Sam Altman

Last year concentrated on our social network mobile applications. Can share your location, get alerts when you’re near people, geotag flickr photos, etc.

Idea is to use location.

As we developed service we discovered why live location apps suck so far.

Talking today about what we’ve observed is the problem and how we’re solving it.

When we hear about people doing well with location tracking we cheer each other. Loads of devices and apps coming out for location.

Location Challenges Today: What we want

  • Inexpensive
  • Low friction access
  • Relevant accuracy
  • Strong privacy
  • Availability and Reliability

Structural Challenges

  • Cost
  • Availability
  • Privacy

Doing 300 pings a day of user’s location, costs a few cents per go, we need to reduce this 100 times.

Loopt Core Location Platform

  • Mobile Client
  • Location Privacy Manager
  • Location Server
  • Location Access Manager

Mobile Client

Need a client device to let you do location in any number of ways. Can use SMS, GPRS various ways to request your location. Clients only around for certain classes of devices. Runs at lowest level.

Privacy Manager

Consider privacy a lot. Do a lot to ensure your location doesn’t go to everyone. Ways to manage this: Global on/off, app by app, restrict by time, day, location. Set/obscure location. Can set on mobile or by web, for accounts, sub-accounts, many options.

Mobile Location Platform

Trying to get to per-user per-month models, getting as close to free as possible. Ads.

Access Manager

Current Location APIs are very bad. Trying to replicate the quality of Apple’s API. Only specify when the phone leaves an area. Only access location using a web app, or a wap app, choices for building apps, can access in number of ways.

Believe Loopt have the best location platform the world has ever seen.

Solving the problems with:

  • Structural Challenges
    • per user per month model
  • Availability
    • open APIs, easy to access
  • Privacy
    • end user control and management, device and 3rd party app integration

Best Practices for Location-based Services

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