News & Analysis

LBMA Podcast: Twitter’s Gnip Buy, Facebook’s Nearby Friends

April 25, 2014 by Asif Khan

Episode 178

Recorded: April 18, 2014
Hosts: Rob Woodbridge & Asif Khan

Top stories of the week

(starts at 5:20)

Coca-Cola Mini bottles for World Cup

Coca-Cola launched the promotion “Minibottles from The Whole World Promotion” to celebrate the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil™, the brand brings back the famous miniature bottles, a success in the 80s.

In addition to collectibles, the The Whole World minibottles are interactive. Through an application on a Facebook application, which will also be available on the Coca-Cola website, Apple Store and Android Market, fans of the brand from around the world are invited to sign up for the virtual fans of Coca-Cola from their respective country. Thus, they can create their character and send a message that will be received by the Brazilians whoever has a minibotltle. The intention is to provide an opportunity for fans to participate in the World’s Cup, as well as meet and make Brazilian friends.

Jasper gets $50M in funding

Jasper – the company that calls themselves the on switch for the internet of things, has raised $50 million pushing their valuation to $1B. The company’s software enables objects of all types communicate. The money was raised from Singapore-based Temasek and they’ve now raised more than $205M since forming in 2004. Garmin, a manufacturer of navigation devices, uses Jasper to manage the devices for businesses that have small fleets of trucks; Alarm.com uses Jasper to control the security systems it sells to residences

Twitter + Gnip

Twitter acquired long-time partner and Gnip this week. The company is a leading provider of social data and one that Twitter has allowed to sell access to a real-time firehose of activity on Twitter as well as the full historical archive of public tweets.

This acquisition follows on other analytics acquisitions including Social TV firm Bluefin Labs and real-time data company Locomatix

The significance is two-fold – data licensing revenue for Twitter was up 80% year-over-year and accounts for nearly 10% of the company’s revenue AND this data is gold for companies that need to make marketing decisions.

Gowalla reborn as Last.co

The same team responsible for Gowalla is back with Last.co. Advantage was to stop and rethink – something Foursquare cannot do.

Investors include Kevin Rose, Semil Shah, Jason Calacanas, Shervin Pishevar, Google Ventures, Dave Morin (Path)

Facebook Nearby Friends

Facebook has announced Nearby Friends, a new feature built into Facebook’s mobile app that allows you to see which of your friends are close by, and even share your exact location with others.

The new feature uses the geolocation technology in your smart phone to determine when you are close to one of your Facebook friends. When activated, the feature will send periodic notifications alerting you to friends who are nearby.

This looks to be the work of a previous acquisition, Glancee (who we’ve had on here as a guest before they were acquired by Facebook in 2012). They have been testing this feature for 18 months with the company’s 6500 employees and it is feedback from that that has shaped the product.

It is opt-in and only available in the US now.

TigerAir infrequent flyers club

The opposite of the frequent flyer club is what TigerAir is doing. More information can be found here.

UNMAS land mine awareness project – app called Sweeper

On April 4th, the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) observes the International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action by sharing an interactive exhibit that uses beacons and mobile to simulate what its like to walk through a mine field.

According to the Alberta Egotist, The exhibit, entitled “Sweeper,” is a multi-sensory experience that combines visual, audio, physical, mobile and interactive installation elements. To experience the Sweeper exhibit, visitors need to download the Sweeper mobile app available at www.getsweeper.com. Using Apple’s iBeacon technology, Sweeper provides an audio tour guide and beacons to simulate the experience of walking through a minefield. The exhibit also features poignant portraits of mine victims by renowned photographer Marco Grob, as well as educational and donation resources from UNMAS. Together, this experience is designed to bring awareness to the urgent need for landmine assistance.

This campaign was put together by the brilliant minds at agency Critical Mass. Kudos.

Goodnight Lad

Story time comes to life with this augmented reality story book + API + Kickstarter campaign. Support it here.

Takara Tomy Arts – Lumi Deco Nails (NFC)

Building on the immense popularity of manicure art — where intricate patterns and small gem-like stones are stuck on the nail — toy company Takara Tomy Arts. has developed a micro-thin LED sticker that uses NFC to communicate with your smartphone and lights up when you make a call – or use an electronic money card.

The product is called Lumi Deco Nails and it goes on sale this week in Japan and will set you back $12 for 16 nail stickers – only one of which contains the LED.

WunWun partners with Gett

The company has partnered with GetTaxi to allow Gett users and WunWun users to receive a special delivery alongside their car ride.

All you have to do is include the words “WunWun” in your GetTaxi request and explain what you’d like delivered, either at the point of pickup or somewhere along the course of your ride in the car. The cost of that product will then simply be added to the cost of your ride.

The service is only available to users who both have WunWun and Gett accounts, and deliveries are limited to Williamsburg, Dumbo, and Manhattan. WunWun is also charging an extra $10 to those who use the WunWun/Gett service.

BeaconCrawl – May 20th in NYC

Aurnhammer is a digital media, design, and development company that specializes in creating branded mobile apps wants to add a layer of cool tech to the traditional pub crawl.

This is an interactive pub crawl in support of bars in lower manhattan that were devastated by Superstorm Sandy in 2012. Beacons will be installed in the participating venues and other locations along the way guiding everyone with prompts through a mobile app.

The event is May 20 in New York. The app will be available over May 2. I think they should affix a beacon on the drunk guy so you know who to stay away from…

Discussion
1. The “rebirth” of Gowalla as Last.co (26:10)
2. The “one-off” unique experiences combining beacons, the web and mobile (36:15)
3. The value-added services on top of value added services (42:55)