#qrio.us

Wondershake, Gauss, Banjo, Bizzabo, Uberlife, etc.

http://wondershake.com/en/

http://getgauss.com/

http://ban.jo/

http://www.bizzabo.com/

http://uberlife.com/

I already talked about the similarities and differences of key players in the space of using mobile apps to notify users when people of similar interests and mutual friends are close-by. We know this is a hot spot and it's definitely demonstrated by the number of startups pursuing it, as this list shows.

To be honest, I am not going to download all of these to test and compare. I am not one of those types of people that would even be all that interested in these kinds of apps. But what I do find interesting is how similar they all are and wonder what will determine the stand-out winner in this arena.

To mention a couple of differences:

Bizzabo is hailed as focused on events, but I've mentioned Qrio.us that also is trying to solve the problems of this space. What would be really helpful is to allow input of what specific resource you are looking for or what specific topic you'd like to discuss and search for people based on that. But that would require contant that can be queried to answer that, like LinkedIn current job role, and interests.

Uberlife takes a different approach as it seeks to make people active and to be the mavens and connectors in the room. It encourages individuals to assess who is in the current vicinity and to then help make introductions and connect people with one another. By making those connections, one's score increases.

But then you have some pretty similar apps that get tough to find the differentiating factor. Gauss was also at the latest SXSW and yet we know that Highlight was more the darling of that stage. I also mentioned that FriendThem was also at SXSW and they also went a bit under the radar there.

I know people are very curious about this whole "people discovery" field. Many pundits in the industry are calling it the next billion dollar market. But I believe that there are way too many avenues for people discovery and we are currently seeking apps that are merely scratching the generic surface. It is surprising for me to wonder whether this generic approach may not be the best way, and that more focused tools may be better.

For example - business contacts:

1. Allow people to specify who they want to meet (front-end developers, rails guru, auto-cad expert, etc.)

2. Specify topical interest - (SEO, moblie music, recommendation engines, floral arrangements, environmental economics, etc.)

3. Use those entered values to query against other user's LinkedIn profile data and entered data to suggest key people to interact with at a given event or location.

4. Provide information about mutual contacts (or suggested contact path) to help facilitate initial contact. Maybe even allow a feature to text that mutual contact to help make that initial introduction via a phone call or text message.

In general -

1. Privacy control. Let users specify whether to allow the app to run in the background and automatically broadcast profile information or to require check-in to trigger profile sharing with others in the same location/event.

2. Have privacy controls on what is displayed of user profiles, who can access what on those profiles (ie. friend of friends vs. unconnected).

3. Controls on contacting/messaging. Avoid disclosing too much information that would allow others to potentially stalk or to be able to find users on Facebook and other services without consent from the individual.

4. Anyone think all of this is like that eHarmony commercial with the guy talking about a girl liking soccer and that it better be World Cup all year round or they'll have problems? Similar issue here when interests are matched and there's really no gauge as to the depth of interest.

5. Definitely let users explicitly specify when the service is active. It may be best to set default shutdown timers, say it will stop searching/broadcasting after 3 hrs of last action. Thought being, people may want to be social and meet people in one setting but not all the time.

At the end of the day, my thought tends to be, that I have plenty of great friends and it's just getting harder to coordinate spending quality time with the ones I already have. I am less interested in meeting random casual friends because of that. Sure, I understand there are plenty of reasons when people are more open to meeting new people for social reasons, like moving to a new city or their close friends moving away. But frankly, when it comes to casual, social connections, I allow it to happen organically through introductions to friends of friends and would not rely on an app to suggest random people.

But this is different when it comes to business contacts and relationships. In those cases, I would love to meet people fitting the right interests or working in specific industry/roles. And in this realm, I can see many people needing all the help they can get, because if they already knew people of those roles and interests, they probably wouldn't be looking. So, I can see this being a great tool for conferences and events, someone listing themselves as an investor looking for mobile app startups in 'people discovery' should get recommendations of people working on mobile apps or at least people seeking to meet investors. The issue to solve is that there are plenty of items to match people on that is not easily grabbed and parsed from Facebook, LinkedIn, FourSquare and Twitter.

I also, have never used these apps successfully. I mean, I have at conferences and meetups sent messages to people I find interesting based on their bios to set up a chance to meet in person. But that is something very different than doing that all in real time when at a given spot. I can imagine things getting awkward if too much information is being shared. Think that commercial of a man and woman at a speed dating function and she keeps bringing up items that the guy had posted on his profile. I know it's an extreme example but man, that sounds like a terrible thing to happen.

Highlight, Glancee

http://highlig.ht

http://www.glancee.com/

Arguably the app to beat in this sphere, the media darling of SXSW 2012, Highlight is a mobile app that helps people meet people of similar interest or having mutual friends. Similar to FriendThem and Glancee, Highlight is an app that runs constantly in the background that continuously broadcasts the user's location and thus allows users to find one another based on location without check-in. Yet where Highlight is only available on iPhone at this point, Glancee launched earlier and is available for both iPhone and Android.

The use and controls of both Glancee and Highlight are pretty similar. It uses linked networks like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn to pull relevant information to help recommend people for you to meet. This is based on a mix of interests as well as mutual friends. As of March, Highlight did not integrate with Foursquare, but that may be changing in the near future. But frankly, because neither Highlight nor Glancee require check-ins, Foursquare functionality is not truly necessary.

Focusing on Highlight, I must say that they need to do something about their logo. It is simply annoying and no one wants to be looking at that fuzzy eyesore. But beyond that point, a big comment that has been stated continuously is that Highlight drains batteries much faster than Glancee. This seems like a big issue with SoMo apps that needs to be addressed. Also, given the availability of cross-platform development tools, one has to wonder why Highlight launched with only iPhone availability. Again, it says something that Glancee is also offered on Android.

As mentioned before, Glancee was acquired by Facebook at the beginning of May. It is apparent that Facebook realizes the importance and potential of the SoMo (social mobile) movement. And being a cynic, I am unsurprised that this privacy quagmire would draw the interest of Zuckerberg. But more to the point, there are probably a handful of good reasons why Facebook went for Glancee over Highlight.

Highlight has been the media darling due to investment by well known tech bloggers and contacts. This pool of investors would increase the asking price for acquisition making Glancee a cheaper buy.

Glancee is already available on both iPhone and Droid.

Glancee consumes energy while running in background.

Otherwise, the functionality is similar between Highlight and Glancee.

Glancee supposedly touts more privacy controls over what information is shared and to whom.

I understand making tasks easier, like finding people and adding them to your friends on these social networks. But is it just me or are we not sacrificing quite a bit of privacy and control in order to gain these benefits? I have mentioned the difference in approach between these location broadcasting apps and those requiring check-in and a big part of that difference is in the control. I prefer not to constantly broadcast my location and make it available for others to access and view. It is very plausible that these companies can collect this data and find other means of revenue generation that would not sit well with me.

I do hope that these apps give users the option of how they wish to use them, letting users specify whether to broadcast or to check-in. That should not be too difficult given Foursquare functionality. Frankly, I do not understand many of the event check-in apps like Qrio.us and Sonar that don't just pull locations in from Foursquare but aspire to have specific events entered into their system. Yes, I understand that it is more specific given a particular event, but it does require quite a bit more work as opposed to simply interfacing with Foursquare API.

Stalkerware:

Highlight and Glancee are similar apps that launched around the same time and were the darlings of SXSW 2012. Both are 'social mobile' (SoMo) apps that aid users in finding people to meet based on similar interests and mutual friends. These interests and friends are pulled in from linked social network accounts: Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter.

Both rely on running in the background to constantly broadcast the user's location allowing others to search for them based on location. Thus it allows searches based on proximity as opposed to check-ins.

Both are going to aggressively consume battery life, but Highlight has been noted as being a bigger consumer.

Highlight is iPhone only, Glancee is available for both iPhone and Android.

Facebook acquired Glancee at the beginning of May.

CrowdedRoom

http://crowdedroom.com

IAC's CrowdedRoom is another simple location-based app to help users find persons of interest. Users register with CrowdedRoom and are recommended to link their Facebook account and other accounts like LinkedIn and Twitter, so the app can pull the users' interests and information from those services. Then users search for the event/location and then 'check-in' and are presented with limited information of other people who have checked into the same space and that match some interest algorithm.

Sounds basic enough. You may wonder why I even both mentioning this app. I am discussing this app because it is simple and does not come close to what other comparable apps offer yet is stepping into all sorts of the same privacy land mines. Basically, this is an example of what not to do and it is no surprise that internet conglomerate IAC is developing this.

CrowdedRoom pulls lots of information from Facebook, including what you might not thing is important, like places you've worked at, schools you've attended, etc. Then based on the information it has pulled, CrowdedRoom runs some algorithm to match people and suggest who you might be interested in meeting. Not only is this risky and suspect in terms of privacy, but CrowdedRoom also allows users to message one another without much privacy controls. In essence, CrowdedRoom is falling into all the same pitfalls that Glancee and Highlight were facing when it comes to privacy concerns. At least Glancee did implement controls over who can search for you and to control who can message, but my understanding is CrowdedRoom is so new that it has not addressed these concerns.

In the last entry, I discussed the difference between GPS-based apps and check-in apps. CrowdedRoom is much more limited in that it is based on check-ins. Check-ins is not a great way to approach this geo-location service since it requires an additional active step for each user to find the event/location and check-in before the app is even useful to them. Not only do users need to have the app installed, they then need to check in every time and only then will the search results show others who went through those steps. Needless to say, there is also the extra step of needing to input events/locations. These are problems faced by all similar 'check-in' apps like Qrio.us and Foursquare.

I did get a chance to talk with one of the CrowdedRoom members at Internet Week HQ and asked him about additional filters to help find people of interests. I was interested whether it could be a useful business tool by specifying what one's role is and what kinds of people they would be interested in meeting at a given event. Consider, a trade show where you are interested in finding 3D printer manufacturers working with plastic substrates. CrowdedRoom is not the app for that, because it is limited to only match interests that users have posted on Facebook, Twitter, and other services. CrowdedRoom's focus is only social, to recommend people of similar interests.

Crowd:

People recommendation based on check-in location, based on interfaced interests from Facebook/Twitter/LinkedIn.

Check-In - requires users to first find the event/location before even seeing results. Different approach than GPS based services.

Pulls all sorts of information from Facebook, even information that is not pertinent, like attended schools, etc. Risk of privacy complaint.

Allows messaging to people found. Another privacy risk if privacy preferences are not well established.

Only social focused, not good for business/professional use. It does not allow you to enter additional filters to find people of interest. Results are based only on what is posted on the integrated services like Facebook/Twitter/LinkedIn.

Unattractive UI. Considering the UIs of Highlight and Glancee, CrowdedRoom has a very unappealing UI.

Money does not solve the main issues. CrowdedRoom is operated by internet conglomerate IAC. It was throwing money around by offering $10 per download of the app to Internet Week attendees. They are throwing fuel on the fire hoping that it will ignite, but frankly, the flame has not even taken to the kindling yet.

Again, the business model for this is limited. Maybe CrowdedRoom will partner with Match and develop that mobile dating app that we all expect will emerge. But as of right now, there is no real revenue stream for services like this.

FriendThem

http://www.friendthem.com/

I do feel that I should do this space justice by devoting a couple of entries to it. I have come across so many mobile apps about facilitating meeting and networking leveraging interfaces to Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and using location based services to simplify meeting people in the real world. I've previously written about Qrio.us, but I was not aware at that time just how many of these services exist.

The take-away from this year's SXSW has been a couple of these mobile services, particularly Highlight. But other similar services are CrowdedRoom, Bizzaboo, Glancee, Sonar.me, etc. You may have heard that Facebook recently acquired Glancee at the beginning of May. Evidently this is a hotly contested and very desirable service.

So, what is this all about? At the heart of it is to enable users to easily meet and 'friend' people they meet in the real world. That is why I have chosen to start my writing with FriendThem. Friendthem only interfaces with Facebook, does not pull in any interests or any additional information from Facebook. All it does is use each user's gps location from their phone to allow others on that same app to find them easier and thus friend them on Facebook with more ease. Instead of needing to search through hundreds of search results to friend "John Smith" that is standing opposite of you, as long as both John and yourself have FriendThem app accounts, you can simply search by proximity to yourself and pick "John Smith" from the results. To explain it in the most basic way, it's searching for people based not on name or email, but rather their location within a couple feet around you.

Having spoken to the team of FriendThem at their Internet Week HQ booth, I find their product pretty shallow and at risk from the other players in this space. But I do have to admire their refusal to risk privacy and pull interests and other information from Facebook. But it is very likely that Facebook could easily add this feature into their own mobile app, to search by geo-location. Then you have consider whether it is complicated enough for Facebook to purchase or whether they would just add it directly. Or maybe that Glancee satisfies this function enough.

Let's address what differentiates FriendThem. GPS based vs. check-in based. This means that their software needs to continually monitor and track the location of its users and calculate distances from people making search queries. Check-in approach is much easier since it only requires an initial GPS call to find events/locations nearby in which to check-in and then the search results are only those that have already checked-in to that same event/location. Apps like Highlight and Glancee also use GPS while FourSquare, Qrio.us, and CrowdedRoom utilize check-ins.

The other big difference I mentioned is that FriendThem does not pull any interest information from Facebook and thus cannot recommend anyone to meet to the user. It is only a tool to friend someone you have already met and are still in proximity with.

The issue I tend to have with all of these apps is that it requires the other person to also have that same app for it to be useful. So, if "John Smith" is not already on FriendThem, then trying to use FriendThem to find him is going to be useless. Same with many of the other services. I do believe that this space is still relatively new, and that's why there are so many similar service jocking for dominance. Maybe Facebook's acquisition of Glancee will skew the battle.

Friend?

Most basic function - search for Facebook user based on their immediate proximity to you. Will return users of FriendThem within a couple of feet of your current location so you can easily 'Friend' them.

Privacy respected in that there is no additional functionality. There is no need to pull interests from Facebook as this app does not suggest people to meet nor does it allow users to message each other. The idea is that you are already talking to the other person you are searching for and simply want to friend them quickly and easily.

Technically, it is a bit more complex as it is GPS based, needing to track the location of its users. That can get a bit scary as it means people are getting continually tracked instead of using check-ins to match people.

Space is still relatively new, but Highlight has been hailed as the break-out app of SXSW 2012 and Facebook acquired Glancee marking tough competition for FriendThem.

Business Model- Ad-based app, but I highly doubt that there could be enough page views to cover costs. The whole point of this app is to make it easier and thus less page clicks to find the person you are looking for.