Archive for the ‘News’ Category

As Google receives a good deal of critique for its new personalized internet search, Foursquare has been receiving much positive feedback from its users for its similar direction. The geolocation service has released its “Explore” service, which was previously available on the mobile application, online. Users can immediately begin to discover personally recommended places all over the world under foursquare.com/explore.
Based on the more than 1.5 billion check-ins from the community members as well as numerous tips, users can now receive personalized recommendations for restaurants, bars, museums, or other locations in the vicinity or place of choice, according to the Foursquare blog. The location-based check-in service has implemented artificial intelligence in its search engine: the more a user checks in, the better Foursquare is at finding new locations, according to the post.

“Explore” is not only personalized, but specific: the majority of search engines generate very general results: users searching for “pizza” will get the same list of pizza restaurants, regardless of preference of crust, whether the restaurant could be considered “fast” food, or if the user would rather sit down. The “Explore” tool instead allows users to conduct a full-text search, which helps make the search more specific, so that users only get the results that might be interesting to them, say a pizza restaurant that serves extra crispy crust. But that’s not all: the search can further be reduced in which the user sorts between the categories “Where I haven’t been yet”, “Where I’ve already been”, “Where my friends have been”, or “places offering Foursquare deals” – which are offerings for group check-ins. The geotagging service sees its new web-based feature as a step in the direction of a big idea: “[Foursquare] is always connecting you to the most interesting things nearby, wherever you happen to be in the world.”

Explore is not just an exciting new development, but also means that Foursquare will be joining the local search market – and is already recognizing the need for personalized information.

The Telegate AG has given its online directory 11880.com a facelift: the portal will open with a location-based local search for the correlating city. The new feature is described as being more local, personal, and structured by Kirstin Bergmann in the company’s official blog. Read the rest of this entry »

Meinestadt.de has added a new rating feature to its mobile local-search application for the iPhone and Android. Users can immediately begin to see user ratings for stores, services, and restaurants, and add in their own two cents, all on-the-go. Read the rest of this entry »

Google has taken over the company Clever Sense, which developed the successful local recommendation app “Alfred”. The startup seems to be over-joyed about the current developments, as seen in a press statement. The team is excited to belong to Google. Through cooperation, the company is one step closer to helping the world around itself. Read the rest of this entry »

Despite numerous speculations regarding the end of the never-ending row of online coupons, but investors continue to pump large sums into companies like LivingSocial and Plum District. The deal portals, which have specialized themselves in location-based group deals, especially wish to expand their unique selling points with the extended financial support in order to improve their position against competition. But the competition is still strong: the leader of the pack Groupon has introduced a new online-booking possibility with an appointment planner with its new Groupon Scheduler. Read the rest of this entry »

Tupalo.com – a local search platform which doubles as an international directory and rating-community – has announced a new partnership with the technology start-up Yext. Tupalo users in the USA should now be able to find local service providers even more efficiently with the help of the new Yext information provided. Read the rest of this entry »

With the growing threat of a financial crisis in Europe, it’s easy to think that this would hinder the development of the tech sector. Fortunately, this is far from the case. As Ben Broshi reported at the beginning of October, Berlin has been gaining international attention for its rampant growth in the tech world, especially for new startups. Now, the German news provider Der Spiegel has also turned its head towards the Hauptstadt. Read the rest of this entry »

Now you don’t have to just maintain virtual contact to all of your Facebook friends – with the new app from discounter airline Germanwings, “FriendFlights”, users can book flights directly to their friends throughout Europe. The app lists Facebook friends and calculates flights from your current position to their home. Read the rest of this entry »

The US-Patent Office has promised Apple a patent for location-based information services that may effect other providers of location-based services. The industrial property law with the code RE42,927 and the title “System and method for obtaining an using location specific information” is broad enough to affect all mobile services using location-based material. Read the rest of this entry »

The tantalizing scent of roasted almonds, waffles, and mulled wine is in the air and invites guests to visit the popular Christmas markets. Now a special local search app shows us where the nearest market is: the free Christmas market search application for Apple and Android smartphones from Das Örtliche. Read the rest of this entry »