Meetro

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Meetro
Basic data

developer Meetro, Inc
Current  version 0.99 Beta
(January 23, 2007)
operating system Windows , OS X
category Instant messaging
License Freeware
www.meetro.com

Meetro was an instant messenger for Windows and OS X . It supports the OSCAR ( AIM , ICQ ), Yahoo Messenger and MSN Messenger protocols . In addition, so-called location-based services (LBS) are supported.

Meetro's positioning features are useful for getting to know and networking with people with the same interests in any (currently mostly urban) environment, as well as the integration of several "messaging protocols" (chat services like MSN) in a single program. Meetro's holding company is Meetroduction, LLC, based in Palo Alto , California , USA.

Meetro differs from other popular chat programs in that the user can enter specifications about their location / residence in order to reach other users in the vicinity. The service currently supports most regions in the US and Europe and is expanding to cover more areas. Users whose location / place of residence cannot yet be recognized and thus processed can, if necessary, enter latitude and longitude in order to be able to determine who is currently online in the immediate vicinity or even in the neighborhood.

Meetro works by scanning MAC addresses of nearby wireless connection points. After the MAC address has been successfully scanned, Meetro establishes a connection to a database on the main server and compares the data provided by the user with a list of the locations or coordinates already known. As soon as Meetro has "determined" the location / residence of the user (which is never exactly recognizable to others for reasons of privacy protection), it compares the result with the data of other users and then shows who is about half a kilometer , one kilometer or one and a half kilometers away is ready to chat.

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