Chances are, by now, you’ve taken Facebook Places for a spin. If you haven’t, Facebook really, really wants you to, having unleashed this unbelievably sappy promotional video into the internet. What amounts to Foursquare: Blue Version is touted as the most teary, sentimental thing in the universe. I almost expected the whole thing to end on a flowery photo album closing and an old man shedding a tear, having looked back on his life, remembering all those times he used Facebook Places to create his fondest memories. And speaking of which, did you notice something about the dialog? Right at the end…

Foursquare’s looking for a search suitor, and Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo are all on board to whisper sweet nothings into the geotagging maiden’s ear. For the remainder of this post, I guess, ‘dollars’ will be referred to as ‘sweet nothings’. If only. Anyway, Foursquare’s dude in charge, Dennis Crowley, recently rapped with the Telegraph about the talks. “Our data generates hugely interesting trends which would enrich search,” Crowley said. “We can anonymize data and use it to show venues which are trending at that moment. Twitter helped the world and the search engines know what people…

On the web, small, seemingly insignificant things can have incredibly wide-reaching effects. A small ad placed next to a search result might be the start of a massive new enterprise. A service that lets you share your status, photos and links with others might become the largest social network on earth. Small changes. Big results. And one day, people might say something similar about location service Foursquare and Location Layers – a feature that lets Foursquare ‘layer’ information from certain brands on top of certain venues. Check-in at a Starbucks and get some local news. Check-in at an…

As internet folk, we probably all have at least one friend who’s incurably addicted to Foursquare. I definitely do. Steve, this one’s for you. Y’know those people in your social networks, who you’re only kind of friends with, and you wouldn’t really hang out with those people, but it would be awkward to delete them, so you keep them around hoping they’ll go away, but they just so happen to be the ones who stalk you and comment on everything you say and do online? Y’know, those people? Don’t lie, you’ve got some of those people. Enter Avoidr. Assuming you use Foursquare (and are friends with those people…

When Twitter finally hit the mainstream press in 2009, you could essentially predict the comments on every fluff piece put out by a magazine or newspaper: Twitter is stupid, it’s “for twits” and “my God, I can’t believe anyone would be so stupid as to use this idiotic service”. As it turned out, those people were, well, completely and utterly wrong; Twitter unarguably has its uses, and has been a boon to millions everywhere. Yet these days, there is a lot of chatter – much of it on Twitter, no less – that new location apps like Foursquare or Foodspotting are stupid, pointless and “my God, I can’t believe…

Foursquare’s gonna have to step its game up. Unwisely-spelled geo-tagging doodad SCVNGR (I was pronouncing it ‘sick vinegar’ in my head all morning before realizing I’m an idiot, and that this isn’t a catchy name for a service) is looking to bust into the big leagues, and with four million dollars and Google’s blessing, it’s really not a question anymore of how, but when. SCVNGR is kind of neat, because it takes Foursquare’s ambitious ‘get out of your living room’ concept and makes it more legit. Upon posting about Foursquare last month, a Techi reader pointed out to me that it actually isn’t necessary…

If you’re already a member of Foursquare, you know damn well it’s Foursquare Day, and have probably already been ‘playing’ for a couple hours. Good luck, and godspeed. For the rest of you, let me tell you all about the most bizarre alternate reality game you’ve never played, and why it’s important. I’m a pretty cheap guy, and as such do not yet own a smartphone. My phone is an LG 8100, if you must know: takes MiniSD for memory (MicroSD’s completely useless and defunct cousin), looks like it was designed by Rubbermaid, and has suffered a veritable gauntlet of alternative applications: hammer, doorstop,…

You know, non-techies will often deride users of Twitter or Facebook and other social media for ‘having no life’ – and we know how wrong they are. But cheating at Foursquare? Yikes, that’s sad. I mean, let’s break it down: using an app designed to encourage you to get out, you instead sit on your couch and pretend you went somewhere? Suddenly, my life seems way less lame. But thankfully, Foursquare have figured out a way to prevent some very pathetic people from cheating. Essentially, they’re only going to hand out points, badges and mayorships when your phone can verify you’re in the place you say…

When Bing first launched, we all treated it a little like the little engine that couldn’t; why, we all asked, would anyone switch from Google to Bing? As time has gone on, however, Bing has become more compelling, particularly with its map features. Now, there’s one more reason to use Bing, as they’ve integrated information from quickly-growing location app Foursquare. Let’s say you arrive in Brooklyn or San Francisco with no idea what to do. With the data now integrated into Bing Maps, head to the search site and you’ll be able to see all the tips Foursquare users have left mapped out for you to peruse,…

Amid the unending din of posts, tweets and articles about South by Southwest Interactive, one thing became clear: mobile location apps are the next big thing. In one corner was Austin-based Gowalla, fighting on its own home turf. In the other was Foursquare, the NYC-based startup that many associate with the ‘check-in’ craze. But regardless of who wins, unless services like these open up their data, we all lose….