location-based
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Google acquires Zagat: good news for foodies, bad news for Yelp?
Long before Yelp, there was Zagat -- a point-based restaurant rating guide, compiled from the best (or worst, depending) crowdsourced reviews. Today, Google has acquired the brand and plans to integrate Zagat's now expanded shopping, eating, drinking and hotel tips into both search and maps. For gastronomes, travelers and locals, that means crowdsourced tips for superb noms and activity recommendations from around the world. Sounds great, guys, as long as your new found friendship helps us find the best bacon-flavored ice cream cone, we're all for it.
We're In ushers Bing into the location-based social networking game
Are you one of the few out there who thought Latitude was, like, totally awesome, but your heart lies with the boys at Redmond? Well, rejoice Bing fans, because We're In is the location-based social network you've been waiting for. At its most basic, the app lets you share your location with friends, find contacts on a map, and update your status -- great for seeing who is around and organizing outings. But, We're In has one unique feature that's actually quite ingenious, location sharing is time limited. You choose who to share GPS data with and for how long. Once the invite expires -- poof! No more tracking. A few more details and the download link can be found at the source.
South Korean Apple tracking suit is 27,000 plaintiffs strong
That whole iPhone location tracking kerfuffle hasn't been making that many headlines here in the States as of late, but things are a bit different over in South Korea. Back in July, Kim Hyung-suk was awarded one million won ($932) from Apple Korea. Fresh from the win, the lawyer naturally got to work on a new suit. The suit now counts among its ranks 26,691 plaintiffs -- plus 921 minors who still need parental permission to join in -- all seeking the same one million won payout, for a total of around $26 million in damages. Apple, for its part, has yet to comment on the suit.
Cambridge researchers tout new location-based method to predict friends on social networks
Friend suggestions on social networks may already be a little too eerily accurate for some, but a team of researchers from Cambridge University now say they can do one better. They've devised a method that doesn't simply rely the usual friends-of-friends approach, but on where those people tend to hang out. According to researcher Salvatore Scellato, "it turns out that the properties of the places we interact can determine how likely we are to develop social ties," and that places like offices and gyms are better indications of potential friends than football stadiums or airports. That notion was borne out in their research (conducted over a period of four months using Gowalla), which found that "about 30 percent of all new social links appear among users that check-in to the same places." With the two prediction methods combined, the researchers say they're able to account for 66 percent of all new social ties. No word if they've moved onto predicting crimes next. [Image credit: Gowalla]
Fujitsu wants to push out location-based apps, pull them back again
Maybe, just maybe, this wireless technology in development at Fujitsu makes some sense. When you walk within range of an NFC sensor or GPS coordinate, the cloud-based system takes the liberty of pushing location-relevant apps to your phone or tablet. Enter a museum, for example, and you'll automatically receive its tour guide app. Your device could even be made to work as a viral transmitter, spreading the app to other visitors' handsets. Finally, when you leave, all the bloatware just magically disappears. Alternatively, the museum's marketing department conveniently forgets to configure this last step, accidentally signs you up to its newsletter and grabs a donation from your PayPal account while it has the chance. We would obviously find this rather upsetting, unless the museum has dinosaurs.
Microsoft offers up 'managed driving' source code, gets back to location-based business
WiFi-sniffing -- all the major tech giant's are doing it. But it's for your own better-targeted, location-based good... they swear. It's a familiar story that saw Google get served in France and the UK for its fleet of data-collecting Street View cars, and had Apple accidentally storing users' geographic info unencrypted on their phones. Given the history, it's not surprising to see Microsoft take the offensive by offering up source code from its own 'managed driving' program: the cars that collect WiFi, GPS and cell tower data. With the code out in the open, MS can easily side-step allegations of personal data-mining and continue its focus on improving local search services. The move is further evidence that the Ballmer-led company intends to take user privacy very seriously, having already stopped the tracking of individual Windows Phone handsets last May. Location aware devices are an inevitable part of our search-assisted lives, we just wish they all came with a giant opt-out button. [Image credit via WinRumors]
Augmented reality app concept conjures movie scenes shot in your location (video)
AR technology has been getting seriously powerful recently, but we still need smart little ideas like this to keep us interested. "Augmented Reality Cinema" is a concept which would spot when you're in a famous movie location and then trigger playback of the relevant scene. Although we can't be sure the app actually works yet, the video after the break does at least show off the idea with some memorable London clips, including the classic post-infestation Westminster Bridge scene from 28 Days Later. If the designers ever need movie fans to go around tagging cinematic locations, then obviously we're keen to register our interest.
Don't tell us where you're going, Nissan Leaf driver, we already know (video)
That cute little bugger above certainly looks innocent enough, but it might have been spreading some pretty detailed gossip behind your back. Leaf-driver Casey Halverson was playing around with the RSS reader in his Carwings system when he discovered that it wasn't just collecting feeds from RSS servers, it was also telling those servers his car's current location, speed, heading and even the destination he'd set in the sat nav. Strangely, Halverson's undercover tattletale appears to have halted its indiscretions after he posted the discovery on his blog, but we're surmising there's still hundreds of server logs up and down the country that prove it really happened, not to mention his video after the break. Cue Rockwell, fade to black.
Apple patent application highlights location-based social networking, encourages intimate pinging
Making friends is hard. Apple knows this. In fact, the company outlined such difficulty in a newly surfaced patent, highlighting the sort of "long and awkward conversation" sometimes required to discover common interests. The patent application, filed back in late-2009, describes a location-based social network that helps users discover people in their vicinity, based on common interests like books, movies, and, naturally, music. Of course, Cupertino already dipped its toes in the social networking waters with the iTunes-based Ping, which, in spite of initial excitement, failed to really capture the imagination of Apple's dedicated base. And this isn't the first time the company has flirted with the idea of location-based social networking either, as a patent that surfaced halfway through last year can attest. The company has clearly learned its lesson with this one, however, and that lesson is: more drawings of women winking and references to Springsteen songs in the application process.
iPad explorations with Qwiki
The developers behind the Qwiki website have produced a pretty cool iPad app version of the site. The app looks like a great way to experience Qwiki's narrated-encyclopaedia version of the world, offering location-sensitive lookups and making full use of the touch-capabilities of the iPad. "Qwiki's fundamental belief has always been that media consumption is moving off the desktop," says co-founder and CEO Doug Imbruce. The company, which recently raised $9 million in funding, has released the app for free. [Via Mashable]
Researchers use GPS, accelerometers to boost smartphone data rates
Well, this might be a good reason for The Powers That Be to know your exact whereabouts. According to a team of MIT researchers, speeding up data rates on mobile devices could be as easy as tapping the various motion sensors found in run-of-the-mill smartphones. The scientists believe our wireless infrastructure is at the root of bottlenecks, with a handful of weak transmitters clumsily "handing off" data to one another as you move out of range. The solution: use GPS radios, accelerometers, and even gyroscopes to infer where you're headed, and then choose an access point near where you're likely to end up. The difference, they report, is dramatic: a 50 percent boost in throughput, along with improved success in choosing the best bit rate. To boot, if a base station is armed with location-based info, it can better predict when the devices connected to it are on the verge of losing contact. That's all good news, but sadly we doubt any amount of promising science is enough to make the pink lady go away.
Location-aware album gives Washington DC dynamically modified soundtrack
Musical duo Bluebrain has taken the guesswork out of listening to music -- their latest album dictates where you can listen to it, what songs it plays, and when it plays them. Take that, playlists! The album, titled The National Mall, will be available only as an iPhone app and the band is calling it the first location-aware album. The app... er, album, uses your phone's GPS to track one's proximity to hundreds of tagged zones spread throughout the landmarks of the Washington DC National Mall, dynamically tweaking the rhythm, melody, instrumentation, and pace of the music as you go. Despite this fancy smartphone integration, Bluebrain stresses that this is still an album, not a toy or augmented reality application. The experience is strictly location specific, no user input necessary, or available. Want to hear a new melody or arrangement? Walk to a different monument. The project's location-specific nature means that fans outside of the DC area are out of luck for now. The band says two more GPS-powered albums are on the way -- one designed for Brooklyn's Prospect Park, and another spanning the entire length of California's Highway 1. Music, measured in miles -- neat, but Hwy. 1 manages just fine on its own, wouldn't you say?
Copenhagen airport tracks your every move using WiFi signals
Hello, Big Brother! According to the New York Times, Copenhagen International Airport is currently testing a new program that monitors passengers based on WiFi data emitted from devices like laptops and smartphones. Airport officials observe travelers from a remote computer, and can tell, within 10 feet of accuracy, where they spend their time -- those arriving and departing are represented by different colored dots. The program, created by Geneva-based SITA, also gives visitors the option to download an iPhone app that provides location-based information, like promotions from nearby restaurants. SITA's VP said the software isn't intrusive, as it follows devices, not individuals, but we're not sure we want anyone to know how long our Android spends in the bathroom -- and you thought those naughty-bit scanners were creepy.
AT&T ShopAlerts: first location-based ads from a US carrier kick off in four markets
A few third-party apps have been going after this market for a while now, but AT&T has just become the first American carrier to throw its weight behind location-based ads in teaming up with Placecast to launch the so-called AT&T ShopAlerts service in four markets. Residents of New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and San Francisco will be the first to experience the mind-bending future of advertising -- presumably because they're densely-populated enough to make a location-based trial worthwhile -- with seven inaugural partners: HP, Kmart, JetBlue, SC Johnson, Kibbles 'n Bits ('n Bits 'n Bits), Nature's Recipe, and the "got milk?" people. Fortunately, the system is opt-in, not out. Follow the break for AT&T's full press release.
Find My Friends MobileMe feature found in iOS 4.3 beta release
Yesterday, Apple rolled out iOS 4.3 beta to developers, and the first look at the latest iOS version yielded up some gems, including multi-touch gestures, hotspot functionality, a return of the orientation lock and new camera effects. Earlier today, MacRumors uncovered settings for a feature called "Find My Friends" in this recent beta. This string was associated with MobileMe and may be a social feature similar to Google Latitude or Facebook Places, two services that let you locate and communicate with nearby contacts. This is not the first time Apple has toyed with the idea of using location to help find others around you. A patent filing for a concept application called iGroups surfaced last year. The patent describes a location-based service that would let members of a group locate one another using GPS coordinates. Group members could also use encrypted tokens to share information. The patent specifically mentioned trade shows and rock concerts, so this idea, if it ever materializes, may have limited usage. It will be interesting to see what Apple may have in store for iOS in this growing area of location-based services. While many third-party applications use location information in novel ways, the core operating system and built-in iOS applications only scratch the surface of what is possible with direct access to always-on location information. [Via Engadget]
Google rolls out NFC-equipped Places business kits, muscles in on location-based territory in Portland
Yelp may be the raconteur of restaurant recommendations and Foursquare the cardinal of check-ins, but Google has an ace up its sleeve: NFC chips. The company's embedded near-field communications chips into each and every one of these "Recommended on Google Places" window stickers, which you'll be able to trigger with a shiny new Nexus S -- just hold your handset up to the black dot, and voila, your phone gets a "tag." Google's now distributing the signs on a trial basis to Portland, Oregon businesses as part of a larger Google Places kit, though it doesn't explain how (or if) they'll be able to program the chips. Either way, if you own a hot new joint in Portland, you might as well give it a spin. Find the sign-up form at our more coverage link, or peep a Nexus S doing its thing after the break.
Shopkick, Best Buy team up to use location-based app for loyalty program
I've been a member of Best Buy's rewards program for a little while now -- as long as I'm spending way too much of my hard-earned money at the big box retailer, I figure I might as well try to get some of it back. And I was pretty impressed with what they've done on their website with the program -- you can track your status and check out whatever deals are available to you whenever you sign in. And now, Best Buy has partnered up with an iPhone app called Shopkick, set to go live later this week. Shopkick is an app designed to automatically "check-in" with partnered retailers, so you can earn rewards bucks or other loyalty currencies whenever you stop by a specific retail location. Instead of using GPS, the app uses the smartphone's speaker to pick up a certain audio signal being played in-store, so "checking-in" at a Best Buy with the signal running will apparently grant rewards or discounts to customers. I don't know if the process actually appeals to me, even as a loyal Best Buy customer -- I haven't been interested in the whole "check-in" fad, and Shopkick sounds more like adware than anything else. But we've heard already that Apple themselves are interested in location-based networking, and this seems like exactly the kind of system that retailers and app creators alike are trying to build, enticing customers to visit and interact with brands and products in their stores. Shopkick goes live later this week and has already partnered with 25 malls in cities across the US, so we'll see how customers react to it.
Apple responds to congressional inquiry, details location data collection in 13-page letter
When Apple's latest privacy policy revealed the company could track any iPhone's location in real time, it threw some for a loop... including a pair of gentlemen from the US House of Representatives, who asked what Cupertino was up to. In a thirteen page letter dated July 12, Apple's legal counsel explains the whole matter away, while giving us a fascinating look into how the company collects -- and justifies collecting -- all that GPS data. Legally the defense is simple, as Apple claims users grant express permission via pop-up messages for every single location-based service and app, and if you don't care to be tracked, you can simply shut down location services globally or (in iOS 4) on a per-app basis in the phone's settings panel. Where it gets more interesting is when Apple explains what it actually collects, and who they share it with -- namely, Google and Skyhook, who provided location services to earlier versions of the operating system. In iOS 3.2 and beyond, only Apple has the keys to the database, and what's inside are locations of cell towers, WiFi access points, and anonymous GPS coordinates. None of these are personally identifying, as the company doesn't collect SSIDs or any data, and in the case of device coordinates they're reportedly collected and sent in encrypted batches only once every 12 hours, using a random ID generated by the phone every 24 hours that apparently can't be linked back to the device. In the case of iAd, Apple says coordinates don't even make it to a database, as they're immediately converted (by remote server) to a advertising-friendly five-digit zip code. Concerning location data collection for services other than iAd, there's still the little question of why, but we'll just leave you with Apple legal's quote on that subject after the break, and let you hit up the full document yourself at Scribd if you want the deep dive.
iOS 4 privacy policy updated: Apple can anonymously collect location data, you can take away iAds' cookies
It may not be a big deal -- Android's done it for years -- but some will no doubt be interested to learn that Apple can monitor your GPS. In the latest revision of its privacy policy, presumably updated for iOS 4, it revealed the company can anonymously track the "real-time geographic location" of devices and is free to share that data with "partners and licensees" as well. In a nutshell, that means Cupertino could potentially sell location data, but don't get in a tiff just yet -- the company says it will do so anonymously and for location-based services only. Speaking of sales and personally identifiable data, another addition to iOS 4 is the ad network iAd, which monitors your browsing habits and interests and serves up targeted advertisements respectively. According to the updated privacy policy, however, you don't need to let the OS do that. Simply navigate to http://oo.apple.com to shut down automated cookie collection, and you'll see boring, generic ads instead.
WWDC 2010: Insurrection 2035 impressions
Ever since the iPhone was introduced, we've been looking for a good location-based MMO -- a game that could rely on location information direct from the iPhone to let many different players interact with each other on a grand scale. There have been a few contenders so far (MyTown is definitely the most successful to date, and Shadowforce's Gunman has loyal fans), but I don't think anyone's really nailed that feeling of hunting players and exploring in real-life that we all dreamed of. Paranoid Games, however, is going to give it a shot with Insurrection 2035, an interesting idea for an iPhone game that's due out in early July. I got to see the game in action this week at WWDC, and while I didn't get to play it (the game is basically a map interface so far, and a lack of players means there's not a lot of action going on quite yet), Sam M makes a good pitch. The idea is a virtual version of the Assassins game, where a group of players hunts each other around real-life locations. In Insurrection, there's a "Big Brother-themed backstory" that has players working against each other, trying to predict and report other players' movements to an authority. You check-in to the app while out and about, other players can see your check-ins, and vice versa, and then if you're able to check-in and "report" someone from the same place that they're checking-in from, they're "arrested." They get a timeout from the game, and you get points towards local and worldwide leaderboards. Read on for more...
