Yahoo! is getting into the check-in business, but not in the way you might have expected.
The Internet giant just bought the startup IntoNow, a mobile app that identifies the the TV show you're watching and lets you tell your friends about it. When we wrote about IntoNow after its launch just a few months ago, we described it as an app looking to "make couch potatoes social again."
With BuzzUp and Del.icio.us on their way out, Yahoo! hasn't had a killer app in quite some time. The company could do worse than a startup like IntoNow, which has some genuine innovations (the SoundPrint TV identification tech) and occupies a hot space in the mobile sector (media check-ins).
In a statement, Yahoo! put it this way: "The addition of IntoNow will enable Yahoo! to provide enhanced media experiences and video programming, bolstering its social engagement across the Yahoo! network and on all screens."
IntoNow is retaining its staff (of 7) and is expected to continue operating as normal.
[CNET]
