Tuesday, March 02, 2010

Watch as Location Based Services free us from our screens!

With information overkill, hyper localization via mobile GPS may be the way to filter down what is most relevant to us on a real-time basis. Twitter is certainly planning on that from a news standpoint and will surely beat major media at their own game with localized news feeds. Google Buzz has added the service and I am certain that Facebook is sure to follow (potentially in partnership with FourSquare?).

Specialized applications like Meetmoi for dating or MeetGatsby (via Foursquare) for introducing like minded individuals spontaneously who are close by are starting to get traction. I have been using MeetGatsby myself over the last few days and have been fascinated by the potential of meeting random people with interests close to mine as I am out and about during the course of the day. Time will tell as to the value or distraction that this will bring. It will be crucial for companies like these to form partnerships in addition to fostering an open development community in order to build out unique offerings before they are made irrelevant by the big boys (Google, FB and Twitter) when this kicks in full force.

The only thing holding many of us back is the concern over privacy (once again!). I believe we will all 'get over it' as we realize the potential of push applications that capitalize on real-time technology to do the hard work for us behind the scenes. My excitement over this is driven by the hope that this will allow us to spend more time participating in the real world, as opposed to being glued to our screens in search of connections...

Altogether a good thing.

Posted via web from Jared Hendler

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