Red Robot Labs buys Supermono game studio

Red Robot Labs is a pretty young startup, founded earlier this. But the mobile game company raised $8.5 million in September and is using that money already. Today, the company is announcing it has acquired England-based game studio Supermono.

Palo Alto, Calif.-based Red Robot Labs is also appointing Phil Harrison, former chief of Sony’s game studios and now a venture capitalist in Europe, as an advisor. That shows that these are still pretty heady times … Continue Reading

LevelUp makes redeeming check-in rewards easier with American Express

LevelUp, a pilot in the local deals space created by check-in app Scvngr, today announced a partnership with American Express to give users the ability to redeem deals with their credit cards, eliminating the need for printed coupons or showing your phone at the point of sale.

Essentially, consumers will be able to connect their American Express cards to LevelUp and be able to redeem in-store deals.  Once connected, users can simply swipe their cards … Continue Reading

Official Foursquare Day proclaimed by New York City Mayor Bloomberg

How do you know you’re a hometown favorite in the startup world? When the mayor stops by your office and gives you your own “official” day. New York City Mayor Bloomberg just announced plans to officially proclaim April 16th Foursquare Day on Saturday in New York City.

The official mandate from Bloomberg’s post:

New York City is proud to be the home of both the powerhouse companies and small startups that are thinking big, creating … Continue Reading

Scoutmob lands $1.5M more for location-based group deals

Scoutmob, a location-based group deals company, plans to announce tomorrow that it has secured a first round of funding for $1.5 million, according to New Atlantic Ventures representatives, who led the funding. The new funding will be used to roll out its deal service to new cities, continue development and hire more employees.

The company appears to be an interesting mix of a group buying site, like Groupon or LivingSocial, and location-based deal service, like … Continue Reading

Have the location-based patent wars begun?

Popular location-based check-in application Foursqaure was slapped with a lawsuit today for supposedly infringing on a patent from little known company Mobile Commerce Framework, as first reported by TechCrunch.

The lawsuit was filed yesterday by Mobile Commerce Framework’s legal representation Jonathan Hangartner in the Southern District of California and is claiming financial damages as well as the withdrawal of all products by Foursquare to be impounded or destroyed.

The claim is that Foursquare’s application infringes … Continue Reading

The Go Game launches do-it-yourself iPhone scavenger hunts

The Go Game, creators of location-based scavenger hunts for companies, today announced the launch of a do-it-yourself iPhone application for creating and participating in local scavenger hunts, according to a company announcement.

The application, which is now available in the Apple App Store, is being released at South by SouthWest (SXSW) with basic functionality, including the ability to challenge other players and participate in local scavenger hunts around Austin, Texas, where the event is held. … Continue Reading

Foursquare 3.0 will recommend where to check in

Foursquare, the hot location-based check-in startup, today announced on its blog that it will be releasing Foursquare 3.0 later today for Android and iPhone. The new version comes with several feature updates, but probably the most notable is the much-rumored recommendation engine.

We hinted to the recommendation engine back in September when co-founder and chief executive Dennis Crowley announced the possibility in front of Picnic, an annual three-day festival for sharing concepts in Amsterdam. The new feature … Continue Reading

Scvngr finds 1 million users willing to complete location challenges

Scvngr, the maker of a check-in app that asks users to complete activity challenges, is defying the conventional wisdom that services which broadcast one’s location to friends aren’t ready for the mainstream. Just yesterday, the app has reached 1 million users, founder and chief executive Seth Priebatsch tells VentureBeat, and added nearly 10,000 new users since then.

If it sustains that pace, Scvngr could quadruple its user base in a year.

Recent studies have suggested … Continue Reading

Survey suggests local businesses checking in to Facebook Places

Facebook Places, the feature that allows users to check in and share their location, may be winning the hearts and dollars of local businesses, according to a MerchantCircle quarterly report of more than 8,000 U.S. local businesses.

First reported by The Financial Times, Facebook Places is getting a larger percent of businesses using the service compared to location-based competitors Foursquare and Gowalla. The survey suggests that 32 percent of businesses are promoting their services through … Continue Reading

Foursquare short-cut to debut on Japanese smartphones

Foursquare, the hot New York-based location-based check-in game, has partnered with Japanese telecommunications company KDDI to give users a short-cut for downloading the mobile application on several of its Android smartphones.

The partnership will give Japanese consumers a way to easily find and download the Foursquare app, which will appear on the REGZA Phone IS04, scheduled to be released tomorrow, and the IS05″, to be released in spring, 2011, according to the company’s release.

Foursquare … Continue Reading

Update: Scvngr to come preloaded on newest Virgin Mobile smartphone

Update: After several comments from our readers and follow up with Loopt, it appears that the location-based check in application is preloaded on several smartphones, including the LG Optimus M and Huawei Ascend on MetroPCS (both Android) and also its BlackBerry Curve 8530.

Scvngr, the maker of a check-in app that asks users to complete activity challenges, today announced that it will now come preloaded on the LG Optimus V, the newest prepaid smartphone … Continue Reading

Foursquare reveals new "promoted" check-in for Super Bowl Sunday

Tech companies have long glommed on to the Super Bowl to promote their services. Remember how TiVo touted the number of people who replayed Janet Jackson’s wardrobe malfunction in 2004? Now Foursquare, the hot New York-based location service, has revealed an alluring offer you’ll want to check out — or rather, check in.

Normally, Foursquare lets you announce where you are to your friends. But it’s waiving that restriction with the launch of a new … Continue Reading

Google Latitude gives 10 million users check-in power

Google may have just made its big move in the location-based services space. According to the company’s mobile blog, it has launched Google Maps 5.1 for Android and included the ability to check in to specific locations with Latitude, its feature for sharing your location with friends.

While in the past users where able to share their location, it wasn’t based on a specific physical location, like a restaurant or bar, but just longitude and … Continue Reading

Foursquare grew 3400% in 2010

Popular mobile check-in application Foursquare today announced that it grew 3400% in 2010. The company now stands at 6 million users.

Other interesting stats include more than 381 million total check-ins accounting for every country (including North Korea) as well as a check-in from space. California also appears to have the most fit Foursquare users, being the top state for gym check-ins.

Foursquare has shown no signs of slowing down. Reports surfacing today claim that … Continue Reading

Filmaster looks to be "Foursquare for films"

Filmaster, a recommendation engine for movies and shows, announced today that it’s launching an application programming interface, or API, for developers looking to use the service’s data and algorithms in their own applications or websites.

Through the API, the company gives developers access to users’ movie reviews and movie-search data. Users can use the service to learn about the tastes of other users in their area. Similar to Twitter, the service lets you follow or … Continue Reading

Bugs feast on latest BlackBerry app from Foursquare

Location-based check-in app Foursquare has released an updated version of its service for RIM’s BlackBerry smartphones, according to mobile blog Crackberry. However, any excitement by users should be short-lived.

The new version, v1.9.10, was released earlier this evening, and an issue immediately arose where some users got a false “unable to check-in screen.” Checking in, or announcing your location to your friends on the service, is kind of the point of Foursquare. Recognizing the severity … Continue Reading

Foursquare fights fake friends

Popular check-in application Foursquare is facing a problem that has long bedeviled social networks — spurious friend requests. And it’s dealing with violators by putting a cap on them.

Users now have a limit on the total number of friends they can have as well as the number of friend requests they can send, a change first noticed by AboutFoursquare.com.

For the average user, this may not be an issue: Most users don’t want thousands … Continue Reading

Scvngr grabs $15M more to locate challenges abroad

Scvngr, the maker of a check-in app that asks users to complete activity challenges, today announced it has secured a second round of funding for $15 million, according to the company blog. Investors included Balderton Capital, with participation from previous investors Google Ventures and Highland Capital Partners.

Founder and chief executive Seth Priebatsch told me that the company’s biggest motivation for this round was getting Balderton Capital partner Barry Maloney on board to help with … Continue Reading

Where will the location superstars check in this New Year's?

Wondering how to tell your friends where you are for New Year’s? There are a host of hot location-based startups which let you check in to a venue and broadcast your whereabouts to friends. Since I write about these services regularly, I decided to ask the founders of these companies where they’d be for New Year’s. The coolest choice of place meant that service got the honor my check-in.

You may remember these guys from … Continue Reading

JiWire brings location data to mobile ads with Compass

JiWire, a company that uses Wi-Fi locations to deliver ads to consumers, today announced the launch of Compass, a service that delivers ads that pull in specific data based on the user’s location.

The Compass ads can appear on iPad, smartphones or laptops and appear as normal display ads. Once the consumer clicks on an ad, it expands into a full-screen ad and, depending on the advertiser, may show where a physical store location is … Continue Reading