Brightkite dumps check-ins to focus on text services

Brightkite, a pioneer in the location-based social networking segment when it first launched in 2007, will no longer incorporate check-ins, posting or stream viewing functionality into future versions of its mobile applications. According to Brightkite, the new version of its Android solution will instead emphasize texting services, including group messaging and location sharing. "Starting from 17th December, you can expect to see the check-in/posting and streams functions start to disappear from our apps and sites," reads a message on the Brightkite Blog. "These features were the defining element to our company two and three years ago, but we no longer believe they are sufficiently unique or defining to be our focus, so we are dropping them." Brightkite users have until Dec. 31 to back up their old posts and check-ins.

Mobile entertainment community Limbo acquired Brightkite in a nearly all-stock transaction finalized in April 2009; the combined firm continued to operate under the Brightkite brand, and reported more than 2 million active users worldwide in early 2010. But in recent months the company has seen its fortunes eclipsed by rival location-based startups like foursquare, Gowalla and Loopt--in addition, Facebook is making its own push into location-enabled social services.

For more:
- read this Brightkite blog entry

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