The list of location-based check-in services has just got a bit longer with the launch of Geomium, a web and mobile platform that lets users connect with friends, meet new people and find out about  bars, restaurants, deals and events in their local area, all in real time.

Geomium aggregates data from Yelp, Qype and Eventful, listing “millions “ of local bars, restaurants, events and deals around the world, and thousands in London alone, which users are able see on a map, filtered by whatever they are looking for at that time. Geomium says it is the first service to bring such content and real-time functionality together in one application. Its London launch is the first city in a series across the UK, Europe and the US that its founders believe will see Geomium become the first location-based service to truly reach a mainstream audience.

“Location-based services are the future of the mobile web, and the fact we are able to offer ours in real time feels like we offer an alternative to Facebook Places, Foursquare and others in the market,” says Geomium CEO and founder, Michael Ferguson. “Content is king, and we feel the local content we have on Geomium is second to none and gives people a genuine reason to check-in.”

Ferguson adds that this opens up the prospect of effective monetisation, saying that while other location-based services can offer only a check-in reward, the ability to target potential customers in the near vicinity on Geomium is a powerful prospect.

“As the largest review site in Europe, we think the innovative way in which Geomium is using the Qype data is going to pay a dividend for both firms,” says Ayesheh-Colette Carta, commercial director of Qype. “Geomium is uniquely positioned in the world of geosocial services, in that it actually offers a service people will want to use, and we think its real-time location features will prove a big hit with consumers, and in turn help us grow our user base.”

Ferguson believes that businesses will have a genuine incentive to register with Geomium. “Rather than seeing who has checked-in two weeks previously, Geomium will allow a business to see in real time, users that are located nearby and provide a discounted and targeted offer to them accordingly,” he says.

Geomium comes with a suite of features that allow a user to explore an area, check-in to locations, highlight their favourite places, give a ‘shout out’ to friends and meet new people. Users can log-in directly or via their Facebook account to connect with their friends on Facebook.

Once logged-in, Geomium divides into four main sections, with information viewed on a map or as a feed: People (all friends near your current location); Places (all the nearby bars and restaurants); Events (all nearby plays, festivals, concerts and parties, which can be filtered by type and date); and Deals (all the local deal, discounts and offers from nearby bars and restaurants).

Geomium is accessed via the web, and there is also an iPhone app version available at launch. Additional apps for Android, Blackberry, Nokia and others will follow. Users set their privacy as part of the registration process. The default setting is for no one to be able to see a users real-time location.

Geomium has raised seed funding from angel investors in London, and is currently in the process of raising an A-round. It plans to launch in other cities across the UK in Q1 2011, with Europe and the US to follow later in the year.

You can access Geomium on your mobile at: http://geomium.com