News Highlights

• Re-designed Loopt version 4.0 includes magnified friend- and place-finding capabilities.
• With a location-centric view of social networks, Loopt lets you see what places around you are popular with the community and with your friends.
• Advanced communications tools include location-based text messaging (expanding Loopt’s “Ping”) and automatic location sharing with a small subset of friends if you’re tired of checking in.
• The company is migrating the rewards from its rewards-only app, Loopt Star, into the main Loopt application, so all users can enjoy rewards.

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. – December 6, 2010 – Loopt, the best way to connect with people and places around you, today introduced a new version of its application, which magnifies the app’s friend- and place-finding capabilities with new features and a completely updated design.

Each new Loopt feature better utilizes the smartphone’s communication and discovery capabilities. All components contribute to a richer experience for people while they’re out and about, displaying a local area’s social relevance for each user. New location-sharing options especially serve people who have become fatigued with checking in.

New survey findings* from Loopt show that location-centric messages such as “where are you?,” “I’m here” and “be right there” rank as the top text messages used (43% of survey respondents ranked these in the top three). Accordingly, Loopt’s Ping feature now serves as an all-encompassing location-based text message. With the addition of text, Loopt’s “Ping” is a simpler way to find out where people are, or to mass-message all friends who are checked in at a place (see a video about Ping here).

“Loopt offers a location-first view of the world, shining a spotlight on friends and places around you, whether they’re on Loopt or Facebook,” said Sam Altman, co-founder and CEO, Loopt. “When our users open Loopt, they see the world in a more relevant way. We continue to work at surfacing interesting information that makes Loopt like x-ray vision, where you can see through city walls and find something compelling, whether it’s being alerted that an old friend is nearby, or that there’s a café around the corner frequented by friends.”

In detail, feature updates to Loopt include (see video here):

• Notifications: A feed of the latest Loopt activity, such as nearby places your friends like to go, and allows you to respond to Pings, friend requests, and see nearby rewards. Here, users will also find “hot” places nearby (this includes places their friends have gone and where a significant amount of Loopt users have gone).
• Simplified background location sharing: Turn background location sharing on or off for a subset of close friends/family so they can see where you are any time, even if the app isn’t open; everyone else only sees you when you check in. This marks a shift in location sharing. The ability to share background location persistently with close friends creates new sharing opportunities for those who don’t want to check in, and a chance for surprise and delight when you’re alerted a friend is nearby.
• Connect with friends in more ways: Loopt is adding text to the existing Ping messages (which previously just requested a friend’s location), which eliminates the need for meet-up text messages like “where are you?” and “almost there,” by pairing a map with those messages. Loopt lets you Ping your Facebook friends as well (by posting a note on their wall).
• Friend list sorting: More sophisticated list sorting of friends, into nearby, recent and by name.
• Find and connect with friends around places: A Places button is now at the center of Loopt’s home screen, incorporating check-in functionality, and also now including more friend- and place-finding features. Find out if friends have been to a place, if they are nearby a place you checked in, or if they are there right now. From a Place page, you can Ping all your friends at that place with a group message.

Loopt also announced today that the company is migrating rewards from its popular rewards-only app, Loopt Star, into Loopt. To kick things off, Loopt is expanding the popular Loopt Star “Discover the Music Around You” reward to the Loopt platform (the reward gives users five free songs from Loopt — with artists including Lady Gaga, Florence and the Machine, and more — for checking into any U.S. bar). Since its launch, Loopt Star has featured rewards from major brands, and more rewards like these will soon come to Loopt. To celebrate the debut of rewards in Loopt, the company will be hosting music events, which will feature more rewards for consumers and are scheduled in New York, San Francisco and Atlanta, Georgia. More information will be available soon here.

About Loopt
Loopt is the best way to connect to people and places around you. Loopt produces a suite of mobile applications including Loopt and Loopt Mix, to allow users to discover the world around them. Loopt products use location on mobile phones to help users find and enjoy the friends, places and events around them right now. Phones with Loopt include the iPhone, Android, BlackBerry and Windows Phone 7 (see www.loopt.com/phones for all supported handsets.) The Loopt services have more than 4 million registered users and partnerships with every major U.S. mobile phone carrier. Loopt applications offer a variety of effective and intuitive privacy controls. Find Loopt at www.loopt.com, www.twitter.com/loopt and www.facebook.com/loopt

*Survey conducted online in November 2010 by Loopt, Inc.

Loopt Contact:
Sharon Howell
Loopt, Inc.
press@loopt.com

New iPhone App Version Lets Users Send ‘Where are you?’ Notifications to Friends, Takes Meeting Up Beyond Text Messages

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. – August 9, 2010 – Loopt (www.loopt.com), the leading location-based social mapping service, today announced a new version of its popular iPhone application. The new version of Loopt expands the product’s Friend features, with new capabilities to connect and meet up with friends around town.

Loopt’s ability to make real world connections between existing friends is the most popular feature in the application. The Ping feature takes this one step further, allowing users to find and meet up with their friends in one click. Users can access the feature from the Home Grid, the application’s main page, and can Ping friends individually from the Friends or Map tabs.

The feature lets you start a real-time location sharing session by pushing a notification to your friends that you want to know where they are. Friends then open up the Loopt app, which will update their location and send a “pong” back. The user’s map will light up with friends’ locations and updates. In less than a minute, you find out where your closest friends are, and you can arrange to get together.

“The ability to communicate with your friends specifically about their location is really important,” said Sam Altman, CEO of Loopt. “Loopt friends tend to be a closer, more intimate group than most have on Facebook or Twitter, mostly people you’d hang out with regularly. This feature shows how location sharing can elevate our everyday mobile interactions.”

Controls:

The feature will only send messages to those who don’t have a recent location in Loopt. It’s voluntary for the friend to respond with their location; nothing is shared unless they open Loopt to “pong” back. Additionally, the feature won’t send messages to anyone who has turned Ping alerts off, or who has chosen not to share their location.

Loopt also added the following features today:

• Background Location settings on the Home Grid – Responding to the popularity of this feature, launched on the iPhone on June 24, the Background Location switch is moving to the Home Grid, the main screen on Loopt. With Background Location settings activated, users are able to receive alerts when friends are nearby (you can select which friends to share with and for how much time), even if Loopt isn’t running in the foreground. You can receive those updates via push notifications. 72 percent of Loopt users share background location with some or all of their friends.
• Advanced search/filter functionality from the map – This feature will allow users to “filter by location” (such as restaurants, bars, coffee shops, family oriented locations) when searching on the Loopt map.

Loopt v3.1 improves the user experience on the app that more than 4 million users on more than 100 different mobile devices in the United States use to find location-based content and make connections between friends. The free iPhone app also runs on the iPod Touch and is available through the Apple App Store and at www.loopt.com/iphone or www.loopt.com/ipod.

About Loopt

Loopt is the leading location-based mobile social mapping company. Loopt produces a suite of mobile applications including Loopt, Loopt Pulse for iPad, and Loopt Mix, to allow users to discover the world around them. Loopt products use location on mobile phones, iPad and iPod touch devices to help their users find and enjoy the friends, places, and events around them right now. The Loopt services have more than 4 million registered users and partnerships with every major U.S. mobile phone carrier. Loopt is available on over 100 phones, including iPhone. (See www.loopt.com/phones for the full range of supported handsets.) Loopt was designed with privacy considerations at its core and offers a variety of effective and intuitive privacy controls. Find Loopt on twitter.com/loopt and facebook.com/loopt

Contact:
Sharon Howell
Loopt, Inc.
press@loopt.com
650.230.6069

New Rewards From Paul Frank and Element Now Available via Loopt’s Unique Mobile Rewards Game

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA– July 21, 2010 –  Loopt (www.loopt.com), the leading location-based social mapping service, today announced that it has added new real rewards to the company’s popular mobile game, Loopt Star, from top brands, Paul Frank and Element. The new deals and incentives include store discounts available to consumers when they visit specified locations.

Loopt Star allows users to play with friends and gain Achievements (virtual bragging rights), coupons and other rewards for checking into specific locations. Loopt Star also lets users optionally share their location with friends on Loopt Star or through Facebook.

“With Loopt Star, everyone wins. Consumers get real rewards for playing a fun game with friends, while brands can effectively drive traffic and purchases at stores in a completely customized way that best fits their individual needs,” said Sam Altman, co-founder and CEO of Loopt. “The rewards we’ve added today will give consumers more opportunities to interact with their favorite brands, and we’re excited to see such a strong response.”

New Deals Available to Consumers

• Paul Frank — Check into any participating Paul Frank store and get an instant 20 percent discount off your purchase. Users can also win the Paul Frank Super Fan Achievement. Participating stores are in Chicago; Costa Mesa, Calif. (South Coast Plaza); Las Vegas (Fashion Show Mall); Los Angeles; New York; and San Francisco.
• Element — Check into the Element Times Square store in New York and receive an Element Eco-Water Bottle plus a 10 percent discount off any purchase of $75 or more. Users can also win the Element Fan Achievement.

Existing real rewards available include free music from Loopt Star, with songs from cool artists like Lady Gaga, Miley Cyrus, Mos Def and others, when checking into any participating bar in the United States and receiving the Loopt Star “Discover The Music Around You” Reward.

Brands can use Loopt Star to create fun, engaging campaigns that deliver foot traffic, connect with customers, build a strong community and increase their Facebook fan base. Loopt is working directly with top brands to customize all aspects of Loopt Star, from the activity needed to earn the reward, to the type of virtual or real-world reward earned.

Campaigns and Achievements are continually becoming available and can be found on the Loopt blog at http://blog.loopt.com. For more information about Loopt Star, go to www.looptstar.com.

About Loopt
Loopt is the leading location-based mobile social mapping company. Loopt produces a suite of mobile applications including Loopt, Loopt Pulse for iPad, and Loopt Mix, to allow users to discover the world around them. Loopt products use location on mobile phones, iPad and iPod touch devices to help their users find and enjoy the friends, places, and events around them right now. The Loopt services have more than 4 million registered users and partnerships with every major U.S. mobile phone carrier. Loopt is available on over 100 phones, including iPhone. (See www.loopt.com/phones for the full range of supported handsets.) Loopt was designed with privacy considerations at its core and offers a variety of effective and intuitive privacy controls.

About Paul Frank Industries
From its modest beginnings as a Lo-Fi accessories company in a SoCal beach town garage, Paul Frank Industries has steadily grown into a globally recognized, iconic brand. Creating relationships through exciting collaborations and strategic licensing partnerships, today Paul Frank merchandise includes apparel and accessories for all ages, books, stationery, eyewear, home décor, bicycles and more. Paul Frank Industries features artistic and entertaining designs inspired by their love of avant-garde, modern influences and everyday objects. Paul Frank products are available at world renowned retailers including Nordstrom, Bloomingdales, Macy’s, Fred Segal, Colette, Selfridges, Beams and flagship Paul Frank store locations. To see what’s new and exciting at Paul Frank Industries, visit paulfrank.com http://www.Paulfrank.com.

About Element
In 1992 the Element seed was planted. Our goal was simple, to be the best we could be, in the most honest and ethical way possible. We joined together to elevate what we all truly believe in. Today, we continue to create the art, direction and message on a constant path to bring progress to skateboarding. We are more than a business; we are a family, all on the same journey for the growth with-in ourselves, Element and all that surrounds us.