ImaHima

{{Update|inaccurate=yes|date=June 2017|updated=6 Jan 2015|reason=unclear if the service is active or not since the Facebook acquisition in 2013, article implies it is still active, which is typically unlikely for Facebook acquisitions after a year or two}}

ImaHima was a mobile location-based social-networking service created in 1999 and shut down in 2006.{{cite web|url=http://90.146.8.18/en/archives/prix_archive/prix_projekt.asp?iProjectID=10954|title=Prix Ars Electronica Archives|date=2001-09-03|accessdate=2009-08-17|archive-date=2011-05-31|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110531140120/http://90.146.8.18/en/archives/prix_archive/prix_projekt.asp?iProjectID=10954|url-status=dead}} This service was launched by the Japanese company of the same name, founded by Neeraj Jhanji.{{cite news |last1=Choudhury |first1=Saheli Roy |title=Neeraj Jhanji created mobile status updates and check-ins, long before Facebook |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2016/06/09/tinker-founder-neeraj-jhanji-on-facebook-status-updates-and-mobile-inspiration.html |access-date=11 September 2024 |agency=CNBC |date=9 June 2016}} This Japanese name means "are you free now?"{{cite web|url=https://patents.google.com/patent/US7284033|title=US Patent|date=1999-12-14|access-date=2009-08-17}} This company pioneered the concept of sharing current status (location, activity, mood) among friends using mobile phones. Initially ImaHima started out as an "unofficial"{{cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB96655594017665802|title=The Wall Street Journal|date=2000-08-18|accessdate=2009-08-17 | first=Robert A. | last=Guth}} service but was later accepted inside the walled garden of the Japanese mobile carriers (NTT DoCoMo,{{cite web|url=https://www.wired.com/wired/archive/9.04/eword.html?pg=4|title=Wired - Listening Post|date=2001-04-01|accessdate=2009-08-17}} KDDI, Softbank). At its peak, ImaHima had over 500,000 users in Japan and was also made available in Switzerland and Australia. The service won a few awards including the coveted Prix Ars Electronica in 2001.{{cite web|url=http://90.146.8.18/en/archives/prix_archive/prix_projekt.asp?iProjectID=10954|title=Prix Ars Electronica Archives|date=2001-09-03|accessdate=2009-08-17|archive-date=2011-05-31|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110531140120/http://90.146.8.18/en/archives/prix_archive/prix_projekt.asp?iProjectID=10954|url-status=dead}} The fundamental patents for mobile checkin, status updates and location-based advertising pioneered by ImaHima were acquired by Facebook in 2013.{{cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/georgeanders/2014/09/02/facebook-buys-100-patents-tied-to-video-printing-and-speech/|title=Facebook Buys 100 Patents To Spur Virtual Reality, Video, Speech|website=Forbes |date=2014-09-02|accessdate=2015-01-06}}