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Hey International Friends, we’re here for you!

We’ve heard your pleas - never fear, international users, we’ve got you covered!

If you’re a user running your phone in a language other than English, you’ll have noticed a little snag accessing Sonar. Mea culpa, friends! We want everyone anywhere to get to experience the magic of Sonar, so rest assured, we are working on it!

In the meantime, here’s a quick fix for all of our amigos and amis abroad:

If your phone is in a different language, you’ll have to switch language settings on your phone over to English first, and then download and open the app. Open your app, and voilà! you too can start meeting and greeting the folks all around you!

Not a fan of keeping your phone in English? No problem. You can switch back to your preferred language afterwards and Sonar will still run smoothly. 

If you’re still having problems, hit us up at feedback@sonar.me and we’ll keep tinkering!

Cheers

Sonar Teams Up with WIRED!

Who isn’t obsessed with WIRED Magazine? We’ve been nerding out over the hard copy—and now we dig the fab iPad issues—since we could read (which was around when it launched, in January 1993…what?). We had the chance to work with WIRED last June when we were featured at NExTWORK, an event they put on with The Economist, alongside Sean Parker, Bre from MakerBot, Jimmy Fallon, Internet Founding Father Vint Cerf, and the freaking CTO OF AMERICA. Ahem. We’d say it was a highlight.

This week we’re introducing our own hot promotion with WIRED, a collaboration around the annual WIRED Holiday Pop-Up Store, opening Friday in New York. We’re pumped to be teaming up with WIRED to create the Retail Experience of the Future. We all saw Minority Report. We all know that one day the future will offer us specific product recommendations and in-store experiences designed and delivered for each individual visitor. Well stand back, folks and hold onto your credit cards. It’s here.

Visit the WIRED Store between this Friday, November 18 and Christmas Eve, pop open Sonar, and take the WIRED Insider Quiz, answering just a few quick questions to find out which WIRED Insider you are (or make guesses about whomever you’re shopping for…if buying presents is something you’re into). You’ll immediately find out exactly what you should be sure not to miss and be able to hop right to the product pages to purchase.  Tweet your findings, or post them to Facebook, and who knows… maybe it will be helpful if someone (anyone) is shopping for you.

Last night was the store opening!  Here’s the team on the Blue Carpet:

To read more about the event, check out this TNW story.

Feature Focus: The Itty Bitty Goodies You May Have Missed

Last month, we introduced a new version of the app.  The BIG news was that we added LinkedIn, but we also made a bunch of small adjustments you may have missed.  Here’s the rundown:

See Facebook Likes. This feature is often obscured by people’s Facebook settings, but, when it’s not, you can see someone’s Likes, including what you have in common. Great conversation starter. And a neat thing to uncover - event with close friends!

Carousel.  When you’re looking at someone’s profile that has more than one acct linked to 4sq, you can access the carousel feature - located at the bottom of the screen. You can quickly view the person’s different profiles (and connections) by selecting the different views.

Swipe! Once viewing someone’s profile, you can swipe the screen to see other peeps at the venue.  Just click anywhere on the screen and drag to the left or right. Like reading in iBooks! It lets you scan the room super fast and decide who you want to meet.

Look for more new features in the upcoming build - coming soon!

Love,

The Sonar Crew

People You May Know

Well, they did it again. Facebook updated their user interface and everyone is dizzy trying to figure out where to find things.  (I, personally, like this update) With all the hullaballu, it’s easy to forget what we love about the service and why we spend so much time on it. Namely: faces, people, connections and communication.  

And even with the multitude of features popping up every month, my eye always veers to the right side of the screen, landing squarely on “People You May Know.” 

“Who are these people?” I ask myself.  Do we go to school together?  Are they in my volleyball league?  Have they been slowly befriending all my friends in the hopes of appearing in the “People you may know” section of my profile?  

And then…I click on their name and I’m instantly combing through dozens of photos, wondering why I haven’t been on a cruise in ten years and reflecting on how much cuter adults look when they’re carrying babies.

It’s the same deal on LinkedIn. Though there, I know right away how we’re connected.  We go to school together. I’m in the Social Media Marketing group with this one.  That one lectured on “Gen Y Affluents.”

So…the problem is…TIME SUCK!  I sit at my computer, looking at these people’s photos instead of running around outside in the world.

That’s one of the things I love about Sonar: it allows me to access this stuff, but in real time, when I’m bored at a conference, when I want to look occupied at a bar.  I can still check out, learn about and connect with people, but I can actively engage in the world around me while I’m doing it. Plus, it lets me see multiple facets of their life: personal through Facebook, professional through LinkedIn and whateva they want on Twitter all in one place. And, if I’m lucky and brave enough, I can actually walk up and talk to the person I’ve been reading about!

Speaking of Twitter, they have a similar feature “Who to follow,” but I never really look at it.  Twitter’s good for other stuff though.

Let us know about your tales of connecting and scoping out buddies’ buddies. We want to hear from you!

Hugs,

Javier, Sonar Community Manager

Check out Sonar on Facebook and Twitter!

Impromptu Rendezvous at Pain Quotidien

Here at Sonar, we’re really excited about the way Sonar helps make connections happen.  You might even call it “magical.”  We are so excited about how people are using Sonar to connect, we’d like to share some of those connections with you!!  Here’s but one of the many real life connections facilitated by Sonar this month:

@Trace_Cohen is a publicist, social media fanatic and aspiring entrepreneur.

@ngavronsky is an entrepreneur, creator, starter, hustler and tech lover.

They both live in NYC, hang out with a lot of the same people, and have similar interests, but they had never actually met or talked to each other. Earlier this month, they both attended the same small gathering at Le Pain Quotidien during Internet Week New York.  They’ll definitely talk to each other, right?  The only problem is, they’re on opposite ends of that huge “communal” Pain Quotidien table (below).

Luckily…they both checked in.  @Trace_Cohen on Foursquare and @ngavronsky on Sonar.  Nick noticed he and Trace shared 132 Twitter friends and decided to Tweet at him. (see Tweet stream below) Trace responded and they ended up networking at the event.  Sonar, and all their shared interests, gave them something to talk about.  Serendipity facilitated!

Would they have eventually met on their own?  Maybe, but probably not.  Most people end up talking to the people plopped down next to them, but, with Sonar, Nick and Trace were able to connect with the most relevant people in the room, each other. Is this meeting life changing?  Who knows, but it’s way better than leaving things to chance!

We’re really jazzed about helping make real connections like this one a reality.

We’d love to hear your Sonar stories on our Facebook page or via Twitter.  Like/Follow us for daily updates!  

- Javier, Sonar Community Manager

“Duh. I know my girlfriend is here. We just walked in together.”

You already know that Sonar shows you your hidden connections when you check in through the Sonar app, but you may not know that, even when you check in through another compatible service (just Foursquare for now), you get a “ping” from Sonar telling you if one of your friends is at the same location.

To illustrate:  You’re flying from L.A. to Cleveland to visit your family for Father’s Day.  You check in to LAX through Foursquare. Your high school buddy and Facebook friend, Chuck, checked in thirty minutes ago.  Sonar will “ping” you to let you know that Chuck has checked in there.  And you guys can spend the hour before your flight catching up.

That type of facilitated serendipity is what Sonar is all about.  We work in the background finding connections you would have otherwise missed!

That said, we’ve received some feedback that two friends or a couple will check in to the same location (like Internet Week HQ) and Sonar “pings” one of them.  “Duh.  I know my girlfriend is here.  We just walked in together.”  

The new update eliminates Pings when you check into the same location where one of your Facebook friends has already checked in.  You’ll still get Pings for second degree connections and you’ll still see immediate friends when you check in through Sonar.
 
This feature is subject to change as we continue to tinker with our algorithms to maximize your serendipity.  Let us know what you think!

- Javier, Sonar Community Manager

Helping you more easily connect

Here at Sonar, our #1 priority is User Experience: helping you easily connect to people nearby.  We’re constantly compiling user feedback and thinking about how we can make Sonar’s current and future functionality better for you, the user.

From time to time, we will have updates or new features that require a more in-depth explanation than the description on the iTunes store.  When that happens, one of our talented developers will make an appearance on the blog to describe the change, why we made it, and how it will affect you.  We encourage you to leave comments on the change and ask any questions.

We also encourage you to send us feedback directly at feedback@sonar.me or via Twitter at @sonarme.  If you request a feature and follow @sonarme, we’ll DM when the feature becomes available.

- Javier, Sonar Community Manager