FourSquare & Windows 8 Phone

Are though Facebook is much more popular, FourSquare has always rivaled Facebook to me in regard to "checking in" to your favorite places. With FourSquare you can become mayor, as I have at several locations such as Rino's in Exton Pa, Victory Brewing Company in Downingtown Pa. You can rate your favorite establishments, get reviews, suggestions for similar places and even obtain coupons.

Although Windows 8 phones do not have the sheer number of apps as their Apple and Android competitors their apps, when compared are usually much better in appearance and functionality.

For example Foursquare’s new Windows 8 app may not be the biggest deal for Foursquare, but it’s huge for Microsoft.

With the app, which was officially announced in June, Foursquare takes some of the best parts about Windows 8 — the Metro interface, live tiles, global search — and creates something that’s completely different from anything the company has released before.

That, as Foursquare business development head David Ban told VentureBeat, is exactly the point. “I think one of the most exciting things here was figuring out what we can do for this specific platform. It’s very pretty and plays well to the strengths of this OS,” Ban said.

Many of these strengths are pretty obvious on first glance: Foursquare for Windows 8 looks and feels great, and it’s clear that both Microsoft and Foursquare put a lot of thought into how to use the app to showcase the design strengths of the platform.  (This was the exact strategy Microsoft and Foursquare pushed with Foursquare’s Window Phone 8 app as well.)

Again, that’s a big deal for Microsoft, which is still struggling to convince consumers why they should switch over to Windows 8. Apps like this one really support its case.