foursquare

Nearly 1 in 5 smartphone owners use check-in services

Nearly one in five smartphone users are tapping into check-in services like Foursquare and Gowalla, according to a ComScore report released yesterday.

A total of 16.7 million mobile-phone subscribers used location-based services on their phones in March. That amounts to about 7.1 percent of the entire population of mobile users.

But among smartphone users specifically, 12.7 million checked in with such sites during the month, representing 17.6 percent of all smartphone owners, ComScore said.

For the purposes of its study, ComScore included such location-based check-in services as Foursquare, Gowalla, and Facebook Places.

Compared with most smartphone owners, those who used location-based sites on their phones also proved more likely to access other types of mobile content. More than 95 percent of them used their mobile browsers or mobile apps. Almost 62 percent grabbed the news on their mobile devices.

And in a stat that will make retailers happy, almost one third of the users browsed to online retail sites on their phones, while one fourth accessed online shopping guides. Users of check-in sites also got a heavier dose of advertising. Almost 40 percent of respondents said they remembered seeing an online ad during March, compared with just 27.5 percent of all smartphone users who said the same thing.… Read more

How to automate Foursquare check-ins with your Android device

Foursquare can be fun--but it can also start to feel like work. If you're the Mayor of your favorite coffee shop, holding onto that title can turn into a chore. The hundredth time you drag out your phone, pop open the Foursquare app, wait for it to figure out where you are, and then finally check in, the novelty may have faded a tiny bit. Fortunately, there's a sweet, free Android app called ToothTag that can automatically check you in at your favorite places, as long as they've got Wi-Fi or Bluetooth signals you can recognize. Here'… Read more

Buzz Out Loud 1449: Sleazier forms of capitalism (Podcast)

On today's show, we celebrate the dubious holiday that is Foursquare Day (coming tomorrow), Skype has an Android vulnerability that Donald thinks might just be a feature, and Nintendo is going HD just in time for people to stop buying video games. Also, Best Buy says DVD windowing is totally working, if you enjoy manipulating customers into continuing to pay for a dying format. And Priceline founder Jay Walker sues most of the Internet. --Molly

Check-ins come to Google Latitude app

Google's Latitude platform was a relatively early entrant into the current wave of location-aware apps--but until this point, it's steered clear of the "check-in" language that trendy start-ups like Foursquare have popularized. No more: Latitude's iPhone app, in an update announced today, finally allows users to check into specific places and share their location with their friends.

It joins a similar feature for the Latitude Android app, announced last week right before the notorious check-in playground of the South by Southwest Interactive Festival (SXSW) in Austin, Texas, at which Google also announced a promotion with … Read more

At SXSW, IE9 envisions a happy, appy Web

AUSTIN, Texas--Just one year after it initially previewed its new Internet Explorer 9 browser, Microsoft formally launched the software today at the South by Southwest Interactive Festival (SXSW), bringing in representatives from launch partners from The Huffington Post, Foursquare, Groupon, and Pandora to demonstrate an experience that looks less like the Web as we know it and more like the app ecosystem of a smartphone or tablet.

"We're used to the Web getting better because of everything other than the PC," Internet Explorer's Dean Hachamovitch said of how the most innovative kinds of Web development have, … Read more

Mastering social media saturation at SXSW

AUSTIN, Texas--There was a time, just a couple of years ago, when you could figure out almost everything going on at the South by Southwest Interactive conference (SXSW) just by keeping an eye on the #SXSW hash tag.

Whether it was an impromptu wine party hosted by Gary Vaynerchuck or a Laughing Squid meet-up or word about a great panel going on, that hash tag was many people's essential organizing principle.

But with the explosive growth of SXSW and Twitter, the thousands who are prowling around day and night here this week looking for the next great thing to … Read more

Why Gowalla hasn't stopped moving

AUSTIN, Texas--It can't be easy for Josh Williams, the CEO of geolocation service Gowalla, to see once-close rival Foursquare plastered all over his hometown this week for the annual South by Southwest Interactive Festival (SXSW). On the massive outdoor "Pepsi Max Lot" where lucky Foursquare check-ins can earn users "golden tickets" to a Monday night concert by Big Boi, at local vendors participating in a blockbuster partnership between Foursquare and American Express, or just on the smartphones of the tens of thousands of geeks who flood the Texas capital for the conference each year.

"… Read more

SCVNGR at SXSW--high-flying, or head in the clouds?

AUSTIN, Texas--Hailing the 2010s as "the decade of games," Seth Priebatsch, founder of the Google-backed start-up SCVNGR, brought a bright dose of dreamy enthusiasm to the first official keynote of the South by Southwest Interactive Festival on Saturday afternoon.

Plowing through problems from education reform to global warming, and how they could be addressed by applying the principles of games, the skinny Priebatsch showed up for his talk, "The Game Layer on Top of the World," in a bright orange polo shirt with matching sunglasses perched atop his head and spoke with the jerky staccato of … Read more

Foursquare upgrades its iPhone and Android apps

Foursquare has upgraded its Android and iPhone apps to version 3.0 to kick off some new and enhanced features.

Officially debuting yesterday in Apple's App Store and Google's Android Market, the free Foursquare 3.0 app has added a new Explore tab that can zero in on the places you want to go.

Tap a certain category, such as food, nightlife, or shops, or type in a specific phrase, such as "books" or "gas station," and Foursquare will show you a list of local spots, anywhere from 2 to 10 miles from your … Read more

Facebook is not a measure of your self-worth

Links from Wednesday's episode of Loaded:

Opera launches a mobile browser-based app store

A new iPad magazine app called Zite arrives

Foursquare launches version 3.0 of its mobile app with more emphasis on rewards and recommendations

Mitsubishi has built an elevator that you can operate with voice commands

A new study shows that women who base their self-worth on their appearance share far more photos of themselves on Facebook