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Loopt to work in the background on iPhone via deal with AT&T
- sama 17y agowow!
- deleted 17y ago[deleted]
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- Radix 17y agoYou know, you could give some context to this comment, and perhaps comment on the article since you know more.
- Radix 17y agoGuh, I was trying to point out you're probably the Sama and maybe get some info on the actual deal. Not get you down-voted. Your comment was perfectly acceptable considering your connection to Loopt.
- mitchellh 17y agoCool for people who use Loopt I guess BUT this is really not fair to other developers (especially the competitors of Loopt). It feels like one of those "Well, if I let YOU do it I have to let EVERYONE do it" type of things, and AT&T should have said no. I also find it interesting that Apple isn't mentioned anywhere in the deal, which is strange because the article makes it seem that AT&T has the power to just tell Apple to break one of its developer rules for a special case. Shady, if I do say so myself.
- chrismear 17y agoFrom the article: "The app isn't running in the background; it's working server-to-server." So presumably all they've done is a deal with AT&T to access the cell-location data for a subscriber, and using the app to tie that into their Loopt identity. Nothing special going on inside the iPhone OS.
- sh1mmer 17y agoI wondered about this. It was discussed about how Pre sends a location update with its debug bundle. I wondered why Apple didn't send a location update when they pole for the push update. It wouldn't have to happen every time, but once every 5-10 minutes would be a good balance of phone battery and timeliness.
- cyunker 17y agoInteresting. So it shouldn't affect battery life.
- deleted 17y ago[deleted]
- icey 17y agoSince when does AT&T have to be the arbiter of fairness? They are a company that wants to make money; evidently they've decided that this will help them do so. If anything, other developers should be excited about the fact that there may be some other options for monetization than direct app store sales.
- ekanes 17y agoMost relevant sentence: "After the 14-day trial, the always-on feature will cost $3.99 per month, added to your AT&T bill."
- jcromartie 17y agoAT&T is living proof that the "free market" has failed. I know we don't have a free market, but we are led to believe that we do by pro-business establishment conservatives.
- axod 17y agoSeems like these sorts of things will never work in a paid subscription model. The only way I can see them working is ad supported - show you vouchers for the shops/restaurants as you pass them etc etc. Maybe it's just me, but would anyone here pay $3.99 per month for this?
- thorax 17y agoI can easily see parents requiring their teenagers to use this software and pay $3.99 a month. They already pay hundreds of dollars a year for things like this: http://www.flexispy.com/spyphone-flexispy-apple-iphone.htm http://www.flexispy.com/spyphone-flexispy-apple-iphone.htm
- axod 17y agoMaybe I'm an odd parent but I'd never stoop so low. Maybe a few would, but it still seems like an extremely small market. And surely AT&T could just provide a simple "track this phone" service themselves and cut out loopt altogether for this particular use case.
- nixme 17y agoThey already do: https://familymap.wireless.att.com/finder-att-family/welcome.htm https://familymap.wireless.att.com/finder-att-family/welcome... $9.99/month for two family members. $14.99/month for up to five.
- andreyf 17y agoPG on Loopt CEO, Sam Altman: I was told I shouldn't mention founders of YC-funded companies in this list. But Sam Altman can't be stopped by such flimsy rules. If he wants to be on this list, he's going to be. Honestly, Sam is, along with Steve Jobs, the founder I refer to most when I'm advising startups. On questions of design, I ask "What would Steve do?" but on questions of strategy or ambition I ask "What would Sama do?" What I learned from meeting Sama is that the doctrine of the elect applies to startups. It applies way less than most people think: startup investing does not consist of trying to pick winners the way you might in a horse race. But there are a few people with such force of will that they're going to get whatever they want. (source: http://www.paulgraham.com/5founders.html http://www.paulgraham.com/5founders.html)
- sayrer 17y agoI still can't believe he manages to cut the deals that he does. I was really shocked when it showed up on Boost Mobile. Is Loopt really that great? Does he prove that it makes money for the phone company? I guess that must be the pitch, since it would be easier to track what's driving spending from a pre-pay customer.
- sh1mmer 17y agoI do something like this with http://github.com/tylerhall/sosumi http://github.com/tylerhall/sosumi I was planning to write something which alternates between Sosumi and Clarke (Skyhook FireEagle updater for Mac) so when you are at your computer and updating you don't eat into your iPhone battery.
- hiroprot 17y agoIf you're using Brightkite, you can get background location on your iPhone using this: http://github.com/HiroProt/playnice/tree/master http://github.com/HiroProt/playnice/tree/master Of course, that's a total hack ;)
- jonursenbach 17y agoAntitrust, much?
- barrkel 17y agoFunny, what with the Apple / Jobs etc. in context, I read that as Antichrist...
- roc 17y agoWhy do I get this feeling that Loopt simply struck a deal for access to location/tracking/logging data that AT&T is already collecting for its own purposes...
- pkulak 17y agoI would pay 4 bucks a month... if everyone else paid 4 bucks a month and did the same. They won't do that, however.
- midnightmonster 17y agoLoopt is not running in the background, AT&T is just updating Loopt from their own data. http://daringfireball.net/linked/2009/09/04/loopt-location http://daringfireball.net/linked/2009/09/04/loopt-location
- jzdziarski 17y agoApps have been running in the background since Backgrounder was published on Cydia. And it doesn't cost anything to do so. Backgrounder lets me set up my TomTom, Flow Chat (IRC), and AMBER Alert to background themselves automatically... and my 3G[s] still runs plenty fast.
- darien 17y agoIn reference to pricing, I think you guys are forgetting the study which found that the majority of iphone users make over $80,000 in salary. There is quite a lot of disposable income in that population. Therefore it only makes sense that they would attempt to milk every dime. Especially when competitors are sure to emerge in the next 2-3 years.
- axod 17y ago"...study which found that the majority of iphone users make over $80,000 in salary." Are these professionals really the target market for Loopt though? Loopt seems more useful to teens/college kids etc.
- darien 17y agoWhen you consider that location based services like Loopt can be used to feed Apps like Foursquare.com you realize this technology has broad applications for iphones majority audience. Foursquare is a mobile social media platform that allows users to see what bars their friends are situated at.
- allenbrunson 17y agoas an entrepreneur: wow, that's a pretty good hack. not many people could have pulled that off. as an iphone owner: oh no WAY am i going to pay extra for that. at&t already charges through the nose and gives me lousy service in return.
- antirez 17y agoThis is highly unfair: to provide a technological boost only to a single application is not what I'm comfortable to name as a 'free market'.
- charlesju 17y agoAs a complete side note; how many people do you know that use Loopt? I'm curious as to how well they're doing in comparison to say something like Facebook.
- sdh 17y agoI'm surprised people aren't more up in arms about AT&T continuously tracking their location.
- njharman 17y agoIt's more or less required for cell phone service. They need to know what cell you are in order to connect incoming calls. Besides if you're using AT&T you're either ignorant or unconcerned about privacy. They have looong history going back to the Clipper chip, PATRIOT act era wiretaps, of "selling out" their customers.
- jmtame 17y agoThis is really exciting news; traditionally the carriers have been a bit closed in nature, and this represents a healthy step forward for people like myself who use and enjoy Loopt. Look forward to seeing this technology progress!
- whereareyou 17y agoThe Nike + iPod app runs in the background. Does that not count as a third part application?