Today Plazes CEO Felix Petersen gave us a peek at iPlazer, the upcoming iPhone client for the geo-tagging social networking site. The app will be available when Apple’s official App Store launches in mid June. Plazes has been around for a while - it was one of the first companies to be covered on TechCrunch. Since then it has switched gears a couple of times, but it’s best described as Twitter with geotagging, points of interest, and social networking features.
Right now iPlazer seems like a combination of Twitter and Dopplr. The phone detects the user’s location through the iPhone API, then presents the user with a number of suggested descriptions (for example, opening Plazes from our office presented us with choices of “TechCrunch HQ” and “The Mansion”, both of which were assigned to the coordinates by previous visitors).
After choosing a location label, the user is prompted to send “activity” messages to their friends (it’s basically a tweet tagged with location information). These activity messages are compared by the server, and Plazes notifies you if you’re in the same neighborhood as one of your friends. You can get a feel for the app in the screencast below.
Plazes is also launching a new version of their main site, which will enter private beta next week. Most notable about the launch is the introduction of Twitter integration, which is strange because Plazes seems to mimic Twitter in some ways. For the time being Plazes stands to gain by allowing Twitter users to send geo-tagged tweets, but things may work out differently in the long term. The new version of the site also introduces a Dopplr-esque nearby friend notification system and support for iCal integration. You can request an invite here.
Readers may remember Felix Petersen as the guy who got busted by his own product. Petersen backed out of a speaking gig at a conference, telling them that one of his kids was sick, then proceeded to party at a different event (while Plazes told the world). The whole thing was overblown, but it was amusing nonetheless.
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Maybe getting busted by his own product was his way of getting some buzz about his product?
Looks interesting. I’m sure that the digg crowd will be even more interested, so I’m submitting it to Digg
The end of the video mentioned “10th of June”. Is that when the AppStore is opening? Other “sound reasoning” previously pointed to “late June”/June 29th.
Glad to see they’re still working on their service, and that there’s some iPhone and Twitter integration in the mix. I’ve been using Plazes for over a year, maybe longer, but never could bring many of my friends over. Meanwhile, I’ve seen more activity in my friend stream (and enjoyed actual “someone is nearby” notifications) in the last two months than I’ve ever seen on Plazes.
I said, when BrightKite launched, that it was just reinventing the Plazes wheel. But seizing on the virality of Twitter may have been more than enough for them. Add in BrightKite’s responsiveness to users on its site and GetSatisfaction, and it just feels like a more vibrant company than Plazes.
Oops. I meant to write: “I’ve seen more activity in my friend stream on BrightKite in the last two months than I’ve ever seen on Plazes.”
I’m considering getting an iPhone soon, and I really get a blast out of Twitter, so this is good news indeed.
Anyone else sick of names like Plazes and Dopplr?
I really liked dodgeball. When they stopped development, I tried Plazes but it’s mapping is horrendous. I would put my address in for a new location and it would put me on the other side of town and sometimes in other cities, states and even countries that didn’t share any common elements with my location I was entering.
I tried contacting lpazes support but after 3 emails and no response, I gave up. It was too bad too, it could really be a handy tool.
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Tight integration into mobile devices is key for plazes. The PC plazer was good but of course i don’t have a PC at hand everywhere i go. The shown iPhone solution is a good first step and it’s even better to hear Felix mentioning camera integration. Looking at the iPhone market share over here in Europe i hope that S60 will be the next target for the devs at Plazes.
Tyson, good point…whats with these names?
Intresting article.Thanks.