Sprint customers will soon be able to use their cell phones to locate their friends' exact locations via
Loopt's social mapping service. The service, which is 100 percent permission-based, lets users turn the location-sharing function on or off at will for select friends or for everyone. The service will be available "in the coming weeks," according to Loopt, on more than 25 Sprint and Nextel phones for US$2.99 a month, plus data charges.