ABSTRACT
The impending phenomenon to hit the LBS market is mobile social networking. Trying to cash on the fact that many young people today are obsessed with social networking and mobile phones, companies are finding out novel ways of combining the two. The likely potential of the mobile social networking is such that experts are calling it the 3G killer application after 1G voice calls and 2G SMS. The reason could be simple - people prefer to connect with their friends on mobile than on a computer. Who would wait to get home and switch on the computer to share the latest hot hangout with friends. The catch here is mobility and instant approach. The 'traditional' combination of web and cell phones provided a limited scope. Now adding GPS technology is giving a whole new dimension to the wireless social-networking by allowing users to know each others location. In a nut shell, these services answer the most important question in text messaging – where r u?

LOOPT
In the Spring of 2005 Sam Altman, a student at Stanford asked his friend and eventual cofounder of Loopt Inc., Nick Sivo "wouldn't it be great if I could open my mobile phone and see a map of where all my friends are?" A simple thought resulted in a friend finder service called Loopt. Loopt is a Palo Alto, California based startup that has built a "social mapping" service that turns your cell phone into a friend finder with detailed maps that show exactly who is where. Available from wireless operator Boost Mobile, Loopt uses GPS and other location technology to show you where your friends are by automatically updating maps on your mobile handset.



Once users download the Loopt application to their cellphones, and invite and verify their friends, they can click on the application icon to view a map that will display their friends' locations as green dots. For the application to work their friends also must have Boost and be members of Loopt. The service also lets the user send messages to nearby friends or receive automatic alerts when they're nearby.

The application recently won the Tele Atlas LBS Innovators Series Attendee Choice Award and chosen as the top LBS application at the 2007 Consumer Electronic Show (CES) in Las Vegas.

HELIO’S BUDDY BEACON
The mobile social networking trend is catching up, evident from the fact that a number of wireless companies are game, giving one another tough competition. One of them is Helio, LLC, a USD 440 million joint venture between South Korea based wireless company SK Telecom Co. and Atlanta based Internet Service Provider (ISP), EarthLink Inc. Right now Helio is offering five devices including the very latest on shelves Heat apart from Drift, Hero, Klickflip and Hybrid but only Heat and Drift offer GPS technology on mobile, enabling Helio's Buddy Mobile Social Networking

Beacon application. GPS-powered Buddy Beacon application also dubbed “Friendar” is a useful tool when you want your friends to know your location or vice-versa. Apart from Buddy Beacon other features include GPSenabled Google Maps and Get Local Guidance. Helio also offer a custom mobile MySpace service, available on all Helio devices that allows you to manage MySpace mail, comments and friend requests. Also offered are photo blogging and posting directly from your Helio device to your MySpace account, including more photo storage on MySpace. Other services include the ability to gift, or buy for another Helio member, and beg, or request from another Helio member, content including 3D and multiplayer games.

SOCIALIGHT
Launched in the fall of 2005, Kamida Inc.'s Socialight service requires you to tell it where you are by sending it a textmessage with your location. Once you "check-in" by doing so, it allows users to share geotagged “Sticky Notes” for other people who have checked into the vicinity.

If you’re at a music concert, for instance, you can create a note. Your friends are notified on their phones when they approach your location. As of now Sticky Notes contain text and photos, but soon the service will also be enabled to add sound clips and video. There are 3 ways to access Socialight using your mobile phone. The first is using SMS (text messaging) - Socialight Text. You send an SMS to Socialight, and you get a response with a customized message. The second is the socialight.com mobile web site. The third is the Socialight Mobile Java application.

FAMILY LOCATOR
Sprint Nextel has launched a family oriented location based service called Sprint Family Locator. The USD 9.99-a-month service allows the users to track the location of their family members.



The company is marketing the service as a way to give "Peace of Mind" to parents. Sprint Family Locator gives access to the location of up to 4 Sprint Nextel phones. The application uses GPS technology to determine the location of authorized mobile phones, which it then displays on an interactive map. Sprint Family Locator also provides an intuitive interface for text-message communication and account management.

These features are accessible from both a registered mobile phone and the secure Sprint Family Locator Web site. The application sports features like periodic, automatic location requests coupled with notification called Safety Checks. At a certain time on selected days, a Safety Check will perform an automated location request for a "contact" phone and then notify you where that phone is. You select the time of day, days of the week, "contact" phone, and notification method. Sprint Family Locator can only find phones that are in their coverage area and that are turned on.



ENTOURAGE
Rave Wireless, a USA based provider of mobile applications and mobile phone programs that strengthen college and university communities is using GPS technology to power a new service called "Entourage" that allows users to make their location available to friends in their Rave address book. Rave Entourage is a social networking service that enables users to create communities and determine the locations of community members who want to be located.

MOLOGOGO
Mologogo (named for Mobile Location Go! Go!) is a free service that will track you and your friend's GPS-enabled cell phone from another phone or on the web. The service combines real-time tracking system, location based search and alerts, mobile maps, social networking and location- aware chat.

The Mologogo user himself controls the data and can specify who sees his location. The service currently works on any Nextel phone with Java, GPS and a data plan. It is also compatible with USD 50 pay as you go Boost Mobile phone, as well as the Nextel Blackberries, and Windows Mobile PocketPC phones and Smart Phones with external GPS.