Well 2009 went by faster than I thought it would. Last year brought us new iPhones, augmented reality and even Ashton Kutcher and CNN battling it out for a million Twitter followers. A lot happened in 2009. Now just eight days in to 2010 we already have the highly anticipated Google Phone – the Nexus One and more Apple tablet rumors than I can shake a stick at. And to that end, Modal has made mobile design and development one of its top priorities.

I for one am excited about this year’s possibilities for location based apps on my smartphone. Your iPhone, Blackberry or Android phone knows where you are. You can download any number of apps that can recommend a place to eat or grab a show. You can even play games based on where you are.
Just to give you an idea about how popular these apps are in a recent episode of Law and Order SVU more than a few minutes revolved around a fictional location based app.

To give you a better idea of what apps are out there here are a few…
1. Aloqa – This app will let you know what stores, restaurants and other businesses are around. Even better you can see reviews, recommendations by the app and when shopping what stores have discounts.
2. Places Directory for the Droid – With this app it figures out what is around you and displays the results in a directory based view.
3. Foursquare – You have probably heard about the app or have read on Twitter that someone is the Mayor of Starbucks on any give road, street or avenue. If you go there enough you can bump that person and become Mayor. You can check in to the location where you are and see who else is there and even get a recommendation on what to order.

Devices

There are a growing handful of choices – the iPhone is a very popular device. But be on the look out for more Android powered devices. AT&T announced 5 new Android phones for 2010 alone. If you are the type of person to hold out for a deal I would wait for Verizon to get Google’s Nexus One and hope they discount the Motorola Droid. After all The Motorola Droid was named the Top Gadget of 2009 by Time.

The Future

2010 will definitely bring more location based apps to us. What will be the next great location base app? Only time will tell.
We’ll come back to this topic often throughout the year as we document our mobile adventures and report on all of the greatest and not so great mobile experiences. So stay tuned!

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