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July 13, 2008

Loopt showcased its LBS application for the new 3G iPhone at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference June 30.

Now the company said it is adding even more features, and all for free.

The company plans to monetize its free iPhone applications by introducing its first location-targeted advertising. However, that won’t start immediately and it will be unobtrusive so people aren’t getting spammed with ads, said Loopt CEO and co-founder Sam Altman.

Besides the friend-finder application, iPhone users will be able to use Loopt to get reviews of places such as restaurants, thanks to a deal with content partner Yelp, and see where their friends have been.

Another new feature is the ability to use Loopt to instantly update all your online communities and blogs with location, photos and comments.

Loopt is entirely permission-based and the company 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 has been on a roll lately. In late June, it announced the Loopt friend-finder and mapping service is available on select Verizon Wireless phones for $3.99 a month.

Earlier, it announced the LBS service is available for free to BlackBerry users on the Sprint, Alltel, T-Mobile USA and AT&T networks, although it has since been taken off the Alltel devices for reasons that aren’t entirely clear.

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Source: Loopt.