After an , the iPhone has boomed in Japan over the past two years and attracted hordes of app developers. Japan Pulse has previously reported on iPhone apps for , , , and , but now app store dealers have infiltrated the gokon ¨C the Japanese group blind date.
(ºÏ¥³¥ó) is a contracted form of the word godo konpa (ºÏͬ¥³¥ó¥Ñ), which literally means ¡°combined company.¡± For a gokon, generally one girl and one guy will reserve a location and agree to bring along a set number of their friends (of the same sex) for a combined date. The goal? Get your drink on and woo/be wooed.
iPhone apps and Japanese blogs have found many ways to use the ubiquitous phone while at a gokon. has an English-language rundown of a that asked site visitors which apps are best suited for use at a gokon.
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