Boost gives away prizes in GPS-based game

location-based services

NEW YORK—Boost Mobile is pushing location-based services as it begins promoting a New York City-focused game that allows users to win prizes using their Boost handsets and an application that integrates Global Positioning System technology.
The contest is based on technology from Palo Alto, Calif.-based startup company Loopt Inc., which calls its service “social mapping.” The application uses GPS to automatically update a map on a Boost phone with the location of other users, and allows users to send messages to nearby friends or receive alerts when someone is nearby.

Boost’s location game comes on the heels of location-services announcements from several other carriers. Mobile virtual network operator Helio L.L.C. recently launched location services, and both Sprint Nextel Corp. and Verizon Wireless are pushing their own location offerings.
Boost offers youth-focused services over Sprint Nextel’s iDEN network. The carrier’s Nextel brand offers a variety of location services for businesses over its iDEN network.
According to Boost’s official rules for the contest, participants who live within a 50-mile radius of New York will receive invitations to specific places at specific times where a “loopt-friend” wearing a Boost/Loopt hat will be waiting to hand out a prize. The invitations will describe the prize, the physical location and the start and end times of the “prize opportunity,” with a minimum one-hour window.
The first registered participant who arrives on-scene can win the prize on the spot, after their eligibility is determined by the “loopt-friend” and verified by the user’s Loopt account on his or her mobile phone, or on a piece of paper if the participant registered via the Internet or by mail.
The application will be available to all New York Boost subscribers starting Nov. 20. The Loopt application is free to download and use during the entry period, which began today and ends Dec. 30—after that, users must pay $3 a month, with the first 30 days free. The contest itself will last six weeks from the Nov. 20 start date, according to the two companies.
Boost’s rules indicate that the locations used in the game will all be publicly accessible, such as a park, street or shopping mall. The prizes will range in value from $25 to $250 and will consist of items such as movie tickets, gift certificates, sporting goods, clothing or other items. A total of 130 prizes are available in the New York portion of the game.
A national sweepstakes drawing will be available for participants who don’t live near NYC; the winner of the drawing will win a Boost phone with Loopt service and $100 in prepaid minutes, plus the opportunity to use the phone to track down and meet with a Loopt representative positioned near his or her hometown, in a timed challenge.