Cartography finally has a killer app: Google Latitude

2 revolutionary product posts in two days.  Today’s, ok a day late, if a mobile app from Google. The launch of Google Latitude is bound to represent a new mode of interaction…  Spatially driven personal interactions – like real people and stuff – potentially.  Clearly an interesting product for product manager – lots o’ uses.  So here is the overview:

Latitude is a new feature for Google Maps on your mobile device. It’s also an iGoogle gadget on your computer. Once you’ve opted in to Latitude, you can see the approximate location of your friends and loved ones who have decided to share their location with you. So now you can do things like see if your spouse is stuck in traffic on the way home from work, notice that a buddy is in town for the weekend, or take comfort in knowing that a loved one’s flight landed safely, despite bad weather.

And with Latitude, not only can you see your friends’ locations on a map, but you can also be in touch directly via SMS, Google Talk, Gmail, or by updating your status message; you can even upload a new profile photo on the fly. It’s a fun way to feel close to the people you care about.

Yup a killer app – safety, spying, OCD management and visual “where are you” answers.   With “fine grained” privacy management it may just be what makes each of our Google account more valuable – I just synched my feedburner account – so why not another Google app.

Oh – yeah – a little delay for the iPhone version… Very cool share cool of wallet play Google folks.  Android anyone?

February 5, 2009 by
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MiniCarts: Thank you smart person

photo.jpg by you.

I’ve seen the half carts in numerous places, I vaguely remember them from a European shopping experience or I imagined it.  I for some reason always equate useful, small and smart with European not sure why.  Regardless it is perfect for a quick trip which has awkward sized items not good for a basket – like 2 gallons of milk, 1 gallon of Soy Milk, 1 big apple juice a, bananas and cereal.

From a financial perspective, I’m pretty sure I spent more than I would have with a basket so it appears to be a good share of wallet decision as well.  Give ’em a shot – easier to maneuver and better than the little baskets without a doubt.

February 4, 2009 by
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Trolling through posts

Been mixing up the blogroll, dredging up some past posts and just having a grand ole time slacking.   So with like 19 months into this project here at spataillyrelevant.org, I thought I would review stuff I wrote before, which may be of interest.  Sorta like my own personal patchwork plagiarism, this post is driven more by slackerdom.

Marketing is Geography

As a business exits the hyper-local stage and expands beyond a region, not all geographies are created equal despite cliche’s such as “There is no bad patch, only bad sales people”. Alas, that just isn’t true. …

Wanted Social Media Antagonist

Spatially Relevant (SR), a Top 333,000 blog, is the leading Geography, Marketing, Product Management, Social Media and Live Music (GeoMaPMSMLM) blog. SR is seeing amazing flatness in our growth and seeking a little assistance in taking the SR experience to the next level.

Social Media Geographic Content Analysis

In a reasonably unscientific manner I’ve noticed what I think might be an interesting/plausible relationship in how regionalization may impact blog content. Content development, presentation and geospatial references appear to vary based on where a blogger hails from….

Package Up, Package Down

Packaging up into value and down into customer acquisition with planned out year up sells are two themes I’ve been seeing in the marketplace…

Mosaic: Blogging or Cribbing?

The short story “Who’s cribbing” is about a new science fiction writer finds that all his submitted stories are being rejected because they are copies of those published by another writer in the 1930s and 1940s. He does not understand what is happening. When he finally gathers all his letters and rejection slips and tries to publish that, he is told that this, too, was the work of that other author

I mainly forgot each of these.  Hopefully not a clutter in your reader.

February 3, 2009 by
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SoCon09: Social Atlanta Proves Events Aren’t Dead!

So who says events are a thing of the past?  With over well 100 people registered for dinner on Friday from ACLU lawyers to everyday folk — marketers are getting geared up for SoCon09.  I don’t know the exact count, but day 2 is over 225 participants.

This unconference will span the practical to the theoretical and should provide significant insight into effective social media strategies and tactics.   The conference includes local business folk like me, the curious and those who are passionate about social media in the south.  For a complete list of the leaders and their bio’s you can get it here.  Hopefully the group will look forward to talking about Social Media and B2B and how social media can effect business communities and the impact of social media on social good.  Friday night provides for focused discussion tables around multiple topics and Saturday includes a conversation with Chris Carfi.

Registration ends in the like 3 days.  So if you are in Atlanta and have an afternoon to spend, come learn best practices and meet others in the community trying to change how they engage their customers and the market.

Many thanks to Sherry and Leonard for getting me involved and keeping the south active in social media.

February 1, 2009 by
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