Phone app that delivers hand-picked deals

DailyCandy, an online newsletter, keep its subscribers in the local loop on everything from new boutiques to the latest trendy food truck coming to their city. But until now, that insider information has  been delivered only via e-mail to their inboxes.

On Thursday, the company is introducing a new application for the mobile phone called DailyCandy Stylish Alerts.

But rather than just deliver details on new designers and restaurant openings to a mobile phone, said Melanie Pitson, who works on DailyCandy's product team, the application will keep track of its users' location and notify them when they walk by a restaurant, spa or clothing store that will be hand-picked by the DailyCandy editors.

"When a user comes in close proximity to a local happening, they will get a message to their phone telling them when, where and how to get to it," she said.

To start, the application will focus on fashionable venues and events located in New York. But the company plans to eventually expand the application to other cities around the United States.

Right now, the application is available only for Android-powered devices. But the company hopes to introduce the application on other platforms, including the iPhone, Ms. Pitson said.

"This is the first of hopefully many more to come," she said.

Applications that run in the background and alert users with a coupon or special offer as they walk by a store have been something of a holy grail for the mobile phone.

But until recent advances in smartphone software, it has largely been impossible to do efficiently, said Josh Rochlin, the chief executive of Xtify, the New York-based geo-notification company powering the DailyCandy application.

"Instead of physically taking the device out of my pocket and checking into a location, this is taking advantage of passively knowing a user's location and passing down relevant information," said Mr. Rochlin.

Mr. Rochlin said that while DailyCandy was the company's first big partnership, he envisions the software being used in applications like travel guides (letting tourists know they're near a historical monument) and retail stores (luring in passers-by for a sale).

"It will be great to have that information delivered to your hand," he said.