Fondu, a New York start-up, is launching its mobile app on iOS today, introducing a purpose-built mobile social network designed specifically for discovering places through friends. It mixes some of Yelp’s structure with Foursquare’s tips and Twitter’s short messages.
Crowded Room, the first location-based app from IAC, is introducing the idea of the ‘Might Go,’ a casual pre-check-in action that suggests where people might be interested in going that night, something that can create connections to friends and strangers based on shared places and interests.
Foursquare and Yelp are moving into more direct competition, feature by feature. On Monday, Foursquare launched a new feature that allows users to create lists of the places they’ve checked into or plan to visit, bringing it further into the review and recommendation space.
As we increasingly become more mobile, not all of our to-dos are based on due-dates or times. Location is key to really getting things done. Location Aware, a free app, is a simple but effective tool for creating location-based task reminders on Google Android smartphones.
Wi-Fi provider Towerstream is turning its superfast Manhattan Wi-Fi zone into a distribution platform for daily deal apps in a bid to monetize its wireless network, the largest in Manhattan. The company is partnering with BlisMobile, which will handle the app distribution through its AppZone service.
More than 10,000 developers behind some of the hottest mobile apps are using Foursquare’s application programming interface to tap into its location and places database, the company said Friday. The most popular apps running on Foursquare’s API include Instagram, Tweetdeck and Gowalla.
Foursquare has raised $50 million in a new funding round led by venture capital firm Andreessen-Horowitz, bringing Foursquare’s total venture capital investment to just over $70 million. The new backing will certainly come in handy as Foursquare works to keep its own edge in a growing space.
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.
Ditto, a new app from Jaiku founder Jyri Engestrom, is coming out of the gates with the premise of helping users get recommendations on the fly as they figure where to go next. But what’s interesting is the ability to help facilitate future check-ins with friends.
NAVTEQ, a division of Nokia is rumored to have snapped up Trapster, a popular multi-platform traffic app in a feisty round of bidding. Trapster allows folks to report and get information about speed traps and road hazards. It’s one of the first mobile crowd-sourcing apps.
