LSQHA Blog Reviews

In the midst of the SXSW festival last month, we reviewed a mobile social network called LoKast . Our one lingering question about the app's utility, at the time, was were we really going to run around town staring at our phone to see if someone else nearby was running the same app? The answer was "no" then and is "no" now, but the difference now is that the iPhone OS 4.0 that was announced yesterday allows for background location multitasking . This opens up a whole new realm of experiences for the iPhone. Sponsor First, LoKast. LoKast is a self-described "disposable" social network. That is, as you move about and come near other people running LoKast, you can quickly interact with them. Then, when you move ot of range, you may never see them again. It is social networking based on location, without a persistent friends listing. So now, with background location monitoring, an app like LoKast is actually feasible. I can turn it on, leave it running and wander around town and perhaps have it notify me when I'm within range of someone. As Kim-Mai Cutler notes, background location also brings up some "slightly creepy" privacy concerns relating not only to applications running in the background, but also location based advertising. But what if you think about location based advertising like you think of iTunes' "Genius" function or all the other recommendation engine software you use? It may be tough to realize that you are not quite the unique snowflake you thought you were and that, indeed, everyday around three you end up at the same coffeeshop, but wouldn't it be nice for your iPhone to realize this and get you 20% off? Without you even having to lift a finger? Well, fine, maybe you have to lift an iPhone. The list of ideas for background location are endless. Of course, we'll have to see how quickly a battery gets drained with persistent GPS monitoring. Having the ability to let our phones deliver us information, as we move about the world, based on our location has some amazing potential. Think of EveryBlock , the hyperlocal news aggregator that Marshall Kirkpatrick went ga-ga over when it arrived in Portland. The block-level delivery of news wouldn't even need to wait for you to check it any more - it could simply deliver relevant information as you move about your day. Real-time rideshare services like Avego and Flinc suddenly become that much more feasible, in fast-paced, real-life situations. We could go on, but we have another couple of months before the next version of the iPhone OS comes out and we're already too excited as it is. What crazy, creepy or otherwise cool potential do you see with the new background location capabilities? Discuss

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What Background Location Brings to the iPhone

Twitter turned on its new "popular" tweets feature in its search page last night, bubbling the three most popular tweets to the top of any search result. Previously, search results were only offered according to time, not any form of relevancy. In addition to the search feature showing up on search.twitter.com , the functionality has been turned on in Twitter's search API, so we're likely to see this sort of thing showing up in third-party clients soon, as well. Sponsor Don't be confused if popular search results aren't showing up when you search directly from the Twitter homepage - you need to specifically go to search.twitter.com for these new results to come up. For some reason, searching from the right-hand sidebar gives only results ordered by time. From the Twitter API Google Group on how tweets will be ordered: With this new project, we want to make real-time search even more valuable by surfacing the best tweets about a particular topic, by considering recency, but also the interactions on a tweet. This means analyzing the author's profile, as well as the number times the tweet has been retweeted, favorited, replied, and more. It's an evolving algorithm that we'll be iterating on & tuning until practically the end of time. While the Twitter search returns only three results, the API should return more if desired. The API is opt-in, as we wrote last time , and offers the ability to get only new results, only popular results, or a mix. We're immediately wondering how this might be used with the geocoding variable. Will we see similar functionality to the location trending on Foursquare or Gowalla? What does mean to identify tweets as singular hubs of conversation, like we see with Techmeme? Trending topics are just that - topics surrounded by many tweets. This makes the focus center not around many people talking about a topic, but instead a few tweets that many people are centering around. We know we've seen similar implementations with the likes of TweetMeme , but now that it's in the API, what will we see next? Discuss

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Twitter Highlights Popular Tweets, Goes Live With API

What are the security issues with the iPad and how is it suited as a device for developing enterprise scale applications? Those are the questions we posed to Ken Westin, the founder and CEO of ActiveTrak . Westin is a a security expert. His company develops a software and a service to track the location of a device if lost or stolen. In June, the company is introducing an enterprise version of its technology that will also go by the name ActiveTrak. Sponsor The iPad will become a device that we will undoubtedly see in the enterprise. It fits into the same space as a smartphone or social computing technology, applicable to personal and work life. Neville Hobson on the NextWeb cites a survey by Sybase about the interest in smart phones for the workplace and its correlation to the iPad. But Westin says the iPad does have its own set of limitations that makes it an issue for development of enterprise security grade applications: The iPhone and iPad software has built-in PPTP, IPSec, Cisco VPN software . But more companies are moving to SSL VPN, which is not supported by the iPad. In time, though, a client should be developed for the product. The device may be able to access the domain, however it is different from being a domain member as an administrator cannot manage it, enforce group policies or push patches or apps to it. Westin is supported by other security experts who cite Apple's lack of interest in security issues: "The general consensus is that Apple continues to do only the absolute minimum to address enterprise security and supportability requirements," noted Andrew Storms, Director of Security Operations for nCircle. `We haven't seen any new enterprise iPhone security features from Apple since the summer of 2009 when they introduced their new hardware level encryption, which was almost immediately subverted. This is not the kind of behavior security professionals want to see in vendors.' Recent events seem to illustrate that point. Security researches were able to compromise a fully-updated iPhone 3GS at the recent CanSecWest Pwn2Own competition. Storms warned me "If the iPad has the same OS as the iPhone then enterprises are going to be even more concerned about the data on this device.' " Westin said it is the background processing in particular that makes the iPad less appealing for ActiveTrak. For instance, its application runs in the background on an Android device. An iPad, and for that matter an iPhone, does not provide that capability. His company does provide a free application for the iPhone. It's free but it can only be activated if someone turns it on. To maneuver around the issue, Westin said they disguise the app button as a Safari icon, which activates the application. That's when the tracking starts by triangulation techniques using WiFi and GPS. Westin is a fan of Apple. He uses a MacBook Pro. He says developer tools are better on the iPhone and it has a great community. But, Apple wants it all. It controls the hardware, the software and the content. That's a concern for the enterprise that wants to adopt the iPad. Such control over content is a problem as it gives Apple the power to wipe an application off a device without permission. That may seem unlikely in an enterprise setting but the possibility does lead to hesitation. Further, Apple may make great high end products for consumers but it does not have the equivalent of a Blackberry server that can control the device and its content. Instead, the individual must have a MobileMe account. This can become a coordination nightmare for IT if the enterprise has 5,000 people who need an iPad. Westin said ActiveTrak will wait until the iPad platfrom opens up more before developing. Discuss

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Is the iPad Secure Enough for the Enterprise?

Tellmewhere is a location-based iPhone and Android app that offers its users personalized recommendations for restaurants, bars, grocery stores and other local retailers. The service, which also offers a full set of location-based social networking features, is already very popular in Europe where it has about 500,000 users. With the release of its latest iPhone version, the company is now also trying to expand into the U.S. market. Tellmewhere offers a very solid set of standard location-based social networking tools, but it's the service's ability to give you personalized local recommendations that makes it stand out from the competition. Sponsor Personalized Recommendations: Making Check-Ins Useful As Tellmewhere's CEO and co-founder Gilles Barbier told us when we met up during SXSW in Austin, TX last month, the company wants to offer a location-based service and social network that is more useful than most location-based social networks. Instead of just checking in, collecting badges and stalking your friends, Tellmewhere wants to make these check-ins more useful. Tellmewhere's algorithms strive to tell you what the nearby restaurants, shops and spas are that your friends and other people like you would recommend. As you (and your friends and neighbors) use the mobile app, Tellmewhere learns about your preferences and compares them with those of people like you. Whenever you look at the venues around you, Tellmewhere will highlight the local restaurants and merchants around you that it thinks you will be most interested in. Because it isn't focused on check-ins as much as services like Gowalla and Foursquare, you can also review venues that you are not currently visiting. It's worth noting that the app doesn't just learn from your friends. When you are traveling, for example, the service's algorithm will look at recommendations from locals that are similar to you. More Features If you choose to do so, you can also broadcast your location on Facebook and Twitter, but to ensure your privacy, this option can be tweaked for every check-in or review. It's also worth noting that you can use the service's web site to browse recommendations and reviews. Tellmewhere uses Google Local as the back-end for its location database and Google Maps as its mapping provider. The team plans to monetize the app with a "special offers" model where local merchants can offer coupons to loyal customers. Within the U.S., the service obviously still needs a few more users to become really useful. Given that these are still the early days for location-based services, though, there is no reason to believe that Tellmewhere couldn't replicate the success it has had in Europe here in the U.S. Discuss

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Tellmewhere Makes Location-Based Social Networking More Useful

Location, location, location. That's the common refrain about how to have a successful business, right? Well, now it's the common refrain of mobile app developers, too, and the song is reaching a crescendo this week, with Where 2.0 , the location-based everything conference going on in San Jose. Today, Skyhook Wireless is announcing a software developers kit called "Local Faves", which will help developers to add location to any iPhone app. So for those of you saying "Location, location, location", we say, get to it. Sponsor Similar to SimpleGEO , a more robust service that offers location data storage, formatting and even a marketplace for location data. The Local Faves SDK, on the other hand, looks like a simple way to add location to an app, and that's that. From the company on what it expects the SDK to be used for: Developers traditionally use location in apps that are tied to the physical environment, like navigation, social networking, weather, and search. Local Faves is designed to bring the context of location to digital content-based apps, like music, wine, food, reference, books, and more. Local Faves features fully customizable content tagging, allowing users to indicate that that they loved, hated, 'favorited', saw, or read a piece of content within an app, and enables sharing of this content, and exactly where it was experienced, via Facebook and Twitter. To all of this, we have to say "If you got it, use it." Why not add location when you can? Why keep location separate and quarantined for specific mobile apps and not others? We know we said we wouldn't be using Twitter's web-based location, but adding location to any and all mobile apps (as an opt-in feature, of course) seems like common sense. Although the company hasn't offered any specifics on what platforms this will be available for, a report the company put out earlier this month would appear to hint at its intentions at growing the location market for all platforms. Skyhook Wireless says that AppMakr plans on adding its SDK's features to its platform for news apps and points to several other apps, such as Audobon Guides, where it plans to see it used. The Local Faves SDK will be available for developers in mid-April - and you can sign up to find out when. Discuss

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'Local Faves' SDK Brings Location to Apps