Scoreloop is the latest technology firm to announced a connected and social gaming platform for iPhone, although it has its sights set on other mobile devices too.

The company is offering a free SDK to iPhone games developers, as well as server infrastructure to power their titles' connected features.

Those include player-to-player challenges, score comparison and profiles, as well as the ability to tie in with Facebook.

Players earn virtual coins and points for playing games, with the latter displaying their rank, and the former used to take part in challenges - they have to buy more coins when they run out, though.

Gamers then promote their points totals on their Facebook profiles or Twitter feeds. The platform also offers leaderboards customisable by location, age and skill level. Scoreloop reckons it'll take developers a day to implement.

The platform will be going up against rivals from the likes of Aurora Feint, Aptocore and Exit Games in what's becoming an increasingly crowded marketplace.

We do wonder whether iPhone gamers will be happy to pay for the privilege of playing others when their coins run out, but it's presumably worth a try.

You can find out more about Scoreloop from the official website.