Today at SxSW, NearVerse is launching their iPhone app, LoKast. The application lets people locally share content from their iPhones, iPod Touches, or iPads. There are plans to go cross platform in the future after some of their other applications get launched.

LoKast looks like a really cool app. In a press release, they about swapping demo CDs or video reels and how with LoKast you can do it easily from your iPhone. It uses a combination of WiFi and Bluetooth so that you can swap content even when the 3G network is swamped. It seems like the great tool for artists touting their wares at SxSW, but it seems like it has a lot of other interesting potentials.

The video that they have produced for the launch makes it look like the tool for parties, or networking events. I could easily see some gathering where everyone is LoKasting their pitches; speed networking or speed dating on iPhone steroids.

Beyond that, I’ve been to movie theatres that share video clips via Bluetooth. I’ve never gotten it to work, but LoKast could end up being a nicer way to do it. For that matter, there are a lot of interesting ways this could be used for other types of marketing; just imagine a local grocery store that LoKasts specials – You could add the Green Giant to your disposal network.

Yet there are other features that don’t get talked about quite as much. For example, they have shared browsing. Instead of trying to get everyone to look over your shoulder as you browse a specific site, with LoKast, it appears as if everyone could pick up your signal and watch the websites you’re visiting on their own iPhones.

The press release says they think LoKast will be this year’s breakout mobile app. We’ll see. It depends on how quickly they can get people load the app and spread the word. I know that if I were at SxSW this year and I was carrying an iPhone, I’d want LoKast on it. Instead, I’ll have to wait until they get it on the Nokia N900 and I can use it at some other venue, like a Podcamp or Falcon Ridge Folk Festival.