The New York Times launches location based iPhone app

Posted by Ahmed on 3:20 PM


By Stephanie Goldberg, Special to CNN
June 4, 2010 -- Updated 2201 GMT (0601 HKT)
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STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • The Scoop is marketed as "an inside guide to New York"
  • It lists restaurants, bars, events and experiences -- to be updated regularly
  • A customer review said The Scoop primarily focuses on Manhattan and Brooklyn
(CNN) -- The New York Times launched an iPhone app Thursday to help users navigate New York City based on recommendations from its staffers.
The app, called The Scoop, is marketed as "an inside guide to New York."
It lists restaurants, bars, events and experiences -- to be updated regularly, according to iTunes.
Many of the food-related suggestions come from the New York Times's restaurant critic, Sam Sifton, who shares his 50 favorite New York restaurants, like Babbo in Greenwich Village and Bar Boulud on the Upper West Side.
Users can also check off the places they've been, receive recommendations based on their present location and share that information with their friends, similar to Foursquare.
A customer review posted by Sub-wayfarer said, The Scoop "should be called 'The Scoop -- Manhattan and Brooklyn.' Good, but like the rest of New York media, focuses almost exclusively on trendy places in Manhattan and Brooklyn while ignoring all the great, authentic, cheap eats in the other boroughs."
What do you think of location-based apps like The Scoop?