Location Based Services News & Articles

There has been a growing debate about the utility of location-based applications. Some say they are the future of the gaming industry, while others don’t think that location-based apps are meeting their potential. However, most agree that location-based native and web app development has never been more popular.

Visible Technologies pulled some data from the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project for a nifty infograph of location-based social media statistics. Here's a look at it, and what the stats could mean for social business.

NTT DoCoMo, Japan's largest mobile network, has announced a partnership with Twitter (news, site), in which both companies will develop an NFC-based method of following friends. DoCoMo and Twitter are also reportedly developing a service for delivering messages based on location.

Social media moves so fast, it's hard to keep up. Here are the week's top stories in scan-friendly format:

• Facebook Accounts For 25% of Page Views in U.S.
• Startup Allows You To Track In-Person Twitter Interactions
• Yelp Gets Into the Check-in Offer Game
• Facebook Alternative Diaspora Goes Private Alpha

Yesterday Google announced their new location-aware display ads for mobile devices. The addition is hot on the heels of Google's Places app (a Yelp competitor, also for mobile) and together these two solutions are poised to provide some serious leeway for marketers with on on-the-go consumers in mind. 

While Facebook's webmail project seems to have fallen through, the same cannot be said for the location-based services rumor. Everyone's favorite social network is thisclose to acquiring Hot Potato, an LBS, and other social activity sharing service. 

Last year Yelp turned down a US$ 550 million dollar offer from Google, and today remains one of the few companies to have walked away from the famous, primary-colored clutches. Not to be outdone, it looks like Google's answer to the local and location craze is a mobile solution called Google Places. 

If you have heard, Apple released its newest operating system -- OS4 -- for download. If you didn’t (or couldn’t) order the iPhone 4 last week, you can sample some of its newest features via the iOS4 download.

The new update also features new language and conditions, some of which are making users a little uncomfortable. Let's take a look.

Social media moves so fast, it's hard to keep up. Here are the week's top stories in scan-friendly format:

• When Location-Based Services Go Wrong
• Twitter's Affect On News and Media Sites
• Facebook Surpasses Google in U.S. Traffic
• A Siteless Web?

Social media moves so fast, it's hard to keep up. Here are the week's top stories in scan-friendly format:

• It's all About Location, Location, Location at SXSWi
• Guy Kawasaki Launches Personalized Alltop
• MySpace Enhances Data Portability
• Twitter Search Traffic to Pass Google Blog Search
• Kevin Rose Launches Twitter User Directory WeFollow