<http://schema.org/articleBody>
"On Monday, Loopt demonstrated to the world its native iPhone application. Many reviews were notably bullish. We too touched on the benefits of location-based networking for Apple\u2019s mobile fan club.\nBut realistically speaking, the iPhone has a minority stake in the smartphone world. The BlackBerry is still the industry\u2019s benchmark as far as handset penetration is concerned. All in RIM\u2019s product lineup amount to nearly half of the market.\nLoopt clearly understands this. The company, ahead of its July 11 debut along with the iPhone 3G, has now made available its free mobile services to current and prospective subscribers of four major U.S.-based wireless carriers - Alltel (which may eventually reside under Verizon parentage), AT&amp;T, Sprint, and T-Mobile - for three of its most popular handsets: the Pearl (8110, 8130, 8310), the Curve (8310, 8330), and its World Edition business-minded device (8800, 8820, 8830). According to Loopt\u2019s site copy, official support from Verizon itself is coming soon as well.\nThis news is undoubtedly appealing for the many millions of wireless Web consumers already well ingrained in the industry-leading BlackBerry email system, who at the same time have the ability to employ embedded or bridged GPS technology to maintain ties to a social network through location-based notifications. This is especially useful for those wireless subscribers based in urban settings that may wish to meet with one another but would, without something such as Loopt, not be privy to the relative proximity of those contacts.\nOf course, as with many social services on the Web, Loopt allows a good deal more than finding friends\u2019 placement on a digital map. Users can geo-tag photos, post comments to others\u2019 uploads, as well as read and maintain mobile blogs.\nMight Loopt\u2019s BlackBerry debut impinge on Apple\u2019s potential success with the iPhone going into the second half of 2008? I imagine not, given the consumer interest in the iPhone\u2019s broader multimedia capabilities, etcetera. Apple\u2019s device will grow in reach and influence as it has so far. Loopt itself, however, is bound to benefit tremendously from its newfound support on the BlackBerry platform, perhaps even more so than on the iPhone."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://mashable.com/2008/06/14/loopt-blackberry/>