Review: Where?

Overview Where? is the review. Look no further. It's here. Really. OK, sorry... Where? was one of the first LBS (location based service) apps released with the App Store back in June. It's had a significant update with version 1.0.1. You'll be surprised at how versatile the app is. The horizontally-scrolling menu at the bottom of its screen can help you find all sorts of things - ranging from the nearest Starbucks to reviews on local restaurants. Where? really tries to help you find Whatever you're looking for (and maybe that would be a better app name?).

Functionality

Once you are able to sign into Where? - and that's a significant challenge at times - you'll be presented with a map screen and a nifty horizontally scrolling menu at the bottom of the screen. Clicking on the different icons leads you to different services ranging from Yelp! to Buddy Beacon (also created by uLocate). The services list that you can interact with include:

• Yelp! - According to their website, "Yelp is the fun and easy way to find, review, and talk about what's great - and not so great - in your area." Pressing on this option allows you to pull up a list of restaurants, computer stores, schools, etc. by keyword. Pretty impressive search results.
• Buddy Beacon - I have no idea how this works because I couldn't find a buddy. A trip to uLocate's website reveals that this feature may still be in development. They acquired it from Helio mobile phones, and so it may not be functional yet. It does look like it will sharp once the accompanying Facebook app is used with it.
• Starbucks - Pretty self-explanatory. Find the nearest $5 cup of coffee.
• GasBuddy - Find the nearest gas stations. Even lists the price of a gallon of gas. (It's about the same as an 12 oz. cup of coffee at Starbucks).
• Zipcar - There's not one around me, so I couldn't test it, but Zipcar is a revolutionary new concept in which you join and pay for car use by the hour. In some locations around the U.S., they "are as ubiquitous as ATMs. ...over 40% of our customers have either sold their car or have stopped their purchasing decision. ... With a Zipcard in your pocket, a car is only a wireless signal away." (Zipcar website)
• Local Search - type in a keyword and see the locations of everything in that search result.
• MyPlaces - lets you bookmark certain places that Where? finds in its different services.
• SkyMap - shows you the constellations, names of stars overhead and horizon view for your location.
• HeyWhatsThat - tells you the names of the mountains that are in your vicinity
• Quibblo - take a quick poll and see how folk in your area, town, state and country are answering the same question.
• Eventful - See the events and goings-on scheduled for your location.

A person could get lost with Where? It's pretty fascinating, and I can see how in larger metropolitan areas it could even be an indispensable iPhone tool. It has pulled in some remarkable tools into one app.

Review

Where? is here. To stay, I think. I played with it a lot last weekend in Little Rock, and I was really impressed with its features. I'd love the ability to delete or hide some of the services, however. Scrolling past the unwanted ones was a headache. It would be a nice addition to have a pref panel where you check what services you want. What worked, worked well. I did have some problems with Where? not being able to locate me. I'd get a spinning wheel for more than a minute. A restart of my iPhone would most iPhone cure that. I did have to hard reset a few times though. That is very annoying. Who really wants to see mountain ranges near you? And if there are no Zipcars around me, I don't want to have to keep seeing "Sorry, no results near you." As Yelp! has not caught on in my area, I didn't really see much of a need for it either. It goes back to needing the ability to screen what's on your screen. Who wants a handful of uselessness? Buddy Beacon? Great concept, but it may be too little too late in the microblog, LBS world. In its current version, Where? has a lot of potential. But when you've got Loopt and Whrrl out there, where will Where? fall into the mix?

Summary

Where? is a conglomeration of online services in one app that tries to make your present location useful to you. Find out where the nearest Apple dealer is by typing "Apple" into Local Search. What's the cheapest gas price around? You can use Where? to find out. It needs some tweaks and the ability to select what services you want to use, and it needs to be less buggy. When the app gets these things nailed down, you may find Where? it belongs.

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