If you've ever wished Facebook would integrate some of the functionality of online check-in apps like Gowalla or Foursquare, you're in luck. The Facebook for iPhone app has been updated to version 3.2 and includes a new feature called "Places."

Places is Facebook's stab at sharing locations with friends via GPS tagging; by tapping a "Check in" button and choosing a location near you, you'll be able to share your current location in your friends' news feeds. Your check-in will also show up on the location's Recent Activity page, assuming the location has a Facebook page. So, you can look forward to a lot of "Johnny Appleseed is at Target in University Heights" posts in your Facebook News Feed in the near future. Hooray? You'll also be able to tag any friends who are with you, and you can see other Facebook users at that location by checking the "People Here Now" section.

Places is currently only available in the USA (meaning that I haven't tested it), but Facebook promises to roll the feature out to other countries and mobile platforms "soon."

I like the idea of this feature in theory, but in practice, as soon as this feature rolls out in my country, I'll be scrambling to disable it. I've always thought of apps like Gowalla and Foursquare as the electronic equivalent of hanging a big sign in front of your house saying "I'm away from home, PLEASE ROB ME!" Add Facebook into the mix, a site already notorious for its questionable privacy record, and it's enough to send people like me into paroxysms of paranoia. Facebook spent over half their Places introduction post stressing that any information users share with Places is completely under users' control, but we've all heard that one before.

Facebook for iPhone updated with 'Places' GPS check-in originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 19 Aug 2010 06:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Facebook for iPhone updated with 'Places' GPS check-in originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 19 Aug 2010 06:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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I'm a fan of Foursquare, the social networking app that allows you to check into locations that you visit. Don't ask me why -- I find it to be somewhat intrusive, but I love the fact that I can be the mayor of a number of places I frequent. The only problem is that if I'm running a lot of errands, pulling out my iPhone to check in at each location can be annoying and time-consuming.

Enter developer Tim Sears, who has come up with the perfect solution for Foursquare aficionados. His new app, Future Checkin (US$0.99 introductory price), uses the backgrounding features of iOS 4 on the iPhone 4 and 3GS to constantly check your location and then automatically check you into Foursquare locations that you frequent. No longer do you have to remember to check in -- your iPhone will do it for you.

Sears does warn you that using Future Checkin will reduce your battery life as it constantly checks your location. I can see where the app would be very useful if you have your iPhone plugged in while running errands, as the battery concerns would be minimized. Future Checkin is definitely a unique solution to a rather silly problem, and I love the fact that I now have one less thing to remember to do.

Found footage: Automate Foursquare with Future Checkins originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 03 Aug 2010 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Found footage: Automate Foursquare with Future Checkins originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 03 Aug 2010 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tapped on App Store and what did I see? Updates for Tweetie, Loopt, Foursquare, and Flickr — and a couple of those say iPhone OS 3.2 (aka iPad) right there in the What’s New listing. (Yeah, that doesn’t mean 3.2 is coming to the iPhone or these are 1024×768 versions, likely just that they’re built using that SDK for maximum blackboxing on the iPad).

Tweetie [$2.99 - iTunes link] has just hit version 2.1.1 and brings iPhone OS 3.2 compatibility(!), Foursquare (4sq.com) integration, Vodpod video uploads, Post ‘message’ parameter to TwitPic, and Instapaper Mobilizer. See our previous Tweetie coverage for more on the app.

Loopt [Free - iTunes link] expands the product’s Pulse feature to include tens of thousands of local events, and allows check-in to events, public Tips, and the ability to RSVP to events posted on Facebook. It’s also got you covered for SXSW, and adds content from SonicLiving, Zvents and Metromix.

Foursquare [Free - iTunes link] brings a whole new look and feel (see below), faster, better checkin, and categories for Places view. Also, it has history for Places, and uses Tweetie-style pull-to-refresh.

Flickr [Free - iTunes link] iPhone OS 3.2 support (!)

Quick App Updates: Tweetie, Loopt, Foursquare, Flickr — Including iPhone 3.2 Compatibility(!) is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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Filed under: Gaming, Freeware, Internet, Apple, iPhone, sxsw

Happy March! The super hip and trendy South-by-Southwest music and tech festival is coming up this month, and like many tech conventions these days, AT&T is working on a plan to keep their network up and running as thousands of iPhones descend on Austin, Texas to send around voice, texts, and data.

GigaOM has a little insight into how they're planning to do it this year, and if you're interested in the nuts-and-bolts of keeping a cell phone network up and running (or at least trying to -- this is AT&T, after all), it's worth a read. They're beefing up the cell towers in the city's vicinity, setting up a whole new system around the convention center itself, and putting money into the backend as well, to try and increase bandwidth coming into the region. I don't know if they've done anything like this before (I can't really judge with Macworld -- while my iPhone worked fine most of the time, I still only have a 1G, and I was using Sprint MiFi on my Macbook most of the time), but it sounds like a pretty comprehensive setup.

Of course, the other reason AT&T is pushing to get ready for SXSW is that the convention has become sort of an unofficial testing ground for the next big social apps. A few years ago, Twitter made its first big push around SXSW, and last year, Foursquare was the app to use (which has since spawned a brand new genre of app, the "check-in" network). So what's going to be the app pushing data through the AT&T network this year? The buzz so far is around Twitter's coming ad platform, though it's hard to think that an ad platform could be a killer app. My money's on some sort of location-based social game -- while Foursquare has gaming elements, I think an app like MyTown could take the concept even farther, and we still haven't really seen an actual GPS-based RPG or MMO break out. Even those of us who aren't at SXSW this year will be paying attention to what people are doing on their iPhones there, because odds are good that the app that clicks with attendees there will be what we're all playing with in a few months.

AT&T plans for SXSW 2010 originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 01 Mar 2010 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

AT&T plans for SXSW 2010 originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 01 Mar 2010 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Software, Apple, iPhone

Apple's excited about mobile advertising (and it certainly seems like they're setting up a plan for local ads), but to devs, they say, "not so much." Apparently they've sent out a message that says location services should only be used to provide "beneficial information," not targeted advertising. Any apps that include ads targeted to where you and your iPhone are will be rejected posthaste, says Apple.

There's a few things going on here -- Mobile Entertainment wonders just what "beneficial information" means. Certainly apps like Foursquare and MyTown provide business information based on your iPhone's location, and Foursquare especially is working on local deals with places that you've checked-in to -- is that considered advertising?

And a few developers, including our friend Craig Hockenberry (MacNN messed up Chock's name in their post) say that Apple wants location-based ads for themselves. Kind of a jerk move by Apple, but if that's where the money is, I guess you can't blame them.

Apple puts limits on location-based advertising in the App Store originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 05 Feb 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Apple puts limits on location-based advertising in the App Store originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 05 Feb 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Software, Freeware, iPhone, App Store

There's a growing battle lately on the App Store over "check-in" apps -- Foursquare, Gowalla, and MyTown have all seen big gains in users lately (and a few other contenders have been roaming the periphery), and it looks like we're starting to see some innovation in the mix. Gowalla recently updated their free app [iTunes link], and introduced a new feature called Shared Trips. These are more or less tours (or a line of check-ins at different places around a given city), but they can feature all kinds of things: a set of bars, interesting buildings to see, the old bookstore/coffeeshop run, or any other ideas Gowalla users have. Trips can be shared and rated, and you'll be able to browse through the most popular trips and even earn badges in the app for creating or going on a popular trip.

The new version also adds bookmarks, which will let you remember your favorite check-in spot -- while you can't add them from the mobile app yet, you can browse them from there, and they're hoping to get the functionality in soon.

Obviously, this might not appeal to everybody -- there are lots of iPhone users out there (including me) who aren't so keen yet on sharing their location with everyone they know every time they leave the house. But it is interesting to note that this is a burgeoning mini-industry, brought on almost completely by the ubiquity of the iPhone and its up-and-coming competitors. Any time you have more than a few apps vying for a growing audience, you're going to end up with some interesting innovation. It'll be fun to see what kinds of ideas Gowalla and its competitors can come up with.

Gowalla announces shared trips originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 01 Feb 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Gowalla announces shared trips originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 01 Feb 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Software, Odds and ends, iPhone, App Store

I posted a few things last year about Booyah, an app that promised a lot, but turned out to be not much more than your standard social networking/check-in app. And despite a little hype around its introduction, Booyah had some trouble finding an audience. But the developers (former Blizzard folks still supported by some execs there) came right back with MyTown [iTunes link], and this time, they appear to have hit gold -- despite the app's low profile, it already boasts more users than the well-known Foursquare and Gowalla apps. That's probably because it's more of an actual game; rather than just checking-in, the app has a currency to it, where you can "buy" places you check-in from, and then charge money to the next person that stops by. Imagine Foursquare mixed up with Monopoly -- instead of meaninglessly becoming the mayor of some place you visit, you can actually own and make money off of other people showing up there.

It's an interesting idea, and it seems to be working. MyTown has just reached version 2.0, increasing the number of levels you can earn and items you can buy with the virtual cash. It's still a free app, and originally, we heard that Booyah was going to earn money by teaming up with retail and business partners -- Taco Bell would pay them, and then they'd attach some promotion to checking in from a Taco Bell. But they haven't moved on to that point yet, apparently; right now it's just about building up a userbase and setting up a solid formula. And so far, while the original Booyah app may not have been able to do that, MyTown seems to be rolling right along.

MyTown's uncanny success originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 21 Jan 2010 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MyTown's uncanny success originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 21 Jan 2010 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Software, Freeware, iPhone, App Store

Location-based social networking on the iPhone is a tough game to play, apparently -- the popular Yelp app [iTunes link] has recently updated to version 4.0, and along with a friend finder, hooks to Facebook and Twitter, and an updated version of their augmented reality Monocle feature, they've added the ability to "check-in" from locations around whatever city you live in. When you visit a great pizzeria, for example, you can send a ping out that says you've been there along with what you think of it. This replicates the functionality of another app, Foursquare [iTunes link], which is steadily building up its own social network prowess (you may have seen the "mayor of" tweets lately -- that's Foursquare doing its thing, either on iPhone or through a desktop interface).

In this case, the imitation isn't appreciated -- Foursquare co-founder Dennis Crowley tore apart Yelp's new feature in a recent tumblr post, both comparing the two extremely similar "check-in" systems to each other and claiming that Yelp "copied the wrong stuff," and that Foursquare is already working on improvements to their own system.

Which is the good news for us consumers, as competition tends to breed some great innovation. Personally, I haven't been too interested in an app that helps me broadcast my location everywhere just yet, but there's no question that these are popular apps and their popularity is growing. We'll have to see what new features Foursquare has planned and how Yelp eventually responds.

Yelp updates with check-ins, Foursquare not happy originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 19 Jan 2010 20:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Yelp updates with check-ins, Foursquare not happy originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 19 Jan 2010 20:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Every week a few of us from team TiPb, bloggers and forum crew alike, will bring you our current favorite, funnest, most useful App Store apps, WebApps, jailbreak apps, even the occasional accessory, web site, or desktop app if the mood strikes us. As long as they’re iPhone (or iPod touch) related, they’re fair game.

So who’s on deck this week and what are our picks? Find out after the break!

Chad’s Pick: FourSquare

I am really getting into the whole location-based check-in concept. There are several tools out there but my favorite right now is foursquare. The app and service is free, it scans Twitter, Facebook and your iPhone’s address book for friends. This makes finding friends that use foursquare easy. You have weekly leaderboards to compete with friends and a todo list of places to check out. Give foursquare a try! [Free - iTunes link]

Chris’ Pick: Ramp Champ

After all the buzz, I decided to download and try Ramp Champ, the skee ball style game. And I have to say it is a blast. Graphics are great, game play is smooth, background music is entertaining, and you even get tickets to trade in for prizes! This is a fun little game that.can be used as a quick diversion, or spending time to hone your skills. Add in the fact that you can use in-app purchases to add additional levels (or games) and we have ourselves a winner! [$1.99 - iTunes link]

Derrick’s Pick: Let’s Golf

Recently Let’s Golf was free and I decided to check it out. I don’t know why I didn’t buy it sooner. Let’s Golf is a fantastic golfing game for the iPhone. It’s a very well designed and I’d suggest it to anyone looking for play a few rounds on their iPhone. [$1.99 - iTunes link]

Matt’s Pick: Video Panorama

Video Panorama allows you to take a video with your iPhone or use a pre-recorded video. It then automatically selects frames from the video to be used in the panorama, stiches them together and then allows you to save the image to your library. A great way to quickly get panoramas! [$1.99 - iTunes link]

Rene’s Pick: Consume

Consume is another in a long list of simple, elegant apps from Bjango that shows how many voice minutes and how much data you’ve used on your iPhone. This may not matter to people on unlimited plans in the US, but those of us in other countries with tiered service, or those on pay-as-you-go plans (and reward cards) may just find it very welcome. Sure, some carriers SMS you when you get to 80% or 100% of your monthly limit, but being able to check any time, and as often as you like right from the comfort of your iPhone — priceless. [$1.99 - iTunes link]

Your Pick?

You’re part of team TiPb too, so what’s your pick? What app was your absolute fav last week? Let us — and everyone — know in the comments!

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

FourSquare, Ramp Champ, Let’s Golf, Video Panorama, Consume — TiPb Picks of the Week