Mobile: Do You Know Where Your Social Net "Friends" Are Right Now...and More Mobile
There are a growing number of tools and services that utilize GPS to help a searcher find where a specific store, restaurant, etc. We're not talking about what has been available in cars for years but know via mobile phones and devices. Sprint has been very active in this area. We have a couple more examples at the conclusion of this post. If this is an area of special interest, look for stories about "LBS" (Location Based Services).
Today, news of another Sprint partnership this time with loopt, that will allow users to find the locations of friends. They are calling the service a "FriendFinder." Make sure not to confuse this type of service with a mobile Family Finder. Btw, another mobile provider (part of Sprint), Boost Mobile, has offered the loopt service for some time.
Sprint users who subscribe to loopt's service for an additional monthly charge of $2.99 (plus data charges) will be able to share their location with other Sprint-loopt users, send proximity-based messages and view geo-tagged photos. Of course, users need to have one of the 25 GPS-enabled Sprint or Nextel handsets. The service also allows users to see their friends' locations on a map right from their mobile handsets.
The article goes on to point out several issues that the service will face including not all "friends" might use the same mobile carrier.
+ Sprint also has a mobile app in partnership with IAC/InterActive that also utilizes GPS. Info from CitySearch, Ask.com, eVite, etc.
Note: Gary is Director of Online Resources at Ask.com
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