Location-based social network Whrrl launches for the iPhone

Update: Whrrl has not been snubbed by Apple. As of Friday morning, it’s now the 10th application from the top of the list on “featured” apps, if you go the AppStore from your iPhone. On the iTunes home page, Apple has put Whrrl in the first set of companies featured under “new”. (Whrrl is in the first tab, and in the fourth). So Apple so far appears to be trying to treat these companies fairly. Whrrl says it wasn’t snubbed by not being on stage during Apple CEO Steve Jobs’ keynote last month, rather, it says it hadn’t completed its app fully to be ready for demo.

Mobile social network Whrrl will be available today on the just-launched App Store for the iPhone.

The attractive thing about the application, created by Seattle-based Pelago, is the way Whrrl combines a number of different services into a single package — microblogging, location-based updates and reviews. The service is already available on other mobile devices, but the iPhone launch is worth noting because Pelago was the first company to join the $100 million iFund created by Kleiner, Perkins, Caulfield and Byers to spur the development of iPhone apps. (Pelago was already Kleiner-backed prior to the iFund.)

However, the launch is overshadowed a bit by a similar announcement from competitor Loopt, which is backed by Kleiner competitor Sequoia Capital. After all, Loopt actually got a chance to take the stage during Apple’s WWDC this year, and there are rumors that Whrrl was consciously snubbed. While the iPhone version of Whrrl appears to the same service that’s already available on other devices, Loopt gave its announcement extra juice by revealing that it will partner with other companies, most notably local review site Yelp.

Pelago has raised $22.4 million in venture funding.

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