(NAPSA)—The latest word on cell phonesis that they’re used for a lot more than talking. Youw’re probably familiar with text messaging—in fact, 40 percent of America’s 220 million cell phone users send text messages regularly—but you may not know that today’s phones can be used to download and play music and even locate and track entire groups of friends through something knownas “social-mapping.” One such social-mapping service called Boost loopt enables Boost Mobile customers to share their location, messages, photos and other on-the-go experiences with friends using GPS technology that is embeddedin the cell phone. Boost loopt customerscreate a private network of friends who agree to share their location. Users who give permission to be on your friends list automatically have their locations displayed on a map that is on your phonescreen. Where Are You? “Where are you?” is one of the most commonly texted phrases among cell phone users. People with Boost loopt can answer that question before it’s even asked by either manually updating their location throughout the day or choosing a feature that automatically does it for them. Plus, an instant messaging-like capability lets people type a quick status message about what they are doing. If, for instance, you’re at a coffee shop around the corner, a friend checking up on you would see your location on a map, along with a blurb that says “grabbing java with friends.” Stay In Touch You can also broadcast messages to groups of friendsorto all your friends within a certain dis- @ Social-mapping is a new way to stay in touch with cell phones. tance. Additionally, a feature alerts you when friends are nearby, helping to eliminate missed connections at the mall or on a busystreet. Meet Up The service helps people plan get-togethers by allowing them to bookmarklocations with “go-to tags” and then to invite friends to attend events. Features such as blogging, images and videos are expected to be included with the service in the near future. For more information, visit www.boostmobile.com.
