Visitors will now see a link to explore nearby restaurants, shops, nightlife and “top picks,” foursquare’s top recommended venues across any category. The links point visitors to the desktop version of foursquare Explore, which lists their recommended spots (filtered by the appropriate category) and plots them on a map.

The links don’t add any new functionality to foursquare, but they do make it more useful for planning a night out. It’s perfect for picking a restaurant (with help from the menus by SinglePlatform) and then finding bars nearby with the nightlife button, or searching for a place to eat after the next football game with a single click.

Foursquare certainly isn’t the first local search site to add these kinds of links on individual venue pages; you’ve seen them for years on sites like Yelp and TripAdvisor. But where foursquare sets themselves apart is by pointing to personalized recommendations that are based on the places users and their friends have visited in the past. In fact, you must have a foursquare account to even browse the Explore listings (which could be seen as a drawback for non-members). It’s this personalization — based on more than two billion check-ins — that continues to set foursquare apart from the local search pack.

What do you think of the new links? Do they make it easier to find recommendations?

Foursquare adds nearby recommendations to venue pages originally appeared on About Foursquare

The badge will be available from 6pm to 2am on each day of the concerts when users check in at the SM Mall of Asia Arena. It’s considered a super swarm badge, so it will only unlock after 250 people have checked in. Two winners at each night of the concert will be selected from everyone who unlocked the badge to win Samsung Galaxy Nexus phones.

In another first, Smart has announced that they have no problem with people checking in to the arena when they’re not there — even if that means they win one of the phones:

People who are not in the SM Mall of Asia Arena can still check-in and join the promo. We allow jumpers and we like to share our badge to everyone — even if you’re just at home while we are dancing with Mother Monster!

This badge is offered by Smart Communications, the internet and mobile division of the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company. It’s part of a partnership between foursquare and the mobile phone provider that results in prime placement for the foursquare app and an SMS gateway for the service that allows non-smartphone users to check in.

What do you think of the badge?

PS This badge has a slightly wider shield shape than all the other partner badges. Could this be a new trend going forward?

The Philippines get their first exclusive badge courtesy of Smart originally appeared on About Foursquare

To unlock the badge, you’ll need to first be following London 2012 on foursquare. When the torch relay reaches your city, check in to your nearest Olympic Torch Relay venue. The unlock text for the badge reads:

 8,000 miles. 8,000 stories. From Land’s End to Lerwick, Lowestoft to Enniskillen, you’re somewhere on the London 2012 Olympic Torch Relay route. Find out when the Flame is coming and line the streets to cheer on your local Torchbearers! This is your moment to shine.

You can keep up with the relay and find detailed maps using the new London 2012 Join In app for iPhone or Android. It will serve as a spectator guide throughout the games, with schedules, detailed venue information and more. You’ll even be able to check in with foursquare.

This is the first Summer Olympics to arrive since the launch of foursquare in 2009. We expect to see several more badges launched around the games.

Foursquare badge aside, I hope you’ll find a way to see the torch if it visits your town. I had the opportunity to see it in the run-up to the Salt Lake City games in 2002 and it was quite a moving experience.

Line the Streets of the Olympic Torch Relay for a foursquare badge originally appeared on About Foursquare

The badge will be available to foursquare users who follow Sony Xperia Football and check in at the Sony Ericsson Hotspot at the stadium in Munich either today or tomorrow during the game. The unlock text reads:

Kits as far as the eye can see! What could be better than watching your team win today? A chance to win a brand new Sony Xperia™ S. Just email […] to enter. Visit sonymobile.com/uclt&cs for T&Cs. Sony is a Partner of UEFA Champions League.

This year’s badge features the same look as last year’s, but carries a slightly different name (“football” as opposed to “footy”) and different unlock text. Despite the similarity, you can unlock the new badge even if you earned the old one.

UEFA Champions League is sponsoring their own badge for the match. Unlike Sony’s, it is available worldwide simply by checking in wherever you’re watching the game and including “UEFA Champions League” in your shout.

Sony’s Xperia Football Final badge returns for 2012 with chance to win an Xperia S originally appeared on About Foursquare

As with all the city badges, you’ll need to check in to five of foursquare’s recommended venues in each city to unlock the badge.

Mexico City

Mexico City gets the Tenochtitlan badge. The unlock text reads:

¡Órale! You’re the master of La Ciudad de los Palacios, from its many museums to the Zócalo! You dine on tortas de tamal at breakfast, huaraches at lunch and tacos—well—all the time. Now, hop on the metro and meet us at the cantina. ¡Vámonos de antro!

Doha, Qatar

The Doha Denizen badge comes to Doha. Its unlock text reads:

From singing dunes, to dune bashing, you’ve got the desert down! Spend your weekend cruising on a dhow with some friends, then head to the Souq for a shisha, why don’t ya? Or go the low-key route and relax at home with some karak tea. Fallah!

Santiago, Chile

Santiago’s new badge is Santiaguino a full. The unlock text reads:

City to the front, Andes to the back! When you’re not soaking up some culture at the GAM, you’re jogging around the Parque Metropolitano, taking in the sun. And when hunger strikes, it’s off to Paseo Ahumada to devour a completo. ¡Bacán!

Which of these three is your favorite?

City badges land for Doha, Mexico City and Santiago originally appeared on About Foursquare

This week they’ve made a big announcement: they’re launching a foursquare check-in special at all 8,300+ stores, making them one of the largest retailers to ever offer a true foursquare special. The deal offers $10 off a $25 purchase of Yellow Dot Apparel & Shoes and runs through this weekend (5/20).

Once you’ve unlocked the special by checking in, a code will appear for the cashier to enter. Simply show them your phone to redeem the offer.

To find your nearest Dollar General, visit their page on foursquare.

What do you think of the deal?

Dollar General launches nationwide foursquare special originally appeared on About Foursquare

Fans can unlock the badge by following UEFA.com on foursquare and checking in at the stadium during the festivities in the run-up to the match or by including “UEFA Champions League” in their shout when they check in during the game, wherever they happen to be watching it. The unlock text reads:

Congratulations! You have just unlocked the exclusive 2012 UEFA Champions League final badge. After beating Europe’s best, it all comes down to this for Chelsea and Bayern, enjoy the match!

“This is going to be a true digital festival,” said Alexandre Fourtoy, UEFA’s Director of Communications, in a press release. ”Our goal is to engage fans in Munich, as well as those around the world, in the UEFA Champions League final festivities by using a range of digital platforms that are easy to use and interact with. We hope that the new Foursquare activation coupled with Google+ hangouts will bring the finals of the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Women’s Champions League to life for those fans who can’t attend the event.”

Last year’s badge was sponsored by Sony Ericcsson, but was only available at the game itself.

What do you think of the badge?

UEFA Champions League Final gets a badge for the second year in a row originally appeared on About Foursquare

With a bonus like that, you’d never oust me as Mayor.

The ‘wichcraft deal is the best foursquare Mayor special I’ve seen. Most places with a free dining deal for the Mayor offer it just once per week or only on certain days.

The very generous particulars, according to ‘wichcraft, are:

The mayor of each location is invited to dine in or take out one meal per day. The mayor’s complimentary meal includes a hand-crafted sandwich or an entrée-sized salad or a soup & ½ sandwich combination, as well as a beverage and a signature ’wichcraft cream’wich.

‘wichcraft has locations in New York City, San Francisco and Las Vegas.

What do you think of the new ‘wichcraft deal?

If there were a ‘wichcraft around here, there’s no way you’d ever oust me as Mayor originally appeared on About Foursquare

Users will be able to unlock the badge by following Variety and their Cannes Film Festival list, then checking in to one of the venues on the list. The venues include a variety of restaurants and hotels around the Cannes area and Variety has left a tip at each one featuring their recommendations.

The unlock text reads:

You’ve found one of Variety’s favorite spots to rub elbows with the Power Players. Now go brag to your agent. But this is one payday they don’t get 10% of.

Variety says that by unlocking the badge, you’ll “qualify for a chance to win event tickets, VIP experiences and more,” although it’s unclear what those prizes are or how you could win them.

Will you be in Cannes? What do you think of the badge?

Variety and foursquare launch a badge for the Cannes Film Festival originally appeared on About Foursquare

Like standard Facebook check-ins (or place tags), your foursquare check-ins now appear on the Facebook map found at the top of user timelines. Any photos posted with the check-in also appear there. When you check in at a business with a Facebook page, you’ll find that the check-in is linked to the proper page.

Strangely, the check-ins do not appear in the “nearby” view found in the Facebook mobile apps.

Foursquare was originally named as a launch partner for Facebook’s Places initiative (including an on-stage appearance by VP of Mobile and Partnerships Holger Luedorf at the launch event), but never integrated with it. Sending that data to Facebook (in a way they could actually use it programatically) was seen by many as a raw deal for foursquare since they’d be handing valuable location history data to Facebook.

Previously, foursquare reported that approximately 20% of check-ins were shared with Facebook. This change means it makes sense to send more of your interesting check-ins to Facebook since they actually have a lasting appearance on the site. As foursquare’s new history page does for browsing our personal history, this now makes it possible for our friends’ to browse our location history (at least what’s shared with Facebook) and see the places we’ve been.

What do you think of the change?

/Thanks to David Wilder for the tip!

Foursquare check-ins posted to Facebook finally appear on the timeline map originally appeared on About Foursquare