This week, start up SquareLoop won 1st prize at CTIA for its geocasting technology beating out Lucent-Alcatel’s GMS. The company started out in 2005 when it received the rights to patented technologies from tech transfer organization, MITRE, that allow a message to be broadcast via an existing cell networks to users in a geographic area while also ensuring end-user privacy.
A leading use for this technology allows local and federal governments to broadcast emergency messages quickly to targeted geographic areas via the existing cell network. Squareloop began live testing of emergency response applications in 2006.
The start up has also begun to forge ties to mobile carriers in order to enable a wider array of location-specific advertising and content services.
Additionally, geo-messaging like this would seem to blend well with quickly advancing services like Dodgeball, Twitter or Swarmteams as this technology has the potential to send out mass notices combined with private group messaging.
Finally, tie-in the idea of geo-blogging with a service like Outside.in, and the internet becomes to get closer to the real work by being both global and local at the same time.