

Loopt Embraced by Verizon; Starts to Spread Its Mobile Wings - jsjenkins168
http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/03/28/loopt-embraced-by-verizon-starts-to-spread-its-wings/

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andrewparker
Painful metaphor in the title, but great news! Congrats to the Loopt team. I'm
sure working with the carriers has been a tough battle.

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bouncingsoul
I'd be _very_ interesting in someday reading about what it took to make these
partnerships happen. And what actually comes of them.

When Boost got Loopt they created an entire ad campaign about it. Sprint got
Loopt almost a year ago and the only mention on their site is a paragraph in a
Word document.

I'd also love to know how long it took Loopt to convince Verizon to let them
in. Or maybe I'd hate to know.

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dbreunig
You have no idea about the drama that occurs to get placement in a WAP deck.
So many stakeholders, so little space, and everyone firmly believes their
priority should have top billing. Cutting a deal with ANY telco is a herculean
feat.

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jsjenkins168
I've heard much the same, although I think this will start to change for the
better after the iPhone App Store goes live.

My prediction (and hope) is it ushers an era where consumers expect to have
the ability to install any application they want on their mobile device,
without having to go through their carrier to do so. I think carriers will
start to lose that power and Apple will drive the change.

The best solution is still to stay off deck in the sense of offering a WAP-
based web application rather than something that is installed. But this
obviously wont work for some type of applications (Loopt is one of them).
Loopt is doing great though, I am excited about their success.

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dbreunig
The WAP deck will only be important as long as the current handset install-
base is present. The iPhone changed the industry from day one, but the
realities of mobile web are still present, at least for the next year.

Loopt is in a position to be on the cusp, with a leg-up over all the new
comers BECAUSE they wrangled the WAP deck before the turnover.

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gustaf
The "WAP Deck" represent the idea that people should find their mobile
services or "content" from a startpage when the go online on their phone. this
make no sense for anyone who know how the internet grew. Google overtook Yahoo
when they still believed that the internet should be organized like a
directory, like there were a limited "shelf" space. That wasn't true and it
wont be true for mobile either.

Admob, one of the largest mobile ad network has a monthly reach of 50 million
unique users, that's about the size of one of the largest carriers in the
world.

I'm certain that the concept of "Carrier WAP Deck" will not grow in the same
pace as the open mobile web....

Congrats to Loopt! :)

~~~
dbreunig
Agreed. (Plus Admob is amazing. We see fantastic results with them) My one
rebut to your Google-Yahoo metaphor is that there is less specific input with
a phone, it's more contextual. With a keyboard and mouse its easy to navigate
the web, but a number pad (or touch) and limited screen space means your
navigation takes a hit and relevance becomes all the more important. For that
reason the WAP deck is still clinging on and even players like Google and
Yahoo are striving for a portal strategy in the mobile world.

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SwellJoe
pg's instinct that Loopt is the biggest YC success story so far looks to have
been spot on. (I think there are a couple of others that could catch up,
though.)

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acgourley
This is going to be an interesting point in Loopt's history. How this verizon
deal comes around and how they embrace the iphone, android, facebook and
myspace platforms will determine their success as a company. I think there is
a ton of potential here, and the people working at loopt are smart guys, but
that doesn't mean this is a slam dunk.

I think it will come down to money. How long can they go on what they have,
how much new investment can they gather in the current economic conditions,
and how they can monetize these new platforms where the market will bear
advertising but not subscription fees.

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dbreunig
I think Loopt will be able to put mobile networking on the map if they build
out their web presence and integration.

That is, as long as they don't have a privacy gaffe. Beacon on FB is one
thing, being perceived as spying through people's mobiles is a company killer.

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wallflower
The scary thing is that most people who will use Loopt will never know that a
small team of co-founder/hackers around their age created it. They'll just use
it.

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BrandonM
It's kind of strange that Loopt seems to only be on closed, non-GSM networks.
Shouldn't it be easier to reach out to the more open devices?

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dfranke
Awesome news. Up until today I've been skeptical of PG's exuberance about
Loopt, but now they've got it made.

