Sprint To Launch Social Location Service; Launches Interoperable Social Networking Service

Updated below: So the service has migrated from Sprint-owned Boost Mobile, to the parent Sprint: it is launching a friend-locator service called “FriendFinder” using mobile social networking/location firm Loopt‘s technology…the service allows users to view the location of friends who are also Loopt users, and uses the phone’s GPSsystem for it, updating users’ locations every 15 minutes. To address privacy concerns, users must grant permission to others to track their whereabouts and can choose at any time to stop broadcasting their location. Helio launched a similar service Buddy Beacon last year. Sprint will soon begin offering the application for $2.99 a month on more than 25 phones. Not that this will save Sprint from the morass that it is in right now.

Updated: Sprint has also done a deal with mobile social networking software firm Intercasting that will enable its mobile subscribers to access sites such as Xanga, Rabble, Vox, and LiveJournal. Others will be added later. Missing: MySpace, which Intercasting CEO Shawn Conahan explains in his blog: “Notably missing is MySpace. What can I say? They are far and away the category leader on the web, and as such they exert a commensurate amount of influence in the mobile space. I personally think that while it is great as it is, their service would be even better through our platform.” This service also costs for $2.99 each per month.

Comments have been disabled for this post