Loopt was the first location-based iPhone app to get a lot of buzz. It’s a social network that lets you keep track of where your friends are with the help of the iPhone’s GPS. Since it launched in the App Store on day 1 in July of last year, several other competitors have come along including Google with its Latitude service (though it’s not yet available on the iPhone). Now Loopt appears ready to strike back with Loopt 2.0.
The screenshot we received appears to show what Loopt is going for with this new version. The second button in the toolbar is now “Places,” something which didn’t exist before. A source close to the company says this is a big part of the new version. We hear this could help the company offer more monetizable features, such as coupons.
Another thing we’re hearing is that the focus with Loopt 2.0 will be on something called the “life graph.” Basically this takes your social graph, and lays it on top of the places you go to give you suggestions on what to do. If this sounds familiar, it’s what Foursquare, the new service from the creators of Dodgeball (acquired by Google in 2005) has been working on. Another competitor, Whrrl, launched in the App Store last year with more of a focus on places, but recently revamped its offering to focus around social stories.
The new version of Loopt is apparently still being worked on, but should be out this summer, we hear.
One thing to note, is that it appears that one of the largest hurdle will remain for Loopt on the iPhone, as apps still cannot run in the background. That’s vital for something like a location-based network that thrives off of knowing where you are. But perhaps the company has something interesting planned for the upcoming Push Notification feature of the iPhone 3.0 software due this summer.
Disclosure: Loopt offers a TechCrunch branded version of the service here
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MG-You are super prolific. The “life graph” sounds like a really cool idea. This is the first time that a social networking utility that has a heavy focus on location awareness actually sounds useful.
Anybody uses loopt? uniques?
Oh sweet! I like the Yelp integration in the current Loopt iPhone app, but this looks even better.
Don’t understand why they guys need $13+ million to build an app
i agree.. is mobile social networking really relevant. I mean..what happened to just calling your friends and telling them where you are. Coupons.. ok , might be useful, but don’t know how that fits into social networking.
Hey MG, have you seen http://www.thesponty.com?
Friends’ current location is useless information, because if they’re already there, it is too late to join them.
What I would rather know, is where they’ll be tonight or tomorrow night so that I can join them.
Mahmoud –
I think you’re on to something, but what about networking on the fly? It seems to me that the message of services like fbook and loopt is: reorient your social compass to get updated on what your current network of friends is up to. Seems like a rather closed approach in my opinion. When a new social media platform is released, I need to export my network towards something familiar (ie, what my friends are doing).
What I find exciting about mobile is the ability to network on the go at close or long range distances with new people I don’t even know yet (I suppose the loopt Mix satifies that need). What about something like sayhiapp.com? Or NearMe?
Hmm. Meeting up with strangers without a context -especially if facilitated by electronic/interwebz means- is still taboo in western cultures if not all.
The best context to meet “strangers” is through your current friends. If you see your friends more often, you’re bound to meet their stranger friends. And the best way to see one’s friends more often is through fun social activities, such as shooting hoops, drinking beers or going dancing!
Sponty makes it easy to find such context.
Mahmoud, it looks like they do have something to account for present location vs. “2nite” as seen in the screenshot. Is that what you had in mind?
There is background location on Android and Loopt uses that feature, still they are nowhere among popular apps despite being heavily featured. Why would someone use this over Latitude anyway?
you still cant audit location so cant really capture network effects and bring vendors in to the equation.
Just go ask a mainstream teenager, not a geek whether this has any use at all. seriously.
You need to solve the need of a vendor (location) with the desire of a consumer (eat, drink, socialize) – build a lightweight app to bring these two together and then you have something of value.
trucking around with life graphs overlayed on locations is…..well what is it?
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Toodles,
~Sam
I suspect the thinking behind all of these location based social networking sites was:
1. Location targeted mobile advertising is Google 2.0.
2. Social Networks are really hot right now.
Throw in being 20 something and living in an area with a high density of geeks, like the Bay Area, or maybe Seattle, and it must have seemed like a great idea.
People ignored the obvious, which is that these things, as initially released, were only really useful if: most of your friends were members AND at roughly the same place at the same time.
It’s no surprise then that they are all trying to relax those constraints. I think there is a good chance that what they come up with is going to be a good deal more interesting than their original scenario.
not until RFID shows up and the game really changes.
But yes. i agree.
Its amazing how totally and utterly off the use cases of these companies can be.
What will RFID technology allow for any better? Authentication? Which ‘flavor’ of RFID are you referring to?
Why no mention of brightkite? I find this appalling. This is a feature that Brightkite has had for a while now. But it sounds like some one may just be getting paid off.
The Scene has also had this for a while now and is beginning to gain more and more traction.
New app just hit the iTunes store this week with a revamped UI and the ability to browse nearby Happy Hours, Specials and Events.
There is a company called Mizoon already doing this http://www.mizoon.com and they work on all web enabled phones.
I have also been using Mizoon — easy to use and you don’t need to have a GPS enabled phone to use the product.
Not even a mention of http://www.brightkite.com that has been doing Location based social networking since April of 2007
SHUB – http://shub.me – has always been all about the places and also works on all phones. It uses your Facebook account so no need to signup yourself or your friends.
“”"If your SHUB doesn’t have a SHUB number yet, you can register your SHUB here”"”
?!??!
Yes, no mention of BrightKite, which had “places” as central to the experience from the beginning, replete with a number of innovations for connecting places and people from Day 1. This wasn’t an afterthought and they aren’t playing catch-up but have been leading in this space. It’s this sort of thing that has me concerned that TechCrunch is losing touch as it grows.
Nice idea but most of this has been available in Brightkite for some time. However one MAJOR flaw in loopt is that it only works in the US??!
Brightkite works anywhere in the world and proves that by having thousands of international ‘members’ from all over the globe.
http://farm4.st..._bc574489b9.jpg
DOUBLE POPPED COLLAR, TEH HOTNESS
Such a joke “screen shots leaked” – like this is a significant story or even company. RIP Loopt – Deadpool already…
Also check out Centrl, it integrates yelp, wikipedia etc as well as a very cool iPhone app, I think also on Android and Blackberry…. – http://centrl.com