The Next Web

Ipoki.com, GPS-based social networking

Written on August 5, 2008 – 8:47 am
Joop Dorresteijn, Contributing editor

Every week we publish an interview with a start-up. We ask five questions, hoping the answers will give you inspiration and new views.

This time we’re interviewing Diego Fernández Domínguez, the co-founder of ipoki.com. Ipoki lets you get the most of your GPS by connecting you with others to share geolocation information. Ipoki lets you share your current location with others in real-time. Also, you can see where your friends are and track them on Google Maps and Google Earth. Ipoki lets you keep track of your routes and use it to geolocate photos in flickr automatically. Invite your friends to see where you are and find and follow them across the world.

How did you come up with the idea of your Ipoki?

“We started to work on Ipoki when the firsts GPS-enabled mobile-phones were put on the market. We notice that there were some services on the market about geolocation without its democratic internet version (open and free).
First, we started creating some location based services like put and get alerts fro users around specific places, but then we realize that we need to add social features to our services if we want to make it really massive, opened and easy for every possible internet user.
So, we decided to create a social network based on location sharing. People share photos, videos and a lot of things over the internet and we think that it would be very interesting to share your location in real-time with accuracy, like some pay-services plus social features.
Finally, we have added new services to our social network like integrations with Twitter, Flickr or Facebook.” (more…)

I hope you like that post!

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cellphone, five questions for start-ups, gps, qik, spain

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BIC: from stationery icon to mobile phone company

Written on July 22, 2008 – 12:01 pm
Robin Wauters, Next web enthusiast & Plugg organizer

In case you haven’t read this elsewhere (I haven’t, but the press release is dated 11 July): BIC, the French company whose name will infinitely be linked to ballpoint pens - in fact, in Belgium, Greece and France, the name has even become downright generic - has set up a partnership with Orange and Alacatel to market a basic mobile phone aptly named the BIC Phone. Who needs further proof that cellphones are now nothing more than a commodity?

Presented as a basic handset that’s “100% ready-to-go,” the BIC phone comes packed just like one of its razors and includes a SIM card, 60 free minutes and a fully-charged battery. This makes the new handset ready to be used right after you buy it, hence it could be a perfect secondary or emergency phone. Built by Alcatel, the BIC phone measures 98 x 44 x 12.6 millimeters, weighs only 61 grams and has a battery capable of providing up to 4 hours of talk-time and up to 240 hours of stand-by time.

As from August 7, the BIC phone will become available across France in two colors (citrus orange and lime green) for a retail price of 49 Euros (about $77 USD), including tax. The handset will be sold over the counter in supermarkets, as well as in convenience stores, like tobacco shops or stores from train stations and airports.

BIC, BIC Phone, cellphone, commodity, mobile phone

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