Check-Insider

2010 may yet be the year of Augmented Reality, but as of Q1, it’s arguably the year of location-based social networking services. As you well know from reading the number of posts we’ve written about Foursquare, the service’s popularity has spread like the plague. And along with others like Loopt, and even Google Buzz (the mobile component, anyway), the movement seems poised to revolutionize the way we interact with businesses, especially restaurants and bars. So really, on any given day, there’s no shortage of news related to these beasts, and today is no different.

Some big news in this article regarding Citysearch, Placecast, and Facebook. The most interesting of which is that there are rumors Facebook might be looking to buy Loopt!

Location based social network Brightkite plans to launch a universal check-in API that will let users update their information on competing services like Gowalla, Foursquare and others later this month at South by Southwest, we believe.

Everyone is talking about Foursquare, but the other location-based services aren't going to take this sitting down. As geolocation services become more popular, expect competing services to come out swinging.

Mashable reports on another new location-based service specifically for malls. You can check into stores as you travel through the mall and receive updates on sales and promotions. I'm sure this idea will be applied to other areas as well.

The Chicago Office of Tourism has teamed up with mobile social media service Foursquare to raise awareness of the city’s attractions, restaurants and other areas of interest.

Users of the Explore Chicago section on Foursquare can earn three badges, themed around the city, by visiting up to 60 locations such as historic sites, film locations, restaurants and clubs.

It is hoped that the partnership, which is a first for Chicago, will boost awareness of lesser-known areas of the city as well as established attractions.

It is this type of partnership that will lend more credibility to services like Foursquare. Expect more tourism groups to jump on this bandwagon.

Do you know of any other cities or regions that are teaming up with Foursquare or other location based networks?

It was bound to happen...a Foursquare song, the first of probably many songs and parodies about location-based services.

Does your library encourage users to check in using location-based apps like Foursquare and Gowalla? I haven't thought through the legal implications yet, but I'd probably hold off before actively encouraging library users to check in. While you can't control what they choose to do on their own, it seems to me that library encouragement could lead to unintended consequences.  Possibly some good, but possibly some bad, like a stalker who now knows that someone is at your library. Do you want to be the one who encouraged that person to check in?

The House just held hearings on privacy and other issues related to the commercial collection, use, and sharing of location-based information. There was testimony that (shocker) some location-based services do not have users' best interests at heart. What happens to the location info?

This is the first I've seen of an industry legal journal warning it's members to be careful with encouraging check-ins. I wouldn't be surprised if the safety and privacy concerns over location-based services cause more organizations and industries to advise the same, in order to cover themselves.

"Location is a particularly sensitive piece of information," explained Doty. "Your location reveals details about you that are potentially very personal: where you live, or what doctor you visit, or what you bank you use. And it also opens you to physical intrusion; a stalker — or a police officer — could use this location information to find where you are right now."

Mulligan offered another example. "Remember when Paris Hilton's cell phone was stolen? It revealed all of her calling patterns and all of her friends. Imagine if it also had Loopt on it: it would have told you where all of her friends were. Whoever had her phone would have been able to follow her friends around."

This new report from Berkeley's School of Information studies the safety and privacy implications of geolocation. Obviously this is going to be a big issue as these services expand. However those who decide to use these services are already knowingly giving up a certain level of privacy in regards to where they are at any given time.

We can expect this to be an issue that won't go away.

Here’s how ShopAlerts works. Consumers can opt-in to receiving text messages in a variety of ways-at the store, online, via text-message, mobile website or on Facebook. Once the technology has been activated, consumers will be alerted when they are near a location that they are interested in or when the brand is offering sales and specials. ShopAlerts’ technology uses “geo-fences,” which are virtual boundaries that can be targeted via location-based marketing. Retailers can customize alerts to fit their brand and strategy. On the consumer side, ShopAlerts will only send maximum number of 3 messages within a given week from a retailer. And users can opt out of the program by texting “stop” back to a text message.

Great idea from ShopAlerts that utilizes geolocation technology. People love to save money, and this opt-in program is a great way to find out about great discounts in your area. Wouldn't be surprising if services like Foursquare or Gowalla tap into something like this in the near future.

Twitter user iRestaurant asked for it and we delivered, a video tutorial on how to play four square.

Wait, you were talking about the court game, right? Okay, maybe not. So, here's a video about the "other" foursquare. It's not a tutorial, but does give you some insight. I'm still working to find a tutorial. If I can't I'll do one myself!

This evening foursquare launched its first television ad premiering on Bravo. The ad was scheduled to air during the 9 - 10 p.m. slot alongside the show Sheer Genuis, reports Techcrunch.

The real-time Web meets reality TV.