Brightkite’s location-sharing overhaul still bogging down service
Location-sharing service Brightkite is undergoing a major overhaul that will allow one-way relationships. In fact, the revamp is so major that it’s bogged down the service for at least three days. The company says it’s still flushing out some bugs.
Brightkite, which merged with Limbo in April, is taking cues from the popularity of Twitter by adopting more asynchronous relationships with a “fans” feature. That means you can follow people without having to mutually request or… Continue Reading
Brightkite, a mobile location-sharing service, merges with Limbo
Brightkite, a social network that lets users share their location on mobile phones, has merged with Limbo, a Silicon Valley company with a rather unique auctions service for mobile phones users.
It may mark the end of an era. After investors poured money into a host of mobile social networking companies last year, the companies are now trying to figure out how to boost their profile enough to be heard above the noise. And investors may… Continue Reading
Brightkite hooks up with Facebook Connect, makes location-based stalking easier
Brightkite, the social network that broadcasts user locations, has announced that it’s now officially integrated with Facebook Connect. Once authorized, the Brightkite application automatically updates your Facebook status and/or news feed with your location, photos, notes and anything else posted to Brightkite. One of the most recent updates to the service is that you can specify whether the action goes to your Facebook status or news feed.
Enabling Facebook Connect makes Brightkite more competitive in its… Continue Reading
FriendFeed says ‘SUP to some new services
We first wrote about FriendFeed working a new Really Simple Syndication (RSS) supplement that it was calling Simple Update Protocol (SUP) earlier this year. The idea was to speed up the way new content is pulled into the social aggregator. Today, FriendFeed has announced several updates to its SUP support.
Services now using SUP on FriendFeed include Disqus, Brightkite, Identi.ca, BackType and 12seconds. “Whenever one of these feeds is updated, the new entry appears on FriendFeed… Continue Reading
FriendFeed puts location in a bit more context by auto-adding maps to the stream
FriendFeed quietly rolled out a pretty cool new feature tonight. Now, when you update a service that has location information included in it, such as Brightkite, a Google Map image of your location will be placed below the update.
When I inquired about this new feature, FriendFeed co-found Bret Taylor wrote back in a thread:
“We just pushed that change out. Should show up for all entries that have geo information, including RSS feeds that use GeoRSS.”
You… Continue Reading
Brightkite finally launches its iPhone app. Could this be the one that launches LBS?
Location-based services (LBS) are becoming a dime-a-dozen in Apple’s App Store. Some, such as UrbanSpoon, Yelp and AroundMe are quite useful and popular. But those simply focus on finding places and activities (and mainly food) nearby your current location. More complex LBS social networks, which focus on tracking you and your friends, haven’t yet caught fire. Brightkite, which just launched its iPhone app, has the potential to change that.
The LBS social networks like Loopt, Where… Continue Reading
Roundup: Google goes deeper into TV ads, CNN uses Facebook Connect, Flickr’s new homepage and more
Here’s the latest action:
Google starting to catch on to this TV ad thing? –It’s been almost two years since the search advertising giant made its first foray into television advertising. In order to grow, it’s going to need more time slots (inventory) to sell. It took a step in that direction this week, striking a deal with Harris Corp., a company that will help add and manage new inventory. Google TV Ads also made a deal… Continue Reading
At TechStars, 12 teams show that Boulder, CO, can produce fantastic tech
“Boulder is good for engineers — if you’re into innovation in rock climbing technology,” a friend once quipped about the outdoor-loving Colorado college town. But today, 12 startups from TechStars, a Boulder-based incubator, demoed their products in Mountain View, Calif. and did a good job of building on the city’s reputation as a budding center for high-tech. Almost down to a team, each of companies that presented this morning felt strong.
The TechStars demo reviews:
Let’s start… Continue Reading
Loopt opens a lead with location-based service on smartphones
updated
Loopt, the cellphone service that lets you track your friends on a map and communicate with them, said it is now also available on RIM’s BlackBerry Curve, Pearl and World devices.
This makes Loopt the third location-based service (LBS) to be available on the majority of U.S. smartphones, but arguably lets it open a lead over competitors Whrrl and Brightkite in this segment. I’ve illustrated the competitive field with one of my napkin drawings below. You’ll… Continue Reading
Location, location, location: The iPhone with GPS nears
There’s smoke, there’s fire, and then there’s a volcano the size of Olympus Mons on Mars erupting and turning the ground into an ocean of burning lava. Such is current state of speculation surrounding the 3G iPhone.
There’s really no point in beating around the bush at this point. The new iPhone is coming on Monday. You know it. I know it. We all know it. If Apple were not to announce it at this point, it… Continue Reading
Pelago raises $15 million to expand Whrrl both in the U.S. and abroad
Social networks built around location are a hot item, and getting hotter.
It’s one thing to have a group of contacts which you can update with words from a mobile device (think the micro-messaging service Twitter). It’s another to be able to quickly update your exact location on a map and have others see it. Add to that the ability to review places (think: Yelp) as well as tag places you would like to go, and… Continue Reading