Yahoo! Research Berkeley has released a new prototype application for Nokia S60 v2 and v3 based mobile devices called Zurfer that works hand in hand with ZoneTag, another free mobile application from Yahoo! Research, and allows you to explore and display Flickr photos based on your GSM cell id location.

Zurfer gets your location from ZoneTag. ZoneTag can often recognize your location using the cell tower your mobile phone is connected to in which case Zurfer will automatically set itself to that location and show you the nearby photos. If not, you can manually specify your location where you are in the Zurfer application under “Options”.

Zurfer uses your last ZoneTag location update and then displays photos from that location. This is the location that you were at when ZoneTag last contacted the server. This could be the location of your last photo upload or the location of the last time ZoneTag requested suggested tags. If the location is unknown, then Zurfer will not be able to display photos near where you are.

After your location is determined, Zurfer connects to Flickr and gets photos geotagged with your location.

Features include:

See what’s around you
Zurfer shows you photos taken around you, and exposes interesting ‘local highlights’.

Follow your contacts
Get the latest photos from your Flickr friends, and follow recent comments on your photos.

Take your photos with you
Access your entire Flickr photo collection and your favorites when-ever & wherever you need them.

‘Flickr inside’
Customize Zurfer to use the power of Flickr; get interesting photos; and search for any topic.

Visit Zurfer download page for more details. Also remember to signup at Zurfer so that you can authorize Zurfer to use your Flickr account