Twitter buys geolocation startup

Robert Clark | December 28, 2009

telecomseurope.net

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Twitter is buying the location tracking start-up Mixer Labs for an undisclosed sum.

The company has developed a location app for Twitter called GeoAPI, Twitter CEO Evan Williams said on the company blog.

“When current location is added to tweets, new and valuable services emerge—everything from breaking news to finding friends or local businesses can be dramatically enhanced,”

Williams said The Mixer Labs’ GeoAPI was “a comprehensive service for helping developers build geolocation-aware applications,” he said.

Twitter would work to integrate the Mixer Labs functionality with geo-enabled apps like Birdfeed, Seesmic Web, Foursquare, Gowalla, Twidroid, and Twittelator Pro, Williams said.

“We want to know What's happening?, and more precisely, Where is it happening? As a dramatic example, twittering ‘Earthquake!’ alone is not as informative as "Earthquake!" coupled with your current location.”

Last month the company launched its first geotagging API, Williams said.

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Robert Clark