GeoMe announces integration with 11870.com API

BARCELONA-GeoMe announces yesterday that it had completed the integration of content from the 11870.com platform within its own Location Based Social Networking beta mobile application.

11870.com is one of Spain's leading online business directories with over 10,000 daily page views and includes reviewer's comments and photos for each listing.

The full text of the press release can be seen by clicking here:

GeoMe and IRL announce Partnership

AMSTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS and BARCELONA, SPAIN--(Marketwire - January 27, 2009) - In Real Life (IRL), the only presence-based social networking company that adds presence to social networks and social media, and GeoMe, a mobile phone service that allows users to explore, share and connect via messages on a map, announced today the creation of a central platform for location-based social networking services on both mobile phones and the Web. This is the first time a Web-based social network has partnered with a mobile, location-based social network, providing full access privileges across the two communities of users.

The partnership extends the services of the IRL Connect Web-based social networking platform (www.irlconnect.com) to the mobile, as well as brings GeoMe's (www.geo-me.com) expertise in delivering location-based solutions on mobile to the Web. The combined platform features a social network toggle that allows members to seamlessly cross between communities. Both services bring the best of the mobile and Web worlds to users for an optimal social networking experience where they can access and exchange information and find friends online with the least effort, rather than a walled garden format of many of today's mobile social networking services.

"Many competitors focus on mobile and then try to extend their service to the Web by themselves, creating a half-baked Web solution," said Frank Schuil, founder and CEO of IRL. "By allowing aggregation with external parties, such as GeoMe, it is easier to grow our user base and give IRL Connect users the opportunity to explore mobile social networking using the GeoMe platform."

"Both IRL and GeoMe are focused on developing fresh concepts within the context of social networks. By partnering together, we combine resources to reach out to a wider public than would have otherwise been possible," said Ric Ferraro, managing director, GeoMe. "Instead of just aggregating different networks, GeoMe and IRL are sharing our communities openly in order to provide a richer experience for members."

GeoMe is launching its public beta in February 2009. IRL Connect members will be able to access the GeoMe service on mobile and on the Web in Q2 2009.

GeoMe in the Press-Mobile LBS Feature Article

BARCELONA- GeoMe was featured in the Economic Section of Sunday 11th January's edition of Avui newspaper, with an article by Jordi Garriga.

The article gives a quick tour of the GeoMe story up to today, from the first prototype developed for the Mobile World Congress in 2008, to the imminent release of the public beta version.

An important differentiating factor of GeoMe from the multitude of me-too applications out there, is the fact that GeoMe does not display people on the map but displays messages instead. That way, privacy of the user is safeguarded.

While GPS on high end phones is set to become a ubiquitous technology, incoporating alternative technologies like CellID will extend the reach of GeoMe to the wider public, especially in the target group of 15-24 year olds.

The full article (in Catalan) is available by clicking here

Mobile Web 2.0-KoreaComm 2008 Presentation

Evolution Of Mobile Web Ric Ferraro

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GeoMe quoted in El Pais Newspaper as Leading LBS Innovator

MADRID -El Pais, Spain's leading newspaper, published an article yesterday on Location Based Services and Mobile Social Networks, describing the overall environment and prospects.

'In Spain, there are a handful of innovative start-ups vying to lead the market.From the location-based service of GeoMe...the mobile phone is 'dressing up' with a web outfit in order to hit the town..' says Manuel Angel-Mendez, from El Pais.

I was interviewed for this article and duly get a quote later on where I state my view that most users don't want to be tracked wherever they are and prefer to leave messages on a map so that only their friends can see them if and when they are in the same area as the message.

Rummble, one of the companies presenting at the Mobile 2.0 Europe event in July in Barcelona (see previous quote) gets a well-deserved mention-they have a recommendation-based search function that allows community members to receive notifications according to your preferences.

'The barrier for mobile social networks is achieving a community of 100,000 users' continues Angel-Mendez, 'Once a service hits this magic number, anything is possible'.

For Spanish-speakers, the El Pais article can be referenced through the title link of this post.

Diary of a Mobile Internet Startup -GeoMe

BARCELONA-Like most bloggers out there, it may come as no surprise to you readers that I also have a day job -and an exciting one at that! I run an emergent startup in the mobile space called GeoMe...so, what do we do?

We are planning to launch a Location Based Service this year that will offer best-in-breed services aimed at a specific target group. As much as I would love to tell you readers more about our concept, unfortunately at this stage everything is still hush-hush, but I did want to share my experiences in setting up the business in a kind of startup diary that some of you budding entrepreneurs may find useful...

BIRTH OF A MOBILE STARTUP

Our startup saw its first light in 2007, born out of a discussion in a bar between 2 of the founders and their desire to do something new using location on mobile. Subsequent discussions followed, then workshops were held with experienced mobile professionals and developers until the core concept took a definitive shape.

My role upon joining was to take this exciting opportunity and turn it into a business proposition for a whole range of stakeholders, be they mobile operators, potential investors, collaborators and other techy companies.

I would say that one of my challenges at this stage was to keep our focus, as inevitably every time we explained our concept to someone new, different ideas on how to develop things would emerge.

Our strengths right from the word 'Go' were the team we built up around our new concept and the clarity we had around our brand and market positioning.

THE FIRST 6 MONTHS OF LIFE

The first few months have been enormous fun but also an emotional rollercoaster for everyone involved-a lot of excitement would build up when we got great feedback for our concept and even verbal comittment to x, y or z. Then, stakeholders would take a long time to make a decision or miss agreed deadlines and somehow we'd be back to square one.

Then suddenly, we'd get a break and have big corporations open doors to us and our concept and we'd all be back on an emotional high again...maybe a familiar story not just for mobile entrepreneurs but all those setting up new ventures out there...nerves of steel definitely help in coping with the inevitable dose of uncertainty surrounding a startup.

TODAY

The future for GeoMe is bright, as time and time again we receive encouraging feedback to our concept and our demo from different corners of the world.

We are currently working on our website, so that we can share our vision with the wider world and get people to sign up for our beta version as soon as it is released -exciting stuff!

Other things are happening too, which I will share with you shortly -so keep your RSS feeds open!