MG Siegler posited last week that location apps are going to be the big bang at SXSW this year, achieving Twitter-like buzz level. This seems a pretty safe bet; as I’ve mentioned [...]]]> **Update: Check out Mashable’s screenshots of the upcoming Foursquare app update for next week. Could possibly alter your vote.

MG Siegler posited last week that location apps are going to be the big bang at SXSW this year, achieving Twitter-like buzz level. This seems a pretty safe bet; as I’ve mentioned before, location apps are without a doubt the sector to watch in 2010.

As I was checking in this morning at Galaxy Cafe [sidenote: love this place. Please patronize them, Austin folk.], it occurred to me that the buzz-worthy question next week won’t be if you’re checking in, but how. Are you going Foursquare all the way, using their rumored shiny new update? Or will you stick local, checking in on Austin-based Gowalla? Or will you quicken your – and your friends’ – path to insanity by checking in on both?

I conducted a head-to-head of the services a while back and seemed to settle on Foursquare as my app of choice. But here am I still using Gowalla. I just can’t decide. Gowalla has a better – much better – UI. Foursquare has more of my friends signed up. Gowalla has items to collect, a feature that’s grown on me. Foursquare has the game as more of a centerpiece, an appeal to my competitive side. I could go on. But I won’t.

Why does this even matter? Because checking in at SXSW is going to be more important than normal. Attendees’ schedules are much more organic and evolving than at standard tech conferences. In short, one wanders where the day takes you. So word about a panel that’s turned feisty or a party that’s packed bring more people to the scene. This was achieved with Twitter in the past, a method that seems a little antiquated in the face of location apps. This year, not only will you need to know which parties to attend but which app to use to find out about those parties. Could SXSW crown a location app winner through sheer popularity this year?

Let’s see what the early buzz is. If you’re going to SXSW next week, which app will you use to check in?

-Buzz buzz buzz. Is this Google’s tacit apology for Wave? A knockoff of FriendFeed? Something I just can’t get excited about, no matter how hard I try? Call me naive, shortsighted or just [...]]]> When The Vortex is ignored, it grows unwieldy. I had to write this just to clean out my link file.

-Buzz buzz buzz. Is this Google’s tacit apology for Wave? A knockoff of FriendFeed? Something I just can’t get excited about, no matter how hard I try? Call me naive, shortsighted or just plain dumb – I don’t get it. I cannot possibly fit one more stream into my day. And I rarely access Gmail in my browser. Plug it into my Facebook feed and then I could understand it a bit better. But how is it supposed to fit into my existing stream? No really, I’m asking – someone tell me!

**Update – They’re now being sued for it.

-I should start a regular column on the location apps market, as news is emerging almost constantly these days. While Foursquare’s traffic tripled in two months (that’s a hell of a stat), BusinessWeek declared it dead in the water. (Note to BizWeek: see ‘personalization of mobile experience’ for a hint.) My favorite though is the robbery meme that popped up yesterday, thanks to the launch of pleaserobme.com. I get the point they’re trying to make and yes, of course, we need to be cognizant about posting vacation notices to the public. But the cynic in me awaits the inevitable security solution the site’s creators are sure to pitch us.

-Just to prove to you I’m not a total grump, check out this advice on staying present in our bizarre new century. There’s some interesting stuff in here, like committing to ‘single-tasking’ and keeping fewer tabs open.

Apps on the Radar

-If you’ve been to SXSW before, you know what a corn maze it can become. There are 10,000 panels, sessions, and parties to navigate, not to mention all the unofficial parties. I’m already needing a nap, just typing that. But a super-slick iPhone app has come out that does everything short of passing out your business card. What would make it even better is actual times connected to each session. But hey, I’m a control freak.

-Appsaurus may be old news but I’ve just stumbled upon it. Seems just the cure for those of us with iPhoneAppItis. (Sorry).

-If you have young ‘uns, you’ll care about this app. If you don’t, keep movin’.

-I’m a bit perplexed that there’s an entire app genre devoted to pretend-you’re-cooking games. Then again, it may be fun. For, you know, the ladies.

–I should’ve seen it coming when my recent Foursquare vs Gowalla post became one of the most-read posts on our blog. Location-based apps are going to [...]]]> I accidentally hit the keyboard and typed ‘grr’ at the start of this post but considered keeping it. It’s been that kind of week, don’t you think?

–I should’ve seen it coming when my recent Foursquare vs Gowalla post became one of the most-read posts on our blog. Location-based apps are going to be one of the most hotly contested markets in tech this year. Yelp knocked the sector for a loop last week when it rolled out check-ins, though it remains to be seen exactly what they plan to do with the info. Part of the point of Foursquare and Gowalla is the gaming aspect, so Yelp would need to construct another layer on top of an already crowded product.

And then there’s CauseWorld, which surprisingly few people are talking about. Launched in December, CauseWorld turns the location game into good works, giving you “karma points” for checking in. You can then donate sponsors’ money to causes via those karma points. (The company has a special Haiti promotion going on right now). It’s a great way to turn iPhone silliness into something truly meaningful in the real world.

Keep a close eye on this space. I doubt this will be the last we’ll hear of new entrants and updates.

–Some sort of nonsense is happening next Tuesday in San Francisco and I’m so annoyed at the buildup that, by this point, it better turn out to be a flippin’ robot that makes me pancakes.

–Am I the only one who thinks this is a really bad idea? In the first place, if I want to know the national debt, I’ll type that into Google. Second – and most important – I’m having enough trouble keeping up with the tweets of everyone I follow. The last thing I need is to have their personal searches added to the noise. I am a huge advocate of evolving Twitter but this ain’t it.

On that note, it’s somewhat surprising to me how few evolutions of Twitter I’ve seen. Is anyone building on this technology to harness its potential value? Can I christen that a hot topic for 2010 in the hopes that it will catch on? And mind you, I don’t mean Twitter tools. There are an abundance of apps/sites that utilize the API to measure your influence or impact or whom you should block. I’m looking for someone who’s working on the next version of Twitter, in a sense. Let me know in the comments or ping me – carla [at] guidewiregroup [dot] com.

Now that I’ve allowed this to degenerate into a rambling wish list, I’ll take my leave. Happy weekend everyone.

Since I moved to Austin in October, Foursquare’s game of location-based tag has held my interest, allowing me to familiarize myself with the town a bit better and connect quicker with people in the tech scene. I hadn’t yet experienced the a-ha with it though. So [...]]]> Originally published on Austin Startup

Since I moved to Austin in October, Foursquare’s game of location-based tag has held my interest, allowing me to familiarize myself with the town a bit better and connect quicker with people in the tech scene. I hadn’t yet experienced the a-ha with it though. So when I heard of Austin-based competitor Gowalla, I was willing to give it a shot. Even more so when news hit of its $8.4M funding round; if investors on the level of Greylock are handing it money, something’s afoot in this sector.

The two services are virtually identical, asking users to check in via their cell phone at spots around town. Foursquare awards mayor-ships and badges for frequent use, while Gowalla scatters pins and offers items to drop at locations. (For a closer look at feature sets, check out Josh’s recent post.)

Why would one do this? Well, it’s a bit like Twitter, in that you don’t get it until you’ve tried it. But the overall philosophy is to create a network of known places in a town, allowing users to find each other on the fly and leave tips and deals about certain spots.

To conduct my due diligence, I reasoned that a thorough test over the holidays made sense. I’d be in several different cities and could put both services through the ringer. I lasted one weekend. The comic effect of sitting in my car everywhere I went, bringing up two apps and going through the steps to check in, was simply too much. And I’m positive it was annoying for those who are friends with me on both services.

On Saturday afternoon, I took my daughter to The Nutcracker at the Long Center. Gowalla couldn’t find my “passport” (user account) as I sat in the parking garage so I abandoned the pursuit; my 4-year-old was protesting, “Mommy, what are you doing? Let’s go!” During intermission I tried again, this time with success. After checking in, the service asked me to “drop” something. Drop something? What the hell does that mean? Who’s going to pick it up? I chose a Beatnik Poet, clicked the ‘notify Facebook’ option and moved on. No idea what happened to the poet; hope an item with disparate philosophies isn’t harassing him.

The rest of the weekend went about the same, with Foursquare getting the bulk of the check-ins. Only when I had a bit of downtime did I use Gowalla. I simply didn’t see the point. I have more friends on Foursquare, know the interface better and get the rules of the game. In this regard, Foursquare wins hands-down; it’s easier to get going and immediately understand. Gowalla features several catchwords that I haven’t parsed yet: pins, stamps, item drops, etc. If it’s going to spread effectively to consumers, the service needs to be easier to jump into cold.

Foursquare has its negatives of course. An annoying Twitter/Bit.ly conversion bug results in the posting of mayors’ pictures on my Facebook page. So when I’m having coffee with a friend at Once Over, the accompanying image in my newsfeed is of a random stranger. (Foursquare is aware of this, but blame Twitter and say they can’t fix it.) Adding a Facebook notification feature would partially solve this problem. And its process for adding new locations is unnecessarily complex. Seems to me it would be easy enough to pull addresses from Yelp or a similar service so that you’re not required to input all the data on your own.

But at the end of the day, I’m sticking with Foursquare. It simply has the leg up. Not fair perhaps, but until Gowalla tempts me with particularly engaging and notable features, I don’t have a compelling reason to shift all my friends and energies.

And here’s the thing: this is a space that is going to merit our energies in the coming months. Take a look at these two recent posts and note the common thread: Yelp. The primary competitor for Foursquare and Gowalla isn’t necessarily each other; it’s Yelp. And Om is right on the money that Yelp should be worried.

Yelp is currently my yellow pages. I use it in place of Google for all local business searches. But its personal reviews and ratings lose any attraction if I have a catalog of recommendations from trusted friends on an alternate service. And that’s where Foursquare/Gowalla/Bobs Yer Uncle is going to win. Did Yelp walk away from Google because they’re smart enough to recognize this? Are they planning their own acquisition? Or were they foolhardy, thinking they’ve got a lock on a market that is sliding out from under them?

I’ve had pneumonia the past month so haven’t been much for drinking. When friends came over this weekend, we joked about when I would start testing my liver again for the holidays. Finding myself at Chuy’s last night with my family, I did a quick check-in on Foursquare. Five minutes later, that friend texted me, telling me that Chuy’s mojitos were excellent and a perfect way to inaugurate my holiday imbibing. (She was quite right.)

I suppose I could’ve powered up the Yelp app at the table, searched for Chuy’s and paged through the reviews to find drink recommendations. But no one on there knew my background, my drink tastes, my prior conversations. The power of linking businesses to personal networks, and exploiting those personal connections without being intrusive, has been a nut that’s needed cracking for some time now. Foursquare and Gowalla have cracked it. Whether the market is big enough to hold both of them remains to be seen.

News from the Social Media Vortex

–SXSW occurred and a good time was had by all, especially Foursquare which seemed to [...]]]> Were I to tag this week, it would look something like this: SXSW, Facebook redesign, Foursquare, Christopher Walken, not Christopher Walken, Rackspace, Rob Cordry. Allow me to explain…

News from the Social Media Vortex

–SXSW occurred and a good time was had by all, especially Foursquare which seemed to win the “Twitter of 2009″ buzz award during the week. What’s Foursquare? It’s the new version of Dodgeball. Not familiar with Dodgeball? It’s a handy mobile stalking tool.

–The Facebook redesign occurred and is not receiving the warmest of receptions. In a polling application created on the site, 954,000 users so far give it a thumbs down, with 58,000 approving. Will the masses cry loud enough to be heard? I’m working on a longer blog post about this, so check The Guidewire later.

–Robert Scoble disappointed me by neglecting to mobilize his army, at least for the moment. Instead, he’s launching a new content community with partner Rackspace, called Building 43. I’m a little fuzzy about what the new site is exactly, as his explanation involved Creative Commons, cloud computing, interactive videos, and something about boats in a tide.

–My initial excitement over Christopher Walken on Twitter was quickly dashed. It’s apparently an “experiment” – and an old one at that – by Clusterflock.org. Dear Clusterflock: 1) Don’t toy with my complex Walken-related emotions and 2) Change your name. Immediately.

Apps on the Radar

–My good buddy Josh pointed me to Contxts.com, a why-didn’t-they-think-of-this-sooner technology. SMS business cards. Brilliant. Think of the trees, people, and sign up for this hugely simple service.

Tweet of the Week

–My new favorite Tweeter is Rob Corddry, who curses heavily and never fails to amuse.But his rant to his two-year old couldn’t match the sheer terror inspired by Jason Calacanis: “Just had lunch with the former head of the CIA. fascinating discussion about religion, nukes, the middle east, oil and electric cars.”

Where to start: How did faux-celebrity Calacanis wangle lunch with the former head of the CIA? Did he bring a hit list with him?  Can we get more details on the “nukes” part of this discussion? Will any of us ever sleep peacefully again? I need answers.