loopt Works to Get Out of Walled Garden

loopt, which was noted several times at devCON (they use deCarta technology) announced an additional service today which allows users to share location information with “non-loopt” phones. From C|NET:

Starting Thursday, the Loopt service is integrated with subscribers’ mobile address books and AIM buddy lists so they can share their real-time location via a text message or instant message.

Still loopt is limited in its userbase. But that’s perhaps going to change.

Even with the new IM and text feature, the Loopt service is still limited in scope. For the application to truly hit the mainstream, it will have to be offered by more carriers.

Sam Altman, co-founder and CEO of Loopt, says more deals are on the way. The company is already in talks with another major mobile operator in the U.S., and it should announce another deal soon. But Loopt isn’t just talking to carriers. The company is also working with Google and Facebook to add new features and functionality to its service. So stay tuned.