Are we maxed out on checking in?
While Twitter lets us tell the world what we're doing, and Foursquare lets us tell the world where we're doing it, a new generation of apps and checkin services now lets us tell the world what brand we prefer to do it with. We can grab online deals based on our location and send out what amounts to a Tweet-sized roll call of our recreational choices.
What's next in the evolution of geolocation? Foursquare's most attractive qualities — the social game of checking in and the availability of local deals — arguably provide a foundation. But will we need more value if checkins are ever to hit the mainstream?
Closing the Gap
Back in March, Aaron Prather and some of his colleagues were trying to rack up something a lot of other music lovers with smartphones and Foursquare accounts were collecting: some of the new badges added this year for SXSW attendees.
But Foursquare probably didn't intend for Prather and his colleagues to collect the badges the way they did — or, more specifically, where they did.
They did it from Memphis, about 650 miles away from where people were supposed to be earning the badges in Austin. It was thanks to a loophole in how Foursquare users are able to tell their friends where they are.
New Value
Prather is the CEO of a new Memphis-based startup called stiQRd, developers of an app with the same name. The premise of stiQRd is simple: a location network that prevents unverifiable checkins.
StiQRd users scan a QR code that's geo-locked to a specific location. Busine sses can use that setup to digitize...
