UPDATED 16:27 EDT / APRIL 18 2012

Banjo Social Discovery App Hits One Million Users

Banjo, the location based social discovery app for iPhone and Android that lets you view users’ profiles based on their location, has hit the million user mark.

Launched nine months ago on both iOS and Android, Banjo makes it easier to discover and connect with people, turning online interaction into an offline connection. The app provides a real time view of what people are sharing at places that are important to you.

The service connects Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare profiles, sending a push notification when a friend is in the specified distance radius.

It has improved friend alerts, maps, mobile and local search, sign-in to Twitter and Facebook, and deep integration of iOS 5.

“Banjo members are highly engaged, and our growth validates our mission to ensure people never miss a connection or event anywhere in the world,” said Damien Patton, Founder and CEO of Banjo. “Ease of use along with cross-platform and cross-network access allowed us to hit the one million member mark at an exceptional rate.”

More mobile apps add context to your location

Social aggregator apps like Banjo act as a mediator between all your online communities, no matter where you are.  There are countless startups focused on developing relevant social information for users based on location, content and interest in the latest trend of ambient apps.

If you are interested in geo-location and all the new possibilities that surround this technology, Sonar is a mobile application that recovers the places you’ve checked-in and details on others who are doing the same thing, presenting you the data depending on the number of Twitter and Facebook friends you have in common.

The app leverages location and social data from networks like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Foursquare and provides you a framework about the people in your immediate surroundings.

Of course, after SXSW we saw a rise in interest for social ambient apps, but others like Placeme hope to better contextualize your personal data.  The increase in such apps raise privacy questions, which will have to be addressed over time, but it’s clear that this level of local contextualization is an important development in our mobile future.

 


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