Archive for the ‘News’ Category
2010: year of the location-based mobile apps
At this time last year the Locle team put together a little list of 8 predictions for 2009. We were just having a laugh, but the last laugh was on us when two of them seem to have come to be:
- Steorn, the Dublin company that claims to have discovered a way to extract unlimted free energy from the Earth’s magnetic fields, actually launched their product publicly with a live demonstration on Dublin’s Grand Canal Basin. Wild.
- Google launched their own phone called Nexus One, named after the killer cyborgs who “call home” to their creator in Ridley Scott’s Bladerunner. Creepy.
This year we’re only going to make one prediction. And it’s going to come true too:
- 2010 is the year that location-based mobile social networking takes off
Locle was ahead of the zeitgeist when we started the company in February 2008 (before the launch of iPhone apps!). But the mood seems to have caught up with us.
New services such as Google Latitude, FourSquare, BrighKite and Gowalla are following early innovators such as Rummble, Belysio, Nulaz, Mobiluck and of course Locle to show the potential of location.
Om Malik from GigaOM Network wrote yesterday that “Today we “check in” to places, but soon it will become part of the platform, and when that happens we’ll shift focus to applications and services that build upon the concept of checking in”.
At Locle, we enter 2010 well positioned with not only a location platform (as launched at GigaOM’s Mobilize 09 in San Francisco) but also a suite of web, wap, sms, iPhone and native mobile apps and services that are suited to almost any use.
The London Evening Standard wrote “…location-based social networking, where people use laptop or cell phone applications to tell each other where they are physically located at any particular moment. It’s an idea that’s been around for years but never quite managed to take off — until now.”
There are many reasons why “geosocial” networking is about to take off: mobile app usage, social networking activity, low-cost geopositioning, better smartphones. But most important will be the irresistable delight of a little Serendipity in our every day.
We hope you will continue to follow us through the New Year. Literally 
Locle Mini for iPhone 3GS now on App Store
The new version of Locle Mini for iPhone is now live on the App Store. Locle Mini v3 is a major upgrade from the previous version and includes fully interactive maps, facebook connect, twitter and Netlog. The user interface has had a complete overhaul and includes some features not seen on an iPhone app before.
Locle Mini for iPhone v3 is available for free download from the iTunes App Store here:
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=305188273
Locle selected to present at ITLG 2009
Locle will be presenting at the Irish Technology Leadership Group’s “Silicon Valley Comes to Ireland” conference in Belfast on October 21, 2009.
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/finance/2009/1016/1224256785951.html
http://www.mercurynews.com/business-headlines/ci_13420463?nclick_check=1
Established in October 2007, the ITLG is an independent organization comprised of a number of high-level technology leaders in Silicon Valley who are Irish or Irish-American. The Group includes senior executives from some of the Valley’s leading corporations, each of whom are committed to helping Ireland address the challenges of embracing new technology opportunities.
“Silicon Valley” attendees can familiarise themselves in advance of the conference. The Locle-branded implementation of the Locle Platform can be viewed at www.locle.com (desktop), m.locle.com (mobile web) and get.locle.com (mobile app download).
Developers intersted in creating their own location-based mobile social applications are invited to register their interest in the Locle Platform at developers.locle.com.
Locle Mini for Android released on Android Market
Locle Mini for Android “Google” phones, such as the HTC T-Mobile G1, is now available from the Android Market.
Locle Mini for Android is free to download and free to pass on to friends.
The mobile app is also available from Locle’s mobile download page at http://get.locle.com.
Locle Mini is now available on 10 mobile platforms: iPhone, Android, Blackberry, Nokia S60, Nokia S80, UIQ, Palm OS, Palm Pre, Java Mobile (J2me) SonyEricsson, Windows Mobile; and also as a WAP 2.0 mobile website at http://m.locle.com and http://locle.mobi.
Locle to present new location platform at Mobilize 09
We’ll be demonstrating the new Locle platform API and mobile SDK at GigaOM Mobilize 09 conference in San Francisco on September 10th.
http://events.gigaom.com/mobilize/09/launchpad/
“…location-based mobile software and web services platform that offers a location API tailored to the needs of social applications.”
We’re scheduled to go on stage at 5:30pm Pacific Standard Time.
