foursquare

With SXSW and Coachella on the horizon, Foursquare and VH1 have partnered to increase visibility and raise money for the VH1 Save The Music Foundation, according to the tech news site Mashable.

How it works is concertgoers can follow VH1 on Foursquare to earn a limited edition "VH1 Save The Music" badge, then when they check-in at music venues across the country they'll be able to unlock the badge and $1 will be donated to the VH1 Save The Music Foundation.

This foundation launched in 1997 with the goal to give public schools musical instruments and also … Read more

BARCELONA, Spain--When Foursquare co-founder and CEO Dennis Crowley talks about recycling data, he isn't talking about being green.

Crowley is referring to the wealth of data that comes in through its Foursquare mobile check-in app, which can be turned into a recommendation engine for consumers looking for new places to explore.

"We're enabling people to cut through the data stream in a way that no one has done before," Crowley said today during a keynote address at the Mobile World Congress show.

That kind of use of personal data may freak some users out, but Crowley … Read more

Creating an NFC tag that allows customers, friends, or even yourself to quickly check in to a venue on Foursquare is easy.

To begin, you will need an NFC-capable device, some blank NFC tags, and an app to write to the tags. In a previous post, I went over where to find the tags and what app to use if you are on Android.

Today, I will be using the same app, NFC Task Launcher, on the Galaxy Nexus to program the tag for a Foursquare check-in.

Before we can program the tag to initiate a check-in, we will need … Read more

Facebook may dominate the social media landscape today with 845 million users, but experts say that instead of consolidating around the market leader, the social media landscape is fragmenting, leaving big opportunities for startups, especially those targeting mobile users.

This could be good news for entrepreneurs and investors who might be green with envy over Facebook's projected $5 billion gain from its upcoming initial public offering. But for consumers, it means that managing Facebook, Google+, and Twitter accounts is just the beginning.

Fred Wilson, a venture capitalist and principal at Union Square Ventures, discussed this notion of a more … Read more

If you're traveling, your mom (or any loved one, really) is probably going to want to know the moment you have arrived safely, and let's be honest, you don't always remember to tell her.

A new Web site, Hash tag Mom (#mom), will automatically alert her for you by sending her a text, or calling her, once you check in to an airport on Foursquare.

Setup is simple.

Visit Hashtagmom.com and enter your mom's phone number (or a loved one's), as well as select whether you want a text message or call to be … Read more

If you love sharing your travel stories and photos, road-tripping app HipGeo recently got a redesign that lets users document and share their experiences with remarkable ease.

The free iPhone and iPad app from Los Angeles-based HipGeo passively records your location as you travel. It can then mash your pics and comments into an animated map and travel diary for sharing.

The app tags photos, adds captions, and pinpoints its location on a map. You can share by logging on to the HipGeo site and clicking on "create and share trip." Dead simple. … Read more

The IPO market may have regained its footing--sort of--but clearly not fast enough for some wanting to sell their private shares.

Trading on SecondMarket soared 55 percent in 2011 to a total of $558 million in transactions, as ex-employees, founders and others connected with hot startups cashed out shares. The company creates a marketplace for stock in private companies.

Demand, meanwhile, was huge, with those trying to buy private shares--measured by what SecondMarket calls "indications of interest"--offering more than $6 billion during the year.

SecondMarket says it's now completed more than $1 billion in private company … Read more

Foursquare just rolled out a Save to Foursquare button, which allows users to save a venue to one of their  Foursquare Lists from nearly any Web page.… Read more

Apple has raised bludgeoning competitors with patents on key technologies to a fine art. (Just ask Samsung.) And now it may have a new blunt object to wield.

A reissue of a patent originally dating back to 1998 -- and that Apple got from Xerox -- has delivered into CEO Tim Cook's hands some serious, and scary, potential control over location-based services. If you thought that Google, Samsung, HTC, and others were already depressed over the legal success Apple has had in fighting Android, it's now officially worse.

Even more, it could bring some important activities of other … Read more