Pacific Beach is better known for its laid-back atmosphere than its technological achievements, but a groundbreaking new location-based iPhone application that combines the functionality of Craigslist with the speed of Twitter now has deep roots in this beachside town. Anttenna, billed as “a swapmeet in your pocket,” was created by the staff at Barefoot Solutions, a web design and development company located on Garnet Avenue. The application allows users to post Twitter-size messages (140 characters or less) about the goods they are selling, swapping or seeking. The posts are geo-tagged according to the user’s GPS location, and anyone using the application can browse for items within their immediate vicinity. It can also be used to locate happy-hour deals, organize volunteers, promote special events and find lost pets. Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer Hunter Jensen, who owns Barefoot Solutions, said “mobile microlistings” are currently the hottest trend in the industry. “Five years ago at South-by-Southwest, Twitter had just hit the scene and everyone there was talking about it — that was the hottest thing. We went this year and everyone was talking about location-based iPhone apps — and that’s exactly what we do,” Jensen said. Standard newspaper classifieds and their online counterparts, like Craigslist, still serve a purpose. Users probably wouldn’t use Anttenna to sell a grand piano, Jensen pointed out, but the instant gratification and hyper-local elements of mobile microlistings are appealing for many other purposes. For instance, Jensen said the application could be used by someone who is looking for an extra concert ticket. The buyer would post a listing on Anttenna requesting a ticket, a seller within the vicinity could reply with a price, the two could negotiate within the application’s real-time chat function, and when they had reached an agreement, the buyer could get directions straight to the seller’s location. The whole process could take minutes, versus several days of e-mail exchanges through Craigslist. Co-founder and CEO Marcus Wandell was in a similar situation when he came up with the idea for Anttenna while at a music festival. He was perusing various booths when he found himself wishing the vendors could send information about their wares and special discounts to his smartphone. Last October, Wandell proposed the idea to Jensen, who said he leapt at the unique opportunity. By February, the duo — with the help of Barefoot Solutions staff — had created an iPhone-compatible version of Anttenna and had garnered approval from Apple to make the application available on iTunes. They decided to launch the pilot version in their own backyard first. After a successful limited release, the company recently made Anttenna available in 80 cities across the country. Jensen said his team will make Anttenna available on other major mobile operating systems, then release it overseas.
