"iPhone users rely on their devices to stay connected and Glympse offers a new and visually engaging way for users to share their current location and connect with anyone they choose for a set amount of time," said Bryan Trussel, co-founder and CEO of Glympse, Inc. "Other location sharing apps require users to create another social network, which is unappealing to most people because the reality is there are very few people in our lives who we want to know where we are, all the time. Glympse solves this problem by allowing users to define a limited time period during which their location will be shared, making Glympse appropriate not only for family and friends but also coworkers, existing social networks and even mere acquaintances."
Once Glympse is downloaded, with a few simple taps iPhone users can temporarily send their whereabouts to anyone in their contact list or any other mobile number or email address, or even opt to post to their Twitter account. With the patent-pending GlympseWatch™ timer, iPhone users with Glympse can choose exactly how long they want to share their location -- from an instant, to minutes, up to four hours. Senders have the flexibility to pause or delete a Glympse at any time or elect to extend it before it expires.
All that is needed to receive a Glympse is a Web-enabled phone or computer. To view a Glympse, one simply clicks on the unique URL embedded in the message, which launches a dynamic map that pinpoints the sender's movements in real-time, including speed of travel, and -- if a destination has been designated -- the estimated arrival time. Although no software is required to view a Glympse, having the app installed makes for a more interactive and rich viewing experience.
Glympse's time-based application makes it appropriate for wide variety of personal, professional or even one-time uses regularly encountered in daily life. While the possibilities are endless, some common uses for Glympse include:
-- Let others know you're stuck in traffic and running late
-- Allow your teenager to check in on Friday night without feeling as if
they are being followed
-- Coordinate a time and location for happy hour with a large group
-- Share your run, road ride or ski adventure with Twitter followers in
real-time
-- Make sure your child at college makes it safely home when driving
through inclement weather
-- You are lost and need help finding your way
"Glympse offers people a way to share and track location that is incredibly simple," said Greg Sterling, analyst at Internet2Go and Sterling Market Intelligence. "It also gives users complete control over location sharing, thereby safeguarding privacy and security. And because it's free, it should put an end to subscription-based mobile family locators."
Glympse can be downloaded for free on the iPhone and iPod touch from Apple's App Store. Search for "glympse" in the App store, or find it in the Social Networking category. On devices without GPS, like the iPod touch and non 3G iPhones, the Glympse experience can be less than optimal since it uses WiFi triangulation to identify location, which is typically less accurate than GPS and not always available.
Glympse officially debuted on T-Mobile phones with Android in May, and last week it became a Showcase application within the newly launched Windows® Marketplace for Mobile. To see Glympse in action or to register for notification of upcoming Glympse releases on other smartphones, visit www.glympse.com.
NOTE TO WRITERS/EDITORS: An overview video, b-roll and graphics depicting Glympse location sharing on the iPhone and other mobile phones and a computer may be requested via pr [at] glympse [dot] com.
About Glympse Inc.
Based in the Seattle area, Glympse, Inc. was founded in March 2008 by three former Microsoft veterans -- Bryan Trussel, Jeremy Mercer, and Steve Miller -- who collectively saw a need for a new type of location-sharing service. Glympse™ allows GPS-enabled mobile phone users to share their location for a pre-set period of time with anyone they choose using patent-pending GlympseWatch™ technology. Designed to keep up with an increasingly mobile lifestyle, Glympse visually answers the question of "Where are you?" with a dynamic map that updates a sender's whereabouts in real-time. Glympse was developed with consumer safety and privacy in mind, and the service provides users with complete control over WHO can view their location, WHEN and for HOW LONG. The company works with several industry groups, including ConnectSafely.org. Glympse™ and GlympseWatch™ are trademarks of Glympse Inc. For more information, visit www.glympse.com.
Apple, the Apple logo, iPod, iPod touch, and iTunes are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. iPhone is a trademark of Apple Inc. App Store is a service mark of Apple Inc. Other trademarks featured or referred to within this release are the property of their respective trademark holders. Their use does not imply any affiliation, sponsorship or endorsement of Glympse products or services.
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