I just came across this very interesting article on Engadget and I had to share it will all the Crenk readers. Two UK researchers have uncovering a worrying feature in iOS 4: it asks your iPhone to record your location constantly, and timestamps that data.
The big worry here is that all of this information is held on the device and can be easily uncovered.
Source: Engadget
Foursquare partnered with CNN to release two World Cup badges.
It was announced this Tuesday that the World Cup and Foursquare had teamed up to release a special World Cup badge on the geo-location network. The announcement came at the Mashable Media Summit in New York by Foursquare CEO Dennis Crowley and Adam Ostrow, editor-in-chief of Mashable tech blog. In partnership with CNN the two new badges have been released and are awaiting the fans to achieve them.
The first badge is the South Africa Explorer which can be achieved if you travel to South Africa for the World Cup and announce it to your friends. Can’t make it? No worries, the second badge, Super Fan, is meant for those of us that attend an archived World Cup viewing party. Currently there are 100 parties registered, perhaps one is in your area and the Super Fan badge is within your grasp.
This is not entirely new for the location based startup. In the past Foursquare has partnered with Bravo, SXSW, and various other conventions and special events for specific badges. The marketing and business opportunities for this type of location based marketing is still untapped and being explored by those brave enough to try it out.
In an interesting commented based on a user submitted question, Crowley stated that Foursquare is closely guarding the creation of badges despite the request from small businesses to create their own badges. The purpose for this is to prevent the dilution of the badge opportunities and keep the value high for all users.
Fire Eagle, a Yahoo property, has opened up its doors from beta to public use. After spending some lengthy time in development and beta, Fire Eagle looks to answer the question…Where Are You?
For starters do not mistake Fire Eagle for another social network, it is not. Fire Eagle works in conjunction with a variety of other social networks with new additions being worked on daily. This enhancement allows users of specific networks to know where you are, provided you update. Fire Eagle takes the address, location, or name of the place you are at and creates a map that others can see.
I have attached Fire Eagle to work with BrightKite and so far it’s been amazing. I’ve set up alerts to notify me when my friends are nearby, and I can always look at maps to see where my friends are worldwide, a very nice effect. Of course this app is made even more useful by allowing you input your location from your mobile device.
It’s great to set up impromptu meetings, a quick happy hour with friends in the neighborhood, or finding directions to where your friend is waiting for you.
Fire Eagle works with the following applications:
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