Facebook Deals = Death of Foursquare

With more than 200m Facebook users now regularly using Facebook via a mobile device, Facebook Deals was an imminent move.
The video below outlines how the whole thing works, which is very simple:

There are 4 types of deals:

1. Individual Deal - a one-off discount
2. Loyalty Deal – unlocked when people check in at a venue or chain between 2 and 20 times
3. Friend Deal - When you tag multiple friends with you when your check in
4. Charity Deal – Promote a cause

Friends’ deals will appear in the news feed, spreading the news about the offer, and marketing the venue.  The whole process is user-initiated and everyone is expecting this to take off very quickly (only available in the US for the time being.)

What’s happening to Foursquare?  I think they’ll be fine for the time being, as users seem to use this in a different way, but in the long term who knows?!?
I don’t believe it’ll last if they don’t come up with a clever business model…

Facebook Deals looks well good!
Goodbye Foursquare – Over and Out!
E

 

Lastminute iPhone App – Topsee

Last night I was rather pleased to attend an event organised by the peeps at Lastminute Labs to promote their latest iPhone application, TopSee.

The TopSee app allows you to experience London in a unique different way. It’s been populated by bloggers who mostly spend their own life exploring the hidden gems of the city. There are indeed a lot of apps out there that already provide you with the same functionalities, however the unique selling point for this app is that they are not recommending a specific venue (ie. the best bar in Soho) but a unique element (ie. the best mojito to have in London).

As you can see from the video-demo below, the interface has been beautifully designed. As soon as you open the app, you get geo-located, and through an awesome photo-feed you’ll be able to browse all ‘the top things’ for you to enjoy.

Once you find something interesting you want to experience, you can tweet it and post it to Facebook automatically from the app. The only thing that I’d make more clear within the interface is the ‘shaking’ functionality. I downloaded the app without watching the video below, and I got stuck on the first page without knowing that I’d have to shake the iPhone to get more suggestions. I wonder how many people are going to download the app like me without watching the video and simply through WOM… so definitely something I would add!

You can follow the TopSee team on Twitter, through their blog and download the app below.

 

 

Overall, a great application chaps!