Friday, July 25. 2008

Loopt Offers New (Cheaper) Deal to Carriers

I don't exactly follow this, but here's what I understand from VentureBeat. Maybe a reader can help explain the flow of money...

(1) There's a "cost" (I guess in money?) to get the GPS location from a phone's chip. Each time to you (a developer) does it, you "pay."

(2) Loopt (one of these developers) struck a deal with Sirf and Qualcomm (they make GPS chips) for a flat fee to get the GPS data.

(3) Thus, Loopt can offer its service to the carriers more cheaply.

So says, VentureBeat:

What does this mean? Nearly every phone with a GPS chip right now will be able to use the Loopt application for a much better deal.

The carriers and handset makers still have to buy into this new plan, but you can be sure that is going to happen now that Loopt has this deal.

That I read as: the carriers are more likely to carry the Loopt app since it "costs them less" via this deal. End users use Loopt for free, so this is really about putting Loopt on more carrier networks, so it's THE LBS app out there. The other motivation, says a source close to the action: a forthcoming ad app for Loopt.

Audio: Interview with GeoEye CEO/CFO

Chris Fernandez at Seeking Alpha provides a summary article/podcast, mostly touching on the business side of things, though there is talk of how GeoEye outshines competitor DigitalGlobe.