Last week, we announced Whrrl v2.3 for the iPhone launched in the Apple App Store. We’re very excited about this latest upgrade because it includes several new features that we think you’ll really enjoy. This release is also a major step towards fulfilling our product vision. If you missed Jeff Holden‘s blog post about our vision, you can read it here. (You can also read what TechCrunch wrote about the new Whrrl here).

Today, Whrrl v2.3 launches in its entirety, including the introduction of Whrrl Societies and Fun Facts. Now with Whrrl, you’ll be able to:

• Check in to the places you go and put yourself on the grid. At happy hour? At brunch? At the mall? Check in anywhere.
• Discover Fun Facts about your social relationships with the places you go. Think about the places you regularly visit. How often have you been there relative to your friends? Where do people go next?
• Unlock memberships into Societies with people that have real-world patterns like yours. Have you ever wondered who else goes to the same places you do? How often? When? Find out who else is a member of your societies and share with people who have the same interests.
• Share and Like Individual Slides. You can now share out individual notes and photos. Your friends can also “like” your individual check-ins, photos and notes in real time while you’re out and about. Ask your friends what bag to buy, what to eat for lunch. Put anything up towards a vote.

But that’s not all. We’ve also taken the red ribbon off Whrrl.com. Now you’ll be able to view and sort your check- ins by people, places and neighborhoods. See what societies you and your friends are in. View a live feed of your friend’s activity. Whrrl makes it possible to search within your life!

What do you think of Whrrl v2.3 and Whrrl.com? We’d love to hear! Email us: feedback@whrrl.com.

Happy Whrrling!

John Kim

John Kim is Vice President of Product Management & Marketing at Pelago, makers of Whrrl. You can read more about John here or friend him on Whrrl here.

Today is a very exciting day for Whrrl! We’ve got some really exciting news just announced from the BlogWorld Expo conference in Las Vegas.

Pelago has forged an exclusive partnership with Collective Bias (the social media unit of MARS) to produce a co-branded mobile shopping solution. This product will leverage Whrrl’s location-based and social technologies to offer consumers in-store promotions, coupons and discounts right to their iPhone – and at the point of purchase. Collective Bias will offer this mobile shopping solution to their clients, which include Hershey, Smart & Final, Colgate, ELF Cosmetics, Genesis Today, among others. You can read the entire press release here.

What does this mean for Pelago, Whrrl and you? Really great things! The shopping solution will not impact Whrrl as it stands today, but only enhance the product so users have access to more relevant information and promotions when they visit selected stores We will be working with the Collective Bias community to develop the best in-store experiences. More info will come in the near future, but for now, we’re excited to hear your thoughts and answer any questions you have about the announcement. If you’d like to be involved, let us know.

As always, our developers are constantly working to improve the Whrrl experience and we take into account ALL of your feedback. The entire Whrrl team looks forward to hearing from you, and you can personally e-mail me at johnkim (at)pelago.com with any questions, suggestions or feedback.

Summer vacation pics? First day of school? Capture life’s memories on the go or on the web

Did you know that you can pull together all of your memories in one place by creating a story on Whrrl.com? Upload your photos, narrate the story, share your location, and tag friends in so they can add their own updates. Done? Share the story directly from Whrrl.com as a status update on Facebook and Twitter, and email it to whomever you’d like.

Facebook Updates Just Got Better

Now when you post an update on Facebook from your iPhone, it will automatically include a map of your location and the first two images from your Whrrl story. It’s one more way to share your stories with friends and family.

Create Communities with Featured Topics

Want to start a community? Then check out the new Featured Topics on Whrrl.com. You can start a group for every topic you love. Just add a pound sign before your topic and you’re finished. Topics are searchable on Whrrl.com and bring all results on one page – check out #wiimoms or #food as an example.

BlogHer ‘09 was a fantastic event. I, personally, learned so much. Women really do party just as hard as men. See the Whrrl stories from BlogHer here.

There was Nakedness

Cheeseburgers

Fist fights

Drunk Tweeting

And did you know there is a product that women can use to pee standing up?

You really can’t miss this event. Besides the BlogHer ruckus and debauchery, we enjoyed meeting many people we follow on Twitter. We are still writing notes to the people who own all the business cards we collected. In the meantime, we can at least highlight them in a #FollowFriday post. Follow these tweeps and you’ll know who you must meet at BlogHer ‘10.

And don’t forget to follow us, too!

whrrl
jkimlosangeles
heathermeeker
ecrabb

Since launching Whrrl 2.0, we have received some great suggestions about ways to make our new product even better. We’ve listened intently to your feedback and are thrilled to announce many of your suggestions have been implemented in our latest release, Whrrl v2.1.

Whrrl v2.1 for the iPhone is available starting today and has several of the most requested enhancements, including:

Easily add people into your stories

• Now you can add friends and family into a story in just seconds from your phone contact list or through networks on Whrrl, Facebook and Twitter.
• Adding people into stories is the easiest way for them to immediately begin posting photos and updates to your shared story. No more tracking down photos after the fact!

Been there? See who else has, too

• When you create a story from a location, you can also see other Whrrl users that have visited that same place.
• What should you order at dinner? No problem. What seats are best at the sports arena? Simple. Check out past Whrrl stories to discover fun, interesting information about the places you frequent and new locations you’re visiting.

More Control – right from your phone

• Stories can now be customized by adding a story title and captions to your photos.
• Whether you’re having a bad hair day or wrote an update you don’t like, simply delete it from your phone.
• We want you to have the control right at your fingertips – and you can continue to edit stories from the Web, too.

Thank you to everyone who provided us feedback, with special thanks to some of our greatest contributors:

@anthonystevens – Anthony Stevens
@anwith1n – An Bui
@bmw – Brian Westbrook
@claidheamdanns – Gavin Anderson
@daddyclaxton – Donald Claxton
@daniellemorrill – Danielle Morrill
@daveschappell – Dave Schappell
@debrauson – Debra Uson
@dm5272 – Diogenes Martinez
@ericmaino – Eric Maino
@firewallender – Cassie Wallender
@HannahS1 – Hannah Summerfelt
@hardlynormal – Mark Horvath
@hsukenooi – Hsu Ken
@jennfowler – Jenn Fowler
@jessicaknows – Jessica Smith
@jessicagottlieb – Jessica Gottlieb
@Lulau – Stephan Noll
@momfluential – Ciaran Blumenfeld
@mulka – Kyle Mulka
@raygsmn – Ray Schiel
@ReneeJRoss – Renee Ross
@skiphunt – Skip Hunt
@spacecowgurl – Amy Devon
@VikDuggal – Vik Duggal

We have an exciting wish list of features planned over the next few months as we continue to make storytelling a part of your everyday life. However, we’re always looking for feedback and I look forward to your continued emails, phone calls, tweets and commentary. You can also feel free to email me personally at johnkim (at) pelago.com.

See the press release here.

SXSW was a Whrrl wind! There is so much to talk about that it’s tough to know where to start.

This was my first time at SXSW so I wasn’t sure what to expect. Our goal was to successfully launch Whrrl v2.0, but there was so much more going on. I attended some panels. I spent a lot of time in the Techset Blogger Lounge meeting influential people. I was one of the few lucky ones to receive a bandana – my invite to Guy Kawasaki’s BBQ. I stayed out WAY too late, drank gallons of coffee and downed more sugar-free Red Bull than should be allowed by law. And, I thoroughly enjoyed our launch party at Red Eyed Fly.

Take a look at some of our stories:
Guy Kawasaki’s secret SXSW BBQ
Backdrop photos by WM Marc at Red Eye Fly Party
Parachute rocked Red Eyed Fly at SXSW!
Mashable Party at Six
Sunday at SXSW Techset Blogger Lounge

For all the panels, parties and networking, the best part of SXSW was meeting some truly amazing people. There was an A-List of the “who’s who” at the conference, and many of whom I had met – like Erin Kotecki Vest, Brian Solis, Stephanie Agresta, and the list goes on- and many I looked forward to meeting for the first time.

Here is my list of the top ten Social Media rockstars that I met at SXSW (in no particular order). I believe everyone should meet these influential folks in 2009:

#10 YimGnome

Search #yimgnome on Twitter
Created by Lindsay Yaw @lindsyaw and Lauren Cook @laurencook
As soon I saw YimGnome, I had to have a picture of him. The founders of Swarm Collective – Lindsey Yaw and Lauren Cook – have a small agency out of Boulder, CO and cooked up YimGnome as a social experiment. The goal? To see how many people would randomly take a picture of him and follow his adventures on Twitter. I believe YimGnome is the type of experimentation that will put these two on the map. If you meet YimGnome, be sure to take a picture and send it to me – we’ll feature it on Whrrl!

#7 Melissa Pierce

Documentary Filmmaker
www.lifeinperpetualbeta.com
@melissapierce
Melissa produces ‘Life in Perpetual Beta’, a documentary film about the ways in which technology was/is/will change the ways in which we think about ourselves as individuals and as a society. She is every bit as irreverent, funny and sassy as she exudes in her videos, tweets and blog. My favorite tweet to date, “Sleep is the new black.” I never miss a blog post from Melissa, and you won’t want to, either.

#5 Katja Presnal

PR/Marketing Consultant
www.skimbacolifestyle.com
@KatjaPresnal
I had been on Twitter for almost a year before I really understood it. That all changed when Katja opened my eyes to the power of Twitter through one of her #followfriday parties. Because of her, I had more followers in one day than I had accumulated in my first year. When I met Katja, I asked how she got into blogging, and she said a number of bloggers helped her when she was creating her website. And now she helps others with her blog, which is focused on giving moms the tools to live life to the fullest. Meet her and you’ll double your Twitter following.

#4 Lucretia M. Pruitt

Blogger
http://geekmommy.net/
@Geek Mommy
Lucretia started her blog – geekmommy- to express the whole “21st Century Mom” experience. I met her at Brian Solis’ book signing – “How to Put the Public Back in Public Relations”. She wanted to know my story, so I showed her Whrrl. Before I could take my next breath, she was already explaining it to Mack Collier and Jenn Fowler, two more influential Twitterati. Meet her and you will know exactly who to call when you need help on how something technically works – she’s a wiz.