Foursquare Reemerges As An App To Be Reckoned With
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Location-based social network and mobile app Foursquare couldn't quite pinpoint why its audience of 40 million users had dipped and why remaining users weren't as engaged. In general, the percentage of U.S. adults who reported using local social networks to "check in" had decreased through 2013.
This fall, Foursquare launched the most significant overhaul to its app in the history of the company, and this overhaul also proved to be its most crucial - Foursquare says that user engagement has jumped 60% and users are spending 30% more time within the app.
According to Wired, Foursquare's own lead engineer Anoop Ranganath and data scientist Blake Shaw cracked the code to allow Foursquare to finally utilize a geofence. Meaning, whenever a Foursquare user enters the boundaries of a location that Foursquare tracks, the app could send that user a notification.
Early returns have been encouraging, as nearly 40% of the 1 million notifications Foursquare has sent have been opened.
But now even after a bit of resurgence, it still enters a crowded app economy filled with similar apps looking to move beyond just targeted geofencing. Foursquare was once the bellwether social-local app. But in the future, Foursquare will have to move beyond check-ins and targeted geofencing. It may look to the models of apps like Waze and and Life360, which provide useful location-based services that are highly conducive to social sharing. (Wired)
In other news...
New data from StatCounter shows that mobile devices accounted for 21% of total global web browsing during November. This is the highest share that mobile web browsing has ever accounted for. (GigaOm)
There is a new mobile payments app for iPhone that facilitates peer-to-peer payments via Bitcoin. (Bloomberg)
The Linux Foundation, in conjunction with companies like Qualcomm, LG, Panasonic, Haier, Silicon Image and TP-LINK, has announced the formation of the AllSeen Alliance to help facilitate swift adoption of the Internet of Things. (The Verge)
Microsoft has officially released a proprietary social networking app for its existing desktop social network, Socl, across all Windows Phone 8 devices. (WMPoweruser)
According to mobile analytics firm Mixpanel, global adoption of the iPhone 5S has reached 10% worldwide, and is outpacing adoption of the cheaper iPhone 5C by an almost 4-to-1 ratio. (TechCrunch)
According to an article from the Wall Street Journal, the Future Privacy Forum claims nearly 1,000 retailers in the U.S. have equipped their shops with sensors along the aisles in an attempt to monitor and quantify the behavior of shoppers. (Wall Street Journal)
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