Microsoft Corp. invested $15 million on the location-based social networking site Foursquare to give its Windows Phones ability to suggest and offer nearby restaurants and entertainment spots.
Google's Android software and Apple's iPhone software are enhanced with different applications that are proven very useful in our everyday lives thus making them the best-selling smartphones. Microsoft wanted to change that, but in order to keep pace with its rivals the company needs to boost its Windows Phone software first.
Last year, in an effort to do such, Microsoft's Vice President for Bing Search Unit Zig Serafin and Foursquare CEO Dennis Crowley, along with their teams, began working on an agreement to work together on certain products. The collaboration led to Microsoft's investment on the social site, according to sources of Bloomberg which was also confirmed by Crowley.
"This is huge validation for the stuff we've been working so hard on," Crowley told Bloomberg. "It's one of the leaders in the space we work in looking at us and saying we can really help power the next generation of devices."
As part of the agreement, the software giant will be given access to Foursquare's data, thus, allowing the software giant to push out tips, suggest locations, and offer discounts tied to places close to a person's location. The company has reported to have 20 million registered users as of April 2012 with an average of 3 million check-ins per day. Looking at these numbers, it is not surprising that Microsoft didn't have second thoughts in investing such a huge amount.
"We're building some contextually aware experiences to power some upcoming products in Windows Phone," said Serafin told Bloomberg. "This will be for anywhere you get a Bing-powered experience."
The location data from Foursquare will appear in a voice-activated assistant dubbed as Cortana. Sources reported that it is set to be part of the Windows Phone 8.1 release in a few months time.
