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Microsoft has invested $US15 million ($16.7 million) in Foursquare Labs, forging a partnership that will help Windows-powered phones offer location-based restaurant and entertainment suggestions to their owners.
The investment, confirmed in an interview by Foursquare chief executive Dennis Crowley, is part of a funding round from late last year that valued New York-based Foursquare at more than $US600 million, people with knowledge of the terms said in December. It comes as Microsoft announced a new CEO and chairman effective immediately.
Microsoft is adding features to its Windows Phone software in an effort to compete with Apple's iPhone and Google's Android software, which together dominate the smartphone market. Location data from Foursquare will appear in a voice-activated assistant, code-named Cortana, that has yet to be released and will go up against Apple's Siri technology, according to a person with knowledge of the plans.
"This is huge validation for the stuff we've been working so hard on," Crowley said. "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."
Foursquare, which has struggled to generate sales in almost five years on the market, will get a new stream of data licensing revenue from the partnership, Crowley said. Foursquare's valuation has been stagnant since 2011.
Microsoft and American Express were both vying for a stake in Foursquare last year. Microsoft has been courting start-ups to add features to its phones and tablets, which lag behind Apple and Android in the number of applications available to users.
Cortana, named for the artificially intelligent character in Microsoft's popular Halo video game series, is scheduled to be part of the Windows Phone 8.1 release, to be shown within several months, according to a person familiar with the project and Foursquare agreement, who asked not to be identified because details haven't been made public.
As part of the deal, Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft will gain access to more of Foursquare's data than the company makes available publicly and to other partners. That data would allow Microsoft, with a user's permission, to push out tips, suggestions and discounts tied to a person's location, said Zig Serafin, a vice-president in Microsoft's Bing search unit.
"We're building some contextually aware experiences to power some upcoming products in Windows Phone," Serafin said. "This will be for anywhere you get a Bing-powered experience." // brisbanetimes
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