Peter Hall once again takes the microphone for this post on our Memphis Startup Ecosystem.

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Miles from Silicon Valley, Memphis is home to two location based mobile applications.  The iPhone has opened up an entire network for entrepreneurs to test their ideas by selling applications through Apple.  Major companies like Geiko, Facebook, and HBO have Apps to convey information to their consumers.  There are also soon to be popular location-based apps from Memphis startups NRange (App: http://bit.ly/9VVRFV) and MarksMenus (App: http://bit.ly/9HsoAp) that are unique and useful.

As a golfer, I have trouble judging the distance to the hole from various locations on the course (usually in the woods or sand traps!).  That’s where NRange comes in to play.  Now, I can just pull out my iPhone, Blackberry, or other smartphone, find the course that I am playing and see an aerial map of my specific hole with a distance to the front/back of the green, as well as to the pin.  With over 19,000 courses in the NRange database, it is powerful.  Even the public courses that I prefer in Memphis are mapped out.  It also includes a built in score card, advanced stats, and records for each hole.  As an amateur golfer, I could go out and easily spend a couple hundred dollars on a GPS designed specifically for golf, or I could merely log into iTunes and download it for free.

After I play my round of golf, I often enjoy a bite to eat.  Perhaps I’m really in the mood for Mexican food but prefer not to spend my time searching for a restaurant.  Here I may pull up my MarksMenus app while standing in Midtown Memphis and type in burrito.  Before I know it, I am met with a list beginning with Los Compadres; I click on it and it pulls up a complete menu with prices and reviews for each specific dish.  Maybe I start to get a “Memphis” craving and want to head downtown; I simply search for a certain dish like Ribs in Downtown Memphis.  It will show me a map to each choice.

Both MarksMenus and NRange are Memphis tech startups that participated in the LaunchMemphis entrepreneurial action programs.  Once mere ideas, these two companies have gained momentum and continue to grow more popular by the day.

Both are considered “location based mobile applications” in that they use GPS to locate and pinpoint attractions.  This “hyper localization” is the frontier of social media, advertising, and consumer engagement.  Destinations can now interface with consumers with meaningful information to guide experiences.

Congrats to MarksMenus and NRange for turning their their vision into reality.

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Written by Peter Hall, a Rhodes College sophomore and big supporter of LaunchMemphis.  For more information on LaunchMemphis, go to http://www.LaunchMemphis.com

Entreprenuership, golf, iphone, LaunchMemphis, MarksMenus, NRange, restaurant, Rhodes College, Startups, Technology Business & Innovation