Here are some articles which have caught my interest lately.

Blue Dot Special

Google has added a new feature to Google Shopping.  When you search for an item, not only will Google tell you the price ranges found, it will now tell you (indicated by a blue dot) the retailers that have it in-stock, it’s price, distance from you and a link to directions.   This could be trouble for local shopping startups like Milo.com

Mobile

According to a new Nielson report, smartphones will outnumber feature phones by the end of 2011.

Gartner released a new report outlining 10 mobile technologies to watch this year and next.  The two that most caught my attention were:

• By 2011, over 85 percent of handsets shipped globally will include some form of browser.
• By the end of 2011, over 75 percent of devices shipped in mature markets will include a GPS.

This has interesting implications for retailers and location-based services.

Check-in’s and Cheaters

Tired of checking into multiple location based services?  Check.in may have the answer.  It will be interesting to see how the fragmentation around ‘checking in’ will shake out.

Nate Riggs has a good article for retail and restaurant companies about how to leverage your relationship with your location’s Foursquare mayor.

Of course, you may be talking to a cheater.  A new app – Fake Mayor – allows users to present a screen which makes them appear to be mayor.  You should check the Foursquare website to be sure.

Foursquare Introduces New Tools for Business. This is a more in-depth article on the new Foursquare dashboard.   Think Google Analytics for Foursquare data related to my business.

Target Stores to Bring Mobile Coupons Mainstream.

Andreessen Horowitz-backed Burbn bets location is more than a check-in.

Facebook to launch one of its many geolocation projects next month.

SXSWi: Let the geolocation games begin.

OK, I admit I’ve been slack during the last month about my blog posts.   So, to get things jump started, I thought I would at least share links to recent articles I’ve found interesting.   I’m a bit obsessed with location-based services lately and believe that early adopter retail and restaurant companies will be able to leverage these to competitive advantage.

Are You a Foodspotter Yet? Foodspotting is a new application that helps you find good food.

Location Privacy Goes to Washington. Do we have a right to control what location-based advertisers do with our info once they have it? Do we have a right to ensure that law enforcement and government agencies don’t abuse our easily obtained mobile data streams? Are our children safe? What does social science research say about all these changes?

CauseWorld’s Checkin For Charity Gets More Citi Money. CauseWorld’s Checkin for Charity is a mobile app that lets users check in to retail shops for credits that can be donated to charity.

Blippy.com.  Sharing What You’re Buying. Blippy.com is a social networking site that encourages people to see and discuss what their friends and others are buying on services such as iTunes, Netflix, eBay, Amazon, and more.

Gowalla Follows Foursquare’s Lead with Real-Life Incentives. The first content integration will focus on the new series, Food Wars, a new Travel Channel offering where blindfolded participants choose sides to determine “Who Makes The Best Dish In Town.”

Foursquare Confirms Restaurant Dashboard Alpha Testing. 30 hand-picked restaurants are alpha-testing, “an analytics dashboard for Foursquare, where [restaurant] owners can pay to create custom offers and badges.”

Photo by:  dpstyles