Little World Gifts review

We review Little World Gifts, an iPhone app that makes sure it’s never too late to send a gift – even if it’s a virtual one

Only a year or two ago a virtual gift wouldn’t have been considered a gift at all. But now everyone is so enamoured – and practically dependent – on online communities like Facebook, and excited by digital commodities in games like Farmville, a cyber-gift can be received just as well as a real one.

Little World Gifts is aiming to bridge the gap between physical pressies and virtual ones, by giving you access to a digital gift shop with a host of 3D objects that can be bought and sent direct from the iPhone.

Online gift vouchers have been around for quite a while, and have proven very popular, so you might question whether you want to send a 3D rendered model of a Picasso painting to someone, or just give them a token to spend at Amazon. But Little World Gifts isn’t really aiming at the voucher market, offering instead a collection of interesting trinkets that – hopefully – the receiver will come to cherish.

The app is presented as shelves in a shop, with the many gifts and ornaments arranged for you to browse through. There are free gifts as well as paid ones, ranging from lucky Chinese cats, to shoes, chilli peppers and Elvis figurines. Little World Gifts requires you to sign in through Facebook Connect, which is a little unusual (given that it’s the only way to create an account) but proves quite practical since your virtual gifts can be delivered through the social network, as well as directly to someone’s iPhone.

The paid gifts require an in-app purchase (of varying values, depending on the gift) and tend to be a bit fancier, bigger, or more exclusive. And it’s not just an image that’s being bought. These are beautifully rendered 3D models, which the recipient can rotate, zoom into, and phone-fondle to their heart’s desire. Some can be animated, while others contain sound effects and secrets unlocked by fiddling with the object.

Push notifications are employed to let you or your recipient know they’ve received something from Little World Gifts. They can then be put on display, mirroring the virtual gift shop shelf with a virtual display cabinet, mantle piece or sideboard where your cyber-ornaments can be seen by the world.

It’s an idea that’s as unique as the trinkets you can buy through the app, and although it might take a while before the world is ready to receive virtual gifts as willingly as real ones, Little World Gifts is definitely a step in the right direction. Considering how many e-cards have been sent this Christmas, and were well-received, it suggests that Little World Gifts and its shoppers might well be blazing the gift-giving trail.

Let’s see if it catches on.

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