Visa has been working with the Gap on a campaign that provides discounts and promotions via text message when users make certain transactions on their Visa card. The program shows how mobile offers and discounts are incorporating more intelligence, which will be key for success. Read more »
The news that Apple devices keep a record of your movements has generated plenty of coverage. Now, however, one researcher says not only has the knowledge been public for some time, but it’s already being used by security researchers and law enforcement agents. Read more »
Location-based app Loopt is looking beyond the check-in and trying to engage users by providing them information about what they should do they they arrive. Loopt is introducing Loopt Qs, a lightweight real-time question and answer feature that allows users to get answers to popular questions. Read more »
Foursquare has been grown to almost 10 million users by connecting them in the present tense to their location. But the company sees a much brighter future in focusing on the future movements of its users, said Dennis Crowley, who spoke at the Where 2.0 conference. Read more »
EBay is buying location-based service and ad network WHERE in a deal that gives it added ability to drive more local and offline commerce. The pick-up will add important talent and technology to eBay and PayPal as they look to become more locally relevant to users. Read more »
Groupon is buying Pelago, maker of local discovery app Whrrl, signaling the end of the check-in service. But it could also mean a broader direction for Groupon as it looks to expand beyond daily deals to more localized and personalized discounts. Read more »
The biggest frustration I have with my iPhone is when the phone switches between Wi-Fi and 3G networks and just hangs. In solving this problem, MIT researchers used motion sensors, showing how mobile devices need to become an extension of us. Read more »
Life360, a family safety app, has been on a six-month tear, hitting 2 million families using the service. The growth highlights the work done to drive daily engagement, but more importantly, underscores the rise of smartphones and their increasing use as family utility tools. Read more »
VMIX is best known for enterprise video distribution, but its new Vidcinity iPhone app, which is available on the Apple app store now, is a consumer-focused offering that lets users mark locations with videos that can be watched by other users nearby. Read more »
Google today updated Maps for Android devices to version 5.3, adding a location dashboard and graphs showing the amount of time spent at work, home and out. Again, iOS users are left in the cold; it’s likely Apple will soon tell Google Maps to get lost. Read more »
As smart as our phones are becoming, they’re actually dumb too: they capture tons of information but don’t make it easy to find. Friday, a new Android app in private alpha, solves that problem by tying together smartphone events in the context of time and location. Read more »
Much of last week’s buzz surrounding the launch of Color was justifiably skeptical. Does the world really need another mobile photo-sharing app? But parts of the startup’s vision extend far beyond photo-sharing, and make the company worth watching as a potential indicator of social media trends. Read more »
SCVNGR is applying game mechanics and a new business model to daily deals in an attempt to strengthen the relationship between merchants and their customers. With LevelUp, merchants offer a series of three deals to consumers, who unlock each one as they try out a business. Read more »
Foursquare is taking a big leap ahead in its story with version 3.0 as it matures into a much more complete and polished location-based service capable of tackling its original vision of making cities easier to use for people. Read more »
Local recommendation service Bizzy is hoping users can make its personalized suggestions even better by introducing a new mechanism: the check-out. Instead of checking in to a location, Bizzy is asking its mobile app users to rate a place when they check out. Read more »
If you’re still making apps for individuals, you’re behind the times. A new mobile trend seems to recognize that one is indeed the loneliest number, and has developers targeting groups instead. Group chat, group check-ins, group buys, group love: it’s all about the multiples, baby. Read more »
Social commerce involves businesses using online collaborative tools — social networks, real-time feeds and user-generated contributions, for example — in order to sell products and services to consumers. The space is now more dynamic than ever: Hundreds of startups like Groupon, Zynga and CrowdStar have emerged, and it’s also attracting the attention — and cash — of online giants like Google, Amazon and Apple. This report examines the factors propelling the sector’s growth, how it will evolve over the next one to three years and what that means for those companies involved. We also examine factors inhibiting the growth of social commerce, and the likelihood of fragmentation as more local markets emerge. Companies mentioned in this report include Groupon, Foursquare, Gowalla, Playfish and LivingSocial. For a full list of companies, and to read the full report, sign up for a free trial. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
RedRover, a social location-based network for parents, helps them connect, plan play dates and discover new kid-friendly locations. The service, which launched this week as an iOS app, speaks to the power of niche social networks that play to specific demographic and privacy needs. Read more »
If Priceline can ride its “name your price” model to a $22 billion market cap, can it work in the mobile local shopping market? That’s the question small start-up Spreezio is trying to answer with its app MAKEaDeal, which recently launched as a $2.99 iPhone app. Read more »
Mobile location app WHERE is taking the next step in the local recommendations game by integrating its service with Facebook and Bump, helping its 4 million users get and share suggestions more easily. The company updated its Android and iPhone apps today with the added functionality. Read more »
Location is still an acquired taste for a lot of consumers. But the power of location and its ability to bridge the online and the offline worlds are increasingly being realized by start-ups like SCVNGR, which has found success building a game layer over the world. Read more »
Mobile phones increasingly being tapped to serve as the first line of protection against credit card and banking fraud. Banks, credit card companies and start-ups are all looking to leverage the ubiquity of cell phones and their location capabilities to help combat fraudulent activity. Read more »
We’re still a ways off from our prediction that every mobile app will have location. But we’re seeing more and more of that reality take shape, especially as location-as-a-service providers create the tools necessary for developers to weave location into their mobile apps. Read more »
Gowalla continues to plug along in the location check-in space and has updated its Spot pages for places to make them more browsable and added new Highlights for locations. The improvements, while not ground-breaking, typify the steady progress of Gowalla. But is it enough? Read more »
Google is adding check-ins to its Latitude location service, but it’s pairing the service with its persistent location feature allowing users to check-in automatically at locations. The update takes the check-in game to the next level and shows how persistent location can enhance location-based services. Read more »
Google, Facebook and others are investing in hyperlocal ads that deliver marketing pitches to users within small, well-defined areas. But before the concept can truly take hold in the mainstream markets, several challenges await businesses looking to bring their advertising strategies to the table. Read more »
Despite reports that location-based services are far from mainstream, new research by Microsoft suggests the technology is gaining adoption and may be poised to follow in the footsteps of the ATM, which took some time to dispel safety concerns on its way to being universally used. Read more »
With Garmin’s automotive navigation device sales stagnant and its Garminfone and Nuvifone business a disappointment, the company is looking to a GPS locator for people and property called the GTU 10 as a new business that can expand on its core competency in location. Read more »
SCVNGR, a location-based gaming start-up, has announced it has raised $15 million based on a $100 million valuation. The funding from European venture capital firm Balderton Capital includes support from previous investors Google Ventures and Highland Capital Partners and brings SCVNGR’s total to $20 million. Read more »
Companies will increasingly use location data to find when a consumer is at a rival’s location, giving the company important insight about consumer habits, the effectiveness of the company’s marketing efforts and options to reach out to a consumer when shopping with a competitor. Read more »
Foursquare has updated its iPhone app with photos and comments, making the location-based service more social. New features will allow users to attach photos to tips and venues, to share more information with people. Comments will also help users weigh-in on a friend’s check-in. Read more »
The location battle lost a pioneer today as Brightkite announced it was pivoting away from check-ins and toward group text messaging. The move suggests that the rough-and-tumble world of location-based services is beginning a weeding out process with more competitors dropping out or moving on. Read more »
Twitter is quietly improving its location feature, allowing developers to access an expanded database of locations for tweets associated with a place. The move will allow users to tweet from more locations and will allow developers to to more easily display tweets associated with one place. Read more »
Loopt is incorporating background location updates its latest version, allowing you to alert a select group of friends about your location without having to open the app. Loopt 4.0 gives a glimpse at how other major location companies may incorporate background location sharing into their apps. Read more »
Check-ins have given consumers a glimpse of the power of location and the deals they unlock. But there’s another world awaiting as mobile users learn to appreciate the era of “persistent location,” in which a user’s location is passively used to deliver them relevant information Read more »
“Local” and “social” go together like bread and butter. Add “mobile” and you’ve a trio of hot technologies that’s attracting capital from investors and big companies alike. For consumers, there are obvious synergistic experiences: mobility is local by definition, as are many social activities like physical-world ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
The location wars are heating up just in time for the holidays. Location-based services such as Foursquare, Gowalla, SCVGR, Yelp and others have brought out big-name partners and expanded rewards to help give the check-in services a big push at the end of the year. Read more »
Almost nine out of every 10 mobile users will access location based service this holiday season, according to JiWire, which analyzes audiences through Wi-Fi hotspots. However a large number aren’t doing it to score points or share their location, but rather to gain discounts. Read more »
How big is big enough? When do new consumer technologies really start to catch on? What happens when they do? These are questions of critical mass, and there’s plenty of historical evidence to point at the ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
An offer from The Gap that was based on Facebook Places “check ins” provides a real-world example of how much work both retailers like The Gap and services like Facebook and Foursquare are going to have to do to get people comfortable with location-based offers. Read more »
