For something so focused on navigation and geography, it's a bit ironic that location-based social networks have to work their way through such a jungle: carrier partnerships, handset compatibility, creepy privacy concerns, and what-have-you. But one small New York start-up, Socialight, says it's found a route: developers, developers, developers.
Socialight, which focuses on user-created city maps and whose founders insist that location-based mobile services can have functions other than stalking your friends, announced Wednesday that it has opened its application program interface (API). This will let developers mesh Socialight into applications for mobile platforms like Apple's iPhone, Google's Android software, and other devices and operating systems equipped with location-aware technology like GPS and cell tower triangulation. The start-up is also open-sourcing its mobile Java application along with the API.
"There are other APIs out there for tracking where your friends and family are," co-founder Dan Melinger said in a statement Wednesday. "But no one we know of has released an API that lets you publish, manage, and distribute local content, media, and information. This is far more useful and we are excited to see what develops."
For Socialight, this means convenience: an API can lead to more reach with fewer formal partnerships. At launch, Socialight has announced that Dash Navigation is using its API to send Socialight maps to its in-car GPS devices.
"We're making it much simpler to create your own apps for location-aware devices like the iPhone," Melinger told CNET News.com. "We expect a lot of developers to design apps that show content about the places around you--whether its a vintage-eyewear-shop-finder for the iPhone or something for your in-car GPS that helps track down the Shochu bars of L.A."
For the industry, still dealing with how to figure out location-based networking and mobile social networks, and the potential snafus involved with those, Socialight is something to watch: APIs and developer platforms were what made PC-based social networks really skyrocket. This could be an indicator of whether the same will hold true for the mobile space.
Youth-oriented mobile carrier Helio announced Wednesday that it has launched a bar and restaurant search site through a partnership with Buzzd, which also powers the mobile sites for local events and entertainment services like TimeOut New York, and Flavorpill.
Helio's new service, which is ad-supported, lets people in major U.S. cities search on the mobile Web site--linked from the home page of the carrier's browser--for bars, clubs, and restaurants. Most of the data will be pulled from Buzzd partners like Flavorpill, TimeOut, and the IAC-owned Citysearch. Added on, however, will be "event feeds" with specific pricing and night-specific details as well as short user reviews in real time.
So, theoretically, searching for the downtown New York hotspot Libation on a Saturday night could yield an update from another Buzzd user an hour earlier, saying "Ew, tonight's bouncer's mean and the line takes 30 minutes."
Perhaps more exciting is the fact that Helio is working to pull GPS into the mix. The carrier's current handsets come with the technology already, and a representative told me that the Buzzd service will eventually integrate GPS, so people won't have to say exactly where they are in order to find nearby parties and bars. (Right now they have to provide a location or street intersection.)
The catch is that Helio, which has struggled with growth and profitability, is a small carrier. Generating the critical mass for "real-time" reviews of a particular nightclub on a particular date will be tough, so the service may not turn out to be quite as teeming with up-to-the-minute information as Helio and Buzzd are hoping.
That said, location-based mobile services are revving up, and some will take off as soon as GPS-enabled handsets go into broader use or as soon as people whose devices are equipped with GPS realize that they have it. (I've noticed many people still don't know.)
Competitors in this space include Loopt, which has deals with mobile carriers Sprint and Boost, and Socialight. The latter is currently more like a user-generated version of Gridskipper city maps but has hinted at plans to move into the GPS sector when the technology becomes more widespread.
New social networks are born each day, and at the Under the Radar conference (see all posts) a new batch is on display. Most are in early funding stages, and one is so new it's still in closed beta. The other three are ready for a try-out.
I'll give Frengo this--it's certainly different than most mobile chatting services. Case in point: Neither of Frengo's main competitors, Twitter and Jaiku, asks users to vote, compete in contests, or earn points. In that sense, a bit of the social-discovery element of social networks creeps in. Except, of course, the goal isn't necessarily to become friends with other users. Frengo is more interested in social collision--sort of a tamer, more innocent Hot or Not. Example? The Flirtable Facebook application launched last Thursday.... Read more
Loki, the location aware browser plug-in updated its service for use on Macs and mobile phones earlier this week. Previously, Loki users were relegated to Windows. The new Mac version of the Loki is in fact not a toolbar like its Windows counterpart. Instead, users get contextual menu support, and pop up notifications of third party sites that have been Loki-enabled using the developer API. Loki's creators insist that people who use these services enjoy having them available all the time, just not taking up their browsers real estate--which I agree with.
Users can skip having to enter their address using Loki's mobile app, saving some time and frustration using a tiny stylus or keypad.
(Credit: Skyhook Wireless Inc.)The mobile version works with any handset running Windows Mobile and doesn't require your phone to have GPS. In fact, Loki doesn't work like that. It uses your phone's built-in WiFi and several access points to triangulate where you are, similar to how the police track down bad guys using cell phones in movies and TV shows.
Services that have developed Loki integration using the API give users the chance to automatically send their location information and use on site services. One site that's done this is Socialight.com, which lets you create and explore sticky notes on maps.
One of the things I really enjoy about this service is that it's geared towards road warriors. I gave it a whirl earlier this week at the Where 2.0 conference, and it worked surprisingly well (better than Rafe's experience). Here at the office; not so much. For driving directions I'm still more comfortable feeding a service my exact address (which you can do with Loki), and if it were a life or death situation, I'd probably feel better with GPS. Still, for people with neither GPS or an exact street number, this is handy technology.
Previous Loki coverage:
Skyhook says: Who needs GPS?
Toronto or San Jose: where am I, anyway?
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