Microsoft Bing Maps to feature content from geolocation app Foursquare
Microsoft has some new ammunition in its battle against rival Google: geolocation service Foursquare.
The Redmond, Wash.-based company's Bing Maps tool will soon feature tips and comments from the burgeoning mobile service, which has taken off in popularity among smartphone-enabled urban users on the East Coast for its addictive mix of information and competition.
(For the uninitiated, you can "check-in" at locations around you and, over time, pick up badges and deals rewarding certain activity. The service broadcasts your location to an inner circle of friends, who do the same in return.)
The Bing integration won't broadcast your location on Maps, but will surface the tips that Foursquare users attach to venues. (Example: I left the following tip for Letterman's Diner in Kutztown, Pennsylvania: "Be advised: the big portions get bigger as the cook gets hungrier.")
Basically, it's much like Yelp integration with Google.
Naturally, the tool will use Silverlight to pull in Foursquare content to Bing Maps.
It will be launched in the spring.
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