Virgin Mobile is the latest handset carrier to get caught up in the location-sensation of late, teaming up with New York-based buzzd to bring localized entertainment information to users through the carrier’s WAP deck.  Users will be able to tap reviews and ratings for popular venues such as restaurants in addition to event guides, all in real time, or contribute their own two cents and share it with friends in the general vicinity.

Much like popular applications such as Yelp, WHERE, and Citysense, buzzd aims to “turn the cell phone into a remote control that accesses the best a city has to offer”.  Entertainment information is editorially-driven and aggregated not only from user-generated feedback, but through mobile content partnerships with the likes of Flavorpill, TimeOut, and Zagat.  User-generated content is layered at the top of the handset display so user’s can easily see the latest in real-time feedback and friends can also be accessed via SMS making a rendezvous at the coolest nightspot a cinch.

Sound interesting?  Only available in the United States, you can register by texting ‘join’ to 96321 on a Virgin Mobile handset or by heading over to Virgin XL and clicking on the ‘buzzd’ link.

via cellularnews

(Photo Credit: Techcrunch)

In talking with uLocate Communication’s Dan Gilmartin a couple of weeks back, we were aware of a partnership with Sprint somewhere down the line.  Now the details are official and when Sprint rolls out its WiMAX mobile broadband network, dubbed XOHM, in Baltimore next month, uLocate’s WHERE platform and friend-finding application Buddy Beacon will form the backbone of what Sprint calls a “largely location-centric experience”.

With the new XOHM service, Sprint aims to jump on the growing popularity of location-based services and provide a “geobrowsing effect” that incorporates location context into the mobile browsing experience.  Not only will XOHM apply to cellular devices, but any mobile device connected to the WiMAX network, including automotive PND’s, laptops, portable media players, and even digital cameras.

Perhaps the most impressive part of XOHM is its openness.  Sprint will make the XOHM API’s available to 3rd parties so they can create their own location apps on the XOHM network, improving its usability.

While uLocate is Sprint’s primary partner in the XOHM rollout, they aren’t the only name of note.  Yelp, Eventful, Topix, Navteq, AccuWeather, Google, Openwave Systems, and Autodesk will add their own location context to the new service.  Look for XOHM to rollout in both Chicago and Washington, DC in the fourth quarter.

via arstechnica

We’ve talked about Loopt here before and were hardly surprised to see the location-based mobile social network eagerly debut a new iPhone app.  In fact, co-founder and chief exec Sam Altman said that the day the iPhone software development kit was released by Apple, he had one person devoted solely to putting together the application for a full six weeks.  The application is available for free from the iPhone App Store and allows users to use the iPhone’s touchscreen to navigate their way around an interactive map of their location in order to find their friends and see what they are doing.  It functions as an interactive tool that allows friends to find each other, meet up, and hang out and provides reviews of local events and services.

Whether related to the new iPhone app or not, Loopt has made some big inroads lately in syncing their mobile web presence with their ordinary web presence.  One handy feature Loopt integrates into their iPhone app is Yelp reviews.  If you’re not familiar with Yelp, it’s kind of a social network/review database that helps its members find the best and avoid the worst events and services around big-city USA.  Now not only will Loopt help bring friends together, but together in the best places to eat, drink and socialize with the addition of such a content partner.  If you take a look at the iPhone screenshot above, you’ll see map markers that when clicked on will take you directly to Yelp reviews of that particular location.  Disappointly though, for the time being you won’t be able to post Yelp reviews directly through the Loopt application although you can obviously still write Loopt reviews.  Why Loopt has chosen to do this isn’t totally known, but I’d venture to guess that the company wants to build their own platform, not contribute to a competitor’s.  Using an established database such as Yelp does assist in scaling Loopt’s application however.

Further solidifying their online presence is the integration of Loopt status updates into social networks such as Facebook and microblogging service Twitter.  iPhone users can also post updates on status aggregator Friendfeed.  By syncing the a user’s mobile web presence with their online presence, Loopt is poised for success in the future we’re sure.  However they have some hefty competition in the form of Pelago’s Whrrl and uLocate’s Buddy Beacon, both available as iPhone apps.  When it comes right down to the nitty-gritty, it’ll come down to strategic partnerships to decide which company ultimately ends up on top.  Generate a critical mass of user’s, be available on all major wireless networks, and form effective advertising partnership that generate dollars.  The first company to do this will swallow up the others, but we’re sure there will be more competitors on the scene in the near future.  With the GPS capabilities of the second-gen iPhone, the upcoming Android OS bringing in more competition, Windows Mobile and Symbian operating systems all making grounds in laying a foundation for application developers, the going will be tough even for established networks like Loopt.

Apple’s iPhone App Store got its official launch yesterday bringing 554 new apps to first and second generation iPhone users.  With the new GPS capabilites built into the new 3G iPhone and available for the first generation phone via the iPhone 2.0 software update, there are all kinds of location-aware apps available already.  It’ll take us a while to go through them all, but here are a few and stay tuned for more in-depth reviews…

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