Want to know where your friends are? Thanks to loopt and Sprint you will be able to find them, of course, it they want to be found.

The social mapping service developed by loopt, a Palo Alto-based startup, will be available in the coming weeks in Sprint phones. loopt uses the GPS capabilities and allows users to share their location and status messages, send proximity-based messages and view geo-tagged photos and content on-the-go. The location of users is updated every 15 minutes.

Of course, loopt is 100% permission-based and the information is exchanged via private networks, so you don’t need to worry that someone may use it in order to follow your moves.

loopt has also one very useful feature as the service is able to emit an alert when a network friend is in close proximity, which should facilitate finding someone in the mall, at the movies or even around town.

"The most common mobile question in the world is 'Where are you?' and we're excited that loopt will be able to answer that question for Sprint customers who choose to participate," said loopt chief executive officer and co-founder, Sam Altman. "The way we communicate on the mobile phone is about to change forever, as loopt on Sprint puts an end to missed connections and facilitates real-world interactions."

Sprint announced that loopt will be available on more than 25 Sprint and Nextel phones and will charge $2.99 per month, plus standard data charges.

Last year, loopt signed a similar deal with Sprint subsidiary Boost Mobile.