Loopt®, an interoperable social-mapping and communication service, announced today that Brian Knapp, Chief Privacy Officer and Vice President, has been selected to join the Future of Privacy Forum (FPF), a consortium of dedicated technologists, policymakers, industry groups and advocates focused on developing and advancing privacy practices in a manner that benefits businesses and consumers alike.

The Future of Privacy Forum was established by Jules Polonetsky and Christopher Wolf to address emerging privacy issues brought about by the advancement of technology. The forum brings together thought leaders from business, government and the FPF Advisory board, to address the steps needed to establish best practices and give consumers greater control over their privacy online. The 23-member advisory board includes privacy experts from top companies and advocacy groups. These individuals joined FPF in support of transparency, user control and the advancement of trustworthy data practices. For more information about FPF and the role of the Advisory board please visit www.futureofprivacy.org.

“It is the feedback and ideas generated from privacy and security organizations like the Future of Privacy Forum that has helped Loopt meet our goal of offering effective end user privacy controls and policies,” said Brian Knapp, Chief Privacy Officer of Loopt. “Cooperation among companies, government agencies, and non-governmental organizations is essential to developing online data best practices for the new generation of very valuable and compelling consumer services and applications. I’m eager to begin this important work with the Future of Privacy Forum.”

Loopt’s consumer service helps friends connect on the fly and navigate their social lives by orienting them to people, places and events around them. Loopt shows users where friends are located and what they are doing via detailed, interactive maps on their mobile phones. Loopt users can share location across all major U.S. carrier networks including AT&T, Sprint Nextel, Verizon Wireless, Boost Mobile, MetroPCS and T-Mobile on more than 100 mobile devices including the iPhone and BlackBerry. Support for the Android platform will be available by the end of the year. Loopt users can also easily share their location information with popular web services such as Facebook®, MySpace® and Twitter or personal blogs and websites.

Loopt aspires to achieve effective “privacy by design” with a fact-based, end user-centric, and cooperative approach that drives privacy innovation and the development of best practices. Loopt has actively worked to establish and promote best practices in privacy and security throughout the LBS industry. Loopt offers intuitive and effective privacy controls and security features for its users. The service is completely permission-based and users share location information only with their selected friends, communities and services. Users can easily control location-sharing at any time, and even manage location sharing on a friend-by-friend basis. In addition to participating in the newly formed Future of Privacy Forum, Loopt regularly works with organizations such as the Family Online Safety Institute, Connect Safely, Progress & Freedom Foundation’s Center for Digital Media Freedom, and the Internet Safety Technical Task Force.

For more information about Loopt please visit www.loopt.com.

About Loopt

Loopt, based in Silicon-Valley and backed by leading venture capital firms Sequoia Capital and New Enterprise Associates, has created a truly interoperable and accessible social-mapping service that is available across multiple carrier networks and supported on over 100 mobile devices. Leveraging the latest location technology, Loopt changes the way people connect, share and explore in the real world. Loopt was designed with privacy considerations at its core and offers a variety of effective and easy-to-use privacy controls for subscribers. Loopt works with leading mobile, social networking, and online privacy and security organizations such as The Family Online Safety Institute, Cyber Safe California, ConnectSafely.org, Congressional Internet Caucus Advisory Committee, Progress & Freedom Foundation’s Center for Digital Media Freedom, and the Internet Safety Task Force. Loopt is also TRUSTe certified. For more information, please visit www.loopt.com.

Loopt®, a revolutionary social-mapping and communication service, announced today an agreement with SnapTrack Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Qualcomm, to use QPoint™ location-based server software to provide social mapping and other advanced location services. Loopt will help enable wireless carriers and a broader set of customers to provide certain high-performance, compelling location-based services (LBS). This agreement allows Loopt to address many of the economic challenges that have prevented the proliferation and success of high frequency, high accuracy location-based services.

“The accuracy of GPS intensive applications like ours is dependent on frequent use of location-based information and QPoint helps enable the use of location applications in a cost effective manner,” said Sam Altman, co-founder and chief executive officer of Loopt. “We’re excited to use QPoint location server software to help drive the LBS industry forward.”

As mobile devices have improved, there has been industry-wide, explosive growth of data services, and location is now a key attribute of the mobile experience. Loopt believes all leading edge mobile services, such as social networking, commerce and local advertising, will require real-time, high frequency, high accuracy location-based services from operators and other location providers. The success of the Loopt mobile social mapping service is an early example of this growing trend.

“As location-based services become more prevalent, frequent access to precise location information will be a necessity,” said Richard Bachand, vice president of Intellectual Property for SnapTrack. “We are pleased that Loopt, a leader in location applications and services, is working to help make this a reality.”

Loopt has created a truly interoperable and accessible social-mapping service that is available across multiple carrier networks and supported on over 100 mobile devices. Leveraging the QPoint location server software, Loopt will be able to connect users to Loopt’s social mapping services like never before.

About Loopt

Loopt, based in Silicon-Valley and backed by leading venture capital firms Sequoia Capital and New Enterprise Associates, has created a truly interoperable and accessible social-mapping service that is available across multiple carrier networks and supported on over 100 mobile devices. Leveraging the latest location technology, Loopt changes the way people connect, share and explore in the real world. Loopt was designed with privacy considerations at its core and offers a variety of effective and easy-to-use privacy controls for subscribers. Loopt works with leading mobile, social networking, and online privacy and security organizations such as The Family Online Safety Institute, Cyber Safe California, ConnectSafely.org, Congressional Internet Caucus Advisory Committee, Progress & Freedom Foundation’s Center for Digital Media Freedom, and the Internet Safety Task Force. Loopt is also TRUSTe certified. For more information, please visit www.loopt.com.

# # #

QPoint is a trademark of Qualcomm Incorporated.

Loopt, a social-mapping and communication service, today announced its new “Loopt Mix” feature is in the 1.1 version of Loopt now available via the Apple App Store. This new opt-in feature uses location-based services to enable iPhone users to find and meet new people nearby. The Loopt Mix feature also makes it easy for online communities to facilitate real-world interaction among their members. Loopt’s featured community partners include TechCrunch, imeem, Rock the Vote and NRDC’s It’sYourNature.

“We hear from our users all the time that they want to use Loopt to meet new people in addition to keeping up with their current circle of friends,” said Sam Altman, co-founder and CEO of Loopt. “With the introduction of Loopt Mix, iPhone users can quickly search for interesting people around them and then easily contact them to meet up in person. Currently, it’s very easy to connect with people and groups with similar interests and hobbies online, but now Loopt is leveraging the power of location to bring that experience mobile and into the real world.”

Loopt helps users connect with other people and places in the real world, but until now it’s been limited to people that a user already knows. Loopt Mix is for users who want to meet new people near them — at a conference, in a club, or in their neighborhood. With Loopt Mix, users can create a customized public profile, browse nearby profiles, and even search by shared interest and community membership. Messages are sent via email and do not reveal the user’s full name, exact location, email address or phone number. The user is always in control and can easily turn off the feature, report abuse or block other users at any time.

Loopt Mix is also a powerful way for online communities and organizations to help their users connect in the real world. Some of Loopt’s community launch partners include TechCrunch (www.techcrunch.com), imeem (www.imeem.com), Rock the Vote (www.rockthevote.com) and NRDC’s It’sYourNature.org (www.itsyournature.org). Users can easily add these brand badges to their profiles to find and connect with other like-minded community members. With Loopt Mix, TechCrunch readers can meet up at conferences, coffee shops or Silicon Valley parties; imeem users can connect at local concerts and music festivals; Rock the Vote members can more easily coordinate voter registration activities; and NRDC’s It’sYourNature.org members can meet up to participate in local environmental events. Loopt Mix users can also use the “tags” section of their profile to indicate other interests, hobbies and organizations from sports clubs to alma maters to favorite bands and presidential candidate preferences. For example, it’s easy to search for all nearby users that have entered the tag “Obama/Biden” or “McCain/Palin” to help organize campaigning activities.

Loopt is available free for use in the United States from Apple’s App Store on iPhone or at www.itunes.com/appstore/. For more information about Loopt Mix, please visit www.loopt.com/mix

About Loopt

Loopt, based in Silicon-Valley and backed by leading venture capital firms Sequoia Capital and New Enterprise Associates, has created a truly interoperable and accessible social-mapping service that is available across multiple carrier networks and supported on over 100 mobile devices. Leveraging the latest location technology, Loopt changes the way people connect, share and explore in the real world. Loopt was designed with privacy considerations at its core and offers a variety of effective and easy-to-use privacy controls for subscribers. Loopt works with leading mobile, social networking, and online privacy and security organizations such as The Family Online Safety Institute, Cyber Safe California, ConnectSafely.org, Congressional Internet Caucus Advisory Committee, Progress & Freedom Foundation’s Center for Digital Media Freedom, and the Internet Safety Task Force. Loopt is also TRUSTe certified. For more information, please visit www.loopt.com.

Contact:

Amanda Sanyal
SutherlandGold Group for Loopt
650-520-5419
amanda@sutherlandgold.com

Loopt, a revolutionary social-mapping and communication service, in coordination with NonStop Riot, a leading music marketing agency, announced today a new service that lets music fans follow their favorite artist as they tour around the country.

Loopt’s “Follow The Music” program features some of the summer’s most buzzed about bands including: Shwayze, Chromeo, 3oh!3, The Submarines, The Secret Handshake, A Cursive Memory, Meiko, Valencia, The Medic Droid, and Bayside. In addition to knowing just what city their favorite band has rolled into, fans can view updates and photos from the band, add comments on artist journals and participate in special events based on their proximity to the band’s location.

“Loopt is a fun and powerful way for music fans to connect with their favorite artists,” said Shari Doherty, Vice President, Consumer Marketing and Communications for Loopt. “The exchange of information between fans and artists on Loopt is both entertaining and actionable. The artists not only share stories and photos from the road but also ask fans for recommendations on things to do as they pull into a new city.”

Loopt uses location technology to connect users to the world around them like never before. Users can connect on the go and instantly share photos and comments with friends and communities like Facebook and Twitter. It is also easy to discover and explore nearby places and events recommended by friends and popular local services such as Yelp. As always, users can always change their privacy settings if they do not want to be found.

“We strive to create genuine relationships between artists, fans and brands and Loopt is an innovative new solution for us,” said Josh Crick, CEO for NonStop Riot. “Loopt is the perfect communication tool for touring artists, and it gives fans the opportunity to get a ‘behind the ropes’ peek at their favorite artist’s daily lives.”

The program is building awareness through videos of live performances created for each artist. Information within the videos gives fans the steps to get them started following artists on tour through Loopt. The videos are on the artists’ MySpace pages, other social networking sites, video sharing sites, fan sites, and continue to spread virally.

For more information about the program or to start following your favorite artist, visit www.loopt.com/followthemusic.

About Loopt

Loopt, based in Silicon-Valley and backed by leading venture capital firms Sequoia Capital and New Enterprise Associates, has created a truly interoperable and accessible social-mapping service that is available across multiple carrier networks and supported on over 80 mobile devices. Leveraging the latest location technology, Loopt changes the way people connect, share and explore in the real world. Loopt was designed with privacy considerations at its core and offers a variety of effective and easy-to-use privacy controls for subscribers. Loopt works with leading mobile, social networking, and online privacy and security organizations such as Family Online Safety Institute, Cyber Safe California, ConnectSafely.org, Congressional Internet Caucus Advisory Committee, Progress & Freedom Foundation’s Center for Digital Media Freedom, and the Internet Safety Task Force. Loopt is also TRUSTe certified. For more information, please visit www.loopt.com

About NonStop Riot

NonStop Riot is a music marketingagency and new media company with offices in Los Angeles and Oakland. NonStop Riot creates genuine experiences and relationships between artists, fans, and brands by leveraging music as a strategy NOT just a tactic.

Contacts:

Erica Jostedt
Sutherlandgold Group for Loopt
415.848.7172
Erica@sutherlandgold.com

Lilly Ngo
NonStop Riot
310.463.3065
Lilly@nonstopriot.com

Loopt®, a revolutionary social-mapping and communication service, announced that its interoperable service will be available beginning today to Apple iPhone users for free via the iPhone App Store www.itunes.com/appstore/

“We are thrilled to be a part of the launch of the new Apple App Store. The iPhone OS platform is amazingly easy to work in and has provided us the opportunity to build a truly phenomenal Loopt experience for users,” said Sam Altman, chief executive officer and co-founder of Loopt. “We are delighted to offer users an integrated and powerful set of features to navigate their mobile lifestyle and stay connected to people and places on the go. With Loopt on your iPhone, you’ll never be lonely, bored or hungry again!”

Loopt uses location technology to connect users to the world around them like never before. People can pinch, tap and drag an interactive map to find where their friends are and what they are doing. Users can connect on the go and instantly share photos and comments with friends and communities like Facebook® and others. It is also easy to discover and explore nearby places and events recommended by friends and popular local services such as Yelp®. As always, users can always change their privacy settings if they do not want to be found.

Loopt offers the most intuitive and effective privacy controls and security features for end users. Loopt is 100 percent permission-based and users share location information only with their selected friends, communities and services. Users can easily turn location-sharing on or off at any time. Loopt regularly works with organizations such as the Family Online Safety Institute, ConnectSafely.org, the Center for Democracy & Technology, Progress & Freedom Foundation’s Center for Digital Media Freedom, and the Internet Safety Task Force.

Loopt is available free for use in the United States beginning today from the Apple App Store at www.itunes.com/appstore/

About Loopt

Loopt, based in Silicon-Valley and backed by leading venture capital firms Sequoia Capital and New Enterprise Associates, has created a truly interoperable and accessible social-mapping service that is available across multiple carrier networks and supported on over 80 mobile devices. Leveraging the latest location technology, Loopt changes the way people connect, share and explore in the real world. Loopt was designed with privacy considerations at its core and offers a variety of effective and easy-to-use privacy controls for subscribers. Loopt works with leading mobile, social networking, and online privacy and security organizations such as the Center for Democracy & Technology, Family Online Safety Institute, Cyber Safe California, ConnectSafely.org, Congressional Internet Caucus Advisory Committee, Progress & Freedom Foundation’s Center for Digital Media Freedom, and the Internet Safety Task Force. Loopt is also TRUSTe certified. For more information, please visit www.loopt.com

Contact

Amanda Sanyal
SutherlandGold Group for Loopt
650-520-5419
amanda@sutherlandgold.com

Loopt®, a revolutionary social-mapping and communication service, today announced that it has joined Facebook Connect to allow users to “connect” their Facebook® identity, friends, and privacy settings to the Loopt service.

Working with Facebook Connect will allow Loopt users to share and discover recommendations for nearby businesses, integrate location awareness into their Facebook feeds, and easily find and connect with Facebook friends both on and offline in a manner consistent with their Facebook privacy settings.

“Working with Facebook Connect widens the circle of friends Loopt users can interact with, combining the power of Loopt’s social-mapping service with an established network of Facebook friends,” said Evan Tana, the Director of Product Management & Marketing of Loopt. “Loopt users will be able to receive an alert whenever Facebook friends are nearby, discover restaurants and bars recommended by their Facebook friends, and integrate their location into their Facebook feed.”

Facebook gives everyone the power to share with the people they care about making the world more open and transparent. Facebook users communicate through the social graph, the network of connections and relationships that exist in the world between people. With more than 90 million active users, Facebook is the fourth-most trafficked website in the world.

Facebook launched Facebook Connect to allow users to take their identity and friends with them around the Web, while being able to trust that their information is always up to date and always protected by their privacy settings.

Loopt offers the most intuitive and effective privacy controls and security features for end users. Loopt is 100 percent permission-based and users share location information only with their selected friends, communities and services. Users can easily turn location-sharing on or off at any time. Loopt regularly works with organizations such as the Family Online Safety Institute, ConnectSafely.org, Progress & Freedom Foundation’s Center for Digital Media Freedom, and the Internet Safety Task Force.

The enhanced capabilities will roll out to consumers in late summer and will initially be available to Loopt users via the iPhone App Store. Shortly thereafter the features will be made available on BlackBerry and feature phones across Verizon, Sprint Nextel and Boost Mobile. For more information please visit www.loopt.com

Facebook® is a registered trademark of Facebook Inc.

About Loopt

Loopt, based in Silicon-Valley and backed by leading venture capital firms Sequoia Capital and New Enterprise Associates, has created a truly interoperable and accessible social-mapping service that is available across multiple carrier networks and supported on over 80 mobile devices. Leveraging the latest location technology, Loopt changes the way people connect, share and explore in the real world. Loopt was designed with privacy considerations at its core and offers a variety of effective and easy-to-use privacy controls for subscribers. Loopt works with leading mobile, social networking, and online privacy and security organizations such as the Family Online Safety Institute, Cyber Safe California, ConnectSafely.org, Congressional Internet Caucus Advisory Committee, Progress & Freedom Foundation’s Center for Digital Media Freedom, and the Internet Safety Task Force. Loopt is also TRUSTe certified. For more information, please visit www.loopt.com

The Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School today announced that it will head a newly formed Internet Safety Technical Task Force. The Task Force, comprised of leading Internet businesses and organizations, will focus on identifying effective online safety tools and technologies that can be used by many companies across multiple platforms.

“The safety concerns posed by the Internet are part and parcel of the safety concerns that arise in human interactions in the physical world. These concerns are not unique to any one service or technology platform; they are shared by the companies that provide Internet services and the individuals who use these services. We should work together – private firms, technologists, experts from the non-profit world, and leaders in government – to solve online safety issues as a joint effort,’ said John Palfrey, Executive Director of The Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School. “We are honored to assume the leadership of this Task Force and excited to convene the broad array of interests represented by the group.”

The Task Force will evaluate a broad range of existing and state-of-the-art online safety technologies, including a review of identity authentication tools to help sites enforce minimum age requirements. The Task Force is a central element of the Joint Statement on Key Principles of Social Networking Safety announced in January 2008 by MySpace and the Attorneys General Multi-State Working Group on Social Networking. Fifty Attorneys General adopted the “Joint Statement” with the goal of improving online safety standards industry-wide.

“The Berkman Center’s impressive research on the challenges and opportunities offered by the Internet makes them the ideal leader for the Task Force,” said Hemanshu Nigam, Chief Security Officer for Fox Interactive Media and MySpace. “We look forward to partnering with The Berkman Center and the Task Force to identify the technologies and tools that will be available industry-wide to provide a safer online experience for all Internet users.”

The Task Force will be led by Berkman Center Executive Director John Palfrey, along with co-directors danah boyd and Dena Sacco, with support from the Berkman Center’s Digital Natives project team and Cyberlaw Clinic. Members of the Task Force include industry-leading Internet businesses, non-profit organizations, and technology companies.

Organizations that have joined the Task Force include:

• AOL
• Aristotle
• AT&T
• Bebo
• Berkman Center
• Center for Democracy & Technology
• Connectsafely.org
• Comcast
• Enough is Enough
• Facebook
• Google
• Family Online Safety Institute
• WiredSafety.org
• Xanga
• iKeepSafe
• Institue for Policy Innovation
• Linden Lab
• Loopt
• IDology
• Microsoft
• MySpace
• NCMEC
• Progress and Freedom Foundation
• Sentinel Tech
• Symantec
• Verizon
• Yahoo!

“We believe in the power of technology, that is why we are so enthusiastic about the new Internet Safety Technical Task Force,” said Ernie Allen, President and Chief Executive of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. “We are hopeful that together we can explore and find solutions through technology that enable the expansive use of the marvelous tools and resources available, while more effectively protecting the children and young people who use them in such large numbers.”

“AOL remains a leader in developing innovative technologies – such as AOL’s parental controls – to protect children’s online experience and empower their parents,” said Charles Curran, AOL’s Chief Counsel for Policy & Regulatory. “The Berkman Center’s policy expertise will be invaluable to the Task Force’s evaluation of new online security tools and we look forward to working with them to promote effective solutions for child safety”.

The Task Force will prepare quarterly reports with their findings and present a final report at the end of the year.

About the Berkman Center

The Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School is proud to celebrate its tenth year as a research program founded to explore cyberspace, share in its study, and help pioneer its development. Founded in 1997, through a generous gift from Jack N. and Lillian R. Berkman, the Center is now home to an ever-growing community of faculty, fellows, staff, and affiliates working on projects that span the broad range of intersections between cyberspace, technology, and society. More information can be found at http://cyber.law.harvard.edu

Contact:

Seth Young
617.384.9135
syoung@cyber.law.harvard.edu
415.848.7172

Verizon Wireless, the nation’s leading wireless service provider, and Loopt, a revolutionary social-mapping service, announced today Loopt will be available next month on select Verizon Wireless phones.

With Loopt, Verizon Wireless customers can leverage their phones location-based services capabilities to share location information, status messages and geo-tagged photos with their community of friends. Loopt users can view where friends in their private network are located via a map displayed on their mobile phones and connect and share their locations with anyone in their address books or AIM buddy lists. Detailed Loopt maps that show Verizon Wireless users where friends are, what they are doing, and how to meet up with them, transform their Verizon Wireless phones into active social tools to connect, share and explore the real world.

“Loopt offers Verizon Wireless customers a fun, unique and powerful way to connect with friends and share information,” said Ryan Hughes, vice president of digital media programming for Verizon. “Loopt enhances the mobile experience by letting friends stay in touch with and informed of their friends’ lives wherever they go.”

“Location is the redefining element of mobile communication and the consumer experience. Location interoperability and accessibility is the gateway that extends the reach, value and power of mobile devices for all consumers,” said Sam Altman, chief executive officer and co-founder of Loopt. “In co-operation with Verizon Wireless, we are laying the foundation for mass consumer awareness and adoption of Loopt location-based services with a focus on user privacy and security.”

Loopt, the social mapping industry leader, offers the most intuitive and effective privacy controls and security features for end users. Loopt is 100 percent permission-based and users share location information only with their known friends via private networks. In addition, Loopt users can easily turn location-sharing on or off at any time on a friend-by-friend basis or for all friends at once. Loopt regularly works with organizations such as the Family Online Safety Institute, ConnectSafely.org, the Center for Democracy & Technology, and is TRUSTe certified.

Verizon Wireless customers will be able to purchase Loopt beginning in April in the Tools on the Go and Featured Applications shopping aisle in the Get It Now virtual store. Loopt will be available for $3.99 monthly access. Verizon Wireless customers will be able to get Loopt on more than 20 popular Get It Now-capable phones, including the Chocolate by LG, the MOTORIZR  Z6tv and Verizon Wireless G zOne Type-S. Download charges for Get It Now applications vary and airtime or megabyte charges may apply when browsing, downloading and using certain applications, and standard text messaging rates apply. Customers need a Get It Now-enabled handset and Verizon Wireless digital service to access the Get It Now virtual store.

For more information on Verizon Wireless products and services, customers can visit a Verizon Wireless Communications Store, call 1-800-2 JOIN IN or visit www.verizonwireless.com.

About Verizon Wireless

Verizon Wireless operates the nation’s most reliable wireless voice and data network, serving 65.7 million customers. Headquartered in Basking Ridge, N.J., with 69,000 employees nationwide, Verizon Wireless is a joint venture of Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ) and Vodafone (NYSE and LSE: VOD). For more information, go to: www.verizonwireless.com. To preview and request broadcast-quality video footage and high-resolution stills of Verizon Wireless operations, log on to the Verizon Wireless Multimedia Library at www.verizonwireless.com/multimedia.

About Loopt

Loopt, based in Silicon-Valley and backed by leading venture capital firms Sequoia Capital and New Enterprise Associates, has created a revolutionary social-mapping service that changes the way friends connect, share and explore in the mobile environment. Leveraging the latest location-based technologies, Loopt automatically updates and delivers friend location maps, messages and alerts on mobile handsets and the Web. Loopt was designed with privacy considerations at its core and offers a variety of effective and easy-to-use privacy controls for subscribers. Loopt works with leading mobile, social networking, and online privacy and security organizations such as the Center for Democracy & Technology, Family Online Safety Institute (member, board of directors), Cyber Safe California (member, advisory board), ConnectSafely.org, Congressional Internet Caucus Advisory Committee, and Ponemon Institute. Loopt is also TRUSTe certified. For more information, please visit www.loopt.com.

Contacts:

Jeffrey Nelson
Verizon Wireless
jeffrey.nelson@verizonwireless.com
908.559.7519

Amanda Sanyal
SutherlandGold Group for Loopt
amanda@sutherlandgold.com
650.520.5419

Loopt®, a revolutionary social-mapping and communication service, announced today that the location-based service is now available for free to BlackBerry users on the Sprint, Alltel, T-Mobile and AT&T networks.

BlackBerry users can now share their location information with friends across multiple devices and carrier networks.

According to a recent report from IDC, BlackBerry handsets lead the industry in smartphone sales with 44.5% of the market, largely due to the new consumer-friendly phones they now offer like the Curve and Pearl.

“Smartphones have become increasingly popular with young consumers and we are confident that users will be delighted with the Loopt user experience on the Blackberry,” said Sam Altman, CEO of Loopt. “Loopt continues to deliver on the promise of a truly interoperable and accessible location-based service available across multiple carriers and devices.”

Loopt shows users where friends are located and what they are doing via detailed, interactive maps on their mobile phones. Loopt helps friends connect on the go and navigate their social lives by orienting them to people, places and events. Users can also share location updates, geo-tagged photos and comments with friends in their mobile address book or on online social networks, communities and blogs.

Loopt was designed with user privacy at its core and offers a variety of effective and intuitive privacy controls. For more information about Loopt or to download Loopt for your Blackberry please visit www.loopt.com. Loopt for Blackberry is free to download and use. However, a data plan is required and standard data and messaging charges from your carrier may apply.

About Loopt

Loopt, based in Silicon-Valley and backed by leading venture capital firms Sequoia Capital and New Enterprise Associates, has created a revolutionary social-mapping service that changes the way friends connect, share and explore in the mobile environment. Leveraging the latest location-based technologies, Loopt automatically updates and delivers friend location maps, messages and alerts on mobile handsets and the Web. Loopt was designed with privacy considerations at its core and offers a variety of effective and easy-to-use privacy controls for subscribers. Loopt works with leading mobile, social networking, and online privacy and security organizations such as the Center for Democracy & Technology, Family Online Safety Institute, Cyber Safe California, ConnectSafely.org, Congressional Internet Caucus Advisory Committee, and the Progress & Freedom Foundation’s Center for Digital Media Freedom, and the Internet Safety Task Force. Loopt is also TRUSTe certified. For more information, please visit www.loopt.com

Contacts:

Amanda Sanyal
SutherlandGold Group
amanda@sutherlandgold.com
650.520.5419

Verizon Wireless, the nation’s leading wireless service provider, and Loopt® announced today that Verizon Wireless customers can now access Loopt’s interoperable location-based service.

Loopt allows friends who opt in to be located by other friends to show where the friends are located and what they are doing via detailed, interactive maps on their mobile phones. Loopt helps friends connect on the go and navigate their social lives by orienting them to people, places and events. Users can also choose to permit sharing of location updates, geo-tagged photos and comments with friends in their mobile address book or on online social networks, communities and blogs.

“Loopt helps Verizon Wireless customers stay connected to friends and share their location in a fun and interactive way,” said Ryan Hughes, vice president of digital media programming for Verizon. “Loopt enhances our customers’ real world experiences by helping friends stay informed of their friends’ lives.”

“We are on a mission to deliver Loopt to consumers everywhere, and by offering our service to Verizon Wireless customers, we’re significantly closer to achieving that goal,” said Sam Altman, chief executive officer and co-founder of Loopt. “With Loopt, Verizon Wireless customers now have a powerful tool to navigate their mobile lifestyles and easily connect with people and places around them.”

Loopt, the social mapping industry leader, offers the most intuitive and effective privacy controls and security features for end users. Loopt is 100 percent permission-based and users share location information only with their known friends via private networks. In addition, Loopt users can easily turn location-sharing on or off at any time on a friend-by-friend basis or for all friends at once. Loopt regularly works with organizations such as the Family Online Safety Institute, ConnectSafely.org, the Center for Democracy & Technology, Progress & Freedom Foundation’s Center for Digital Media Freedom, and the Internet Safety Task Force.

Loopt is available today on select Verizon Wireless phones for $3.99 monthly access in the Tools on the Go, Featured Applications and Community shopping aisles in the Get It Now® virtual store. Customers need a Get It Now-enabled handset and Verizon Wireless digital service to access the Get It Now virtual store.

About Verizon Wireless

Verizon Wireless operates the nation’s most reliable wireless voice and data network, serving 67.2 million customers. Headquartered in Basking Ridge, N.J., with 69,000 employees nationwide, Verizon Wireless is a joint venture of Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ) and Vodafone (NYSE and LSE: VOD). For more information, go to: www.verizonwireless.com. To preview and request broadcast-quality video footage and high-resolution stills of Verizon Wireless operations, log on to the Verizon Wireless Multimedia Library at www.verizonwireless.com/multimedia.

About Loopt

Loopt, based in Silicon-Valley and backed by leading venture capital firms Sequoia Capital and New Enterprise Associates, has created a truly interoperable and accessible social-mapping service that is available across multiple carrier networks and supported on over 80 mobile devices. Leveraging the latest location technology, Loopt changes the way people connect, share and explore in the real world. Loopt was designed with privacy considerations at its core and offers a variety of effective and easy-to-use privacy controls for subscribers. Loopt works with leading mobile, social networking, and online privacy and security organizations such as the Center for Democracy & Technology, Family Online Safety Institute, Cyber Safe California, ConnectSafely.org, Congressional Internet Caucus Advisory Committee, Progress & Freedom Foundation’s Center for Digital Media Freedom, and the Internet Safety Task Force. Loopt is also TRUSTe certified. For more information, please visit www.loopt.com

Contacts

Jeffrey Nelson
Verizon Wireless
908.559.7519
Jeffrey.Nelson@verizonwireless.com

Erica Jostedt
SutherlandGold Group for Loopt
415.848.7172
ej@sutherlandgold.com