Geoloqi Blog

Posted

Wed Apr 13 2011, 9:21pm

Categories

BarBird launches a Geoloqi layer!

We’re happy to announce that BarBird, an app that allows you to see the nightlife scene in your city in real-time, has published a layer in the Geoloqi app!

If you go to the Layers tab in your Geoloqi app, you’ll see the “BarBird” layer there if you’re in one of the cities they cover! Currently, they are in over 30 cities in the US, including New York City, London, Chicago, Austin, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Portland.

If you subscribe to the BarBird layer, you’ll get notifications of the top-ranked tweets about bar specials that are near you! Only the best tweets are selected for sending out, so you may not get a tweet right away.

When you click on the layer in the app you’ll be able to see a list of tweets from local bars! If you click the “on” switch, you’ll start getting notifications about the tweets that are a few blocks away.

When you get the push notification on your phone, you’ll be able to tap “View” and see more information about the deal from the BarBird mobile website.

If you’re using the Android version of Geoloqi, you can still subscribe to this layer by following this link: Subscribe to BarBird’s Best Deals on Geoloqi!

Posted

Sat Apr 2 2011, 2:14pm

By caseorganic

Categories

Features
News
Tutorials

Tagged

New! Embed a Geoloqi map on your site or blog with a custom widget!

If you’re a food cart, tour group, cyclist, canvasser, or any other type of person who might benefit from sharing your location, you can now embed a Geoloqi map on your site!

Here’s how to do it!

Embedding a Geoloqi Map on your site or blog

Go to your map screen in Geoloqi and click on the “Share Link”.

When the link is created, click on the embed icon </> to the right of the link.

The embed code will automatically be created! You can customize the size by any sort of pixels you’d like. To include a live updating map on your site, simply copy and paste the embed code into your HTML!

Embedding a map into a WordPress page or blog post is easy. Note that you can only embed Geoloqi maps into your own hosted WordPress website and not a wordpress.org site. Simply click on the HTML button in your post editor and paste in the embed code. You can change the dimensions in code if you’d like your map to be larger or smaller.

When you publish your post you’ll see your map! Visitors to your site will be able to watch you in real time. If you turn off your tracker they won’t be able to see your location anymore!

Embed a Map into a WordPress Widget!

To embed a map into a WordPress widget, simply copy and paste the embed code into the widget editor in your WordPress account or site. Click “Save” and load your site to see the map!

Here’s what a sample Geoloqi map in a side widget on a WordPress site:

Privacy

Worried about privacy? Don’t worry, when you turn off the Geoloqi tracker the map will turn blank and won’t show your current location.

Enjoy using Geoloqi! If you embed a map in your site let us know! We’d love to see it.

Posted

Sat Mar 5 2011, 1:13pm

By loqi

Categories

Press

Guest Post – Geoloqi and the Future of Location by Thomas Wendt

Today’s guest post is by Thomas Wendt, a Social Engagement Specialist in Minneapolis. Thomas is interested digital technology and its effect on the human condition, and explores theories of the technological “beyond,” imagining what humanity will look like when machines are as intelligent (or more so) than us.

I’ve been geeking a little bit lately about Geoloqi, a location-based application that enables users to send location information to others and leave geonotes based on GPS coordinates. Developed by Amber Case, UX Designer and Cyborg Anthropoligist, you can definitely see the efforts made to make the app user-friendly and simple. I see lots of potential here.

As much as we live in digital spaces and rely on our digital identities, the fact remains that physical space is still a huge part of everyday life. This might change some day, but for now we are based in physical reality and in some ways constrained by it. Geoloqi taps into a desire to assert some kind of control over the physical, or at least to know more about it.

Enter Geoloqi. I see this app as essentially a convenience tool that revolves around utility. Sure, the technology is striking, the idea behind it is impressive, and the interface is pretty, but at heart the application plays to our sense of practicality and ease. I recently co-presented on social innovation at the agency I work for, and we all agreed that location applications are experiencing some early adopter burnout. I think users are looking for this utility that Geoloqi offers, which made it our primary example of practical location services.

This is my route from work to home. I sent my location as an SMS message to my boss saying that I will be back online when I get home. Through a temorary link, he was able to follow my location in real time.

Okay, I did this for the geek factor. But think about when you’re on your way to for a time-sensitive meeting and get caught in unexpected traffic. Send your location via SMS, email, Twitter, etc. to the person you are meeting and they will have a real time sense of your arrival.

And how about delivery services? Bike messengers, courriers, and even pizza delivery people can use this app to allow customers to track progress for time-sensitive deliveries (and what could be more time-sensitive than pizza?).

Have you ever been out with a friends who has had one too many nips off the bottle and needs to get home by walking through that sketchy neighborhood? Have them send their location (or do it for them if you’re more coordinated at that point) and make sure they get back safely.

Geonotes are the other great feature. A geonote is pretty much exactly what it sounds like: a virtual note left based on geographical coordinates. Select the location of your office and leave a geonote containing a quick morning to-do list. When you arrive, you’ll receive a push notification with that note.

The big example that Geoloqi likes to use is a shopping list. It works the same way: tag your grocery store with a list and have it delivered upon arrival.

Used in conjunction augmented reality, I think this technology can add tons of value to urban street games. Geonotes could function as clues while location tracking can add new variables to competition and timing.

Some new features coming soon include better integration into Twitter feeds and automatic check-in options. I would also like to see some more battery-saving options. This is the big drawback with these types of apps; either a user sacrifices battery life or they have to constantly turn GPS tracking on and off. It prevents one from using the app for extended periods of time or without constant manual updates. Nonetheless, this is not a fault of this app in particular but rather GPS in general.

Send me a geonote here.

Check out Amber Case’s TED talk.

You can read the original post on Thomas’ blog, Surrounding Signifiers.

Posted

Wed Jan 19 2011, 10:10am

By caseorganic

Categories

Features
News

Tagged

Geoloqi for iPhone now in the app store!

After nearly a year of planning, testing and development Geoloqi for iPhone is now in the app store!

This is the first version. Many more features will be added over time. Thanks to everyone who helped build, test, design and suggest features! There will be more to come, including more layers, a layer builder, advanced Geonotes and more in upcoming releases.

You can download Geoloqi for iPhone here.

What is Geoloqi?

Geoloqi is a private, real-time mobile and web platform for securely sharing location data. Features include Geonotes, automatic Foursquare checkins, and private real-time GPS tracking. Geoloqi gives you full control over you privacy. Share your location with those you want to for a limited time.

The GPS tracker runs in the background, and has full tracking settings. Choose from high resolution tracking, battery saver mode or your own custom settings. Worried about battery consumption? You’ll get a warning when your battery gets too low.

Features in this release:

Automatic Foursquare Checkins for your favorite places
Send Geonotes from the phone or website.
Location sharing
Facebook integration (share your location easily on Facebook)
History – see your location history on the website!
Anonymous tracking – want the ultimate privacy? Track and send your location anonymously!
USGS Earthquake layer – get notified of earthquakes within 250km of your location

Uses

* Share your location by Email, SMS, Twitter and Facebook, or copy the URL and paste it anywhere.
* Set a time for the link to expire and choose who to share it with. The system is completely private and easy to use.
* Your friends don’t have to have Geoloqi on their phones to receive your location updates! * Simply send your location sharing link to them and they can view your real-time location updates on a mobile friendly browser, allowing you to send your location to anyone with a smartphone!
* When your location expires, people won’t be able to access it, keeping where you are private!

Geonotes – Send a message to your future self!

* The Geonote option allows you to leave a message in a location and have it Emailed, texted or pushed to you when you get to that location.
* Send yourself a Geonote at the store so that you remember what groceries to get, or leave yourself a note at work reminding yourself of an important task.

Use Cases

Track your location as you run, or allow your spouse or loved ones to see your trail.
Biking or motorcycling? Visualize the entire trip! As you track yourself, you’ll be able to see a trail of where you’ve been over time.
Relax and automatically check yourself into your favorite locations as you go about your day! Use the layer feature to subscribe to geocoded data in real-time!
Build your own layer using the Geoloqi API! iPhone app works with Geoloqi’s website, allowing you to share location and send Geonotes from the web.

Future features

Inbox for Geonotes — don’t like getting Geonotes by Email? Miss a push notification? Geonotes will have their own home inside the app.
Semi-automatic Foursquare checkings — choose from a list of places and easily check in when you get to a place.
See friends on Twitter who use Geoloqi and leave them geonotes.
Better mobile map and sharing!
Layer creation tool. Build your own layers!
See your friends as layers
Android app

Press

Read more about Geoloqi on Forbes, CNN, JWT’s 100 Things to Watch in 2011 and ReadWriteWeb.

Posted

Tue Jan 4 2011, 8:20pm

By caseorganic

Categories

About
Features
Tutorials

Tagged

Four things to try when you first use Geoloqi

We’re slowly rolling out beta applications! If you’re part of the first batch, you’ll be able to try out these features below. If you haven’t been sent an invite, the following will be what to expect!

Important
Make sure you’ve gone to http://beta.geoloqi.com and entered in a password. You’ll need this to sign into the iPhone app.

Four things to try when you first use Geoloqi

1. Send a Geonote to yourself.
Geoloqi Geonote Screen

The Geonote option allows you to leave a message in a location and have it texted or pushed to you when you get to that location.

On the phone or on the web, send a note to yourself at a location. Browse to the place you’d like to leave the Geonote, enter text, and hit “Send”. Your Geonote will be pushed to you when you go to the location next.

I regularly use Geonotes to leave notes at the office when I’m at home, and notes at the grocery store. For instance, I needed to get some Paprika, so I left a note at the store. When I got there next, I got a text that said, “Remember to pick up the paprika, you dork! You always forget!’.

I’ve also found Geonotes handy for travel. For instance, I set a Geonote at the Oakland airport when I was preparing a trip down there. When I arrived at the airport, I got a text that said, ‘Welcome to Oakland! Take the AirBart to Bart, and then to Embarcadero station!’. I also left a Geonote at the Embarcadero station that sent me the address of the house I was staying at. Each of these notes saved me from having to look up the address or travel instructions or address on Google maps or in my E-mail. The ‘just-in-time’ information allowed me to sit back, relax, and enjoy the trip. The best technology gets out of the way and lets you live your life.

In the next release, we’ll have integration with Rememberthemilk, so that you’ll be able to leave your to-dos at specific locations and get those to-dos pushed or texted to you when you arrive at that location. For now, you’ll have to enter your items manually through the phone or on the website.

Geonotes for Other People
You can also leave notes for other people. For instance, you could leave a note for your spouse on the way back from work to remember to get something on the way home. If you want to experiment with creating Geonotes, you can send a Geonote to Aaron Parecki and I at http://caseorganic.com/geonote or http://aaron.pk/geonote. Invite others to send you a Geonote. Share the link with people to have them leave you Geonotes. http://beta.geoloqi.com/profilename.

2. Share your location with someone you’re meeting.

Use the share screen on the Geoloqi app to send a link and set an expiration time.

The person you share your location with doesn’t need to have Geoloqi. They’ll get a link to a mobile version of Geoloqi that they can use on their device. They’ll be able to see your location move in real-time from the time that you shared the link to the time you set it to expire.

To see the links you’ve shared, go to http://beta.geoloqi.com/settings/share. You’ll be able to see the link descriptions you entered there, as well as the expiration times of those links!

If you want to share a link for an unlimited period of time, choose the “No time limit” option on the share screen wheel.

3. Add the earthquake notification layer to your account.

Geoloqi Layer Catalog

The earthquake notification layer will let you know if an earthquake has happened within 250km of you in real-time. It’s simply a demo of what can be done with realtime data and Geoloqi. You can build your own custom layer of geolocated data that Geoloqi users can subscribe to. Examples include gelocated Wikipedia history entries, happy hour specials, located-based games and other trivia. If you’d like to build your own layer, contact us at [email protected].

To add the layer, go to the Layers option on your phone and click on the Earthquake layer. Switch the option from ‘Off’ to ‘On’ to subscribe. This is where the automatic Foursquare checkin option will exist in future releases.

4. View your map at http://beta.geoloqi.com/map to see your location history.
As you track yourself, you’ll be able to see a trail of where you’ve been over time. Try toggling the history options to see more of your history.

Usage Tips
Geoloqi Battery Saver Mode
Don’t leave the application running all day. It will quickly drain your battery.

For best results, track with Battery Saver mode, or a custom mode of your choice.

For even better results, turn on the tracker when you you’re moving, and turn it off when you arrive in a location. Else, turn the tracker on when you’re going to meet someone that you’ve shared a link with.

Help and Feedback
If you need help or have further questions, go to Geoloqi Help. All feedback can go to Aaron or I through E-mail, or send E-mail to [email protected] for best results! Thanks again for testing Geoloqi!