Foursquare updates its app for Windows Phone 8 with lock screen notifications, NFC check-ins and more
Foursquare is rolling out an updated version of its location-based recommendation app for Windows Phone 8, which it says has also been optimized specifically for Nokia’s latest Lumia smartphones.
Version 3.0 brings a number of new features to the table, including the ability to pin people and venues to the Windows Phone 8 home screen, sharing over Near Field Communication (NFC) and lock screen notifications.
The app’s design is also tailored to the Metro UI, with an emphasis on brightly colored squares, crisp text and a rectangular shape for almost every feature selection and tool set.
The app is available for all Windows Phone 8 devices, although Foursquare has been shouting from the rooftops about its partnership with Nokia in a blog post published today.
“Some of the Lumia models even integrate Foursquare data into their augmented reality experience, so it feels like you’re in the future when you’re finding cool places and money-saving deals,” it reads.
The app has all of the features that you would come to expect from Foursquare, including near-instantaneous check-ins, user reviews, the ability to upload pictures and discover the best events and establishments in the surrounding area.
Windows Phone 7 isn’t supported in version 3.0 of the Foursquare app, although the company added that users should “stay tuned for updates.” So watch this space.
➤ Foursquare | Windows Marketplace
Top Image Credit: Christopher Bulle
Le Camping Alumni Augment Raises €220K To Take Its Augmented Reality Sales Tool To The U.S.
Despite its potential, the jury is arguably still out on the best use-case for Augmented Reality. But one startup, Augment, thinks it has the answer: helping to sell products by letting customers see what they might look like in the real world.
A graduate of the Paris-based accelerator Le Camping, today the company is announcing a €220k (~$289k) funding round — capital it will use to take its offering to the U.S., where it has recently hired a biz dev and sales person, and incorporated a local subsidiary.
Targeting e-commerce sites, catalogs and sales people out in the field, Augment offers a platform where 3D models can be uploaded, and free apps for iOS and Android to let customers visualize products/designs embedded in their environment in “real size”. So, for example, you might be shopping for a new couch and by using Augment you’d be able to see how it looks and fits within your actual living room, through the view finder of your iPad.
The advantage of using Augmented Reality as a sales tool is that it increases engagement and conversion rates, and lowers the likelihood of a product being returned because it didn’t look how the customer had imagined. Or so the pitch goes. “In short, it removes the uncertainty from buying online or from a catalog,” says co-founder Jean-François Chianetta.
Competitors in the Augmented Reality platform space include Aurasma, Blippar and Metaio. “Our differentiator is that we provide the easiest platform to visualize your own 3D models in Augmented Reality,” says Chianetta. “We let people register to our upload interface, upload their models and share them right away.”
Furthermore, he says that unlike others Augment doesn’t do “games, dancing characters or advertising campaigns” and is 100% focused on using Augmented Reality to help sell. “We provide augmented reality as a service so our customers don’t need to do big upfront investments to benefit from it.”
The company monetizes in a number of ways including charging to embed the Augment button on e-commerce sites, an “offline” mode for sales people taking the iOS or Android app out on the road, and print integration.
Today’s new funding comes from a group of Paris-based angel investors: Tristan Vyskoc, an active investor in startups in the Parisian ecosystem; Laurent Therezien, a web entrepreneur who was part of Lastminute.com and Voyage-Privé; Olivier Mathiot, co-founder and currently VP of Marketing and Communication of PriceMinister; and Nicolas Vauvilliez, who was COO at LeGuide.com and is now owner and CEO of 1001 Maquettes.
See more here: Le Camping Alumni Augment Raises €220K To Take Its Augmented Reality Sales Tool To The U.S.
Affordable 3D Printer Maker Pirate3DP Hooks In $482K From Red Dot Ventures
Venture capital firm Red Dot Ventures has invested $482,000 USD in Pirate3DP, a Singapore-based startup that is developing an affordable, user-friendly 3D printer for the mass market.
Pirate3DP was founded by childhood friends Roger Chang, Brendan Goh and Tsang You Jun, as well as serial tech entrepreneur Neo Kok Beng, a professor at the National University of Singapore. The startup’s flagship product is the Buccaneer, which is currently in the prototyping phase and will be launched in the middle of this year. The team envisions the low-cost 3D printer as a “playground for artists to create, monetize and share ideas with others.”
“In a near future, everyone will have a 3D printer in their home sitting next to their paper printer and making plastic jewelry, kitchen utensils, toys, models, homework projects, and non-critical replacement parts. Nonetheless, current consumer models are either too expensive or too difficult to use. We intend to change that. Pirate3D will bring this technology to everyone’s homes by making it low-cost, efficient and user-friendly,” said Roger Chang, CEO of Pirate3DP.
Read the original: Affordable 3D Printer Maker Pirate3DP Hooks In $482K From Red Dot Ventures
References To iPhone 6, iOS 7 Reportedly Seen in Developer Log
The iPhone 5 just finished its global rollout, but it looks like leaks about the iPhone 6 are already starting to surface. An iOS developer saw a device named “iPhone 6.1″ running iOS 7 making requests from an IP address within Apple’s Cupertino campus, according to TNW. The iPhone 6 is expected to be released by the middle of next year. TNW says that “although OS and device data can be faked, the unique IP footprint leading back to Apple’s Cupertino campus leads us to believe that this is not one of those attempts.”
So does this show anything significant, aside from the fact that Apple will continue to regularly push out new iPhone models and iOS versions? Probably not. Over the last two years, since police raided Gizmodo editor Jason Chen‘s home after he obtained an iPhone prototype, Apple’s attitude toward secrecy has become increasingly lax despite Tim Cook’s insistence otherwise. And, as TNW notes, references to the new iOS 6 software were seen in May a month before its official launch, giving this latest round of leaks a precedent.
Read more here: References To iPhone 6, iOS 7 Reportedly Seen in Developer Log
Apple posts ordering deadlines for Christmas delivery of iPad, iPod, iPhone, Mac and more
Apple has today put up its holiday shipping deadlines page with information on when you need to order some products in order to take delivery by December 25th, reports The Loop. The page provides ordering dates for the Mac, iPod, iPad, iPhone, Gift Card, Apple TV and iPhoto print products.
The deadlines vary, with the earliest, the iPad mini and Apple Gift Cards by mail already having passed on 12/5, 12/12 and 12/10. The rest of the dates range from 12/14 for Mac mini, MacBook Air and Macbook Pro models out to 12/21 for overnight delivery of many items.
The offerings include free 2-3 day shipping for all items as well as overnight options for some if you want to shell out some extra cash.
See the original post here: Apple posts ordering deadlines for Christmas delivery of iPad, iPod, iPhone, Mac and more