Facebook has officially announced Places Deals for the UK and Europe, extending the location-based discount and loyalty scheme first rolled out in North America back in November 2010. Users of the social network will be able to check into businesses such as shops, cafes, bars and restaurants, and obtain coupons and discounts in the process.
The initial roll-out will include partners in five European countries, including France, Germany, Italy and Spain; in the UK, Facebook is working with Starbucks, Argos, Alton Towers, YO! Sushi and even R&B star Usher. Users will be able to check-in via their smartphones, using Facebook’s apps for mobile together with the touch.facebook.com site.
For more on Facebook Places, check out Ben Bajarin’s analysis after the launch of the original North American version, and his views on whether we’ll see a considerable uptick in LBS.
Press Release:
Facebook® Deals launches in the UK
From today you can check in on Facebook from your mobile and claim special offers, rewards and discounts from top brands. What’s more by checking in you share these benefits with your friends on Facebook so they can take advantage of them too.
Part of Facebook Places, Facebook Deals helps you find offers in your local area from your mobile phone or discover money-saving tips from your friends through your News Feed.
If you’re passing a Starbucks today you can check in and claim a free filter coffee; or head down to Debenhams on 14 February and check in to claim a free Benefit mascara & makeover. For Usher fans heading to the O2 Arena for the London dates of his OMG Tour this week, check in to get 20% off his album and a free remix from the official merchandise stand.
Plus if you check in on Facebook over the next few weeks you will be able to find launch offers from Argos, Alton Towers Resort, Benetton, Mazda, O2, and YO! Sushi.
Joanna Shields, VP EMEA, Facebook says: “We all love a bargain so whether you’re on the lookout for a special offer at your favourite restaurant or tips from a fashionista friend about a discount on shoes in a department store, Facebook Deals will help you find it.
Facebook is built around people and sharing personal experiences and Deals is a great extension of this. By bringing valuable and relevant offers to you wherever and whenever you want them, Deals delivers a powerful experience that combines technology and location in a way that a pure online or offline experience could never deliver.”
UK launch deals
You can find out full details including terms of their Deal on each of the brands’ Facebook Pages…
Alton Towers Resort: On Friday 18 February, the Alton Towers Theme Park will open a day earlier than planned for the Half Term holiday, offering exclusive use for anyone who checks in on that day only. Tag up to 3 friends for free entry and the first 100 people to check in will also receive a free one night stay in one of the themed Resort Hotels.
Argos: From Monday 31 January, Argos will donate £1 to its national charity partner Teenage Cancer Trust for the first 10,000 customers that check-in at an Argos store this week.
Benetton: Benetton has chosen a Charity Deal to support Architecture for Humanity, an association which applies design and architecture to social projects. From 31 January 2011 and throughout February, Benetton will donate two pounds/two Euros for each Smartphone check-in in one of the 3000 Benetton stores involved in the scheme in the UK, France, Italy, Germany and Spain.¹
Debenhams: On 14th February, Debenhams and Benefit are giving away over 1,000 free mascaras and makeovers for the first 10 check ins at each Benefit counter at Debenhams stores across the UK.
Mazda: From 31 January to 7 March 2011, Mazda will be offering the chance to win 1 of 5 Mazda MX-5 Miyako’s for the summer! Mazda is also offering the exclusive opportunity to buy an MX-5 with 20% discount.²
O2: From Monday 31 January, O2 is offering 10% off all accessories, including gaming kit in all stores. On Saturday 5 February, the first four customers will receive a free xbox 360 in 26 stores and the first two customers will receive a free Playstation3 in 18 stores when bought with any new or upgrade mobile consumer contract only.³
Starbucks: From 9.30am on Monday 31 January, the first 30,000 customers who check in to participating stores will receive a free tall filter coffee. Customers can also get a free piece of cake with the purchase of two drinks at participating stores on any Saturday throughout February.
YO! Sushi: From Monday 31 January, YO! Sushi is giving away 2000 meals to the value of £60,000. The first 1000 diners to check in at any of their 47 participating restaurants, tag their friend and show a member of staff their phone screen with the confirmation message receive complimentary food and drink.?
Usher/O2 Arena: Check in at the O2 Arena to get 20% off Usher’s album and a free remix of Hey Daddy (Daddy’s Home) from the official merchandise stand on the London dates of his OMG Tour this week.
Following the launch in the US in November 2010, Deals launches today in the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain.
How to find and claim a Deal
Finding deals near you is easy. Using your mobile browser on www.facebook.com or the latest version of the Facebook app, open “Places” and then click “Check In”. A list of Nearby Places will appear and a yellow ticket will show next to Places that are offering deals.
When you touch the Place you can view the Deal and check in to claim it. Then just show your phone to the shop assistant or waiter to redeem your Deal.
You’ll see a few different types of Deals: Individual Deals offer a one-time discount, free merchandise or other reward; Friend Deals offer deals that you and your friends can claim when you check-in together; Loyalty Deals reward you for being a frequent customer; and Charity Deals allow businesses to donate to a particular cause when you check in.
Notes
Facebook® is a registered trademark of Facebook Inc.
Please note that these deals come from the businesses themselves, not Facebook, so check with them at the location for more details; such as when they’re running, how many offers are available, and whether a deal is just for you or also for your friends.
You can find out more about Facebook Deals at www.facebook.com/deals
You can also find our Places Guide at www.facebook.com/places and a video of how to check in on the Facebook UK Page at www.facebook.com/facebookuk
Callaway is one of the biggest names in golf gear. The company has announced a new gadget for golfers that will let them know exactly how far they are from the hole when on many of the most popular courses around the country. The new gadget is called the upro mx.
The upro mx is a GPS device that comes loaded with 25,000 courses from around the world. The preloading of course layouts means the upro mx is ready to be used right out of the box. Callaway says that it is the only dedicated GPS device on the market that offers high-quality aerial maps of each course.
The upro mx will ship in May for $199. It has a 2.2-inch color LCD, weighs three ounces and has no annual fees that the user has to pay if they use basic mode. An additional fee is required to activate the pro mode with the aerial photos. What that extra fee will cost is unknown.
Yesterday Callaway revealed an updated version of their upro handheld GPS device, now bestowed with an ‘mx’ after its name, and a full-color multi-touch and gesture-friendly 2.2-inch LCD display. Obviously designed and optimized for use on golf courses, the upro mx comes pre-loaded with maps for more than 25,000 courses around the world, including high-resolution aerial photography of each course which apparently only they offer. And while there’s enough content on the device to get you going right out of the box, you can also download more detailed data for where you’re playing including a Virtual Green View with exact putting distances, SmartView which calculates the best virtual view based on where you’re standing and AnyPoint technology for extremely accurate distance measures.
The Callaway upro mx will be available in May for just $199, but I have to wonder why it couldn’t also be available as an iPhone app. I’m sure it’s still a must-have for some professional golfers who need highly accurate GPS distance readings, but I think the casual links player would find it far more convenient to have this built-in to their phone. And if that database of 25,000+ courses is too hefty to download at once, users could simply pull down offline copies of courses as needed. I’m fairly certain even the most avid of golfers won’t be playing at all 25,000 courses in their collection.
Paying a monthly fee — or any fee, for that matter — for turn-by-turn navigation on Android devices has felt pretty unpalatable ever since Google Maps Navigation happened, but Verizon’s still trying to make things interesting with the latest version of its VZ Navigator product. A quick feature rundown of its new “Version X” is up on YouTube right now, and we’ll admit, we’re a little intrigued by some of this stuff: realistic 3D buildings in major cities (unlike the nondescript boxes in Google Maps, we imagine), some form of dead reckoning capability for those times that you don’t have GPS reception, satellite maps, overhead street signs, social integration for letting folks know where you are, and a whole bunch of views for customizing the experience. We’re assuming service is the same $9.99 a month that Big Red charges currently, but there’ll also be a free version — VZ Navigator Maps — that dispenses of some of the crazier features. We’re hearing this might be officially announced in a few hours, so more details will presumably be in tow; in the meantime, follow the break for the teaser video.
While robots are taking a major role in today’s military scheme of things, there are always other options. Namely, animals. Simply put, a dog can get into places that a robot can’t, and given the right method of controlling them, can be a lot more help than, say, a limited machine. That’s where this backpack design comes into play. Designed within the walls of Auburn University’s Canine Detection Research Institute, it’s a backpack that puts a lot of features into a small space, all in the hopes of being able to guide a dog into a situation remotely.
The backpack system features tiny vibrating panels on both sides of the pack. These panels, when activated remotely, tell the dog which direction to head. Using the integrated GPS system, along with the radio modem inside, controllers are able to see where the dog is exactly at any given moment, and guide the animal to wherever they need it to be. The general idea is to be able to no longer limit an animal by having to make sure that a human is with them at all time. The dog, moving on its own, will be able to cover more ground, and faster.
Obviously, questions about what kind of missions these dogs would be sent on are already popping up. While rescue missions, where the dog would be able to go out and try to find lost hikers, would be less dangerous than other proposed uses, it’s obvious that some will want to use these remote-controlled animals for other uses. Like in war time situations.
Before we go too far into this, I must warn you, antsy fellows and ladies, that this only releases on AT&T Android phones today, but will expand to other carriers. This update of TeleNav for your handheld devices has several key upgrades: Multiple Route Suggestions, now with up to three different possible routes overlaid on the map with details included (distance, time.) Quick Search, a feature with which users can touch the Quick Search box on the home screen to type a landmark, category, business name, or address, this search including predictive search technology.
Next is Speech Recognition, an expanded feature that works at a button click from the home page and includes many commands including phrases such as “How’s the weather?” or “How’s traffic?” Map Overlays, present in the Multiple Route Suggestions feature in addition to other places, gives you one-click options to layers of information on the map screen like locations of traffic cameras (my Grandma would love this) and traffic flow. Expanded POIs, or Points of Interest have been added to the database, having now more that 22 million US business locations, historical landmarks, airports, and just about any other sort of place.
Take a peek at a demo here:
And have another peek at an overview of 6.2 here:
Finally have at the gallery of screenshots from the new version of the app then read over the full press release below. Do it!
TeleNav Enhances Driving Experience with New Version of TeleNav GPS Navigator™
Expanded Speech Recognition, Quick Search, and Multiple Route Suggestions features make it easier and faster to find and navigate to destinations
Sunnyvale, Calif. – Jan. 14, 2011 – TeleNav, Inc. (NASDAQ: TNAV), one of the largest global wireless location-based services providers with more than 18 million paying subscribers, today launched TeleNav GPS Navigator version 6.2 for select Android devices. The latest version of TeleNav GPS Navigator is designed to deliver a faster and more reliable way to navigate, search, and view maps on a mobile device. TeleNav has added new features such as expanded Speech Recognition, Quick Search, Multiple Route Suggestions, enhanced local search content with more listings, and overall improved application speed.
“With this release, we’ve made Navigator easier and faster to use, and also added new capabilities that allow the user to personalize their navigation experience,” said Sal Dhanani, co-founder and vice president of products for TeleNav. “We’re confident that when our users try this version, they’ll immediately benefit from the enhancements we’ve made and enjoy the faster, simpler, more personalized experience.”
A Personalized Experience: Multiple Route Suggestions and Commute Alerts
TeleNav GPS Navigator 6.2 now offers Multiple Route Suggestions and allows users to choose which route they prefer to take. Once a destination is entered, users are presented with up to three route suggestions overlaid on a map with route distance and estimated drive times. Users can review information for each route and select the option that best fits their personal driving needs.
TeleNav GPS Navigator 6.2 also includes a new user interface for the existing Commute Alert feature, making it easier for users to set and receive automatic alerts at a pre-selected time to show current traffic conditions along their daily commute. Users can choose to have these alerts sent via e-mail, SMS, or within the TeleNav GPS Navigator application to receive their personal daily commute information before hitting the road.
Search Made Simple
TeleNav GPS Navigator 6.2 includes Quick Search, a new feature designed to make finding local places quick and easy. Located on the application’s home page, users can simply touch the Quick Search box and type an address, landmark, category (i.e. Italian Food), or a business name. TeleNav GPS Navigator 6.2 uses predictive search technology to suggest results as the user types their desired location. Quick Search eliminates the need to navigate menus in order to find and drive to a location.
TeleNav has included an expanded Speech Recognition feature, allowing users to press a single button on the home page and speak a command. In addition to the Speech Recognition commands available in previous versions of TeleNav GPS Navigator used for finding addresses (“1130 Kifer Road”) or businesses (“Find gas stations”), TeleNav GPS Navigator 6.2 provides voice access to more information, for questions such as “How’s the weather” or “How’s traffic.”
TeleNav has also made its local search functionality easier, faster and more comprehensive, adding millions of new Points of Interest (POIs) to its search database, giving TeleNav users access to more than 22 million U.S. business locations, historical landmarks, airports and more.
“There’s nothing more frustrating when using a GPS product than to search for a location and not get a result. If a user can’t find the destination they’re looking for, the quality of the navigation features doesn’t matter,” said Dhanani. “We’ve put a lot of effort into ensuring that our users are able to find the destinations they’re searching for.”
Additional Features and Enhancements
In addition to multiple route options and search enhancements, TeleNav GPS Navigator 6.2 includes enhanced map performance and design, allowing for faster panning and page refreshes when users view the map screen within the application. The map view also includes one-click options to layer information on the map screen, such as traffic flow information and the locations of traffic cameras.
TeleNav GPS Navigator 6.2 also features a new POI search screen interface designed to make searching for business categories more simple. When viewing the POI category page, users are presented with an easy to read view of popular business categories and can access those listings with one-click.
Availability
TeleNav GPS Navigator 6.2 is available immediately on the Android Marketplace to AT&T customers (as AT&T Navigator 2.2) using the Samsung Captivate™, HTC Aria, Sony Ericsson Xperia™ X10, or Motorola BACKFLIP™ devices running Android OS version 2.1 or above. The application will be available soon on additional Android devices through other wireless carriers.
Images of TeleNav GPS Navigator 6.2 are available at http://www.flickr.com/photos/23382466@N03/sets/72157625684926753/ and a demonstration video of new features is available at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NocouhAMzA.
About TeleNav, Inc.
TeleNav, Inc. is a leading provider of consumer location-based services (LBS), enterprise LBS and automotive LBS with more than 18 million paying subscribers as of September 30, 2010. TeleNav’s solutions provide consumers, wireless service providers, enterprises and automakers with location-specific, real-time, personalized services such as GPS navigation, local search, mobile advertising, mobile commerce, location tracking and workflow automation. TeleNav’s technology is available across more than 500 types of mobile phones, all major mobile phone operating systems and a broad range of wireless network protocols. TeleNav’s service providers and partners include AT&T, Bell Mobility, Boost Mobile, China Mobile, Cincinnati Bell, Ford Motor Company, NII Holdings, Rogers, Sprint Nextel, Telcel, T-Mobile UK, T-Mobile USA, U.S. Cellular, Verizon Wireless and Vivo Brazil.?
For more information on TeleNav, please visit www.telenav.com. Follow TeleNav on Twitter at www.twitter.com/telenav or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/telenav.
###
Copyright 2011 TeleNav, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
“TeleNav,” the TeleNav logo, and “telenav.com” are registered and unregistered trademarks and/or service marks of TeleNav, Inc., unless otherwise noted, all other trademarks, service marks, and logos used in this press release are the trademarks, service marks or logos of their respective owners.
Here’s a really cool idea. Let’s say you want to give someone an item, but you really want to make them work for it. There are many ways you could do it, but few as interesting as this DIY reverse-geocaching briefcase. What does it do? Well it can be programmed with specific coordinates, and will only open with the briefcase is actually in the listed spot.
The case uses an Arduino, GPS sensor and some cool-looking nixie tubes to pull off this feat. Once the location has been programmed, it will use the GPS sensor, then display the distance to the location on the tubes. Once you’ve gotten to the spot, a motor will release the latch holding it closed. Expect to see something like this in the next James Bond movie, only with a bomb as the contents.
With all of these tablet devices running around the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, we wanted to make sure that we found some time with a smaller tablet-like device. That’s when we ended up at the Garmin Nuvi booth, and found ourselves playing around with the 3760T.
Our hands on time with the device confirmed the idea that Garmin’s presence in the GPS navigation market is still a strong one. The company’s new device is certainly responsive, and we were able to find our way through the menus quickly, and without much effort. The 3760T is compact, and lightweight as well — perfect for the holder you’ll be sticking to your windshield.
Realizing that not everyone likes to jog or run with an iPod strapped to their arm, Nike has created a new watch that works in tandem with their in-shoe Nike+ Sensor and provides the same functionality already built-into the iPods and their iPhone app. The advantage to using this watch though is that it’s not only waterproof, but it also features TomTom GPS hardware built-in. So while it’s keeping track of your steps via the in-shoe sensor, it’s also tracking where they’ve been taken, allowing your route to be analyzed on the Nikeplus.com website. And in order to keep things simple and battery life as lengthy as possible, the watch syncs to your PC, and the Nike+ website, via a USB connector integrated into the watch strap.
The watch sports an inverted monochrome LCD display and a robust UI that’s easy to navigate via a couple of buttons on the side of the case. And besides just keeping track of how far you’ve run and where you’ve been, the watch will also compare your performance against past results to let you know if you’ve improved, and of course will even nag you when you haven’t gotten out for a bit of exercise in a while. The Nike+ SportWatch GPS will be available on April 1, and while not specified, we were told that pricing should be comparable to other GPS-equipped watches already on the market.
Working out isn’t always the easiest thing for someone to do, even for those who try to convince themselves that they need to do it. For Nike, the more active you are, the better — after all, the more likely you’ll be to buy their products, right? With that in mind, they want to help you get in shape, without throwing it in your face. Instead, they’ll wrap it on your wrist. This new watch from Nike, called the Nike+ SportsWatch, is integrated with GPS, and will track your work out to help you out if you’re not doing too well.
Or, if you are doing really well, your watch will let you know. The idea is to help you when you need it, or tell you that you’re doing well when you are. A digital, watch-sized personal trainer, if nothing else. Unfortunately, it’s not as quick as some may like — if after 5 days you haven’t logged in any runs, your watch will notify you of such antics. It will give you an auditory notification when you’re doing well.
You’ll also be able to plug your Nike+ SportsWatch into your computer, and interact with Nike+’s website. Inside the watch, you’ll find a TomTom GPS, which works in tandem with the sensor at the tip of your Nike+ shoes. Nike will be launching the SportsWatch this Spring.
