Google Launches Android App To Improve Its Indoor Location Accuracy

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Google Maps, Bing Maps and a number of startups have been offering indoor maps for large venues like airports, malls and stadiums for quite a while. The problem with indoor mapping, though, is that it’s pretty hard for these companies to actually tell you exactly where you are on these maps. GPS obviously doesn’t work well in these spaces and WiFi and cell tower triangulation just isn’t very accurate. Now, however, Google has come up with a plan to improve indoor location accuracy for venues in Google Maps: venue owners who have uploaded their floor plans to Google’s mapping service can now use a new Android app to provides Google with feedback about how accurate its predictions are for their locations. All they need is an Android device (including tablets) that runs Android 2.3 or up.

Once installed, the app will tell its users where to go in the venue and while they walk, the app collects data about nearby WiFi hotspots, as well as data from local cell towers. Once it has collected and analyzed this data, Google can more reliably tell its users where they are inside the building. One specific feature that this process should improve is Google’s ability to tell you which floor you are on.

It’s a shame that Google is limiting this app to users who have uploaded their own floor plans. It would have been nice to see a fully crowdsourced version of this app that would allow anybody to help out with this project. Throw in a few gamification elements or other rewards (chances are you are in a commercial venue already, after all) and Google would have an army of volunteers in no time.

Attention Melbourne: You May Now Begin Hunting For Virtual Eggs

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With all the talk about the potential of Google Glass, I thought it might be nice to drop back in on the current state of Augmented Reality — the kind where you still use a smartphone to view markers or images.

In the spirit of Google’s “20-percent time”, Melbourne Australia based mobile app development company jTribe developed an Augmented Reality Easter egg hunt for their fair city this Easter.

The company took one day a week (for the last 10 weeks or so) to work on their own project which launches today.

The app, which is called EggRaider, has a radar-style viewer to show the general direction of virtual eggs the company has attached to landmarks all around Melbourne. Once you get close to an egg, you switch to Augmented Reality view (by tapping the camera button in the app) to see the egg and collect it. “Race against friends and family to collect the most” says jTribe.

*Note that the virtual eggs are only available at Melbourne, Australia landmarks. There is a demo view though, so you can get the idea of how it works if you are so inclined.

This is not the first AR Scavenger hunt. REI has done one. Clutter magazine another.

What I like most about this concept though is that the company just did it on their own…no waiting around to sell to a client…just a rapid prototype that they brought to fruition and submitted for the sake of coolness, learning and potential as a product.

In terms of future use, this kind of scavenger hunt does have marketing potential for brands, especially within the teen and tween segments. These younger customers are collectors and would probably flock to games and campaigns built around technology like this.

The app is available at iTunes.

Wikipedia’s Mobile Apps Drop Google Maps for OpenStreetMap

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In the world of online mapping, it feels like things aren’t quite going in Google’s direction these days: Apple switched away from Google Maps to OpenStreetMap when it launched iPhoto for iOS. Foursquare, too, announced a similar switch just a few weeks ago and today, Wikipedia switched to OpenStreetMap in the latest versions of its iOS and Android apps.

As our own Josh Constine wrote last month, Google’s plan to charge high-volume users for access to its Maps APIs could backfire and this most recent defection is yet another clear signal that we will probably see quite a few more of these moves in the near future.

While OpenStreetMap’s data wasn’t quite ready for prime time not too long ago, the service has greatly improved the quality of its maps recently. The service also now has the backing of a number of large companies interested in the online mapping space, including Apple and Microsoft.

Wikipedia would probably qualify for a non-profit grant from Google and be able to use the service for free (or for a relatively small fee). For Wikipedia, however, this switch is actually more about using an “open and free source of Map Data” than about money. Wikipedia’s Yuvi Panda also argues that not using Google’s proprietary APIs in the code “helps it run on the millions of cheap Android handsets that are purely open source and do not have the proprietary Google applications.”

For the time being, the Wikipedia apps are using MapQuest’s tile servers to render the OpenStreetMap data, but Wikipedia’s parent organization Wikimedia plans to switch to its own tile servers soon.

What Else Is New?

Besides this switch to OpenStreetMap, the new versions of the Wikipedia apps also introduce a number of new features for both platforms. iOS users, for example, can now get search suggestions, save pages to Read It Later and perform full-text searches (these features were already available in the Android app). Android users only get a smaller update this time, which includes quick search bar integration and an improved tablet interface.

Local Search App AroundMe Trumps Yelp’s Mobile Apps With 6M Monthly Users

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Wow, AroundMe has really been flying under the radar. The location-aware mobile search app is announcing today that it’s now passed the 6 million mark for monthly unique visitors. To put that in perspective, Yelp’s mobile apps see 5.7 million+ monthly uniques these days. Not bad, then, considering AroundMe has a single founder, a team of four, and no outside funding.

The company is also now reporting having surpassed 1 million downloads per month, and has recently announced new partnerships with OpenTable, Booking.com for hotel reservations, and Telenav for web-based navigation.

For those unfamiliar with AroundMe’s app, well, check your phone. You probably downloaded it at some point. I know I did. Heck, I even launch the thing occasionally, when I’m looking for a nearby gas station, Starbucks, or restaurant and have gotten frustrated with using Apple’s built-in maps app to find something nearby.

Currently available on both iOS and Android (and Windows Phone soon), the app reaches most of the world, but its user base is still largely American. About 60% of users come from the U.S., 35% from European markets, and Japan is seeing some growth, too.

The app reminds me of an independent version of Google’s Places app, which offers listings in many of the same categories: restaurants, ATMs, bars, hotels, etc. Except in Google’s case, the listings point to the Google Place pages, of course. Also, notes founder Marco Pifferi with a laugh, “actually, we started first.”

The idea to list nearby places of interest, stores, venues and the like was rather innovative when AroundMe launched back in September 2008. When Google later mirrored the same concept with its Places app, Pifferi said he wasn’t really concerned.

“Nothing really changed for AroundMe,” he says, “we kept growing.”

Plus, he adds, “the market is huge, so there’s space for a lot players in the same field.”

The company, also notable for being profitable since its launch, monetizes its service in a number of ways. In-app advertising generates much of its revenue – the $2.99 upgrade to disable the ads isn’t a main revenue source, just a feature for those who prefer it.

AroundMe is also focused on lead generation. It has established partnerships with several third-party services, which involve either affiliate streams (as with Booking.com) or just a flat fee, as with its contract with Warburg, a real estate company for the NYC area.

Going forward, Pifferi says the goal is to integrate more of these types of services into the app, some through partnerships while others will be built in-house. He mentions a gas price finder, for example, as well as taxi finder service, as two in development now. Further down the road, the goal is to introduce an ad marketplace where merchants can bid in real-time to target nearby users with their offers.

Although not an overnight success story, AroundMe is doing well. The company is profitable, growing, and still in no need of outside capital. “We’re generating more money than we can spend,” Pifferi admits.

As for its under-the-radar status? Well, they’ve just been busy, he says.

“I’ve always been focused on just building a company,” says Pifferi, “but now I think it would be great to tell the world that we’ve reached a very nice milestone.”

A few, actually: 6 million monthly uniques, 1 million monthly downloads, and 27 million searches per month, across 209+ countries and 19,000 cities worldwide. Not bad, AroundMe.

Zimride Nabs LinkedIn Design Lead, Brings Its Ridesharing Service To Mobile

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There’s a lot of exciting action in collaborative consumption, much of it being inspired by the early success of carsharing and ridesharing networks. After hitting 100 million miles served last year, Zimride is now one of the biggest online ridesharing companies in North America. Today, the startup is announcing the release of the mobile version of Zimride.com, a mobile-optimized version of its online service, which will, among other things, enable users to receive and send messages, view user profiles, search for, post and book new rides.

The mobile service’s launch coincides with this year’s Coachella Music Festival — which takes place April 13-15 in Indio, Calif. — as the startup has been named Coachella’s exclusive ridesharing partner. (It’s also the exclusive ridesharing partner for the Bonnaroo music festival.)

For those unfamiliar, the FbFund recipient launched three years ago to give college, university and corporate communities the ability to join networks built around those communities to facilitate and coordinate carpooling and ridesharing.

The startup allows users to connect via Facebook to promote authenticity, at which point they’re encouraged to share personal information on their profiles, like their occupation, favorite music and interests, to build trust around their on Zimride identities. Before accepting a rider, a driver can view the person’s profile, mutual Facebook friends, etc. to ensure that they’re comfortable with their potential co-pilots.

Zimride’s new mobile version brings these features to mobile, with the added benefit of being able to search and book carpools while on the go. Zimride Co-founder and COO John Zimmer tells us that the startup has facilitated over 26,000 carpools, saving users over $50 million in vehicle operating expenses collectively, and now has more than 350,000 registered users.

To build on this traction by bringing its platform to mobile, Zimride hired LinkedIn Mobile Product and Design Lead Frank Yoo, who joined the team to lead its mobile web launch. Yoo was also formerly a UI Design Consultant at Plancast and a UI designer at Yahoo.

Zimride now offers rides in 42 states and territories in North America. For more on the service, check it out at home here. Mobile launch video below:

Shufflr Brings Its Social Video App To the iPad

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A startup called Althea Systems wants to reinvent the way we find videos online. Its app Shufflr is already available on desktops, the Web, iPhone, and Android, and today it’s launching on the iPad.

Shufflr co-founder Rajnish (he goes by a single name) isn’t shy about his larger ambition. In the same way that companies like Facebook are reorganizing the web around social identity and connections, Rajnish wants to build a new form of video discovery that’s organized around people — one that could eventually surpass television. Yes, it’s a crazy goal, and while I’m not sure Shufflr will be quite that popular, I was impressed by the product that Rajnish showed me earlier this week.

Rajnish says that one way to think of Shufflr is as a cross between Flipboard and Pandora — like Flipboard, it pulls content from your social networks and organizes them into a slick layout, and like Pandora, it recommends content based on your personal interests.

Shufflr’s main feature is something called The Daily Fix, which is a stream of recommended videos based on data such as your social work activity, your location, and what’s trending. When we brought up my Daily Fix, it was a fun mix of tech news, politics, music videos, and random, amusing content — some from my friends, some from people I know, and some from celebrities. Each video is shown with the commentary of whoever shared it on Facebook or Twitter. And even if you sign up for Shufflr today, you can go back and see what it would have recommended for you one day or one week or one month ago.

There are other ways to explore videos in the app. Using the Flip Side function, you can look exclusively at videos shared in your social stream, at videos shared by celebrities in certain topics like tech, or at content from a specific channel like BBC.

Shufflr already has 2.8 million registered users Rajnish says, and the average session time for an iPhone or Android user is between 10 and 12 minutes. With the iPad, he’s hoping to see that number go up dramatically.

You can download the app here.

FormMobi Aims To Be A Better ‘Mobile Clipboard’ With Easy Form Creation And Distribution

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I don’t think anyone in history has ever thought of filling out forms as sexy, but it’s a necessary evil for many a business or organization. Still, there’s plenty of room for improvement, and that’s where a la mode inc. comes into play — their FormMobi app aims to simplify the process of creating forms and getting them into the field where they’re actually needed.

Seeing FormMobi in action is actually rather cool (never thought I’d say that about a service that makes forms) — after creating a FormMobi account, users can log into the service’s online Form Base and use drag-and-drop components (think fields for the date, address, costs, etc.) to build a form. From there, that form can be accessed by a team in the field so long as they’re running the FormMobi app on their Android or iOS device.

Once the form is stored on the device, that field team can go about their business even without a data connection. As soon as they’re in range of a connection though, the filled out forms can be uploaded back into FormMobi’s cloud for further review and analysis.

The team at a la mode has a long history in real estate (over 26 years, they claim), and that becomes apparent thanks to the inclusion of features like a CAD-friendly sketch mode that lets users draw precise figures on a graph paper-esque background. The app also packs a freehand drawing mode for when things require a more abstract touch, and users can record voice notes and store location data to boot.

Though the company’s roots are in real estate, I can imagine plenty of situations where having a system like FormMobi’s in place would make things a hell of a lot easier. Take marketing research, for example — I was a marketing student in a former life and had to conduct my fair share of impromptu surveys. The process of getting people to respond was one thing, but some of most headache-inducing bits came when it was time to manually input all of that data into a computer. It was a frustrating, error-prone process, but a service like FormMobi could have taken some of the pain out of it.

The app is available in the iOS App Store and the Google Play Store now, but (as mentioned before) you’ll need a FormMobi in order to actually use it. The pricing tiers start at $9.99/month for 100MB of storage and a single user, and balloon up to $99/month for 10 users and 1GB of storage. It seems a little steep to me, but it may just be worth it if you’re tired of meticulously drafting forms and waiting for the team to keep you updated.