Facebook
is developing a standalone application to help users find their
friends in real life, according to a new report, marking the company's
entry into a field that has plenty of competitors but has yet to yield a
mainstream success.
Bloomberg reports that the app, which so far does not have a name, is expected to be released next month in time for South by Southwest. The app would track your location in the background, even when it hadn't been recently opened, and share that location with nearby friends.
In its broad details the new project resembles apps like Foursquare, Highlight, Google's Latitude, and Apple's Find My Friends. At their best, the apps help friends find one another when they aren't even looking. At their worst, they're a privacy minefield and a battery drain.
But to date, none of the apps has gained mass adoption. In part, that's because they suffer from network effects -- not enough people have joined to make them truly useful, which makes it harder for them to attract more users. Facebook, with more than 1 billion users in its network, could have the best chance yet to make an app like this work.
It's noteworthy that the company is pursuing location tracking as a standalone app and not a new feature -- say, in the Nearby feature that it launched not long ago to help users find interesting locations around them. But Facebook has good reason to proceed cautiously with introducing a feature like this into its main app, which is used by hundreds of millions of people. Given the obvious privacy concerns, it may be smarter to test the feature in an app that users explicitly opt into by downloading it.
If it's adopted broadly, though, the app could be a data goldmine. As Bloomberg notes, Facebook could use data gleaned from the app to sell ads based not just on users' current locations but also on their daily routines. That alone makes it an idea worth pursuing -- but alongside Facebook's mobile app, not inside it. At least for now.
Neil Edwards, president of PangoUSA, stated, "PangoUSA gives consumers a convenient and easy way to park using their phone; cities and parking operators can increase their revenues, lower their operating costs, and actually know who their customers are; and, businesses can reach consumers with local offers through the Pango app. Pango invented and patented the science behind pay by phone parking, and we are excited to deliver our exceptional service to consumers and cities across the United States."
In New York City, PangoUSA will partner with Imperial Parking which is the largest privately owned garage company in the city. Imperial offers valet-based parking at their 110 garage locations around the city. With the Pango app, the consumer parks their car, starts the online parking meter, then when wanted, can order their car through their phone. For the consumer, Pango provides easy payment, and the convenience of not having to wait in line while the car is brought to the front. Imperial Parking will begin with Pango in February.
Bill Learner, president of Imperial Parking Systems,Explore online some of the many available selections in Floor tiles. stated, "Car parking services have not changed since the invention of the auto. Pango allows my customers to get to their cars faster and more efficiently – no lines to ask for a car or to pay. Pango is also providing me with a direct link to communicate with my parker – something I have never had before."
In Phoenix, Pango partnered with Red Development's CityScape the 1.1 million-square-foot mixed-use urban project with 50 retailers, commercial office towers,The USB flash drives wholesale is our flagship product. and the 5-star Polomar Hotel. Using the Pango app, patrons to CityScape can pay for parking, open and close garage gates, validate their parking from retailers, and receive special offers from CityScape retailers. CityScape has one of the largest urban parking systems and is located in the heart of the city in close proximity to the US Airways Center Arena. Pango is also being implemented with the American Valet garage system in downtown Phoenix.
The report makes recommendations for critical players in the mobile marketplace: mobile platforms (operating system providers), application (app) developers,Come January 9 and chip card driving licence would be available at the click of the mouse in Uttar Pradesh. advertising networks and analytics companies, and app developer trade associations.Wear a whimsical Disney ear cap straight from the Disney Theme Parks! Most of the recommendations involve making sure that consumers get timely, easy-to-understand disclosures about what data they collect and how the data is used.
“The mobile world is expanding and innovating at breathtaking speed, allowing consumers to do things that would have been hard to imagine only a few years ago,” said FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz. “These best practices will help to safeguard consumer privacy and build trust in the mobile marketplace, ensuring that the market can continue to thrive.”
The mobile DNT recommendation was directed at platform providers such as Amazon, Apple, BlackBerry,Can you spot the answer in the fridge magnet? Google, and Microsoft.
“A mobile DNT mechanism, which a majority of the Commission has endorsed, would allow consumers to choose to prevent tracking by ad networks or other third parties as they navigate among apps on their phones,” recommended the report approved by the FTC for release.
The FTC staff report is based on the FTC’s enforcement and policy experience with mobile issues and a May 2012 FTC workshop, which brought together representatives from industry, trade associations, academia, and consumer privacy groups to explore privacy disclosures on mobile devices.
“[M]obile devices can reveal precise information about a user’s location that could be used to build detailed profiles of consumer movements over time and in ways not anticipated by consumers,” the FTC report stated.
Bloomberg reports that the app, which so far does not have a name, is expected to be released next month in time for South by Southwest. The app would track your location in the background, even when it hadn't been recently opened, and share that location with nearby friends.
In its broad details the new project resembles apps like Foursquare, Highlight, Google's Latitude, and Apple's Find My Friends. At their best, the apps help friends find one another when they aren't even looking. At their worst, they're a privacy minefield and a battery drain.
But to date, none of the apps has gained mass adoption. In part, that's because they suffer from network effects -- not enough people have joined to make them truly useful, which makes it harder for them to attract more users. Facebook, with more than 1 billion users in its network, could have the best chance yet to make an app like this work.
It's noteworthy that the company is pursuing location tracking as a standalone app and not a new feature -- say, in the Nearby feature that it launched not long ago to help users find interesting locations around them. But Facebook has good reason to proceed cautiously with introducing a feature like this into its main app, which is used by hundreds of millions of people. Given the obvious privacy concerns, it may be smarter to test the feature in an app that users explicitly opt into by downloading it.
If it's adopted broadly, though, the app could be a data goldmine. As Bloomberg notes, Facebook could use data gleaned from the app to sell ads based not just on users' current locations but also on their daily routines. That alone makes it an idea worth pursuing -- but alongside Facebook's mobile app, not inside it. At least for now.
Neil Edwards, president of PangoUSA, stated, "PangoUSA gives consumers a convenient and easy way to park using their phone; cities and parking operators can increase their revenues, lower their operating costs, and actually know who their customers are; and, businesses can reach consumers with local offers through the Pango app. Pango invented and patented the science behind pay by phone parking, and we are excited to deliver our exceptional service to consumers and cities across the United States."
In New York City, PangoUSA will partner with Imperial Parking which is the largest privately owned garage company in the city. Imperial offers valet-based parking at their 110 garage locations around the city. With the Pango app, the consumer parks their car, starts the online parking meter, then when wanted, can order their car through their phone. For the consumer, Pango provides easy payment, and the convenience of not having to wait in line while the car is brought to the front. Imperial Parking will begin with Pango in February.
Bill Learner, president of Imperial Parking Systems,Explore online some of the many available selections in Floor tiles. stated, "Car parking services have not changed since the invention of the auto. Pango allows my customers to get to their cars faster and more efficiently – no lines to ask for a car or to pay. Pango is also providing me with a direct link to communicate with my parker – something I have never had before."
In Phoenix, Pango partnered with Red Development's CityScape the 1.1 million-square-foot mixed-use urban project with 50 retailers, commercial office towers,The USB flash drives wholesale is our flagship product. and the 5-star Polomar Hotel. Using the Pango app, patrons to CityScape can pay for parking, open and close garage gates, validate their parking from retailers, and receive special offers from CityScape retailers. CityScape has one of the largest urban parking systems and is located in the heart of the city in close proximity to the US Airways Center Arena. Pango is also being implemented with the American Valet garage system in downtown Phoenix.
The report makes recommendations for critical players in the mobile marketplace: mobile platforms (operating system providers), application (app) developers,Come January 9 and chip card driving licence would be available at the click of the mouse in Uttar Pradesh. advertising networks and analytics companies, and app developer trade associations.Wear a whimsical Disney ear cap straight from the Disney Theme Parks! Most of the recommendations involve making sure that consumers get timely, easy-to-understand disclosures about what data they collect and how the data is used.
“The mobile world is expanding and innovating at breathtaking speed, allowing consumers to do things that would have been hard to imagine only a few years ago,” said FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz. “These best practices will help to safeguard consumer privacy and build trust in the mobile marketplace, ensuring that the market can continue to thrive.”
The mobile DNT recommendation was directed at platform providers such as Amazon, Apple, BlackBerry,Can you spot the answer in the fridge magnet? Google, and Microsoft.
“A mobile DNT mechanism, which a majority of the Commission has endorsed, would allow consumers to choose to prevent tracking by ad networks or other third parties as they navigate among apps on their phones,” recommended the report approved by the FTC for release.
The FTC staff report is based on the FTC’s enforcement and policy experience with mobile issues and a May 2012 FTC workshop, which brought together representatives from industry, trade associations, academia, and consumer privacy groups to explore privacy disclosures on mobile devices.
“[M]obile devices can reveal precise information about a user’s location that could be used to build detailed profiles of consumer movements over time and in ways not anticipated by consumers,” the FTC report stated.
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