Sprint Launches loopt, First Social Mapping Service
“The most common mobile question in the world is ‘Where are you?’ and we’re excited that loopt will be able to answer that question for Sprint customers who choose to participate,” said loopt chief executive officer and co-founder, Sam Altman. “The way we communicate on the mobile phone is about to change forever, as loopt on Sprint puts an end to missed connections and facilitates real-world interactions.”
The service can automatically update the location of everyone in a user’s private network of friends and display the info directly on a mobile map. loopt can also alert you to when a friend is near. The service is 100 percent permission-based, and this data is only available in private networks. So you’re not signing up to have big brother watch you, even if it sounds like that at first. It will be available on more than 25 Sprint and Nextel phones for $2.99 per month, along with standard data charges.