If you’re a BlackBerry owner and you’ve been jealously eyeing up the GPS social networking Buddy Beacon app, never fear: BlackLine GPS have just released Blip, a free geo-location social networking app intended for both business and personal use.  Users can track current location as well as location history, plus view speed and direction if a friend is moving, and there are privacy settings that allow you to choose who can see your location and when.  As with Buddy Beacon, you can select manual location updates, or they can be published automatically every 5, 15, 30 or 60 minutes.  Locations of Blip users are automatically mapped on the BlackBerry, and can also be monitored online via a web interface.

BlackLine also produce a motion-sensitive hardware GPS transceiver, called GPS Snitch, which can be registered to Blip and used to track vehicles or other assets.  Blip users can interact with GPS Snitch remotely to provide on-demand tracking, arm or disarm the device, and monitor security alerts.  GPS Snitch is priced at $399.99.

Blip is a free download direct to your BlackBerry, no computer required.  For a list of compatible handsets check out BlackLine’s site, and download by visiting http://www.gps-snitch.com/blackberrybeta on your smartphone.