DoubleDutch

DoubleDutch apparently raised over $2 million in fresh venture capital about 3 months ago...some significant names in their sector are behind it. http://pevc.dowjones.com/article?an=DJFVW0002012042 3e84nalr85&from=alert&pid=32&ReturnUrl= http%3a%2f%2fpevc.dowjones.com%3a80%2farticle%3fan% 3dDJFVW00020120423e84nalr85%26from%3dalert%26pid%3d 32 They also raised over $1 million last year. http://techcrunch.com/2011/04/22/lightbank-leads-1-2-million-round-in-enterprise-mobile-startup-doubledutch/

UPDATE: Note to Guy-d; yeah, just what I want. Aryan Damn's rants on my cell phone 24/7. Poor Lawrence. When he started RIA in 1999, the internet bubble was growing. Yahoo had just bought Geocities for 3.6 billion. Other websites were being bought up for ridiculous sums of money. The biggest sale was AOL's purchase of Time Warner for over $150 billion in stock. Well, we all know what happened after that. The bubble popped, and AOL/Time Warner lost over $50 billion. Oops. Apparently Lawrence thought he could put together a website that he could sell to make him a multi-millionaire. Well, do to various reasons, he fucked it up, and RIA is now about as valuable as Geocities. What an Emorrhoid. Now Lawrence is putting his money on iphone apps and other electronic crap gadgets. This venture is also doomed; you might want to read about Dr. Richard C. Duncan's Oduvai theory: http://dieoff.org/page224.htm Even if Dr. Duncan is off the mark a bit, it won't be by much. Peak Oil is going to thr... Read more

4/2010: Now I can receive disagrees wherever I am at! Thanks Rateitall! Update: Here are some top location based Apps: Foursquare Gowalla Yelp Urbanspoon Whrrl Facebook Buzzd Gypsii There are dozens more, and Doubledutch wasn't listed anywhere. The Yelp app works well for me. Another app I use a lot was already installed on my iphone when I bought it, it's the Google map app. Search for whatever, and it pegs a good amount of results.

Apparently this is where the money is these days. Unfortunately, it seems like the vast majority of resources are going towards developing DoubleDutch while RateItAll.com seems to be almost abandoned. I tried playing around with DoubleDutch a while back, and while I wasn't impressed, I figured that it just needed some developing. Today I tried it out again since RIA seemed to be experiencing technical difficulties. Unfortunately I didn't see much improvement. The interface just seems clunky and inefficient. All RateItAll reviews seem to be available through DoubleDutch, but you can't really search for anything. Also, while DoubleDutch is clearly focused on being able to check in and rate/review your current location (store, restaurant, etc.), it is possible to "check in" at non locations. For example, earlier today I checked in at "Clubbing seals", which is an item on the Politically Incorrect Things to Do in Your Spare Time list. So if you can manage to navigate your way to an item (n... Read more

Hi All, we are running a little mini Thanksgiving promotion to get folks to try out our location based mobile app, DoubleDutch. Here's how it works - you get points for "checking in," taking photos, writing reviews, etc. You can login with your RateItAll account. If you have an iPhone, you can try it out here: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/doubledutch/id336955 484?mt=8 If you want to try it on your computer, Android, or BlackBerry Torch, you can try it here: http://app.doubledutch.me Top three on the leaderboard at the end of the week get iTunes gift certificates. Original Review: OK, today we are officially unveiling our super secret project that has been consuming us for the last few months. It's an iPhone app. It's called DoubleDutch. It syncs with your RateItAll account, and allows you to rate the things that are around you - bars, restaurants, parks, schools, bus stops, hiking trails - anything at all. It's RateItAll for the real world. Flip it on, anywhe... Read more

Update 09.15.2010: Now you don't need an iPhone to play DoubleDutch. We are happy to announce that DoubleDutch is available for every smartphone. Type http://app.doubledutch.me in your browser and star playing! DoubleDutch is a fun geo location app to play and stay connected with your friends. But it is not only a game. DoubleDutch lets you check in and review your favorite venues instantly. It is very handy for people who like to share their opinion about the corner store, the thai restaurant across the office or the ball park. Your review is instantly published on RateItAll and you can share it on Facebook and twitter (perfect for those writers who like to get the most exposure). This is a screenshot of the review page (the venue I was reviewing is top secret ...ehem Popeyes...ehem). Other functionality I like is the ability to add picture to your reviews. You can take a picture on the go or pic one from your phone library (screenshot of my review of RateItAll with an image) ... Read more

Quite a cool application in the same vein as other geolocation-based social networking applications such as Gowalla and Foursquare though with this one it has the added advantage of being able to read and write reviews about the places you check in to which means you can see what a place is like before you decide to "check in". It's a nice and easy application to use and I'm sure I'll have more to say about it as the weeks go on.

As far as the location-based check in apps go, I think DoubleDutch is one of the few on the right track. It provides/allows ratings and reviews of venues, and focuses more on providing value through its rich database than imaginary ownership (I can't think of much more pathetic whining then people getting angry over losing their Starbucks mayorship). It still provides gaming elements, so it will appeal to this crowd, but it also provides real value in the form of user reviews and photos of venues, not just a game based around checking in at multiple bars in one night so you can earn the next badge. The white label aspect is also a game-changer. Once people get tired of seeing users check in at every possible location (from the hotel to the cab to the restaurant to the movie theater to the bar to the hotel again) in the desperate attempt to climb the leaderboard, they will look for value. This will come in the form of user reviews and more private social sharing, which DoubleDutch allo... Read more