Posts Tagged ‘geolocation’

The problem with social network check-in services is that they are not very accurate when you are somewhere without GPS coverage such as in a building like your home, office or shopping mall. Researchers at Northwestern University’s McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science developed a very interesting technique that uses acoustic fingerprints to identify locations in areas where GPS location information is not available.

New ‘Batphone’ App Uses Acoustics to Determine Location

If you have an iPhone, iPod touch (recent model with a microphone) or iPad, you can test this for yourself using a free app developed by a graduate student working on the project.

Batphone (iTunes App Store)

The app samples 10 seconds of sound where you are standing. Then, you can name your location (kitchen, my office, etc.). I found it surprisingly accurate even when sampling in locations that were very quiet: No traffic noise, no motors and no one speaking. It was able to differentiate areas as close together as 10 feet despite the lack of obvious ambient sound signatures.

All these ideas are very real and affirmative. I bet the platform could also be used as a device to share traveler’s geolocations on their way to meeting with their friends, setting coordinates for place and time. It would be ideal for family reunions, college alumni reunions and even a simple day hike where several vehicles are being used to get to the destination.

Read more

When popular check-in service Foursquare announced this week it would add an easy photo-sharing function, users could be forgiven for seeing shades of ‘Color’ flash before their eyes, and wondering if, perhaps, their favorite site had just gone there too. Did it?

Read more

Brush up on your knowledge of location-based applications including foursquare and Gowalla with Understanding foursquare and Other Geolocation Applications, a one-hour Webcast from WebNewser parent mediabistro.com Thursday at 2 p.m. ET.

The Webcast will cover: the basics of foursquare, Gowalla, and similar apps; what these apps mean for how you present yourself and distribute content online; dos and don’ts of geolocation networking; using check-ins as valuable analytics; and how your company or business can engage users in real-time with simple social-networking techniques.

Instructor Sree Sreenivasan teaches social-media workshops at CNN, WNBC, The Boston Globe, and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. He is also a judge for the Shorty Awards, and he was named one of AdAge‘s 25 media people to follow on Twitter, and one of 22 professors in the “Top 100 Twitterers in Academia” by OnlineSchools.org.

Sreenivasan will be joined by Shane Snow, who has covered geolocation applications and other new-media technologies for outlets including Wired, Mashable, Gizmodo, and Fast Company. He also designs infographics for companies including Mint.com, MTV, and Gizmodo.

The fee for Understanding Foursquare and Other Geolocation Applications is $30 ($25 for AvantGuild members).

Sam Altman is co-founder and CEO of the Loopt social media network. Loopt is at the nexus of two of the hottest topics in social media – geolocation and location-based applications. Social Times asked Altman about Loopt, how it compares with its competitors and what might be coming up next.

The list of mobile location-based social networks has grown. How does Loopt see its place in the location-based universe?

The location-based space is on fire right now. We’re just now starting to see the kinds of activity we envisioned when we started Loopt in 2006, and Loopt’s activity rates have been consistently increasing. Read more

Hameed Khan is the founder and CEO of the face2face social media network. face2face is at the nexus of two of the hottest topics in social media – geolocation and location-based applications. Social Times asked Khan about face2face, how it compares with its competitors and what might be coming up next.

The list of mobile location-based social networks has grown. How does face2face see its place in the location-based universe?

Social networking has become an integral part of all our daily lives. Location-based services have emerged as the next step of progression in social networking so that people can bring their online lives into the real world, but with these services there is still something missing, and this is where face2face has emerged as the next logical evolution. Read more

Whether you’re a shop-a-holic or an avid anti-shopper, Shopkick says it has something for you in its geolocation shopping service. Rolling out now in a handful of major US retailers, Shopkick promotes window shopping, browsing, and even just stepping inside a store by automatically downloading Kickbucks onto a shopper’s smartphone. Using ultra-sensitive geolocation technology, Shopkick gives out Kickbucks when a shopper goes down a particular aisle, scans an item, or walks by a daily deal. Shopkick’s trial run began yesterday and is expected to have a high profile over the next few months in the storefronts of several of the largest retailers in the US.
Read more

Jeff Holden is the founder and CEO of Pelago, the company behind the Whrrl social media network. Pelago is at the nexus of two of the hottest topics in social media – geolocation and location-based applications. Social Times asked Holden about Whrrl, how it compares with its competitors and what might be coming up next.

The list of mobile location-based social networks has grown. How does Pelago see Whrrl’s place in the location-based universe?

Whrrl has a very clear focus, which is getting people out into the world trying new things. We’re fundamentally changing the way people explore and experience their cities. And the feature set and experience of Whrrl is very different from other products in this space as a result. Read more