Sam Altman, co-founder and CEO of Loopt, will be on the scene in Austin, speaking at various events throughout South by Southwest (SXSW). Here’s where you can find him, please contact press@loopt.com if you’d like to arrange a meeting.

Loopt speaking (all times CT):

* March 10 @10:15am – Signal: Austin (Federated Media summit, 9am-5pm CT), Driskill Hotel
* March 12 @ 5:30pm – CNN Grill, MAX’s Wine Dive, 207 San Jacinto
* March 13 @ 3:30pm – “Go Here, Do This: Location+Collective Action,” Austin Hilton (500 E 4th St.), Salon J, (MODERATOR: Clive Thompson, NYT Magazine; PANELISTS: Jill Fletcher, Virgin; Eddie Frederick, Living Social; Vince Sollitto, Yelp; Sam Altman, Loopt)

We’ll also be hopping around town doing a lot of other activities, so keep an eye out! Hope to see you there.

iPhone and iPod touch app now blends Loopt and Facebook Places to make it easier to connect with friends while out and about
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. – October 18, 2010 – Loopt, the mobile connection to people and places around you, today announced it has integrated Facebook Places with the latest version of its app for iPhone and iPod touch, making Loopt’s friend-finding capabilities even stronger. Now, Loopt users can view both Facebook and Loopt check-ins on an interactive map, providing a clear view of friends gathering nearby.

With this update, people can now see all their friends’ location updates in one app.  Overall Facebook Places additions to Loopt include:

• Universal map view - Facebook friends are shown on an interactive map, for which Loopt has long been known. Friends using Facebook Places will populate your Loopt map, giving you a clear view of friends nearby.
• Dual check-in - When Loopt users check in and share to Facebook, it will show up as a Facebook Places check-in – a simple, quick update on both services. This action will add activity to the Facebook Places page for that location. For those with accounts on both services, comments on a friend’s Loopt updates will also show up as a comment on the friend’s Facebook Place update.
• Friend history - Facebook friends who have used Facebook Places will appear in Loopt’s Friends list. Through Loopt, you can pull up a friend’s check-in log (for both Loopt and Facebook Places). This comes in especially handy when you are heading to an unfamiliar city, but you have a Facebook friend who knows the area well. You can see where they like to go regularly, plus their input and photos.

“When we first learned that Facebook would enter the location space, we saw a huge opportunity before us,” said Sam Altman, co-founder and CEO of Loopt. “Facebook is introducing its 500 million users to location services. We are glad to have access to the Facebook Places API, and we jumped to incorporate it into Loopt. You’ll see even more integration soon.”

The latest Loopt app involves some additional updates, including:

• Fine-tuned Friend Alerts - Friend alerts, launched recently, have become an extremely popular feature on Loopt. Previously, users would be notified when a friend was within one mile, but we’ve now added a greater customized range – you can adjust Friend Alert settings to receive notification when friends are between one and 10 miles away. This is especially useful for finding out a friend is in town – 10 miles is often worth the journey to meet up with an old friend.
• Upgraded and simplified registration system - An e-mail login option has been a highly requested feature. Now new users can join using either their phone number or email address.

As always, Facebook activity through Loopt will respect the privacy controls set on both Facebook and Loopt. The Loopt App is available for free from the App Store on iPhone and iPod touch or at www.itunes.com/appstore/ <http://www.itunes.com/appstore/>.

For instructions on how to get up and running with Facebook Places on Loopt, see our blog post.

About Loopt
Loopt is the mobile connection to people and places around you. Loopt produces a suite of mobile applications including Loopt, Loopt Star, 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 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 many devices, including iPhone, Android and BlackBerry phones. (See www.loopt.com/phones for all supported handsets.) Loopt applications offer a variety of effective and intuitive privacy controls. Loopt also provides a high-quality, low-cost Location Platform infrastructure for positioning capabilities on location-based apps and services. Find Loopt at www.loopt.com, www.twitter.com/loopt and www.facebook.com/loopt

Facebook® is a registered trademark of Facebook Inc.
Loopt Contact:
Sharon Howell
Loopt, Inc.
press@loopt.com
650.230.6069

Rewards Include In-Store Discounts for Checking In at Sports Authority and Cash Cards for Checking In at Pro Sports Stadiums

MOUNTAINVIEW, Calif. and ENGLEWOOD, Colo. – September 16, 2010 – Loopt, the leading social mapping company, and Sports Authority, the nation’s premier full-line sporting goods retailer, announced today that Sports Authority will offer two rewards to its customers through Loopt Star, a rewards app for the iPhone.

Loopt Star users can receive rewards in two ways:

• Check in at any professional sports team stadium (baseball, basketball or football), and receive a $10 cash card to use on any purchase at Sports Authority.
• Check in at any Sports Authority store, and receive $10 off a purchase of $50 or more.

“Loopt is really good at pinning down locations, which has helped us cater this deal directly to sports fans, whether they’re at a stadium or in our store,” said Clay Cowan, VP of Digital Marketing and E-Commerce of Sports Authority. “With this Loopt Star offer, we’re able to give something valuable to our customers to reward their loyalty.  As the sporting goods value and authority leader, we’re thrilled to be able to share these great deals on great gear to sports lovers on Loopt Star.”

“Sports Authority is demonstrating great leadership by rewarding its customers with a really valuable deal – cold hard cash to spend at its stores,” said Sam Altman, co-founder and CEO, Loopt. “Extending the deal past the walls of its own store, Sports Authority is casting a wide net for interactions with existing or potential customers. I can’t wait for the next baseball game, so I can squeeze in a Loopt Star reward before the season’s over.”

The rewards are available today, so users can go to either location and check in immediately to reap the rewards from Sports Authority. Loopt Star is available through iTunes, here: http://itunes.com/app/LooptStar

About The Sports Authority

Headquartered in Englewood, Colo., The Sports Authority is one of the nation’s largest full-line sporting goods retailers, offering a comprehensive and high-quality assortment of brand name sporting apparel and equipment at competitive prices.

The Sports Authority is staffed with experts in all areas of sports and fitness related topics, and strives to be the ultimate “authority,” both on and off the field. Whether in the game or cheering from the sidelines, The Sports Authority is the leading destination for consumers to fulfill their own sports equipment needs, as well as find their favorite team’s apparel.

The Sports Authority operates 462 stores in 45 states, and employs more than 15,000 associates nationwide. It also operates stores in Japan under a partnership with AEON Co., Ltd. The company’s e-commerce website is located at www.sportsauthority.com

About Loopt
Loopt is the leading location-based mobile social mapping company. Loopt produces a suite of mobile applications including Loopt, Loopt Star, 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 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 more than 100 phones, including iPhone, Android and BlackBerry phones. (See www.loopt.com/phones for all supported handsets.) Loopt applications offer a variety of effective and intuitive privacy controls. Loopt also provides a high-quality, low-cost Location Platform infrastructure for positioning capabilities on location-based apps and services. Find Loopt at www.loopt.com, www.twitter.com/loopt and www.facebook.com/loopt.

Loopt’s Multi-Faceted Service Delivers More Accurate Location Data to U.S. Cellular Mobile Phone Users Needing to Pinpoint Their Location Accurately and Frequently

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA–(September 2, 2010) – Loopt, a leading provider of location-based social apps and wireless location infrastructure, today announced that U.S. Cellular, a leading nationwide mobile carrier, will use the Loopt Location Platform to provide assisted location services to U.S. Cellular subscribers. The Loopt Location Platform equips users with more frequent and accurate location updates, allowing U.S. Cellular to extend location-based services (LBS) to even more of their mobile users.

Loopt is a fast-growing location infrastructure partner for United States operators, and the company continues to work aggressively to build out service and customer support offerings for Brew-enabled handsets and growing smartphone user bases.

“Location services are a transformative feature for mobile devices,” said Sam Altman, co-founder and CEO of Loopt. “We’ve been working hard to make the assisted location service and economics work effectively to expand location-based apps to a larger percentage of mobile subscribers, and U.S. Cellular is showing leadership by introducing these services to its users.”

Loopt is working with U.S. Cellular on various location experiences for its customers, including mapping and geo-location apps. U.S. Cellular has leveraged the Loopt Location Platform in their recent partnership with TeleNav and the launch of its new navigation service “Your Navigator Deluxe.” These implementations allow U.S. Cellular customers to do more with their handsets, taking the functionality beyond simple correspondence and enhancing the overall customer experience.

Given the surging awareness and demand for LBS applications, Loopt will continue to partner with U.S. Cellular to bring the latest location services to its customers.

Loopt’s Location Platform is built on QPoint™ location server software that has been licensed to Loopt by SnapTrack, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Qualcomm*, which provides positioning capabilities for hundreds of millions of devices worldwide. Using this positioning technology, Loopt’s hosted LBS solution currently brings advanced location solutions to multiple U.S. carriers.

About Loopt
Loopt is the leading location-based mobile social mapping company. Loopt produces a suite of mobile applications including Loopt, Loopt Star, 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, Android and BlackBerry phones. (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. In addition to providing location services to consumers through its mobile applications, Loopt provides a high-quality, low-cost Location Platform infrastructure for positioning capabilities on location-based apps and services. Find Loopt on www.twitter.com/loopt and www.facebook.com/loopt.

About U.S. Cellular
The 9,000 associates of U.S. Cellular believe a wireless phone enhances people’s lives and a wireless company should be in the business of bringing people together. U.S. Cellular has a wide range of monthly plans, including those with unlimited nationwide calling, unlimited free incoming calls and options to prepay. The company has a growing catalog of phones like the BlackBerry® Bold, the touch-screen LG Tritan and HTC Touch Pro 2 and the Android-powered Samsung Acclaim and HTC Desire, which offer e-mail and Web access. Those features are delivered 10 times faster over U.S. Cellular’s 3G Mobile Broadband network. U.S. Cellular believes in the power of the community and has made a commitment to invest more than $4.5 million in teachers and schools during 2009 and 2010. Based in Chicago, the company serves 6.2 million customers across the country. To learn more about the company visit one of its retail stores or www.uscellular.com. You can also check out U.S. Cellular on Facebook.

*Qualcomm is a registered trademark of Qualcomm Incorporated. QPoint is a trademark of Qualcomm Incorporated. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

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

U.S. Cellular Contact:
Chelsea L. Whittington
U.S. Cellular
chelsea.whittington@uscellular.com
773.355.3561

Read the rest of this entry »