READWRITEWEB — Everyone has been talking about how this year's SXSW will be the "year of location" as Foursquare and Austin-based Gowalla go head-to-head in a location-based battle royale. Location, however, is not the only emerging technology that will be on display in Austin; American auto maker Chevrolet announced it will be debuting new augmented reality promotions at SXSW this year. Festival attendees can download the Chevy iReveal application on the iPhone which will allow them to participate in a scavenger hunt-like game that blends augmented reality with location-based functions...

PAIDCONTENT.ORG — Hearst has about 70 apps under its LMK banner in the iTunes App Store right now and it just plans to keep adding more and more. Most of the LMK apps sell for about $1.99, while a handful cost $0.99 per download. The LMK initials stand for “Let Me Know” and are devoted to news and photos about a single Hollywood stars and sports teams and figures, as well as hobbies and general topics like cupcakes and Barbie dolls. The apps run the gamut from Lady Gaga to Metallica to Tiger Woods to the NY Yankees and feature photos and news updates. Back in the fall, Hearst Entertainment EVP George Kliavkoff and LMK head Michael Gutkowski unveiled their plans for the LMK.com aggregation site, which were predicated upon the idea that SEO tactics will get searchers to visit the special topic sites, while the constant flow of updates would drive return visits...

USA TODAY — Ford Motor gets a healthy share of praise for its use of social media. But consider what General Motors' Chevrolet has in store at the popular South By Southwest Interactive (SXSWi) tech show in Austin, Texas, this weekend. Chevrolet is partnering with Gowalla on location-based social networking. From their smartphones, Gowalla users can "check in" to let friends and followers know where they are at a given moment...

EMARKETER BLOG — We recently spoke with Jami Lawrence, associate director of mobile marketing at Publicis Modem & Dialog. Here’s a clip from the full interview on eMarketer Total Access, in which Lawrence discusses best practices for developing a mobile application strategy that can strengthen the relationship between brands and target consumers...

LOUIS GRAY.COM — Thing Labs, the parent company of Brizzly, one of the more innovative Twitter Web clients out there, unveiled a slew of announcements this morning, with the acquisition of popular iPhone application Birdfeed and WikiRank, a visualization Web app based on Wikipedia data. The acquisitions will help fuel the launch of Brizzly's first branded iPhone application, and a new Brizzly Guide, which extends the trend explanations core to Brizzly since the product debuted with permanent definitions, accessible even after a topic stops trending...