Startup Loopt Offers Cell Phone Mapping Service

A Silicon Valley startup is announcing a new cell phone mapping service to let users know when their friends are nearby.

The so-called social mapping service by Palo Alto-based Loopt Inc. was to announce Tuesday it has teamed with Sprint Nextel Corp. 's Boost Mobile LLC, to launch the feature for the carrier's youth-oriented Boost-branded phones.

The service is free through the end of 2006 and will be $2.99 a month next year, following a 30-day free trial.

Using the phones' built-in GPS satellite technology, the Boost Loopt service could alert users whenever their friends are within a half-mile to 25 miles. The real-time tracking would only occur for those who have agreed to be located and had given the user their cell phone numbers.

At any given time, a person can temporarily cut out from being "spotted" by their friends as well.

Source : Taliyanews