Forget about earning badges, Loopt is cashing in on the “check in” trend by launching a new rewards program called Loopt Star that gives people incentives to become loyal patrons to participating establishments. Loopt may have been one of the early location-based social networks on the iPhone and other smartphones,…

Although they’ve been working together since 2004, the CEO’s of Yahoo (NSDQ: YHOO) and Nokia (NYSE: NOK) held a press conference in Times Square to announce the details of a new level for their relationship. The news, which leaked last week, has Yahoo providing Nokia devices with e-mail, search and…

Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) is the third major player to add free turn-by-turn driving directions to its mapping application. The voice-guided driving directions will be available in the Bing application for a dozen or so Windows phones, according to a company blog post. The trend toward offering free navigation has really…

The first victim of the free navigation wars: Vodafone (NYSE: VOD) is shutting down Wayfinder, the Swedish mapmaker it purchased for $30 million in late 2008. It was the carrier’s goal to use Wayfinder to provide directions to both drivers and pedestrians, while overlaying location-based advertising to alert users to…

Like many other developers, uLocate works closely with ad networks to monetize WHERE, its free mobile app that is available on a number of carrier networks and Android, iPhone and Palm (NSDQ: PALM). But WHERE often struggled to keep its fill rates high, and when campaigns ran out, it had…

Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) is plugging a hole in its online portfolio. The company is announcing a remake of Bing Maps, which is getting new “Streetside” images to match Google (NSDQ: GOOG) Maps’ own Street View, along with a new app platform. With the app platform, Bing Maps users can see…

On the final day of Nokia’s own Nokia (NYSE: NOK) World event in Stuttgart, Germany, the handset maker announced it was making its maps available to developers so that they could integrate directions into their applications and mobile internet services. Nokia executives also answered journalists’ questions about the company’s struggling…

If you’re a West Coaster looking for an opportunity to network with top executives in the mobile social industry, here’s your chance. We’ve opened registration for our May 14 mixer at the Mission Bay Conference Center in San Francisco. The mixer will take place 5:30-8 p.m., immediately following our full-day…

*Nokia* may be the largest handset maker in the world, but the big question is: will wireless incumbents like Nokia (NYSE: NOK), or newcomers like Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) and Google (NSDQ: GOOG), be the ones to thrive in an industry that is increasingly focused on the mobile Internet? Today, Nokia’s…

Nokia (NYSE: NOK) is continuing on its social media related acquisition trail: it has now bought out Zurich and Berlin-based social networking service Plazes. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Founded in Dec. 2005, it had seed funding from business angels such as Esther Dyson and Marc Andreessen and…