<p>Dennis Crowely of Foursquare has a big goal of creating an ambient-aware location service that will recommend people, places and events happening nearby, but the hardware isn't quite up to snuff yet. In the meantime, he's using location data to take on Yelp and Google.</p><p>Dennis Crowely, the founder and CEO of Foursquare, isn't happy with the status of today's mobile hardware. He thinks it's standing in the way of creating a Harry Potter-style Marauder's Map that will tell you where your friends are and where you might want to grab your next bite to eat. In a conversation with Om Malik onstage at Mobilize 2012, Crowley explains the shift Foursquare has made from being a simple check-in service to becoming a recommendation and search utility.</p><p>Crowley said the site's 25 million active users have generated more than 2.5 billion check-ins in its almost four years, and as a result of all that active and passive data Foursquare can evolve to fulfill Crowley's true vision. "We want to change the way you interact with the physical world," Crowley said.</p><p>He said more users are downloading the app without ever intending to check in, and instead use it to get tips on restaurants, much like they would with Yelp. The site has also redesigned the app to emphasize local search and recommendations over check ins as a way to get users to choose Foursquare instead of alternatives. He also explains monetizing local search would look less like current web advertising and instead involve collecting a few dollars from a few million merchants as a possible revenue stream.</p><p><a href="http://gigaom.com/mobile/foursquares-crowley-wants-to-take-on-yelp-google-and-harry-potter/">Keep reading...</a></p><p>Read also:</p><p><a href="http://tabtimes.com/news/ittech-apps/2012/09/20/key-foursquare-growth-creating-app-touches-people-lives-multiple-times">Key to foursquare&#039;s growth: &#039;Creating an app that touches people&#039;s lives ...</a> (TabTimes)</p><p>Explore: <a href="http://news.google.com/news/more?pz=1&ned=us&ncl=d6E_OS3rfxMeYnMTAb1S9qHxN-nlM">2 additional articles.</a></p>