Mobile Service and Facebook® Application Locates Your Friends via
Their Mobile Device
DENVER--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Useful Networks and Inta SpaceTurk, in partnership with Turkcell, the
leading communication and technology company of Turkey, launched sobbe™,
a cutting-edge friend finding service. Useful Networks has already
launched this service in the US, UK and Sweden under the name sniff™,
which stands for social network integrated friend finder as the
service includes a Facebook application that lets users find their
friends from the web.
This hot new service from US based company, Useful Networks™ and Turkish
based company, Inta SpaceTurk, allows you to locate your closest friends
and family anytime and anywhere by identifying their location via their
mobile phone signal. It then delivers the location via a text message or
within Facebook - even providing a detailed map of the vicinity.
The permission-based application provides complete privacy control for
all “sobbes” (or locates) - meaning only two people who have mutually
accepted and established a sobbe relationship can locate one another.
Friends have complete control over who sees them and when, thanks to the
ability to instantly switch between being visible and invisible.
Unlike other friend finding services, sobbe works on literally any
handset on the network, and it finds the location of your friend in
real-time, not the last time they updated their status.
Registering for the service is easy and FREE. There are three simple
ways to sign up – by texting ‘kayit’ to 7015, by adding the sobbe
application through Facebook
or by visiting www.sobbe.com.tr.
Once registered, users can easily and quickly invite their friends
and/or family to join.
The Facebook application allows users to easily invite, connect and
locate any of their closest online friends. With Turkey home to one of
the largest Facebook populations in the world (over 10.5 million users)
its creators believe that sobbe could quickly become the latest addition
to our Internet vocabulary.
Useful Networks CEO and sobbe/sniff creator Brian Levin comments,
“People are spending increasing amounts of time managing and mapping
their friendship groups online, so why not literally map them offline
too? If you’ve ever found yourself stuck at home because your friends at
a local cafe can’t hear your calls above all the noise, or missed out on
an impromptu night out because you didn’t realize that friends had been
out near you, then sobbe/sniff is for you. sobbe is for people to use
within their close friendship and family circles. It’s easy, fun and it
works. And because you have absolute control over if, how and when your
location information is shared, it is also very safe too.”
Mehmet Emin Halitligil, corporate marketing & sales manager at Inta
SpaceTurk, comments, “We are very pleased that we have been able to
utilize the assets of our firm commitment to the cutting edge geospatial
technologies and leverage our long-term relationship with Turkcell to
launch such a compelling mass market service as sobbe.
Mustafa Eren, business development manager for location based services
at Turkcell adds, “sobbe is a great example of a mass market mash-up of
location, mobile and Facebook applications. The ability to locate
friends or other physical locations on demand with any mobile phone also
enables brands and advertisers to interact with their customers in new
and exciting ways.
ABOUT TURKCELL
Turkcell is the leading GSM operator in Turkey with 36.4 million
postpaid and prepaid customers as of March 31, 2009 operating in a three
player market with a market share of approximately 56% as of December
31, 2008 (Source: operators’ announcements). In addition to high-quality
wireless telephone services, Turkcell currently offers General Packet
Radio Service (“GPRS”) countrywide and Enhanced Data Rates for GSM
Evolution (“EDGE”) in dense areas, which provide for both improved data
and voice services. Turkcell provides roaming with 614 operators in 202
countries as of April 22, 2009. Serving a large subscriber base in
Turkey with its high -quality wireless telephone network, Turkcell
reported US$1.3 billion net revenue for the quarter ended March 31, 2009
as per IFRS financial statements. Turkcell has interests in
international GSM operations in Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia,
Kazakhstan, Moldova, Northern Cyprus and Ukraine. Turkcell has been
listed on the NYSE (“New York Stock Exchange”) and the ISE (“Istanbul
Stock Exchange”) since July 2000 and is the only NYSE listed company in
Turkey. 51.00% of Turkcell’s share capital is held by Turkcell Holding,
0.05% by Cukurova Group, 13.07% by Sonera Holding, 2.32% by M.V. Group
and 0.08% by others while the remaining 33.48% is free float.
ABOUT USEFUL NETWORKS
Useful Networks is a Denver-based company that delivers innovative
mobile location technology products to end users via the Internet and
mobile carriers. Founded in July 2006, Useful Networks powers
cross-carrier location aggregation for both carriers and content
providers. Their platform helps carriers reduce costs, time to market
and complexity in launching location aware products. Useful Networks is
a privately held subsidiary of Liberty Media (NASDAQ: LCAPA). Liberty
Media Corporation owns interests in a broad range of electronic
retailing, media, communications and entertainment businesses. For more
information, please see http://www.libertymedia.com.
ABOUT INTA SPACETURK
Inta SpaceTurk is a preeminent commercial operator of geospatial
information and technology. In the field of earth observation, Inta
Spaceturk is a producer distributing very high-resolution satellite
imagery (up to 50cm resolution) and a pioneering developer of
location-enabled value added services, Inta SpaceTurk fulfills defense
and security needs as a priority and is committed to facilitate the same
technology for civil markets as well. Inta SpaceTurk was founded in
2001, 51% of it’s shares are held by Çukurova Group (www.cukurovaholding.com.tr),
one of the leading Turkish business conglomerates with diverse interests
in numerous industries ranging from energy, automotive, paper,
chemicals, textiles, telecommunications, construction, banking,
insurance, media, services to maritime transportation and information
technology services. Along with its satellite imagery business Inta
SpaceTurk has broadening its presence in the security areas where scope
of contracts are varying from design and delivery of integrated
geo-information systems to development of visual geospatial databases
for full flight simulators. Revenues generated from the sales increased
by 15% in 2008, resulting in excess of US$ 17 million. Inta SpaceTurk
has the ISO 9001:2000 Quality Management System Certification by BSI and
also earned a NATO compliant Facility Security Clearance from the
Turkish Ministry of Defense. Through its proven leading position as a
multi-source, multi-capable geospatial market leader in the Eurasia
economic region and beyond Inta SpaceTurk continues to operate in line
with the highest industry standards in satisfying its customers. For
more information, visit http://www.spaceturk.com.tr.