loopt to Launch on Sprint as First-Ever Social Mapping Service on a Major U.S. Carrier

loopt Lets Sprint Customers Keep in Touch with Friends Using GPS on Select

Sprint and Nextel Phones

    MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., July 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- loopt today
 announced the first-ever launch of a social mapping service on a major U.S.
 carrier. Sprint ( S) customers nationwide can now find and connect
 with friends using loopt(TM). loopt uses the GPS capabilities on select
 Sprint phones to facilitate real-world interaction between friends and put
 an end to frustrating missed connections. Friends are now able to share
 their location and status messages, send proximity-based messages and view
 geo-tagged photos and content on-the-go using loopt on select Sprint
 phones.
     (Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20070717/AQTU104)
     "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."
     loopt is the only social mapping service that can automatically update
 the location of everyone in a user's private network of friends and display
 that information directly on a map on the phone. loopt even sends an alert
 when a friend is near, putting an end to missed connections in the mall, at
 the movies or around town. It also allows users to send messages to groups
 of friends or send proximity messages to friends when they are nearby, so
 they never miss an opportunity to meet up.
     loopt will be available in the coming weeks on more than 25 Sprint and
 Nextel phones for $2.99 per month, plus standard data charges.
     loopt on Sprint also features geo-tagging capabilities. The service's
 journaling feature allows mobile users to "geo tag" locations and capture
 their experiences to share with friends in their private network.
     loopt is the social mapping leader in offering effective privacy
 controls and safety features for end users. For example, loopt is 100%
 permission-based and users share location information only with their
 loopt-friends via private networks. In addition, loopt users can easily
 turn location-sharing on or off at any time on a friend-by-friend basis or
 for all friends at once. loopt regularly works with organizations such as
 the Family Online Safety Institute, ConnectSafely.org, Cyber Safety
 Advisory Board, and is TRUSTe certified.
     About loopt
     loopt is a Silicon-Valley based startup building a revolutionary social
 mapping service to change the way people use mobile phones to keep in touch
 with their friends. Using new location-based technologies, loopt lets you
 know where your friends are by automatically updating maps on your mobile
 handset and the web. loopt also lets you send messages to nearby friends or
 receive automatic alerts when they're nearby so that you never miss an
 opportunity to meet. With loopt, mobile subscribers put themselves on the
 map.
     Last year loopt announced a $5 million Series A financing led by
 venture capital firms Sequoia Capital and New Enterprise Associates, the
 same firms that helped found Google and TiVo among many other technology
 innovators. loopt launched on Boost Mobile last November and signed up more
 than 100,000 customers in its first three months of launch.
 
 

SOURCE loopt