Mashable published their top 5 shortlist for best location based services. The list is fair I think and there is a very interesting entry there – Neer. Here is a video on how it works.

So why do I find Neer interesting?

They have made smart and simple use of location. On top of that privacy and safety is very well played here. The user is in total control and no actual address is published to others. They go beyond only setting who can see your whereabouts, but also what days of the week and at what times. The locations you set up are then named by you, but without the address.

User interface is very simple and looks good.

Downside? Only Android at the moment, but for Neer that should be ok since it is the platform that’s really growing at the moment and it should be large enough to make it interesting. However no networked service can really flourish if it is not truly cross-platform.

And then of course – show me the money. I would love to hear their thoughts on how to make a business out of this. Sale of apps? Deal with carriers to bundle it in family plans? There are a few options, but they need to get to critical mass of installed apps as well which makes it tempting for them to just give away their stuff.