Yesterday evening we quietly released a generic mobile version of Brightkite. Cheers to Tony for whipping out this alpha version in a couple days. We haven’t yet tested it on every device so if you encounter issues on certain devices, please tell us, and specify the device.
You can find the mobile version of Brightkite at m.brightkite.com
In addition to the mobile version, we have been working away fixing some of the major issues discovered in the past few weeks. Things to look for in the coming weeks: improved mapping functionality, improved friend discovery, improved profiles, refinements to the iPhone app, and fixes to many other little issues such as the login cookie annoyance.
This afternoon we released an alpha version of the Brightkite iPhone application. To use it, just visit Brightkite.com on your iPhone.
There are some features missing and it’s possible some things are broken, but hey, it’s alpha. Let us know what you think here, we are listening.
You can now check in by joining friends at a location. This is how the JOIN command works:
Say you are meeting a fellow Brightkite user at a location. This user has already checked in there. When you arrive you can simply text JOIN username to 80289 (For example: join brady). Brightkite will then check you in at the same location as the specified user.
Thank you for all feedback on Get Satisfaction! If we haven’t responded to your entry yet, please note we do read all the feedback. Our plate is pretty full right now but we will try to respond in a timely manner.
We know that we have been pretty quiet lately about our progress, and there is a good reason for that: we’ve been busy finalizing the details for our Series A round of funding. Well, we’re happy to report that it’s done: Brightkite is officially funded!
That’s all we’re going to reveal for now about our funding, but to make up for the lack of details, there are some other news: we just moved into new office space, not too far from the Denver Ballpark neighborhood.
Here’s a snapshot:
We’re friendly, so drop by and say hi if you’re in the area. If not, you can keep tabs on what’s going on at our office by checking it out on Brightkite.
Of course, you’re probably wondering where we’re at with the product. We’ve been in private beta for a little while now, and we’ve learned a lot. Based on our findings, we’re making some improvements to the site and our mobile versions, and will open up the beta to a much broader audience in the next few months. So please, bear with us…you won’t be disappointed!
…Why not make friends where you are? With Brightkite you can.
Some years don’t take up much space in my mind (1983,1988,1993) while other years instantly bring back rich memories (1995, 2001, 2007). This year — in all it’s stress and beauty — will be remembered clearly forever. That’s something special. Even letting my imagination muse freely on the worst of the worsts and the best of the bests, I’d have a hard time picturing a year with more of both in it. The team at Brightkite is grateful to all of you who have helped us over the past year bring Brightkite from vision to working product.
We acknowledge it’s been a while since our last post. The reason is we have been working so feverously that the blog has suffered some neglect. So for an update, work on the product continues unabated and we are nearing a public release. Additionally we have some exciting developments that we will be able to announce at the beginning of the year.
In the mean time check out my Brightkite GeoRSS, or view my feed chronologically. GeoRSS is one small feature of Brightkite. You can see where I am and what I’m doing as we roll into 2008. Have a wonderful New Year whatever location you are at.
If you haven’t been keeping up on the previous posts below is a quick recap of what Brightkite is.
During 2007 we finally saw some real value in having lots of “friends” thru online services (as summarized here). During the course of 2008 Brightkite is aiming to create real value among your “real world friends”. Brightkite is a next-generation location-based social network. In real-time it lets people see where their friends are, share their experiences and make new friends based on the places that they frequent. Businesses and venues can capture and syndicate the activity around them via their website, in venue screens and RSS. Brightkite can be used via the web, text messaging, e-mail, WAP, and the iPhone, giving users a truly immersive experience.
Presently Brightkite is open to a small community of users. We are finalizing all the moving parts and anticipate a public release early in the year. We expect 2008 to be great year for “real world friends”. Sign up for our beta here.
All these “Face-Space” online social friend semantics have me confused and depressed. Are you really my friend? This is an annoyance that has plagued online social networks for sometime. My social network profiles are junked up with friends I’ll never have the opportunity to meet in real life. Out of my 300 or so online “friends” it can be whittled down to 2 dozen that I might see on a regular basis. So really I only have 2 dozen friends. A blow to my ego when put in those terms. That said, I am not very interested in “socializing” with people that I’ll never have the chance to meet in person. Additionally I’m not sure if I could deal emotionally if this happened again. 
Wouldn’t it be nice to have social community around the locations you frequent? To actually meet new people, not Facebook-to-Myspace, but face-to-face? MySpace has done a really good job of facilitating meaningless cyber friendships with unprecedented ease. Ironically, Facebook does not easily enable face-time with friends at all. At Brightkite we believe tangible community has a place around real-world locations.
Brightkite is a mobile location-based social network. Built on our Location Platform, Brightkite enables people to connect with the communities surrounding physical locations. By empowering people with a mobile profile, Brightkite enables location-based community and friendships to exist on the fly. Discover and explore social communities around your favorite venue, restaurant, park etc… Explore who is there, who was there, what they are saying, photos are posting, etc. Brightkite is creating mobile social communities based on where you are, and who you are.
If you would like an invite to start using Brightkite please sign up here.
