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A new report from Forrester says that geosocial apps a.k.a. location-based social networks can "help increase in-store visits, your brand's visibility and consumer word of mouth by connecting people with their locations and their friends." Yet consumer adoption of location-based apps is very slow. In 2010, only 4% of U.S. online adults used geolocation apps monthly or more; that number grew to 6% in 2011. In 2010, 84% of US online adults did not know what geosocial app like Foursquare or Gowalla even were; that percentage has changed to 70% in 2011.

Mobile, location based social networking is a young but exciting field. How will it gain mainstream adoption and how will it become a viable business, though? A new partnership announced today between notable location service Loopt and high-flying mega-discount provider Groupon provides an interesting data point in the discussion.

Loopt tracks the location of users persistently, without their having to check-in manually (though you can do that too), and it will now send push notifications of Groupon deals nearby. GigaOm's Ryan Kim does a good job covering the announcement, but there are a few details in particular that I want to raise.

The smash-hit puzzle game Angry Birds made big headlines today with its parent company's announcement of its own sales system that will route around the Android Market and let consumers run up charges directly on the monthly bill sent to them by their telephone carrier. Called the Bad Piggy Bank, the in-app payment system will also be offered to other developers as a service.

This is not just a story about Android struggling to keep developers happy, though. Mobile developers can program on top of device hardware capabilities, Operating System or software capabilities - or on top of the telephone networks themselves. The story of the Bad Piggy Bank is a page out of the larger story of a fight between device-level companies and network-level companies for the attention of developers. Traditionally, we think of post-iPhone mobile apps as being almost entirely based on the phone and its OS - but it doesn't have to be that way. Carrier level payment joins a list of other capabilities being advanced on the carrier level, including location tracking, presence status, push notifications and more.

What's worse, for marketers hoping to tap into a diverse and savvy audience of shoppers, diners, and other local consumers, the details on audience make-up are disappointing. According to Forrester, LBS users are 80% male and 70% are aged 19-35.

So should marketers stay away for now until these services mature? Absolutely not. And here's why.

Technology entrepreneur and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has just invested in a video company that can identify how many people are in a specific location at a particular time. While currently the technology is used for analyzing "traffic patterns" and "security," writes Cuban on a blog post announcing the deal, the next step is adding facial recognition software for the purpose of check-ins using location-based software, he says.

"Rather than someone checking into a specific application, we would already know you are there," Cuban explains. That prospect is either incredible or downright scary, depending on how you feel about privacy.

Over the past couple of weeks, I've been using Check.in, the browser-based "check in" application that registers your current location with a variety of location-based social networking applications, including Foursquare, Gowalla, Brightkite, Whrrl and TriOut. The app was cooked up by the Brightkite team in an effort to simplify the process of using multiple services such as these, an ongoing frustration among LBS (location-based-services) early adopters.

So how did it fare? Not bad at all, if I do say so myself.

Rally Up, a new location-based social network with a strong focus on privacy, just became the first fully featured location-based social network with an iPad app. The app, which is available for free (iTunes link), includes all of the features of Rally Up's iPhone app. Thanks to making good use of the iPad's expanded screen estate, however, using the iPad app is far easier and a lot more fun.

Location based social networks - are you over it already? It feels like location is all we ever hear about anymore, especially this week leading up to SXSW.

We're excited about location too; see our enthusiastic write-ups What Twitter's Geolocation API Makes Possible and The Era of Location as Platform Has Arrived. But it's getting a little ridiculous. We offer below a few thoughts to consider about all this location madness.

Though I'm chronically checking in on services like Brightkite, Loopt and Foursquare, it's rare that I'll actually make an appearance at the behest of a friend's status update. For the slovenly masses that work from home, venturing out to meet friends on a weeknight can seem daunting. But rather than submit to the unkempt perils of pantless utopia, there's hope. Sponty offers us a chance to plan and prep for casual outings.

Loopt, makers of a popular mobile social networking application of the same name, is introducing a new iPhone application today called Loopt Mix. Where their original app focuses on connecting you with your friends while you're out and about, Loopt Mix is more about introducing you to "the people you wish you knew." In other words, "people" like that attractive person giving you eye from the other end of the bar.