Facebook knows where you are, Sniff allows you to locate your mates

A night on the town is a great time for everyone. Once it gets going that is.

There’s always one person who says they’re going to be late and when you’re going on a pubcrawl, this can cause a huge problem.

People want to go onto the next bar and you’re the one suggesting you wait for x, y or z to get their rear in gear. Similarly it could be that your mate has wandering off with someone who they wouldn’t touch with a ten foot pole if they were sober. . . Either way, nights out usually involve a whole ton of text messages inquiring as to your whereabouts.

If you’re looking for an easy and fun way to keep track of your mates, then Sniff (Social Network Integrated Friend Finder) from Useful Networks is for you. Sniff is the latest in location-based systems with social networking integration. A permission-based application, it lets consumers locate their close friends in real-time, automatically, anytime and anywhere with their mobile phone or from Facebook.

Once consumers receive permission from their friends, using sniff is as simple as sending an SMS text message. It provides users with a detailed map view of their friends’ locations meaning you can locate your mate without any of the usual, “You know Grafton. St ? Nah, just up from Trinity College, well I’m near there . . . ish”.

“There is inherent value in allowing your close friends and family to know where you are, but only when you want them to,” said Useful Networks CEO Brian Levin. “Friends can now ‘sniff’ each other out easily and quickly – that is, if they want to be found. You can easily become ‘invisible’ if you’d rather not be ‘sniffed’ out.’”

While privacy seems to be a huge part of Sniff we’re not so sure we like the idea. Facebook and privacy haven’t exactly gelled well in the past. One word ; Beacon. First they know what I’m buying, now they know where I am, what next ?