Tag: MQVibe

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MQVibe has a launch date, October 13

MQVibe Launch

I’ve been writing about AOL’s MQVibe since September when I first reported about the trademark filings and domain registrations having to do with NVibe and MQVibe.  

I wrote an article earlier this week where I revealed never-before-known details about the project, after I was able to glean more information from the website by sleuthing various web pages and source code that is no longer available, because AOL has since blocked access to the pages.

For starters, MQVibe appears to be a Google Places-like service using MapQuest that lets you rate and review neighborhood businesses/hotspots and will be integrated with Facebook.  Each place in MQVibe will be described by its vibe score and its underlying factors, which according to code that I took a screenshot of before it was taken down, are based on crowd-sourced user behavior and physical characteristics of the place, such as the category and location of local businesses, density, features of the urban geography, and demographics.

Now, according to an “advance look” invitation (pictured above) that was posted online by TechKnow Bytes, select tech writers and news sites have been invited to get a preview of MQVibe today and the official unveiling will take place Thursday, October 13, at 8am EST.

Expect a lot more coverage tomorrow, when writers who attend today’s web event are no longer “embargoed” from writing about the product.

If you can’t wait to get a look at the upcoming MQVibe, you’ll be able to learn more details here.

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A peek at AOL’s MQVibe: Neighborhood hotspots, rankings, & reviews

Mapquest mqVibe

Several tech blogs have speculated about AOL’s MQVibe since I first reported on AOL filing trademarks and registering domains having to do with NVibe and MQVibe in September.  

AOL ended any doubt that it had plans to build upon MapQuest, after launching a “Coming Soon” teaser page just over a week ago that revealed little new information, except that “Something cool is coming to your neighborhood”.

I gleaned a little more information from the yet-to-be-launched website by typing in different web addresses using the home page URL as a starting point http://mqvibe.mapquest.com/comingsoon, then viewing the source.

Based on what I found, it appears MQVibe will provide a Google Places-like service that lets you rate and review neighborhood businesses/hotspots.  On MQVibe, neighborhoods and hotspots will be given a ranking based on factors such as Vibe Score, Walkability, Popularity, Edginess and more.

While the site is far from being accessible by the public, a few pages on the site can be viewed. 

Here’s what I have found out about MQVibe, after just a few minutes of surfing the pages.

  • The subtitle for MQVibe is “Neighborhood Hotspots, Rankings & Reviews”.
  • The site will be integrated with Facebook.  The Facebook page for Neighborhoodvibe will be located at: http://www.facebook.com/NeighborhoodVIBE 
  • You will be able to invite your Facebook friends to vote on hot neighborhoods and local hotspots and post items to your Facebook wall. 
  • Neighborhoods and hotspots will receive a vibe rank that you’ll be able to vote up or down.
  • Each place in MQVibe will be described by its vibe score and its underlying factors. These factors are based on crowd-sourced user behavior and physical characteristics of the place, such as the category and location of local businesses, density, features of the urban geography, and demographics.
  • You will only be able to vote once every two weeks.
  • You will be able to quickly search by neighborhood or city according to a search form on the home page.
  • MQVibe appears to be or is in alpha testing, according to a “Send Alpha feedback” link that appears at the top of several internal pages http://about.nvibe.com/help/report-issue/ 
  • The Report Issue page offers some of the most telling information about the site’s features (shown in the picture above).  Using the Report Issue page, users can: suggest a hotspot, or correct a hotspot name or boundary; suggest adding a business that is missing; suggest a correction to the details of an existing business; report an issue with the ranking of a local business; report a business that is closed is still in the rankings; and report an issue with the neighborhood scores (Vibe Score, Walkability, Popularity, Edginess, etc.).
  • Neighborhoodvibe will be the website’s blog and will use WordPress as its publishing platform.  The blog will be located at http://nvibe.mapquest.com/.
  • The placeholder page for MQVibe online help can found at http://mqhelp.mapquest.com/mqvibe/.
  • A link in the footer refers to MQVibe as “Business Center”.

AOL has been pretty quiet about the site and has not announced a release date as of yet.

Discussion: ReadWriteWeb

Update 1, October 12, 2011 3:43AM EST:  AOL has now blocked or password protected nearly all the pages that were publicly accessible.

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AOL teases mqVibe launch: Something cool is coming to your neighborhood

mqVibe

I have written about AOL’s rumored plans to launch a neighborhood social networking service using MapQuest called “nVibe” and “mqVibe” in the last two weeks, after I found that AOL had filed a number of related trademarks and registered domains around the terms ‘NVibe’ and ‘Neighborhood Vibe’, as well as mqVibe.   

Today, AOL put up a teaser page on MapQuest.com at the following web address: http://mqvibe.mapquest.com/comingsoon

A message on the homepage reads: Something cool is coming to your neighborhood.

The one page website features nothing more than links to the official MapQuest accounts on Facebook and Twitter.

Once again, here’s a quick look at each of the trademarks, which are similar to the NVibe filings.

Serial Number: 85424935
Providing information and news in the field of local business

Serial Number: 85424931
Providing geographic information, destination information, interactive maps, and driving directions via computer and communications networks; Providing information, news, and commentary in the field of travel via computer and communications networks

Serial Number: 85424926
Providing a website that enables users to connect with people in a particular neighborhood or city; Providing user-defined content and content of others selected and customized based on the known or estimated geographical location of users

Serial Number: 85424918
Online social networking services; online local and community social networking services

At the time of this story, AOL has not officially announced anything about mqVibe.

Discussion: ReadWriteWeb

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AOL launching more than just NVibe; MapQuest network ‘MQVibe’ added to mix

MapQuest Vibe

Last week I wrote about AOL’s rumored plans to launch a neighborhood social networking site called NVibe, after I found that AOL had filed a number of related trademarks and domains around the terms ‘NVibe’ and ‘Neighborhood Vibe’.   

Now, it looks like AOL may have bigger plans for its so-called Vibe network, this time with a MapQuest service called: MQVibe.

Not only has AOL owned the domain names MQVibe.com  and MapQuestVibe.com since July 2011 (both of which re-direct to mapquest.com), this week AOL Inc. filed four  trademarks applications for MQVibe with the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

Here’s a quick look at each of the trademarks, which are similar to the NVibe filings.

Serial Number: 85424935
Providing information and news in the field of local business

Serial Number: 85424931
Providing geographic information, destination information, interactive maps, and driving directions via computer and communications networks; Providing information, news, and commentary in the field of travel via computer and communications networks

Serial Number: 85424926
Providing a website that enables users to connect with people in a particular neighborhood or city; Providing user-defined content and content of others selected and customized based on the known or estimated geographical location of users

Serial Number: 85424918
Online social networking services; online local and community social networking services