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12seconds just launched 12mail, the company's newest iPhone app. 12mail is basically a video messaging app with a focus on person-to-person video messaging for Facebook and Twitter. The free app uses Apple's push notification system to alert users of incoming messages, which, true to the company's name, can't be longer than 12 seconds. Just like 12cast, 12seconds's other iPhone app, this new app doesn't require users to have a 12seconds account and will simply work with a user's Twitter and Facebook contact list. While 12seconds's earlier app was simply focused on sending videos to Twitter, 12mail now gives users the ability to send videos directly to their friends.

12seconds.tv, an online video service that lets users upload short video clips, just announced its new iPhone application. While the first 12seconds app could only send still pictures and audio, this new version can finally also send real video from the new iPhone 3GS to 12seconds' online service. To post a video, users of 12cast (iTunes link) simply record a new video in the app (no longer than 12 seconds), give it a title, and hit the send button. In addition, users can also send any pre-recorded videos right from their library to 12seconds.

What do you get when you combine a platform for creating user-generated video content with the micro-blogging sensation that is Twitter? According to 12seconds.tv, you get a viable business model for your company, a platform that allows brands to leverage Twitter for communication, and a way for everyday Twitter users to have fun and earn prizes. Does that sound like a win-win-win all around? It very well may be...or it may just be the first example of how Twitter is transforming from a fun, communication tool used among friends to a commercialized platform for mainstream marketing.