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Want to Know Where Your Friends Are? Loopt Can Put You in the Loop. Loopt Advertises to Locate Your Friends Who Are Also Loopt

Loopt is a unique company that can locate your friends from anywhere by the GPS coordinates on their phones. Loopt is supported only by US carriers and the carriers that support Loopt include Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, Metro PCS, Nextel, Boost Mobile, and T-Mobile. Furthermore you cannot use Loopt with any phone, you must have a phone that is internet capable and 3G capable. Each carrier has different phones that support Loopt programs.

All of the different carriers and the phones that support Loopt mobile apps are listed below.

Verizon is the newest member to join the Loopt Family. Verizon is a mobile carrier with service throughout all fifty states of the United States, and has several phone brands and models available that support Loopt apps. Verizon supports Loopt on the Voyager, enV, VX9800, Dare, VX9400, enV2, Venus, VX8700, VX8600, Chocolate II, Chocolate, VX8350, and VX8300 from the LG product line. Verizon also supports Loopt from Motorola’s KRZR, RAZR V3c, RAZR V3m, SLVR, all RIZR models, RAZR Maxx Ve, RAZR2 V9m, and the V325i. Loopt is also available on Samsung’s A990, Flipshot, Alias u620, and the u550 with Verizon’s service. Verizon also supports Loopt on Casio’s G’zOne Type V and G’zOne Type S.

Another carrier that supports Loopt is AT&T which is the only carrier that supports Apple’s iPhone and yes, Loopt is supported on both the iPhone and the new iPhone 3G. Other phones that support Loopt with AT&T include all the Blackberry models, Motorola’s Z9N and RAZR2 V9n. AT&T also supports Loopt on Samsung’s Rugby, Propel, and Milky phones. Other phone brands and models that support Loopt with AT&T include the Nokia Tarpan, the Sony Erricsson Dylan, and both Pentech Matrix and Lena phones.

Sprint also supports Loopt with all the Blackberry phones with the exception of the Milky model, LG’s Musiq, Lotus, Fusic, LX400, Rumor, and the MM-535 phones. Sprint also supports Loopt on Motorola’s Buzz, Blend, KRZR, RAZR, Red RAZR, and RAZR2 phones. Loopt is also supported on a large variety of Samsung’s internet and 3G phones with Sprint’s service, and likewise most Sanyo 3G and internet phones can also support Loopt with Sprint.

Another new mobile carrier to have affiliations with Loopt is Metro PCS. Metro PCS can support Loopt on Motorola’s RAZR V3s, RAZR V3m, RAZR V3a, Hint, and ROKR phones. Loopt is also available on Samsung’s U520, Messager, MyShot, Tint, R410, and ByLine phones with Metro PCS. Other phone brands and models that can support Loopt with Metro PCS include Kyocera Mako, Kyocera E2000, Nokia 1006, UT Starcom 7126 M, and ZTE C79.

Netxtel and Boost Mobile support Loopt only with most Motorola phones with the exception of the RAZR series and Lotus phones.

T-Mobile is the US arm of Deutche Telecom and is a widely used mobile carrier in the United States and supports Loopt only with all Blackberry models, with the T-Mobile G1 phone.

This above information is very important if you want to signup for Loopt. The reason for this is because when you want to sign up for Loopt, you will first be prompted to type in your mobile phone number with the area code. The website will automatically tell you who your carrier is and this is also important, because some carriers will allow you to use Loopt’s services for free, whereas others will require you to pay for Loopt’s services, depending on the contract that Loopt has with that particular carrier.

After typing in your mobile phone number, you will be prompted to type in your first and last names, a password and then you will need to confirm your password. The password needs to be at least six characters.

Once you have read all the legal notices and agreed to the contract and all costs incurred for signing up for Loopt’s service you will come to a page that prompts you to check your cell phone for an SMS message that has a link. This is also very important, because if you do not have the service with the above mentioned carriers and the above mentioned phone models, Loopt will not work on your phone. On your SMS message that you will get from Loopt will have a link and you will need to open that link on your phone and confirm your membership with Loopt. After you have done that, you will then need to click on the I’m Done button and then Loopt will let you know if you have successfully logged on and can download the app on your phone.

Loopt advertises its product as having the ability to turn your mobile phone into a social compass and can let you locate your friends and get in touch with them. The way Loopt does this is that it will locate your friends on Loopt with an interactive map on your phone. This innovative technology that Loopt provides gives you the capability to be able to connect with your friends on the fly and find out what they are up to or whether you can join them.

The beginning of Loopt is also amazing in itself. Loopt was founded in 2005 by Sam Altman, who was at the time a sophomore at Stanford University with a major in Computer Science. The idea came to Mr. Altman when he walked out of class one day and had a conversation with a close friend, Nick Sivo, who would later join Mr. Altman in founding Loopt. During the conversation, the thought came to Mr. Altman about being able to open his cell phone and find out where all his friends are.

By September of 2005, the two cofounders of Loopt had a product prototype that would have an amazing response, and therefore, both Mr. Altman and Mr. Sivo decided to start Loopt. The prototype was so impressive that many investors were impressed, but the $5 million in series A funding was the offer that Mr. Altman accepted.

Along with Sequoia Capital, other investors include the Y Combinator and New Enterprise Associates.

The Y Combinator invested $0.015 million in seed funding. Y Combinator is a vc firm that is strictly dedicated to funding new startups in the tech and internet industries. On Y Combinator’s website, the vc firm states that they help entrepreneurs with the most difficult step, turning an idea into a company.

Sequoia Capital is one of Loopt’s biggest investors, investing $5 million, being a majority in an $8 million in series A funding in 2006 and then participating in $8.25 million in series B funding in July of 2007. Sequoia Capital is a global vc firm with offices in the United States, Israel, India, and China. Some companies in Sequoia’s portfolio include AdBrite, AdMob, Atom Entertainment, BillPoint, BitCommet, and others.

New Enterprise Associates was also a key investor in Loopt and joined Sequoia Capital in both series A and B funding. New Enterprise Associates or NEA is a large vc firm that has offices in the United States, China, and India. Some companies in NEA’s portfolio include 23andMe, 3Jam, Career Builder, Glu Mobile, Realtime Worlds, and others.

Loopt does have a few competitors. One of the most noteworthy competitors is Rummble, which also provides a service similar to Loopt, but Rummble is more about finding locations for content. Rummble is based in London and is a privately owned corporation. The company has two people on its management team.

For more information on Loopt, click here.

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