GLOBAL – Finding your new favourite coffee house or deli is a great feeling, but it’s even better when you can share this new found wisdom with your nearest and dearest. That’s why Foursquare for S40 lets everyone join in the fun, so you don’t have to own a high-end device to share your location and experiences with the world.
With over eight million users worldwide, Foursquare has become the number one service when it comes to checking-in to your favourite venue. And 35,000 new users are joining the service daily, so it’s unlikely that this trend is likely to disappear soon.
With smartphones costing a premium, there are many people out there in the world that own a relatively basic phone. They might not want to spend so much money on what can seem like confusing technology or they just not might not have the cash to spend on such a device. Which is why it’s important to pass on some of these new technologies onto older, more basic devices.
Foursquare is essentially an app that allows you to broadcast your location to your friends, letting them know if you’re at a local park, bar or waiting for a train. This can be useful for a couple of reasons.
You may have gone out for the evening and a friend phones asking to join you, but your directions over the phone are unclear and your friend doesn’t know where you are. Loading up the Foursquare for S40 app on your phone allows you to search for your venue – using the built-in GPS, if your phone has it, or using the cell-id from your network – and then check-in to your current location and share it with your friends via Facebook or Twitter. Your friend can also see where you last checked-in if they have the app installed, too.
Another reason is just for fun. There are various badges you can win depending on how and where you check-in. If you check-in to a venue more times than anybody else in a 60-day period, you become The Mayor of that place. Now, while this doesn’t allow you to change local taxes or judge a beauty pageant, becoming mayor of a particular place does have its advantages, beyond the bragging rights. Some venues – such as restaurants, coffee houses, cinemas etc. – offer rewards for being the mayor. So you could grab your self a free coffee or donut. Think of it as a new-age loyalty card.
Foursquare for S40 has been in development for a while now, but since our last review, it’s had a whole heap of added improvements. Here’s the full list of what Foursquare for S40 has to offer in its current state:
- Shout
- Check in
- Venueless check-in (“check in here anyway”)
- Search places
- Add place
- Recent check-ins from friends
- User info
- Manage friend requests
- Friend lists
- Send friend requests
- Try to use GPS on S40 only when phone has an internal GPS
- Fixed Facebook URL
- Small UI improvements
- Installation from .jad file for all the devices
- Add and view check-in comments and photos
- Show check-in comments count on the Home view
- Venue details accessible (mayor, persons at the venue, photos)
- UI improvements (buttons, corners)
- Automatic client sw update checks
- Fixed: shout length limit
Here’s Matti Vesternin explaining all over at Nokia Beta Labs:
Foursquare for S40 is currently available for download from the Nokia Beta Labs, so head on over there for the download details and let us know if you’re a Foursquare for S40 user, below.