Nokia FourSquare gift machine hints at a freebie geo-location future

Free shizzle, just for being where you are

Nokia FourSquare gift machine hints at a freebie geo-location future

22 September 2011 14:28 GMT / By Paul Lamkin

Up in Glasgow, at the city's Social Media Week, Nokia is getting busy giving away free gifts.

Nothing unusual there, big companies are always handing out goodies at trade shows and events to promote their brand. The giving is normally done by promo-girls in skimpy uniforms. The giving of free gifts that is - get your minds out of the gutter.

But what's unique about Nokia's giveaway is that it hints at a geo-targetted tourism future, where people are tempted into visiting places simply because they will gain out of it.

The Nokia Gift Machine is in partnership with geo-fans 1000heads and is powered by FourSquare. To get a free gift users have to open Foursquare on their phone, locate the Nokia Gift Machine, check-in using the #NokiaConnects hashtag and share to Twitter. A prize then drops out of the bottom.

Prizes, of which there are 1,000 available, range from chocolate bars imported from the States to smartphones.

James Whatley, marketing director at 1000heads, said, "The Nokia Gift Machine is Nokia's way of giving something back to the attendees of Social Media Week. Working with the very latest Foursquare APIs, as well as Foursquare's various teams Stateside to help create this awesome piece of tech has been a fantastic experience and overall, we couldn't be happier with the result."

We can imagine this sort of thing catching on. How about vending machines at train stations that give out toothbrushes to people who are prepared to tweet that they've been a dirty stop-out? Or condom machines in clubs offering up free protection if all sins are first confessed to the web?

How far would you go, and what would you tweet for

Via: engadget.com

Full tags
Phones, Nokia, Geocaching, Foursquare, Quidco, Social networking

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