Apple and will be available internationally in December via the App Store. It will allow iPhone and iPod Touch users to send each other 3D virtual gifts that they can touch, move and play with.
The app makes use of recent additions to the iPhone OS, allowing gifts to be bought via in-app purchase. They are also delivered in real-time using push notifications. Little World Gifts integrates with Facebook, so gifts are sent using your Facebook friends list, and can be shared and displayed in a separate Facebook app. This allows people without the app to be notified that they have a gift waiting for them.
So if a virtual gifts application is your cup of tea, then keep an eye on the App Store for ‘Little World Gifts’, which should appear in the next month or so.