This morning, Sprint is announcing a partnership with WHERE and WaveMarket to allow third-party developers to make location-aware sites, WAP, SMS campaigns, and mobile applications for Sprint customers.

Currently, getting a location-aware application onto a Sprint feature phone requires a hefty amount of certification, at the cost of a good amount of time from both Sprint and the developer. WHERE and WaveMarket work around this by offsetting the location tasks to their standardized Web-based APIs – pass the request details to the appropriate partner, they’ll prompt the user for permission to detect their location, and proceed accordingly.

To the user, that means an onslaught of third-party applications are theoretically on the way.

To developers, that means it’s now a whole lot less painful to tie location-based functionality into your endeavors – no more dealing with certification or the constant worry of a security exploit landing on your lap.

WHERE’s word on what’s now possible:

Location-based search
Provide pinpoint geographical accuracy for yellow page and business searches, without requiring users to report their current location. Works on any device.

Location-based marketing
Deliver geographically-targeted marketing campaigns via SMS, WAP, and IVR/Voice. Prompt consumers to visit the closest retail location, based on GPS accuracy.

Location-based people finding
Locate people who belong to your social network or organization, with opt-in permission and authorization rules.

Location-based content tagging
Tag text messages, photos, or video based on the user’s current location.

For more info, dig into the links below:

WHERE Developer Portal
WaveMarket Developer Portal
Sprint Applications Developer Home Page