Remember Brightkite (http://www.crunchbase.com/company/brightkite)? Launched with the help of TechStars (http://techcrunch.com/2007/08/17/techstars-demo-day-class-of-2007/) back in August 2007, the location-based 'check-in' service once rivaled (http://techcrunch.com/2010/07/20/brightkite-badges/) the likes of Foursquare and Gowalla, but never really got the traction it needed to keep on competing and win the day: the startup killed the check-in functionality (http://techcrunch.com/2010/12/10/brightkite-check-in-dead/) about a year ago to focus on group texting (http://techcrunch.com/2010/03/12/brightkite-group-text/).
It's been quiet about Brightkite ever since, and the company's two founders moved on (http://techcrunch.com/2010/09/24/forkly/) long before the pivot to group texting was announced, starting a new venture dubbed Forkly (https://forkly.com/) (our review (http://techcrunch.com/2010/11/19/forkly-food/)).
Now, a reader tells us, it appears Brightkite (which remained the name even after their 2009 merger with Limbo (http://techcrunch.com/2009/04/07/mobile-socializing-limbo-merges-with-brightkite-and-announces-9-million-funding-round/)) is changing course again. The company's mobile apps are no longer available (http://twitter.com/#!/bauserdotcom/status/147914671188492289) on the App Store or Android Market, and the website displays only a logo and this not super-reassuring text:
This is not goodbye... we're just moving on to something better.
Watch this space. We have an update coming soon.
I hate to say it, but can't resist the pun: looks like the future isn't going to be Brightkite.
I'd get in touch with Brightkite to see what's up and if we can deadpool them yet, but I frankly don't know who could answer that question, or how to contact anyone at the company for that matter.
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