Geotoko is a platform for businesses to run location-based contests and sweepstakes. We leverage exisiting location based apps like Foursquare, Gowalla, Yelp, Loopt, Google Latitude, Twitter etc to provide businesses increased loyalty and conversions with customers checking-in.
Google has rolled out a standalone site for its goo.gl URL shortener, nearly a year after first announcing the service. Twitter’s 140 character limit sparked a wave of URL shorteners—from bit.ly to Twitter’s own t.co—and Google’s entrance into the market will be interesting to watch. Google’s recent flops with Wave and Buzz have put more pressure on the internet behemoth to score a winner.
This Google Map displays in real-time the locations of Foursquare check-ins shared via Twitter.
The map displays the locations of the latest check-ins made to Foursquare. If nothing else the map is interesting in that it gives a rough guide of Foursquare's penetration around the world. At the moment Foursquare appears most popular in North America, Europe, South East Asia and Japan. However Foursquare seems to have made little penetration in South Africa.
Another potential use of the map could be to zoom in on your current location and check-out who is logging in on Foursquare around you.
This is the result of the Open Innovation experiment. It is an experience video showing the future of screen technology with stretchable screens, transparent screens and e-ink displays, to name a few.
iTunes10 has a ‘social’ network for iTunes based music fans called Ping. Ping enables you to publicly announce the music that you like, share music with your friends and make Twitter-like comments on it in real-time. You can follow your mates and even artists on Ping fan pages that encourage conversations with fans.
For those of you who use Foursquare, you might find this interesting. Earlier today Facebook launched it's location based tool called 'Places', which allows user to ‘check-in’ to shops, restaurants, bars, etc, among other things -
• Tag the friends you're with so they can be part of your update. • Appear in "Here Now" to friends and others nearby who are also checked in. • Browse status updates of friends checked in nearby. • After checking in, tap "Here Now" to see who else is checked in where you are.
What does this mean for businesses? Well, apparently businesses can 'claim' pages, which is particularly important for companies like Starbucks, etc. Facebook haven’t revealed whether this will be tied in with Facebook fanpages yet. I'll keep you posted.
UPDATE: Facebook Places can be linked to a Facebook Page by 'claiming' a place. You can do this via the 'is this your business?' link at the bottom of the place page.
For more info click here or watch the video below.
