The idea of a social compass began when Sam Altman, a computer science major at Stanford, had an epiphany as he walked out of class. Turning to his friend, classmate, and eventual co-founder Nick Sivo, Sam asked, “wouldn’t it be great if I could open my mobile phone and see a map of where all my friends are?” From that idea Loopt was born. Loopt shows users where friends are located and what they are doing via detailed, interactive maps on their mobile phones. Loopt helps friends connect on the fly and navigate their social lives by orienting them to people, places and events. Users can also share location updates, geo-tagged photos and comments with friends in their mobile address book or on online social networks, communities and blogs.

Loopt was designed with user privacy at its core and offers a variety of effective and intuitive privacy controls. You can also see your facebook friends (and your Loopt friends, if you connect your accounts) on a map and what they’re doing without having to call or text. Connect on the fly, share photos and tips on cool places. Supported phone manufacturers are Apple iPhone, Blackberry, Motorola, Samsung, LG, and Sanyo. Supported network: Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, Nextel, Boost, Mobile

Here is a quick recap of the features supported by Loopt.

• Social compass showing details maps of where your friends are and what they are doing.
• Connect to friends and get alerts when they are nearby
• Share your location, status and photos with friends
• Complete control over all features so you can share or hide your location from everyone or just select friends with a few clicks. Verified by Truste
• View friend’s journals to see the places they recommend
• Boost provides a 30-day Free Trial and then $2.99 a month whereas on Verizon it costs $3.99 per month.

So next time you will not miss the chance of meeting a friend near you.