Face2Face captures the imagination of local & international media

Whenever a Pakistani IT company develops a new product, I am almost as thrilled as the developers themselves – maybe even more so! So when Shakir Husain, CEO of Creative Chaos, tweeted me to ask if I would come to the Media launch of Face2Face, an application developed by the Proximate Global team in Pakistan, I immediately accepted the invitation and slotted the event on my calendar, even though I had two other events that I had to attend that day.

How could I miss the opportunity to meet with the CEO of Proximate Global Hameed Khan, CTO Umair Aziz, Director Shakir Hussain, Mehdi Hussain (who is part of the Proximate Global Pakistan team and was formerly with PixSense)? I must also admit that I was curious to see the product in action.

So there I was in the beautifully done up PC Banquet Hall – kudos to Xenith PR for creating a lovely environment for the launch event – watching Hameed Khan presenting the functionalities of the new application the company had created.

Interesting to read what Hameed had written a few months earlier on the face2face blog – the day the app had been accepted by the iPhone App Store:

UMAIR & SHAKIR: These two gentlemen are the brains behind it all…actually making the software that we all dreamed up. They are the brains of Creative Chaos. Remember their names, because when you want to tap off an angry or excited email about something you wish you was a little different, or you want to congratulate them for making such a killer app, they’re the ones you should email!

AMER & SULAIMAN Best friends from Yale. They come up with the procedures and the systems to take that dreamy idea and turn it into reality.

ME, HAMEED Well, by now you probably know enough about me. On second thought, if you want to congratulate anyone, it should probably be me. Redirect all queries, criticisms and suggestions to the other guys. That’s what I pay them for!

Seriously though…we’ve been waiting for this day for months. The whole gang and I are going to celebrate by piling into a little Suzuki hatchback and driving over to boat basin for some ice cream. Face you later!

So what is Face2Face you might well ask? It is an application for your smartphone that instantly enables you to consolidate your existing social networks – Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace and Twitter. It also enables you to send instant messages. You can also view and comment on aggregated newsfeeds and can update your status across networks.

How is it different from existing location based apps like Loopt, Foursquare and Gowalla? The face2face blog tells us:

Face2face is about integrating where other apps are about piggybacking… we don’t want to make you take time out from your life to check in, or build a new network from scratch. We want to enrich your life, not complicate it! So face2face weaves seamlessly into your existing social network, gives users maximum control over who sees their information, and — of course — doesn’t screw with your privacy by mapping your exact location for the benefit of prying eyes.

Hameed Khan says that Proximate Global is pioneering the concept of “proximity awareness” – allowing users to enjoy the benefits of sharing with friends in their network when they’re nearby, without divulging precise location. Privacy and Security are a primary concern.

During a bloggers-only event at the Proximate Global office is Karachi, we were given handsets (iPhone, Blackberry and Android) with the latest versions of the app. We spent some time playing with it and I must say I found it to be a very “cool” application.

And it seems I am not the only one who thought so. It is amazing the amount of coverage face2face has received locally and internationally. Well done guys! You do us proud.