Lots of big news yesterday

It’s been an eventful 36 hours in the world of technology and real estate. In case you missed it:

Google launched Latitude, a service that lets users identify their location, and that of their friends, on a mobile phone. We’ve seen location-aware apps before (from Loopt, Brightkite, Yahoo! and others), but this is of a different order of magnitude. Work in this area has lots of implications for real estate, but just think about the advertising possibilities alone — targeting may be taken to an entirely new level.

The New York Times released and API that unlocks all the paper’s stories going back to 1981. It’s hard not to see the parallels to MLS. Marshall Kirkpatrick, writing on Read/WriteWeb, nails it (just switch “newspapers” for “MLSs”):

“It’s a transformation moment towards interconnectedness and away from isolation. A quality API could throw the doors wide open to a future where “newspapers” are important again.”

Trulia set up an MLS Advisory Board. They’ve been knocking on MLS doors for a while, but now they’re putting the pedal to the metal. It makes me think there is something to this MLS thing.

In a move that should have big brokers everywhere speed-dialing their IT directors, Box.net, the online file storage/management company, announced enhancements to their platform aimed at the enterprise. I ask again, “whither transaction management?”

A big day. Onward!

— Brian Boero