Spanish Mobile Service LaNetro Zed to Launch Virtual World

We looked at some of the major mobile plays in the virtual worlds space last month, but now, in an interesting turn of events, Spanish mobile provider LaNetro Zed is launching a PC-based virtual world, Zed City. The site claims that the world will be fully integrated with the Zed community, though, and there are at least some mobile tie-ins, like pushing content back and forth across platforms and using your phone to see what friends are online, but it seems odd that a company with a history in tying Web 2.0 apps to mobile phones wouldn't go for a more immersive approach.

Zed is an international company that recently announced an increased focus on the American market in a direction that sounds very much in line with Zed City: "US consumers are looking for products that allow them to balance their connected online and mobile lifestyles," says Brian Casazza. "Zed’s products are not only fun and entertaining, but they enable a consumer to access them from the Web and mobile – thereby allowing the user to always be connected to their community and interact passionately with other peers. We are very excited to introduce these successful applications to the US market."

Maybe we'll be seeing more mobile virtual worlds here soon.

Here's a list of key features from the site:

-           Discover a rich 3D world with impressive visual detail, full of customizable architectonic spaces.
-           Chat and make new friends.
-           Create your own content and upload it into your virtual world
-           Customize your avatar – select physical aspects and then dress to impress.
-           Customize your space with multiple elements, such as furniture, images, sounds...
-           Access to Zed’s Community profiles, blogs, and more from the 3D world.
-           Download and upload content from your mobile or PC in an easy and fast way.
-           Mobile applications support – check out who is online from your mobile handset using ZedStation.
-           Enjoy the next-generation graphic technology.
-           Fully integrated with Zed’s Community.