The SXSW Interactive festival is just about over (the music part is still going strong) and I’m still recovering from what has lovingly been called, “nerd spring break.” Yes, SXSW is never really a bastion for news but it does give us some insight into what the tech world is using and thinking. Let’s take a look back at this week to see what was going on in Austin. Going into SXSW, everyone likes to predict what will be the new big breakout app. After all, the conventional wisdom is that Foursquare and Twitter both went on to success after a launch at SXSW (although Twitter actually launched at GDC). Was there a killer app that totally “won” SXSW 2012? No. Not really. Before the show, many thought that Highlight could be the winner because this passive location-sharing app would be an easy way to find and be introduced to tech Read More

Get started with Highlight, the app that lets you discover people nearby. This year, about a dozen apps attracted some buzz (you can view them all here), but the one that garnered the most attention and activity was Highlight (iTunes link). The free, location-based app alerts you of people in your vicinity with similar interests and mutual friends. Not aimed at romantic pursuits, Highlight moderates the connection of potential friends, networking contacts, and colleagues, allowing you to bookmark those you find interesting. Naturally, SxSW was a perfect event to launch such an app, but Highlight is also useful to us observing the conference from afar. Meetings, parties, and networking events are ideal places to put the app to use, as it's less official than connecting with someone on Linked In or Facebook, but more useful than simply following them on Twitter. Once you download Highlight,get started with these tips: Adjust your Read More

...to learn more about people around you? There’s an app for that, and it’s just been updated with a cool, new feature that lets you quickly mark... Read More

There are a few use cases for hot background location app Highlight, cofounder Paul Davison explains to me when showing off the latest update. You just met someone and you want them to find out more about you. You want to note that someone is particularly interesting for future reference. And, you want to see which friends are nearby, or have recently left. The app is getting upgrades today that should make it more useful in all of these situations. The first is a particularly smart new addition, also called, er, Highlight. Click on any user profile, and you simply click the button and you’ll add the person to a saved list of contacts. It’s asymmetrical. They don’t have to Highlight you back. But, while any user can see who you’ve Highlighted, this isn’t a numbers game like Twitter follower counts. It’s more like a public poke, or a bookmark — a way Read More

There are a few use cases for hot background location app Highlight, cofounder Paul Davison explains to me when showing off the latest update. You just met someone and you want them to find out more about you. You want to note that someone is particularly interesting for future reference. And, you want to see which friends are nearby, or have recently left. The app is getting upgrades today that should make it more useful in all of these situations. The first is a particularly smart new addition, also called, er, Highlight. Click on any user profile, and you simply click the button and you’ll add the person to a saved list of contacts. It’s asymmetrical. They don’t have to Highlight you back. But, while any user can see who you’ve Highlighted, this isn’t a numbers game like Twitter follower counts. It’s more like a public poke, or a bookmark — a way Read More

I am calling shenanigans on this year's SXSW fad. The microclimate that is SXSW and San Francisco often creates hype for services that, ultimately, no one is going to really care about. Foursquare and Twitter did well at SXSW in their growth phases but those companies may prove to be the exception instead of the rule. The crop this year includes several "ambient social location' apps that are likely destined for obscurity when the time comes that normal users are supposed to adopt. If you have been following the hype circles, we are talking about apps like Highlight, Glancee, Banjo and Sonar. These apps show users people that are around them using the apps and what their interests are. They use location running in the background as well as tying to social profiles like Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare. From a mass consumer prospective, location sharing has been the most fickle area Read More

...most talked about #iPhone app in the last 24hrs was: Highlight http://t.co/kZd65jLq... Read More

Ambient location app Highlight is a big deal. Eldon likes it, Scoble likes it, MG and Mike like it and Grindr fan Charlie Cheever likes it. More importantly, I like it. Before you call me out for being slightly narcissistic with the above statement (which wouldn’t make me at all unique in my field), here’s why the fact that I like it is important; In case you haven’t noticed, I am a female, which means I am an indicative use case for an app that forces you to constantly broadcast your location. The premise behind services like Highlight and Glancee is that humans are desperate to connect with one another on a multitude of levels. Why not make it easier for them if we have the technology? As one of my VC friends rudely put it, when I expressed my love for the app, “Seems like a fad, but if it Read More

Ambient location app Highlight is a big deal. Eldon likes it, Scoble likes it, MG and Mike like it and Grindr fan Charlie Cheever likes it. More importantly, I like it. Before you call me out for being slightly narcissistic with the above statement (which wouldn’t make me at all unique in my field), here’s why the fact that I like it is important; In case you haven’t noticed, I am a female, which means I am an indicative use case for an app that forces you to constantly broadcast your location. The premise behind services like Highlight and Glancee is that humans are desperate to connect with one another on a multitude of levels. Why not make it easier for them if we have the technology? As one of my VC friends rudely put it, when I expressed my love for the app, “Seems like a fad, but if it Read More

The big promise of location-based mobile apps is that they can help you find something great in real life without you meaning to look for it. But that hasn’t usually been my experience. Instead, whether because of the friction of having to check in, the lack of adoption by friends outside of tech, or whatever else, I simply forget to use them. That has changed with Highlight, a new passive location app for iOS that shows you when Facebook users with friends and interests in common are nearby. Since it launched last week, I’ve gotten in touch with an old friend/source who’s now at a big new company, discovered a couple previous acquaintances who happen to live or work near me, and got the heads up about a fellow blogger creeping behind me at work. My experience is more or less on track with what founder Paul Davison is hearing from other users Read More

The big promise of location-based mobile apps is that they can help you find something great in real life without you meaning to look for it. But that hasn’t usually been my experience. Instead, whether because of the friction of having to check in, the lack of adoption by friends outside of tech, or whatever else, I simply forget to use them. That has changed with Highlight, a new passive location app for iOS that shows you when Facebook users with friends and interests in common are nearby. Since it launched last week, I’ve gotten in touch with an old friend/source who’s now at a big new company, discovered a couple previous acquaintances who happen to live or work near me, and got the heads up about a fellow blogger creeping behind me at work. My experience is more or less on track with what founder Paul Davison is hearing from other users Read More