Brightkite shuts down messaging services, promises comeback

Brightkite, an early entrant in the location-based social networking segment before pivoting to messaging services, is changing course once again, shuttering its current incarnation but vowing to return with a new business model.

"This is not goodbye... we're just moving on to something better," reads the Brightkite.com homepage. "Watch this space. We have an update coming soon." TechCrunch reports Brightkite has removed its applications from Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) App Store and Google's (NASDAQ:GOOG) Android Market.

Brightkite first launched in 2007, offering location-enabled check-in services similar to foursquare and Gowalla (recently acquired by Facebook). 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 last December, the company abandoned check-ins, posting and stream viewing functionality, instead emphasizing texting services, including group messaging and location sharing.

For more:
- read this TechCrunch article

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Brightkite dumps check-ins to focus on text services
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