local.ch blog

Last wednesday Apple released version 4.3 of the iOS operating system that runs on iPhones and iPads. It contains some great new features like personal Wi-Fi hotspots. Unfortunately it also contained a change that appears to be a bug, which affects a functionality (reverse geocoding) that our local.ch application relies upon.

This has already been causing frustration for some of our users:
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We make great efforts to test our applications on early beta-releases of new iOS versions, but this problem seems only seems to be visible in the final release of iOS 4.3, which Apple started shipping to users, via iTunes, last Wednesday. We have informed Apple of the problem to help them resolve the issue.
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Yves Rico Jaquillard, a local.ch employee, has been selected as one of the semifinalists for the TV show “Die grössten Schweizer Talente” (Switzerland’s Got Talent) after making a great impression during last week’s casting show.

The pop/classical vocal group Phenomen formed a mere 18 months ago, after its members met taking singing lessons. Soon thereafter, one of them was asked by his manager whether he could hire the renowned tenors of Il Divo to perform at a company function. Il Divo turned out to be a bit too expensive, so “Phenomen” was happy to oblige and perform in public for the first time ever.
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New search boxes, updated information, new logo: we recently revamped our homepage and changed a few things around. We’ve listed the main changes for you:

New search boxes

There are two types of search box: companies and individuals.
We’ve made this clearer for you as it used to be harder to find your way round. We deliver better results as the boxes lead directly to results lists from the Yellow Pages and Telephone Book. The search boxes are now also much larger than before; after all, this is the most important part of local.ch.

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Today we unveiled the local.ch app for the Windows Phone 7 which will be ready to download from the marketplace in a couple of weeks. After Apple, Nokia, Android and BlackBerry, we now also have an app available for the new platform. The star guest at the presentation was Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer.

The Windows Phone 7 became a topic of heated debate at the latest when the spectacular cooperation deal with Nokia was announced. The new operating system from the frequently criticised global giant has even received some critical acclaim in the press.

The app was unveiled (alongside a Zattoo and a Blick app) on Tuesday at a press event staged at Zurich Airport. For our head of Mobile, Gregory, the presence of Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer made the presentation even more exciting than it already was.

When developing the app, we deliberately set out to produce a separate app for the Windows Phone 7 that is more than just a clone of the iPhone app. The whole user concept has been modified for the Windows Phone. We achieved good results in our trials and are looking forward to the feedback we receive from our users.
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We have thought up something special for Valentine’s Day: up until 14 February we will have a category in our app that features all the products you need to make your loved one happy on the most romantic day of the year.

Whoever clicks on “Around Me” between now and February 14 will see “Valentine’s Day” as the top category. Click on this category to find shops nearby that offer everything to make your partner happy on the day, such as chocolate, lingerie, jewellery and, of course, flowers. It is particularly handy for spur-of-the-moment shoppers looking for the right shop in their immediate proximity.

This is a test run of the new feature. If it works well for you then we could imagine repeating it for Easter, 1 August or Christmas. We would welcome your feedback.

We would in any case like to wish you and your loved ones a very romantic Valentine’s Day.

If you do not have the iPhone app yet, you will find the latest version in the App Store.