For a long time, Instagram’s location services have been powered by Foursquare’s vast venue database. That might change in the future. According to a new report, Instagram is now testing Facebook Places integration as a possible replacement for Foursquare. If this eventually happens, its unlikely to surprise anyone considering the fact that Facebook owns Instagram.
Instagram Tests Facebook Places Integration original content from Ubergizmo. 
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The rise of social media networks and services have made it very easy for people to reach out and be heard. But a new iOS app called Cloak uses these very services for the opposite effect. Cloak taps into location data from the people you follow on Instagram and Foursquare. You can then flag those people and Cloak will alert you if they’re nearby. You’ll know when you need to relocate, hide or wrap up your heist.
Cloak is free for iOS devices. I wasn’t able to test it because I’m one step ahead – I don’t have a Foursquare or an Instagram account. But I think it’s worth noting because it’s a funny way of usurping social media. It would be even funnier if someone made an app that will help you stay away from Cloak users. You can call it Buzzkill.
[via Incredible Things]
There were whispers going around that Microsoft would be investing $15 million of their own money into Foursquare, which happens to be a location-based social networking service. According to the Wall Street Journal, this particular amount will also include a multi-year contract between the two corporate entities. Word on the Foursquare blog did mention that they will allow Microsoft to be able to access the company’s places database in their hardware and software products. Apart from that, Foursquare is also proud to announce that they have more than 45 million registered users (which is still a far cry from the 1 billion plus users on Facebook), and these 45 million folks have done their fair bit in assisting Foursquare to collect data from more than 60 million restaurants, stores and other locations.
Microsoft To Invest $15 Million In Foursquare original content from Ubergizmo. 
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For those unfamiliar, Foursquare is an app/service that allows users to check-in to various locations, leave reviews, and collect badges. The service is integrated into other apps, such as Instagram where it is used to retrieve locations, although recently it looks like Microsoft and Foursquare have managed to negotiate a deal in which both companies have entered into a data licensing partnership. The deal is said to have cost Microsoft $15 million and will help Foursquare generate revenue while not being an exclusive to Microsoft.
Microsoft is also said to have sign a multi-year contract deal with Foursquare in which the company’s data will be further integrated into Microsoft’s own services, such as its Windows Phone operating system and their Bing search engine. Given that Foursquare has managed to build up a pretty impressive database, it would make sense for Microsoft to leverage the data that they have collected rather than to start doing it themselves. Rumors of Microsoft’s interest in the company surfaced back in 2013 suggesting that the deal might have been in the works for quite a while now, but we guess it has finally come to fruition.
Microsoft Invests $15 Million Into Foursquare original content from Ubergizmo. 
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If you’re working with a device made by Microsoft (or running a Microsoft-made OS) right now, get ready to see a whole lot more of Foursquare. Microsoft has just invested … Continue reading
Foursquare might be one of the most widely used services around the world that people use to find great places to dine at, but it has never been a service that has allowed users to place orders for delivery, until today.
Foursquare has just announced that GrubHub Seamless has now been integrated, therefore users can now find over 20,000 restaurants in hundreds of cities across the country, and they can also place orders for delivery from local restaurants without actually ever having to leave the app.
This integration is crucial for Foursquare as it looks to grow from a service that people merely use to check-in to a place they’re visiting, be it a restaurant or a monument, and just leave it at that. Over the past few months the company has also been building up its discovery and recommendation offerings.
Taking the next step forward, it now lets users place orders from within the app, provided when users are browsing local establishments, they come across one with either the GrubHub or Seamless icon, all that’s left to be done then is to just tap on “order delivery.” Starting today the feature goes live on Foursquare.com, Android and iOS, no word if and when the Windows Phone 8 app will receive it.
Foursquare Now Lets You Order Food Within The App original content from Ubergizmo. 
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Starting today, you’ll be able to order from GrubHub and Seamless restaurants directly from Foursquare. In addition to the usual info you see when you look up a restaurant, you’ll also see the option to order from participating joints. Which is kind of weird because Foursquare is about going places and delivery is about sitting on your butt. Hurray for lazy.
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Twitter has been field-testing a new native app feature that shows a map of tweets occurring near the user in real time. The feature appears as a separate column in the app and shows tweets from other users regardless of the follow relationship between the users. It’s called “Nearby”, and it could be Twitter’s next […]
If you’re one of those people who like “checking-in” to every location they go to, then you probably are a Foursquare user. The service has been around for quite some time now, and it contributed a lot to the trend of checking-in to places. Back when Apple released iOS 7 in September, Foursquare released an updated app so that its visuals could better compliment those of Apple’s newest mobile OS update. Now, Foursquare version 7.0 has been released for iOS 7, the app has been given a complete revamp.
The app is claimed to be faster, smarter apart from the fact that it has a whole new look. Foursquare for iOS will now tell “what you need to know” whenever a user arrives somewhere they haven’t been before. For example if a user enters a restaurant for the first time, Foursquare will automatically push a notification about the best thing to order or a special that’s being offered, even if the app hasn’t even been launched. The app will also show more of what’s nearby. Whenever the app is launched, it will “shuffle the deck” to show tips and specials near the user’s location, users can hit up the feed to see what their friends are up to. Revamped Foursquare for iOS 7 is live now and available as a free download from the App Store.
Foursquare v7.0 For iOS Gets A Complete Revamp original content from Ubergizmo. 
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Sygic: GPS Navigation, the offline nav-and-map app for iOS and Android, has added some new third-party integrations for discovering nearby deals and parking options. Already glutted with online and offline additions over the course of the company’s decade-long history, the freemium Sygic app competes with Nokia HERE Drive, the offline nav-and-map app for Lumia devices. […]
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