Looks like some Foursquare hackers are set to earn a few new badges. The winners from Foursquare’s recent global hackathon are a diverse bunch, with the grand prize going to Paris-based developer Benjamin Netter, who gets a brand new badge called Platformer and a dinner with dashing Foursquare co-founder Naveen Selvadurai. Mr. Netter created Plan Your Next trip, which uses the explorer API to generate a personalized two day vacation for travellers.
Other groups of hacks won glory and fame: Sqavenger, which uses historical landmarks to create a scavanger hunt that users play by text message and check-ins as well as Intersqaures, which show the intersection of your check-ins with another user.
Near.co, a futuristic storefront, shows who has checked in through an interactive display. They won the NASDAQ prize and will be featured on the exchange’s massive Times Square screen.
The Twilio prize went to VenueMachine, which acts like LocalResponse, helping merchants identify and reward influencers who are checked in to their venue.
And let’s not forget the people’s choice awards, via the Foursquare blog:
- Gettogether – A slick interface for scheduling an event with your friends.
- Magic Muggle Clock – It displays friends’ recent check-ins on a clock like the Weasleys’ family clock found in the Harry Potter. Updates auto-magically (hah!)
- How ___ are you? – A way to discover interesting demographic information about the places you check in to.
- PlaceFace – Updates your foursquare and Twitter profile photos as appropriate for each check-in.
- Photosquare – Browse photos from venues near you on your iPad and easily add them to your To-Do list.
- DigiDJ – A jukebox system users who have checked in can add songs from their phone.
- 4SQSign – An e-mail signature that updates with each check-in.
- Check Me In – An iPad tool enabling merchants to check in customers using their profile photo
- 4square TV – Creates a video showcasing your recent foursquare activity.
- Hear I Am – Help you discover people near you when you’re out and about who have similar musical tastes.
- One More Check-in – Shows you what new badges you could unlock with just a few more check-ins.
A ton of cool hacks, many built on brand new APIs from contestants around the country and around the globe. Foursquare, which has been throwing a lot of effort behind developing itself as the top location platform, seems to be finding a developer community hungry for the chance to build with their data.
