Does the world need another instant messenger? The guys at
Meetro say "yes" but with a twist. Their Meetro messenger works much like you'd expect any instant messenger to work, but with vicinity awareness. Sign-on to Meetro via a wireless access point, say -- at the local Starbucks -- and you'll see other Meetro users within the same area.
Meetro categorizes people by their vicinity to you -- within a mile, within five miles, and so on. When you chat with someone, you'll see just how near or far away they are.
Currently, Meetro supports Windows PCs, but according to CEO Paul Bragiel, versions for mobile devices are in the works. Though still in beta, I've found Meetro to be stable. I'm running version 0.57, which adds the ability to identify my location manually when I'm not using a WiFi hotspot.
Meetro uses it's own IM network, but also supports connections to AIM and ICQ users. Support for Yahoo connections is due very soon.
The Meetro team is based in Chicago, and not surprisingly, that's where their largest percentage of users are located. Even so, it's an intriguing concept, and I think Meetro is worth keeping an eye on.
Could Meetro become the digital equivalent of a
quiet party? Check out
Meetro and share your comments.