Foursquare is reportedly in talks with multiple companies about a potential strategic investment, and one of them is Microsoft.
Bloomberg first reported the news, citing people with knowledge of the situation, then later reported that Microsoft specifically is in advanced stage talks with the company.
The news comes after Foursquare launched its Windows 8 app on Wednesday, which you can read more about here.
One could imagine a financial relationship between the two companies leading to some new Bing integration.
Foursquare also announced today that it is launching some new stuff for Android, like the ability to use your phone’s loation to get nearby recommendations. The company says in a blog post:
We think of this feature like a sixth sense; proactive recommendations of things you didn’t even know you were looking for. In the past, it’s been a challenge, mostly because of issues with battery drain and location accuracy.
With our launch today, we’ve moved past those challenges. With over 4 billion check-ins, our location accuracy has hugely improved. With more than 32 million tips, you’ve told us about great things worth discovering all around the world. When we tried this two years ago (remember, Radar?) it was about reminding you to check in and letting you know when you were close to places you saved to lists. Today, with everything that Foursquare has learned about the world, it can be proactive recommendations – helping you discover the greatest things nearby without even having to open the app.
You’ll hardly notice any impact on battery life now, according to the company. Foursquare will also ping you when you sit at a new place where your friend left a tip.
This stuff is rolling out today to “thousands” of Android users, and then to the rest of Android users later. Then, IOS.