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New Phone Uses GPS To Locate Your Contacts

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the oh-crap-here-comes-ted dept.

Salvance writes "Palo Alto-based Loopt Inc. has announced an agreement with Sprint Nextel to immediately begin offering their cell phone mapping service to all 3.8 Million Sprint Boost subscribers (Sprint Boost is a service specifically targeting the under-25 market). This service will notify users when another subscriber in their contact list is within 25 miles, providing a real-time map displaying their contacts' locations. According to the article, the only apparent privacy safeguard is to provide users the option to 'temporarily cut out from being spotted by their friends.' Given a retailer's propensity to package together extra services, and the average user's lack of knowledge regarding their phone's capabilities, this new service seems ripe for abuse."

7 of 147 comments (clear)

  1. Wow! GPS enabled contacts?! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    I'd think that'd be the bigger news. They're so tiny! And now I will never lose them.

  2. *chime* by Rob+T+Firefly · · Score: 5, Funny

    Hmm? Oh, pardom me guys, it's a mesasge on my phone...

    ted from acctg is shaggin ur gf lol

    Thanks, Sprint!

    --
    Slashdot Burying Stories About Slashdot Media Owned
  3. I felt him by jeepee · · Score: 5, Funny

    Welcome, young Skywalker. [Looking at cell phone] I have been expecting you.

    --
    Overuse of the Pumping Lemma causes blindness
  4. Well... by $RANDOMLUSER · · Score: 3, Funny

    When I call someone on a land line, I know exactly where they are.

    --
    No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism. - Winston Churchill
  5. Surprise ! by Joebert · · Score: 3, Funny

    Alright, when Jim walks in the door, everyone turn on their phones !

    --
    Wanna fight ? Bend over, stick your head up your ass, and fight for air.
  6. 25 miles sounds nice... by DJ+Jones · · Score: 2, Funny
    What we really need is a cell phone that alerts you when your boss is within 15 feet from your cubicle.

    -- M.B.W.A. - Management By Walking Around

  7. Time To Change The Ads by jo42 · · Score: 2, Funny

    :%s/Can you hear me now?/We know where you are now./gc