Facebook Preps Foursquare Rival

Can Foursquare survive a challenge from one of the internet’s giants? Facebook is preparing a rival geolocation “check-in” service. CNET says “It's going to take the form of an application programming interface (API) for third-party companies on the Facebook developer platform.” Facebook is being tight-lipped, but sources give CNET a few hints: For example, Facebook has told one start-up that is already using its developer platform that it should change its thumbs-up feature to “like,” which would be in line with the “like” buttons that appear on Facebook’s other features. Also, Facebook acquired a “check-in” service earlier this summer called Hot Potato that allows people to check into events, and not just locations.