location-based
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Foursquare brings nearby check-ins back to BlackBerry and iPhone, saves our pub crawls
The Foursquare 5.0 revamp wasn't all good news for some of the location service's most loyal fans: the design quietly scrapped the option to only see check-ins from nearby friends. After much clamoring, Foursquare has found a way to tuck it back in, starting with BlackBerry and iPhone users. A pull or a tap now filters between check-ins worldwide and just those from friends gallivanting around town -- just in case you'd rather not see your international friends enjoying the weekend before you do. Android phone owners will have to take Foursquare's word that their update is "coming soon," but those who can get it today on other platforms will likely appreciate knowing exactly when it's time to join friends at that fourth consecutive bar.
Nokia wants to become the 'where?' company, Lumias to become sensor masters
Nokia is still taking its lumps in earnings, but CEO Stephen Elop has an idea as to how the troubled phone giant can carve out its slice of the smartphone market: like a real estate agent, it's all about location, location, location. As he outlined in the company's fiscal results call, the aim is to make Nokia the "where?" company -- the go-to for location-based services, whether it's Drive, Transport or anything else that locks in on our whereabouts. Facebook and Google are the "who?" and "what?" companies, Elop says. He also imagines that his own firm "could be a leader" in sensors as a whole, tracking subtler cues like the owner's pulse rate. Whether or not Nokia puts itself in front through positioning, the executive gave a small tease of the future during the call -- the next wave of Lumia phones will have "more differentiation," and both Windows Phone 7.8 as well as Windows Phone 8 will make their way to budget Nokia hardware.
IndoorAtlas uses disturbances in the (geomagnetic) force to map interiors, plot a path to aisle 3 (video)
Interior navigation is only just coming into its own, but IndoorAtlas has developed a technology that could make it just as natural as breathing -- or at least, firing up a smartphone's mapping software. Developed by a team at Finland's University of Oulu, the method relies on identifying the unique geomagnetic field of every location on Earth to get positioning through a mobile device. It's not just accurate, to less than 6.6 feet, but can work without help from wireless signals and at depths that would scare off mere mortal technologies: IndoorAtlas has already conducted tests in a mine 4,593 feet deep. Geomagnetic location-finding is already available through an Android API, with hints of more platforms in the future. It will still need some tender loving care from app developers before we're using our smartphones to navigate through the grocery store as well as IndoorAtlas does in a video after the break.
Flickr brings in Nokia map data for precise geotagged photos, Instagram shots just got eerily accurate
Open Street Map has been helping Flickr display geotagged shots for some time. That crowdsourced map data has led to more than a few photos being located in a gray blob, however, which is why Yahoo just struck a deal to put Nokia maps into as many nooks and crevices of the world as possible. The addition will make sure that Instagram photo tour of Africa is often accurate down to the street corner, not to mention give a slightly Finland-tinged look to the maps themselves. Open Street Map isn't going away, but it's now being used only for those areas where regular coverage is spotty or non-existent. The images already apply to any existing and upcoming uploads -- there will be no question that self-portrait was taken in Tanzania.
Foursquare 5.0 hands-on
Foursquare just posted its promised mobile app overhaul this morning, and it's a doozy: virtually everything in 5.0 has been given a fresh look or, in some cases, a complete rethink. The changes are, ideally, to goad us into using Foursquare to find places to visit, not just to check in after we're already past the front door. But is Foursquare pushing too hard? Will mayors want to resign in protest? We're digging in to find out. %Gallery-157474%
Google patents location-based mobile alerts that know where you're going to
To date, the term smartphone's mostly been a misnomer for larger screen, albeit still dumb, handsets imbued with rich web browsing experiences. With the exception of the Galaxy S III's SmartStay feature and the Droid RAZR, not many other high-end devices can lay claim to "intelligent," user-adaptive behavior. Which is why our eyes are trained on this recently awarded Google patent that stands poised to turn future Android (we presume) devices into location-aware assistants. Originally submitted back in September of 2011, the USPTO filings describe a software-based profile alarm that seems eerily reminiscent of Motorola's own Smart Actions -- a fitting appropriation given the just wrapped acquisition. Using a combination of GPS and network address data, as well as prior travel habits, the system outlined in the docs would ping a user with tailored mobile profiles configured with contextually relevant settings, information and apps. Effectively, your phone would become the ultimate personal assistant, pandering to your on-the-go needs without the irritating need for praise and positive feedback. That's if this software ever makes it out of Google's IP stronghold and into the light of day.
Blindsquare uses Foursquare data to guide the visually impaired
Blindsquare is giving guidance systems for the visually disabled a new twist with user-generated Foursquare data, text-to-speech, GPS and some OpenStreetMap mojo. While users are out and about, the app narrates their trip via headphones with information about nearby places, intersections or guidance to their destination. One shake of the iPhone or iPad gives users their current location and a second shake checks them in on Foursquare. The app can also be controlled via a Bluetooth remote while the device sits in a pocket or backpack. After going from concept to completion in six months, it's now out of beta and available on the App Store for $14.99. Sonar gauntlets won't let you check-in to your haunts? Hit the source link to step up that location-based social networking.
Foursquare teases a giant mobile app remake, mayors quiver in anticipation
Foursquare has been steadily adding to its mobile app since its check-in service took off. A major remake hasn't been in the cards, however, until now. The company is teasing a major update this week that will reflect Foursquare's shift from simply broadcasting your coffee shop invasions to recommending where to go next. From what little the company is willing to let slip in advance, the emphasis will be on spotting popular destinations on the map as well as more alluring location pages. There's still several questions left open, including an exact release date as well as whether or not the update is coming to more than one platform on day one; we've only seen iOS shots so far. Still, it's looking as though fans of Oink and Yelp will find something to like in Foursquare very shortly.
Nokia experiments with location-based white space services in Cambridge, UK (video)
Following news of the first successful white space trials in Cambridge, UK, Nokia is now touting its research in the area with a demonstration of location-based services for the unlicensed spectrum. Traditionally, proponents of white space usage have positioned this unused portion of the airwaves as a viable, low-cost method of data transmission, but the Nokia folks have now demonstrated its ability to pinpoint one's location with much greater accuracy than either WiFi or cellular networks. Think of it as a counterpoint to NFC, if you will, but in the following clip, we're shown how an individual might move throughout a museum, and as they approach various exhibits, one's smartphone could provide supplemental information for the nearby artifacts. Beyond its use in museums, Nokia also foresees the technology as useful in the retail space, where businesses may provide consumers with promotions as they walk by. Currently, the necessary equipment to make this all possible is much too large to fit within a typical smartphone, but Nokia hypothesizes that the necessary chipsets and industry standards may be in place by 2015. Until then, you can dream of what might be with the following video.
MMObility: Real-life location games for your daily walks
I've been having a lot of fun with Parallel Kingdom lately. It's a location-based MMO brought to us by PerBlue, one that offers a layer of reality thanks to the fact that it is built on top of the real-world map. You can claim your real-life block, help other members of your city, and trade with other players from all over the world. It's actually a pretty simple design, but it helps to give the game a sense of realism. Parallel Kingdom isn't the only location-based game out there, though. I thought it might be cool to take a look at some of the other titles to see what the competition has to offer. So far I have only found a few that are stepping up in quality. Read on to see what I think of the rest!
The Joystiq Indie Pitch: Life is Crime
Indie developers are the starving artists of the video-game world, often brilliant and innovative, but also misunderstood, underfunded and more prone to writing free-form poetry on their LiveJournals. We at Joystiq believe no one deserves to starve, and many indie developers are entitled to a fridge full of tasty, fulfilling media coverage, right here. This week, crime bosses Pete Hawley, Mikey Ouye and John Harris of Red Robot Labs take the street to your phone in their location-based, real-world social title, Life is Crime. What's your game called and what's it about?Mike Ouye: Our game is called Life Is Crime. It's a free-to-play, social, location-based crime-themed mobile game for Android and iOS. Players commit virtual crimes at real locations, visiting their local bar, coffee shop and bank to perform missions, sell contraband and fight with other players. The more active players are, the more turf they control and the higher their criminal reputation becomes.How vicious is the crime-app competition on mobile devices, and how do you feel Red Robot Labs is faring?Mike Ouye: We took a unique approach by launching on Android first, then approaching the iOS market, and so far it has paid off. Life Is Crime has over a million downloads on Android since its launch at PAX West in August 2011. This created momentum so that when it released on the iTunes App Store January 5th, it rose to the number two on the Free Apps list.Pete Hawley: As for Red Robot Labs, our company has expanded into the UK, joining forces with Supermono, and continues to grow rapidly here in the US. In fact, we're still hiring, so if mobile gaming is your thing you should come work for us!We're hoping that location, high polish, and innovation will help set us apart.
MMObility: Parallel Mafia is not a typical Mafia game
If you have played Parallel Kingdom by PerBlue before, then a lot of what I am going to describe might sound familiar. If not, then it might sound very unique and exciting. The truth is that I have been attempting to get into Parallel Kingdom for a while but always found myself a bit overwhelmed, so I was excited to be invited to check out PerBlue's new title Parallel Mafia. I hoped that I might squeeze in some questions about Parallel Kingdom while I had the team on the line. Sure enough, I not only got introduced to the new title but left the interview knowing a lot more about Parallel Kingdom. I have been playing heavily since then. As I compare the two titles, I can see a lot of similarities, but there are some nice differences as well. Both titles are location-based MMORPGs. I have always wanted more options in the genre, but I imagine it's a tough one to develop in. What's the point of the real-life connection? Why would players want to play in a game that is basically spawned on top of Google Maps?
CodeRunner chases the location-based dream
CodeRunner is quite an app, and I almost don't want to tell you what it is before you try it. In fact, let's not. Just go download it from the App Store and experience it for yourself first. It's US$2.99, but if you've been following location-based iPhone games, you'll find the price worth the experience. Back? Great. Now we can actually talk about how this thing works. CodeRunner is the work of three guys I met at GDC. One of them, Michael Ferraro, has a long history in traditional console game development. Ryan Chapman has a background in server engineering; Jeff Macpherson is perhaps better known as Dr. Tiki from the popular Tiki Bar TV web video series, and an experienced writer and video producer in general. As you can probably tell from their backgrounds, these guys know how to tell an interactive story, and CodeRunner is that story. It's tough to explain here, which is why I hope you've played through the game already. Basically, CodeRunner uses your GPS location and connects it with a real map to put you and your iPhone in the middle of a conspiracy tale complete with spies, puzzles, and all sorts of wild twists and turns. The app is quite ingenious in how it inserts you in the middle of things. The team uses Google Maps to set up real-world locations for you to hunt down in your own neighborhood and very cleverly combines some vague video to convince you that what's happening on your phone is actually happening in the real world around you. "The premise is really important" for the story to work, says Macpherson. "It really sets the tone." This trailer gives a good idea of how the game is set up. It's all very urgent, and Macpherson's background in quick and high-quality video certainly must have helped in the production of all the content that went into this app. Unlike most location-based titles, it's not really social. The game itself (which runs around four to six hours, depending on how fast you move from mission to mission) guides you around the real world and tweaks your expectations of what's actually happening, like telling you there's a radiation leak in a certain area or that the building in front of you is really the secret headquarters of a terrorism cell. The question during production was all about "what can we do that you can't prove isn't happening," jokes Ferraro. While I played the game I thought it would be a good idea to use it as exercise, but the team plays down that angle a little bit. "It's secretly an exercise app," says Chapman. The actual radius of the game is meant for just walking around, so you won't really have to run all over the city to play it. But the game does keep you moving, and if you are a runner, you could definitely run to a new part of town and replay the game there, with new landmarks to explore for missions. Finally, once the main game is done, there are a series of "dead drops" that do encourage the social aspect. Players can hide what are essentially geocaches around the world, and the game will keep track of those and send other players to find them. CodeRunner isn't a geocaching app, per se, but it has its own system of drops for you to find if you want. Still, the "single-player" content means that even if you're not in the middle of a big city you'll still have things to do, even though it might be unlikely you'll find any other local players. So far, the team is still waiting to see how the title does before offering any more updates, but if it's popular enough to justify some, they wouldn't mind putting some more "mission packs" together. Until then, hopefully CodeRunner will get the audience it deserves. It's definitely an interesting experiment for the App Store, and it solves a lot of problems that many location-based titles on the platform have had in the past. I don't know if it quite lands on the idea of location-based gaming that a lot of developers have aimed for before, but CodeRunner is definitely worth a try and does a lot of things right.
Google quietly launches Latitude Leaderboards, threatens Foursquare under its breath
Google didn't exactly offer much fanfare for this new feature -- as far as we can tell, it still hasn't been officially announced. With the latest update to the Maps app, Mountain View delivered an extra level of functionality to the all but forgotten Latitude. Now check check-ins earn you points which are tallied and used to rank Google+ users on a global leaderboard, just like on Foursquare. Not everyone is seeing the feature just yet, and it only appears to reveal itself after you check-in somewhere. In fact, we still haven't found a way to pull up the leaderboard without first registering our location. You can see the rather sparse help page at the more coverage link and sound off in the comments if you're seeing your name ranked alongside your favorite Engadget editors and Leo Laporte.
Gympact iPhone app offers cash rewards to gym-goers, penalizes inattendance
We know, it's the new year and you just made a resolution to start going to the gym regularly... for the fifth year in a row. But you really mean it this time, don't you? There's an intriguing way to make sure you stay motivated throughout 2012 -- the almighty dollar. And we're not just talking gym memberships, either, though you'll probably need one: an iPhone app called GymPact offers cash rewards if you honor your weekly fitness commitment and makes you cough up some of our own hard-earned money if you slack off. Here's how it works: you first make a pact on how many days you'll go to the gym each week (minimum of one day per week) and how much you'll fork out if you miss, with the minimum penalty set at five bucks for each day you miss. If you have to pay, that money gets taken out of your credit card and goes straight into a community pot, which then gets divided up and doled out to everyone who honored their weekly commitment. How does the app know when you've stayed true to your vow? It's easy enough: you have to check-in to the gym using the app and stay for at least 30 minutes in order for your visit to count. The negative motivation seems to be working so far: according to GymPact, the startup saw a success rate of 90 percent in its six-month Boston-area trial. Unfortunately, iOS is the only platform the program is currently available on, but the company says it's working on an HTML5 web app that would allow check-ins from any smartphone. Now, if only there was an app to keep us from going to the Drive-Thru immediately after we leave the gym...
MagnetU connects you with similar people in your area, because diversity is overrated
You could make friends the old fashioned way, with casual introductions, eye contact and other intrinsically human social skills; or you could just sit back and let MagnetU do all the heavy lifting for you. The Israeli startup, founded in 2010, has just unveiled what it calls a "proximity networking" device -- a tiny accessory that connects users to other like-minded people within their immediate vicinity. Within this lightweight gadget lies information on a user's "social desires," which can be customized and modified depending on a given situation. If you're at a networking event, for example, you can activate your "business" profile, before switching into the grossly mistitled "social" mode once you walk into a bar. Once activated, the device will automatically scan for other users within your area, comparing your data against theirs. If it finds a match, both misfits will be notified with a text message that provides details on their level of compatibility. At that point, it's up to you to exchange furtive glances and do the whole "Come here often?" Kabuki routine. The tool could also open up new marketing avenues for retailers, though MagnetU plans to begin rolling out its $24 device at college campus events, where more traditional social lubricants are few and far between.
Google announces 'opt-out' feature for wireless network owners, aims to allay privacy concerns
Google, as promised, responded to concerns over its data collection policy this morning, by announcing a new "opt-out" feature for its location based services. Under the new policy, WiFi operators can remove their home networks from Google's geolocation database by simply adding "_nomap" to the end of their access point's SSID. A network named "Engadget," for example, would be renamed "Engadget_nomap," and dutifully removed from the Google Location Server. In a blog post announcing the change, the company explained that this solution offers "the right balance of simplicity as well as protection against abuse," since it "helps protect against others opting out your access point without your permission." For more details, hit up the source link below, or check out Google's Help Center for more detailed instructions on how to opt out.
Windows Phone Apollo coming 'middle of next year,' says Nokia VP
A top Nokia exec just confirmed the much-rumored schedule for the next Windows Phone update, codenamed Apollo. Michael Halbherr, Executive VP for Location and Commerce, told us that it'll launch in mid-2012 and be a "very different game" to Mango -- hinting that Apollo actually refers to Windows Phone 8 rather than any mere decimal increment. What do we know about Apollo at this point? Well, not a great deal, but Halbherr also revealed that he's been pushing Microsoft to integrate NFC and a "positioning framework" to make its mobile OS work better with Nokia's Navteq mapping platform and thereby provide new location-based services. Sorry HTC, Samsung, but everything points to a more 'Nokia-fied' OS. Update: We've spoken with some sources close to Microsoft who indicate that the timing given to us by Nokia is inaccurate. Unfortunately, the truth serum we used wore off before we were provided with a surrogate timeframe, but we'll of course keep our ears to the ground.
PayPal to open NYC pop-up store next month, showcase new mobile payment services
The idea of a physical PayPal store may seem somewhat counterintuitive, but that's exactly what the company is planning to open next month, in Manhattan. As TechCrunch recently revealed, the forthcoming pop-up store is slated to open its doors on November 1st, as part of a campaign designed to promote PayPal's new slate of in-store technologies. Located at 174 Hudson Street in Tribeca, the outlet will also sport a large QR code on its exterior, which passers-by can scan with their smartphones to find more information on the company's new mobile payment services. Inside, merchants will be able to better familiarize themselves with PayPal's commercial offerings, which include location-based promotions, cross-device payment services and real-time inventory checks, among others. The store will be open for about three and a half months, and PayPal's new features should be making their way to physical retailers in the near future. No word yet on specific partnerships, though the company is expected to announce them soon.
Intel to acquire Telmap, dole out easy to implement location APIs to AppUp developers
In case you weren't watching, Intel's Elements 2011 Keynote slipped in a sly acquisition announcement: the firm recently signed a deal to absorb Telmap, an Israel-based outfit whose location platform is the backbone of countless navigation apps. Intel's Peter Biddle says the navigation firm is to become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Intel, and will help AppUp developers pack their apps with unique location capabilities via Telmap's standardized APIs. Biddle wraps it up simply enough: "New advanced capabilities with just a few lines of code." Details on the deal are scarce, but hit the source link below to see Biddle's full statement in Intel's AppUp wrap-up.
