Street Fight Daily: Mason Opens Up, Apple’s New Location Patent
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal content, commerce, and technology.
Andrew Mason Talks About Groupon’s Growth and Growing Up (Chicago Tribune)
Andrew Mason: “One of the things that took us by surprise is Groupon was exposing merchants to a new type of problem they had never experienced before, which is: What do I do when I have too many customers? And we, as a result of that, had to get very smart about understanding capacity planning for businesses, how to deliver them the right number of customers over the right period.
Apple Patent Would Disable Smartphones by Location (Mashable)
Apple has been granted a patent that would make your smartphone useless when entering an area deemed too sensitive for mobile photo and video. The patent, granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office in late August, would force devices to go to sleep entirely after entering certain areas – that means no Twitter, no Facebook, no calling, no texting.
Locu Opens Its Local Business Data Trove to Devs With API (GigaOm)
Locu, a Boston-based startup that came out of MIT, is releasing a local business information API for developers and publishers. The API will let them access deeper local data on not just menu items but all kinds of detailed information on product descriptions and customization options.
Forget a Stand-Alone Multi-Billion Company, Are Daily Deals Even a Good Feature? (PandoDaily)
Sarah Lacy: With the many PR stumbles of the IPO roadshow there were concerns about the management team’s execution including the charismatic but inexperienced Andrew Mason, the build up ‘em and cash ‘em out chairman Eric Lefkofvsky, and the rip-and-burn copycat artist Oliver Samwer. But increasingly, it seems even the most credible management team in the world couldn’t make this category into a company worth billions of dollars — so much for the savior of local marketing
The Mobile Payments Fustercluck (TechCrunch)
Square and others need to figure out both sides of the marketplace, because a mobile payment is ultimately a more seamless transaction between a merchant and its consumer. Whomever cracks that ecosystem unlocks trillions of dollars of value — and a ton of competition.
Swarm Tracks You While You Shop —And That’s Actually A Good Thing (Fast Company)
A new company called Swarm tracks in-store customers via their smartphones — and saves money for both retailers and users. Instead of utilizing tracking features inside iOS and Android apps, Swarm uses in-store Wi-Fi services to offer customers coupons, spot (and offer discounts to) customers who pricecheck items on Amazon, and to track Internet activity and in-store movements.
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