Updated. Right on the heels of $8 million in new funding, Roku has added seven new casual games to its streaming boxes. [Thanks to reader @joelbrave for pointing this out in our comments!] The games, which Roku adds more casual games to its streaming box
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Gmail Mobile Web App for iOS Adds “Pull Down to Refresh” Feature
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Now that every mobile app under the sun has check-ins, mobile/location/social startups need to evolve to stand out.
Foursquare, for example, has been playing up its "tips" feature, trying to become more of a connected city guide.
And now rival Loopt has a new, similar feature, based on Q&A, another hot Internet sector.
Launching soon in the San Francisco area, and later nationwide, Loopt's new "Qs" is a real-time Q&A feature that lets you ask questions and quickly get answers about a place.
Such as: What's the best menu item here? How's the parking situation? Where's the best public bathroom near this park? What's the wifi password? Etc.
The big idea is to get people using location apps for more than checking in, and to get more people contributing content to the service, not just looking it up.
We'll see if it gives Loopt -- which claims 5 million sign-ups -- a boost.
Here's what it looks like:
And here's a video explaining how it works:
Don't miss: Check Out Moo.com's London HQ, Where They Make Those Neat Little Business Cards (PHOTO TOUR)
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LIFE AFTER THE CHECK-IN: Loopt Adds Mobile Q&A; Feature (AAPL, GOOG)
Bing News Search Results Adds Twitter ‘Tweets’
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Microsoft will incorporate daily deals and discounts into Bing search results through a partnership with The Dealmap.The move gives Microsoft another weapon against Google, who failed to acquire Groupon after bidding a reported $6 billion late last year.
The biggest change will be in the Bing mobile app a new Deals tab will provide a list of all deals near the user, organized by size of discount and location. Users will then be able to redeem the deal, save it on their phones for later use, or send it to a friend.
On the Bing Web site, users will have to click through to local results before seeing the deal -- for instance, a search on "sushi in San Francisco" will show a list of nearby sushi places; click through to find more information and deals will appear where available. Eventually, Microsoft says it will incorporate Dealmap deals into the main page of search results.
Dealmap aggregates deals from more than 200 sources, including big daily deals sites like Groupon and LivingSocial, and has more than 400,000 deals on the site on any given day. The company has grown quickly, gathering more than 1.4 million users in about nine months.
In December, the company launched DealExchange, an API which lets developers build Dealmap functionality right into their own Web sites or applications. Now, Bing has become the latest partner to use DealExchange.
One complication: The Dealmap uses Google Maps to display its maps today. The Bing deal won't change that. But the CTO of Dealmap's parent company Center'd is Chandu Thota, who previously led development for Bing Maps, so the company is very familiar with how Microsoft's mapping service works and could be making a switch in the future.
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Microsoft Adds Daily Deals To Bing (MSFT, GOOG)
In an on-stage announcement at Mobile World Congress, Foursquare founder and CEO Denis Crowley said the location-based startup had added five new languages to its mobile application.
These are Spanish, French, German, Italian and Japanese. He said the new app (2.2.5) will be available on versions for the iPhone, Blackberry, and Android today.
The analytics platform remains oriented towards the US, but Crowley said they were looking at further internationalisation. He added that they would be focusing on the API this year.
Foursquare Adds Five New Languages To App, Big Focus On API This Year
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Facebook has rolled out an upgrade to its self-serve ad system that includes its new ad format, "Sponsored Stories", All Facebook points out.
The idea behind Sponsored Stories is to turn your Likes into ads. When you like something on Facebook and someone has bought an ad for it, that story will be broadcast to your friends.
Facebook announced the product last month but now it's part of their self-serve ad system so anyone can buy them.
The other major piece of this upgrade is that it lets advertisers select which tap of their fan page people who click on the ad will land on. So now you can split-test what people land on and optimize your campaigns better.
Don't miss these photos of Katy Perry hanging out at Facebook headquarters →
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Facebook Updates Ad System, Adds "Sponsored Stories" So You Can Spam Your Friends Better
Many a video application maker claims to have built a 'Chatroulette for Facebook', meaning an app that enables random video-chat connections between Facebook users in real-time. Rounds.com also has such an app, but offers a bit more than just video-based meetings between random people.
Already at 335,000 monthly active users and counting, Rounds' Facebook app now boasts a 'Random Rounds' feature that lets people interact with strangers, but also play games and photos, among other activities.
Rounds.com Adds Some Chatroulette To Its Facebook App, With A Twist
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Users who conduct searches for local businesses on Bing will soon be able to "walk through" the interior physical locations on the Bing Maps site before visiting them in person.
The feature is provided through a partnership with Everyscape, which has signed up several hundred businesses in more than 30 cities. The company also offers Everyscape Eats, which has interiors of more than 500 restaurants. Those will show up in Bing Local results as well.
The walkthroughs only show up in local search results when users look for a participating business. They're not yet integrated with Bing's Street Side--its equivalent to Google Street View, which shows street scenes as you navigate through a map on Bing Maps.
The Everyscape walkthroughs are one of several minor improvements Microsoft rolled out this morning at a Search Summit event in San Francisco. No single feature will probably be enough to get users to switch from Google, but the steady trickle of updates could eventually help move the needle a bit.
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Bing Adds Feature That Lets You Walk Through Local Businesses (MSFT, GOOG)
