{"id":529369,"date":"2010-04-16T03:20:57","date_gmt":"2010-04-16T07:20:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.xconomy.com\/?p=73523"},"modified":"2010-04-16T03:20:57","modified_gmt":"2010-04-16T07:20:57","slug":"glympse-rolls-out-facebook-tie-in-looks-to-gain-traction-in-location-aware-social-networks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/529369","title":{"rendered":"Glympse Rolls Out Facebook Tie-In, Looks to Gain Traction in Location-Aware Social Networks"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Mobile<\/a>, Software<\/a>, startups<\/a><\/div>\n

\t\t\"Glympse<\/a>
\n\t\tGregory T. Huang wrote:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Question: Where is Glympse? Answer: Getting more socially connected.<\/p>\n

The Redmond, WA, startup, which makes location-based software for mobile phones, is announcing today it has integrated its service with Facebook. This means consumers can automatically share where they are in real-time with certain friends and contacts in their social network via their iPhone or Android smartphone. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s not a custom deal with Facebook, but it takes advantage of the social network\u2019s capabilities and reach. The integration allows anyone who has the Glympse<\/a> service to have their location pop up on a map within Facebook so their friends can see where they in real time. The move \u201cwill help in the distribution\u201d but doesn\u2019t generate direct revenue, says Glympse co-founder and CEO Bryan Trussel. \u201cIt\u2019s a breadth awareness and usage play for us.\u201d Translation: it could help the company grow, and in a big way.<\/p>\n

The idea behind the company is that your friends, family, and business contacts can get an immediate \u201cglympse\u201d of where you are, automatically and dynamically (your position moves on the map; see photo below), for a certain amount of time that you set. So you don\u2019t have to text or call them saying you\u2019re going to be a few minutes late, or you just left the house. About a year ago, we pointed out that the main challenge the company faces is getting a critical mass of consumers<\/a> to use the technology—and then figuring out how to get paid. A pretty familiar road for any Internet or mobile startup.<\/p>\n

Since then, location-based mobile services have exploded, with the rise of map applications on smartphones, more widespread adoption of smartphones themselves (and \u201csocial phones\u201d like the new Microsoft Kin), and the popularity of location-based social networks like Foursquare. Other companies in the sector include Loopt, Brightkite, uLocate, Pelago, and Google with its Latitude service. <\/p>\n

\u201cPeople are expecting their phone to know where they are, and to filter information based on their location,\u201d says Trussel, who had a 16-year run at Microsoft before starting Glympse. In terms of building a reliable and mainstream location-sharing service, he says, \u201cWe set out to be the quickest, lightest, simplest way to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Glympse\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Trussel says Glympse has kept true to its original vision from the company\u2019s founding in 2008. Now it is being flexible about how it is approaching things like integrating into all the online social networks. For example, the fact that Facebook is soon coming out with its own location-sharing service doesn\u2019t seem to concern Trussel. \u201cWe look at Facebook not as a competitor but as a great social network we can integrate into,\u201d he says. \u201cThe more larger networks are built, and even built around location, the better for us.\u201d One question for startups like Glympse, though, will be whether Facebook will try to \u201cown\u201d its location-based services itself, or keep the software platform open for application developers to build on.<\/p>\n

The Glympse app remains free, and is available on Windows phones as well as the iPhone and Android phones<\/a>; a BlackBerry version is coming soon too. It sounds like location-based advertising will be a big part of Glympse\u2019s business model, as well as licensing its technology to partners (presumably wireless carriers and handset makers). Trussel declined to comment on the company\u2019s partners, revenues, number of customers, or funding plans. Last year, he said Glympse had been angel-financed and had a half-dozen employees.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe feel we’ve hit critical mass now,\u201d Trussel says. \u201cWe’ve filed the IP patents. We have breadth on the platform, we\u2019ve got the social network integration, and we’ve distinguished ourselves in the location space, where you can share as much or as little as you want\u2026The good part for us is, the opportunity is much greater than the resources we have.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Mobile, Software, startups Gregory T. Huang wrote: Question: Where is Glympse? Answer: Getting more socially connected. The Redmond, WA, startup, which makes location-based software for mobile phones, is announcing today it has integrated its service with Facebook. This means consumers can automatically share where they are in real-time with certain friends and contacts in their […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1747,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,16,7,10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-529369","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-internet","category-mobile","category-news","category-software"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/529369","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1747"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=529369"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/529369\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=529369"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=529369"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=529369"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}