We're proud of this coverage on our client Location Labs and their new iPhone application, Mayor Maker. We bet politicians wish it were this easy!
if you've tried it, let us or Location Labs know what you think.
Technology News and Insights
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App Watch: Making It Easier to Become a Mayor |
The road to the mayor’s office was once paved with high-priced campaigns and speeches at the podium. |
Now all it takes is a mobile phone and the application Foursquare, the location-based service that allows users “check in” to a venue so many times that they are deemed the “mayor” there. |
And now a new app, Mayor Maker, aims to make the process of becoming a Foursquare “mayor” even easier. |
Created by Raizlabs and using technology from Location Labs, a San Francisco-based company that offers commercial-grade location services for wireless carriers, Mayor Maker builds on Foursquare’s open API, or application programming interface.But Mayor Maker has taken Foursquare a step further, by offering an automatic check-in — and by creating the “check-out.” The app uses what Location Labs calls “geo-fencing,” a kind of virtual boundary around an area. |
After downloading the Mayor Maker app, which is free, users create a list of favorite venues for the automatic check-in function. (Users can also opt out of the auto check-in, and instead request a prompt, or check-in the usual way, by manually punching in on the smartphone.) Then, a geo-fence is created around those favorite venues, so that when a user (and his smartphone) is near the venue, the application recognizes it and checks in. The geo-fence is customizable, from a radius of 150 feet to a quarter mile at the most. |
Like the Foursquare app, users’ check-ins can also be splayed on their Facebook and Twitter feeds, which Mayor Maker’s creators say eliminates “check-in fatigue,” for those Foursquare users who apparently hop around town and check in on their smartphones to the point of exhaustion. (It does not, however, eliminate the fatigue of people reading about their friends’ check-in activities on Twitter and Facebook.) |
In order for the automatic check-in function to work, though, the app has to be running constantly, and battery life on mobile devices can be a concern for users who are multi-tasking or running applications non-stop. |
Representatives from Location Labs say the Mayor Maker app can be running in the background and still work properly, which they claim optimizes battery life on the iPhone. |
Because location-based mobile services aren’t always precise in terms of determining users’ location, the Mayor Maker app could enable users to cheat one’s way to the mayor’s office. For example, if a user lists a Starbucks on his list of favorite locations, Mayor Maker creates a geo-fence around Starbucks and when that user is in the vicinity, it checks him in – even if he isn’t inside the coffee shop. |
Kedar Shah, a product manager at Location Labs, says the company is at the mercy of the accuracy of GPS on mobile phones. “There should be opportunities in the future for retailers to fine-tune this and know when a customer really does enter a venue. The industry as a whole is advancing,” Mr. Shah says. |
And, as a representative from Foursquare points out, in order for users to cash in on the rewards that are sometimes offered to mayors of a location, they do have to physically enter and spend time in a venue – something that Foursquare and the minds behind Location Labs have emphasized provides useful data to business owners. |
Akash Agarwal, senior vice president of business development at Location Labs, says the check-out option through the geo-fencing technology is what makes this app most valuable, since it determines how long a customer lingers in a place. |
“We see Foursquare as a great phenomenon but there’s still more value to be added in that space in terms of the benefit to merchants and businesses,” Mr. Agarwal says. |
Location Labs charges its business customers for its commercial grade geo-fencing technology, but the Mayor Maker app is free. It works on iPhones running the iOS4 operating system. |
UPDATE: This post has been updated to remove references to an Android version of the application. The app is available on iPhones with iOS4. Read more at blogs.wsj.com |
Reminds us a bit of our old Norwegian client Ezmo, who faced similar challenges in America.
If they make it, will you use it? ![[SPOTIFY]](http://si.wsj.net/public/resources/images/EW-AJ158_SPOTIF_G_20100923141041.jpg)
Andrew Testa for The Wall Street Journal
Daniel Ek in his office in central London.
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Like everyone in the music business, Daniel Ek worries about the young. "What scares me is that there's an entire generation that's grown up now that doesn't understand why you should pay for music at all," he says. The casually dressed, slightly rumpled Swede musing about how to make money from these youngsters is 27.
Mr. Ek's solution has been to abandon the traditional industry model. The company he co-founded, Spotify, offers free legal file-sharing and music streaming and has seven million users across Europe. This month, it was named a "Technology Pioneer" by the World Economic Forum, but its most impressive achievement has been to persuade the big record labels to sign up to its model.
"What's really interesting is what's happened the last 10, 12 years, since Napster," he says. "People listen to more music than ever, but the music industry has gone from a $50 billion industry to about $17 billion. The fundamental model of selling a record is broken."
Mr. Ek argues that this decline has created the impression that there has been no migration to digital music. "It's not true; people enjoy content on YouTube, they share it with friends on Facebook and Twitter. But only about 3.5% of the U.S. population is 85% of the digital revenue. And the U.S. is a big digital market: half the market there is digital."
Spotify, he says, still plans to launch in America by the end of the year, though it has been more complex than he anticipated. "Those figures tell me that selling music has become a niche product," he says. "But there's 200 million people in China with access to broadband and the No. 1 thing they do on the Internet is music. A la carte music sales are a premium product, but listening to music is fundamental." |
Mr. Ek may be a serial tech entrepreneur, but music is clearly a real passion. "I've actually got quite a big vinyl collection," he says, waving at the album covers—by artists including Van Morrison, AC/DC and The Rolling Stones—framed on the wall of his office in London's Soho. "But I'm not a typical customer." |
Not surprisingly, there has been scepticism. In February, Edgar Bronfman, chairman of Warner Music Group, one of the big three labels with whom Spotify has an agreement, said, "The 'get all the music you want for free, and then maybe with a few bells and whistles we can move you to a premium price' strategy is not the kind of approach to business that we will be supporting in the future." |
Mr. Ek shrugs. "I don't know if Warners will come round entirely to the Spotify view or not but ultimately it doesn't really matter," he says. "We needed the broad support from the industry, which we got, but free music is already out there. We provide a convenient way to share it and let people take it with them." |
His assessment is, that, while people are listening to more music, they buy only what they really care about. "It's moved from being about ownership to being about access," he says. "Spotify's model is monetizing access. Just having free music won't save the music industry." |
Spotify's income is currently split 50-50 between subscriptions to the premium service and the advertising and direct sales from free streaming. He doesn't discount advertising. "Don't forget that there's $200 billion of advertising which has not yet moved to digital. But it will." But he is most pleased that, since Mr. Bronfman's remarks, Spotify's subscribers have doubled from 250,000 to more than half a million. |
The main reason for the sudden jump is mobile devices. Spotify is free at your own computer, but to take it with you, you must be a subscriber—at £9.99 ($15.58) a month. The company has also just announced an agreement with stereo manufacturer Sonos, which will allow wireless streaming at home. "What I'm selling is not just a piece of music," says Mr. Ek. "It's portability for your entire collection and a virtual collection your friends can add to or send you." |
He compares Spotify's playlists to the homemade "mix tapes" of the 1980s. Then, the record industry argued home taping was killing music. "Instead,'" he says, "it created appetite. Maybe you're the kind of customer who spends £500 a year on iTunes, but most people are not. And especially not 14- to 18-year-olds who know they can get it free." |
If Mr. Ek can tap this market, he will become very rich, and the industry will find a workable commercial model. He has no doubts. "There's so much usage that revenues will rise, and rise well past what the industry is today." Read more at www.wallstreetjournal.com |
Enabling candidates and employers to instantly connect via mobile? Very cool.
Would you use it?
The MIT offspring, Assured Labor, connects job-seekers with employers via mobile SMS.
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Assured Labor's Founder and CEO, David Reich, thought up his idea for a mobile, text-message-based employment service for low-income individuals while a graduate student at MIT's Sloan School of Management. He got together with fellow students at MIT and Harvard and together they hashed out a plan to launch in Boston, then slowly take over the world. With co-founders from around the U.S. and around the globe, the team launched in Mexico this week. From Mexico City, Reich told Fast Company how the latest launch is going.
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How exactly does Assured Labor work?
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Assured Labor is the first digital marketplace for jobs optimized for the way that people in emerging markets find jobs. Candidates interested in finding a job register at www.EmpleoListo.com.mx. They enter contact information, education, experience, skills and references. Once registered, candidates never need to see a computer again as they can communicate with the service entirely through text-message. Employers that need to hire also go to the website, where they can use our advanced search technology to rapidly identify ideal positions for their position. They view anonymous CVs, select their favorites and add them to their shopping cart. Employers then create a text-message by filling in a few blanks, Assured Labor instantly sends these messages to the candidates. More than half of candidates contacted typically respond that they’d like to interview within a few hours. From there we assist companies in ensuring candidates show up for interviews and allow them to track their progress within the Assured Labor platform.
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| What was your 30-second elevator pitch that got you funded? |
There’s 4 billion people in the world with cell phones and only 1.5 billion with access to the Internet. Over two-thirds of Internet users in emerging markets don’t have computers at home. This means that traditional job boards have only exposed the tip of the iceberg in terms the opportunity. Our founding team from MIT and Harvard has spent years understanding the nuances of hiring and technology usage in emerging markets and has the experience to build this company to its potential.
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What's the single most innovative feature of your approach to job creation in emerging markets?
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Assured Labor’s primary innovation is in creating a recruitment platform optimized for mobile phones rather than looking at mobile phones as a bolt-on feature. Sending text-messages is easy, but enabling companies to instantly connect with only the right candidates is very hard--that’s where we excel. Both our technology and our business model are built around mobile as it's actually used. Read more at www.fastcompany.com |
Cisco gets a good foothold into the NFL stadiums. Cool stuff. Tech Titans Seek NFL Touchdown |
NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- The NFL season is finally underway, with Brett Favre making yet another Lazarus-like comeback and the Jets already struggling to match their pre-season hype. In Silicon Valley, though, football is much more than yards and inches, and some of tech's biggest names are charging down new revenue opportunities in the NFL.
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| Cisco(CSCO) and Verizon(VZ) have built much of the technology infrastructure at the New Meadowlands Stadium in New Jersey, home to the New York Jets and Giants. Neither company has divulged how much money they are raking in from the deal, although Giants co-owner Steve Tisch has said that the stadium is packed with $100 million worth of high-tech gear.
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"It's obviously a pretty big growth area for the business, just because of the number of stadium wins that we have had over the last 12 to 18 months," a Cisco spokesman told TheStreet. In addition to the Jets and the Giants, Cisco has also clinched recent deals with the Miami Dolphins, the Dallas Cowboys and the Kansas City Chiefs.
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With a sizable chunk of that $100 million likely ending up in Cisco and Verizon's coffers, the NFL -- whose stadiums have presented tech companies with naming-rights prospects for years -- represents a goliath business opportunity.
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Eric Fisher, a staff writer at Sports Business Journal, told TheStreet that these high-tech projects are part of a broader strategy driven by the NFL itself.
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"From the league's perspective, they are trying to get really focused on the in-venue experience," he said, adding that the NFL is concerned about losing fans to TV networks, particularly in a tough economy. "Do you want to pay for parking and deal with all the [traffic] hassles, or do you want to stay home and watch on your beautiful TV?"
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With stadium attendance falling in markets like Oakland, Calif., and Jacksonville, Fla., the NFL has a real a challenge on its hands, according to Fisher, who says that tech is key to pulling in more bodies. "The NFL is trying to bring a lot of things that fans are doing at home into the stadium," said Fisher, a Steelers fan.
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At the New Meadowlands, Cisco and Verizon are delivering 34 customized channels to sections like luxury suites, while Verizon built the stadium's wireless network. The Jets and Giants are also working with Verizon to deliver stadium-specific mobile apps providing fans with information on concessions, team news, player information and game highlights. Read more at www.thestreet.com |
Still waning on a corporate social media policy? At the very least, emphasize the employee NDAs. Infosys Plans New Social Media Policy for Staff
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BANGALORE -- Infosys Technologies Ltd. plans to soon roll out a new social media policy for its employees to encourage them to use the medium "effectively and responsibly," a senior executive said Thursday. |
"Our policy, while encouraging usage of social media, creates education on responsible blogging keeping in mind client confidentiality, company intellectual property and code of conduct," Nandita Gurjar, senior vice president and global head of human resources, told Dow Jones Newswires. |
The new guidelines, which Gurjar said are being discussed with the company's policy council, come after Infosys staff complained on message boards and internet chatrooms about the company's salary structure and policies. |
They were upset by a new HR initiative called Infosys Role and Career Enhancement, or iRACE, which created tougher performance benchmarks, less-frequent promotions and fewer salary increases. |
"Social media has changed the way we communicate. And anything public, comes with its own set of responsibilities," Ms. Gurjar said. |
Newspaper reports also suggested the policy was initiated after some employees were found discussing projects and clients' details, breaching the company's clause of confidentiality. Read more at www.wallstreetjournal.com |
Naturally, the Internet brings people together. This is a great story on how it has supported offline activities of young widows and their support groups - bringing a unique set of women together via social networks. | Michele Neff Hernandez, left, executive director of the Soaring Spirits Loss Foundation and founder of Camp Widow, congratulates Laura Fiveash of Danville, Calif., after she finished the Widow Dash 5K run, part of the Camp Widow weekend meant to bring those who've lost spouses together for support. |
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Census data show that almost three-quarters of women ages 85 and older are widows; 53% of women ages 75 to 84 are. |
"Widowhood isn't a very major issue below age 50," says Samuel Preston, a sociology professor at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. "It just doesn't move the percentages." |
| Social networking brings them together |
The most recent Census data from 2009 show just 1.1% of women ages 35 to 39 are widows. Among those 30-34, it's 0.6%. |
Moore, 43, was widowed in 2006 when her husband died of kidney cancer. She blogs as Fresh Widow and says there are at least 120 other blogs by the widowed. "Before social media, the population of young widows was so widely dispersed. They couldn't find each other at all," she says. |
"We would not be here today without the Internet," says Michele Neff Hernandez, 40, who spoke to those attending Camp Widow about Facebook groups and other online communities for those who have lost a spouse or partner. |
'It gave me so much comfort' |
She created Camp Widow, sponsored by a national support network she started after she became a widow in 2005. Her 39-year-old husband was hit by a large SUV while riding his bicycle. |
Congratulations Bill! Your social marketing advice was so sweet, the community voted for it - 433 times - as the best in our #sweetadvice contest. You've won an iPad from PerkettPR!
Click below to read Bill's full advice, and to learn from all of the great wisdom of the crowd. And, don't forget to vote who should be "The Best of the Rest" on our Facebook page: http://bit.ly/bCnfUL
Thanks to everyone for submitting such interesting and valuable social media and marketing advice. We learned a lot and are sure to implement some of the great ideas in our own day to day efforts. If You’re Worried About Keeping Up, You’re Too Late |
This interview is way too long but chock full of insights into how GM has grown its social media presence - to the tune of "150,000 fans on its Facebook page, and 14,866 followers on the main @GMBlogs Twitter account. The combined number of fans on its main Facebook pages, including people who have "liked" the pages of GM brands and models, stands at over 877,000."
What do you think of her advice on things like "publish once, share often," and that "the social web is unmanageable"? As well as discussing how social media activities can be measured, Henige underlined and illustrated the importance of listening to consumers, and suggested that the difficulties of managing a brand's presence on social media should in fact be treated as an opportunity. Her assertion that "you have to give up your brand" on the social web highlights an area where traditional media and social media fundamentally disagree, but at the same time, Henige's belief that GM needs to be as innovative as its products shows that GM - and its competitors - see the value of social media and innovative marketing and communications tools. |
I believe in "publish once and share often". The social web is hungry for content. If we are excellent content providers, then we are adding value for our consumers. For example, if somebody buys a Camaro, they are just going to want everything they can find about a Camaro, even if it is just for them to be able to populate their Facebook pages, or to send out a picture on Twitter. We want to make sure that when we develop this content we extend its reach as widely as possible. |
MH: A lot of social media is geared towards selling vehicles down the road. Social media is very "upper funnel". It is about creating awareness, creating affinity, and telling people you exist. I cannot tell you the number of vehicles that I have sold. I have given around ten presentations this year outside Detroit, and my track record seems to be one sale every time I go out. I'm not making a hard-core sales pitch, I just ask people to consider us next time they are in the market. Read more at www.automotiveworld.com |
Stay tuned for what's coming next in web collaboration software! "Today marks the beginning of an exciting new era," said Anish Kapoor of Yuuguu. "We want to work with Powwownow to create the best web collaboration software on the market. As of today our clients will benefit from Powwownow’s free conference calls, free recording plus a selection of other free benefits. Powwownow also have a dedicated UK based customer service team that will now service our clients too.” Read more at www.prweb.com |
Not perfect but still pretty darn cool - and that's why we love their products. Jobs stated that the company has invested $100 million in building a state of the art antenna testing facility, and cited test results showing that other cellphones, such as the HTC Droid Eris and Research in Motion BlackBerry Bold 9700, suffer from similar problems as the iPhone 4 when gripped tightly. |
“We’ve been working our butts off to understand what the real problems are,” Jobs added, referring to the problem as “Antennagate.” Read more at www.wired.com |
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