TNW Quick Hit
Loqly (free) for iPhone is a location-based, real-time Q&A service designed to answer one’s questions about local businesses.
Hits: Well-designed, easy-to-use app, offering users information on places you most frequent, discover new, interesting, local, spots, with real-time answer notifications for questions asked.
Misses: The ability to check-in using Gowalla, Foursquare, ect. and post an answer to a question while at a location would offer additional validity to recommendations and answers.
Overall: 4.5/5
The Details:
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Regardless of where you call home, there always exist new spots to try, questions about local businesses, and a desire for recommendations from others who’ve been to a restaurant, retail establishment, ect. that you’re considering trying.
Loqly (pronounced “Locally”) is an iPhone app offering local business recommendations, the ability to ask questions about local businesses, and receive real-time responses from other locals who’ve been to the place(s) you’ve got questions about. The app doesn’t require sign up, but if one so desires you can connect both your Facebook and Twitter accounts to Loqly, sending your questions to either service once you post one.
With search results powered by Google, one can search by specific item be it a product, service, business and more, with results populated in an instant.
Once you’ve completed your search, tapping the business listing shows questions others have asked, reviews from Yelp, the ability to share a location via email or SMS, call the business, get a map to the business, ask your own question related to the business and favorite a business.
In addition to conducting your own searches for a business and asking questions, one can also participate in answering the questions of others, or viewing requests for referrals from others and giving your recommendations.
Unlike similar apps, Crowdbeacon, which lacks Facebook and Twitter integration, and LocalMind, which lacks an iPhone app at present, Loqly provides a super Q&A experience centered around businesses powered by the local community. One thing that would set Loqly over-the-top is location-sharing service integration allowing one to post an answer to a question while at a location, offering additional validity to recommendations and answers.
While grand in its present form, Loqly has its eyes on expanding beyond the iOS platform.
Speaking with Mahesh Chaddah, co-founder of Loqly:
“Our team is working hard to build many exciting features and will be launching the web platform within a few weeks. Android and other mobile platforms are in the pipeline and since we are powered by Google we will soon expand to other countries.”
Further, Loqly today announced a giveaway promotion, where one of ten excellent prizes will awarded March 31, 2011 to randomly selected users who pick up the app and ask a question. That’s it. Pretty simple.
Loqly is a truly useful app for anyone seeking new, interesting, local, spots, while offering real-time answers to users for questions concerning any aspect of a business.
Pick up Loqly here, and let us know what you think of the app!
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