Tech Shout!

Sprint Nextel has announced that it will be offering Loopt’s “friend finding” technology to let users track their friends. Loopt already offers the location-based service on Boost Mobile, which is an auxiliary of Sprint. The friend-tracking service makes use of Global Positioning System chips in phones to let subscribers to see where their friends are situated.

And if you are worried about your privacy, then you can hide from anyone on your “buddy” list at any time. This is similar to Yahoo! Messenger where you can be invisible to some people or the entire buddy list altogether. Also, Loopt subscribers must give other Loopt users permission to track them. Not only that, there is a feature where users get an alert if a friend is in close proximity, which will make it easy to find someone at a mall, movie theaters or even around town.

Sam Altman is the chief executive officer and co-founder of loopt. He says, “The most common mobile question in the world is ‘Where are you?’ and we are thrilled that loopt will be able to answer that question for Sprint customers who decide to participate. The way we communicate on the mobile phone is about to transform forever, as loopt on Sprint puts an end to missed connections and facilitates real-world interactions.”

Sprint Nextel also stated that loopt will be available on more than 25 Sprint and Nextel phones. As for the charges, the service will cost the users $2.99 (approx. Rs. 120) per month along with standard data charges. I think this service will be very useful for people who socialize a lot as well as parents who have children who keep on running away all the time when they got the movies or are visiting malls and big departmental stores.