From blogging to karaoke, mobile services are growing - MarketWatch

location based services



SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Until everyone has global positioning systems on their phones, we're still years away from local advertising targeting us wherever we are.
I recall numerous times back in 1999 when Naveen Jain, then CEO of InfoSpace (INSP : infospace inc com new
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INSP25.23, +0.47, +1.9%) , illustrated how mobile devices would be the conduit of targeted ads. The zealous evangelist of location-based services spoke as though we'd soon be walking targets of pop-up coupons from restaurants, flower shops and other sundry solicitors.
Seven years later Jain's long gone (that's another story) and the only thing that's a guarantee on our mobile devices is spotty coverage.
Today, the vision of mobile activity carries on, however. Google (GOOG : google inc cl a
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GOOG351.16, +14.10, +4.2%) CEO Eric Schmidt foresees a day when a location-based device -- whether it's a handheld gadget or one embedded in his car -- not only alerts him to nearby restaurants, but remembers what he ate the day before in order to make the best restaurant suggestion.
I bet it will be nearly a decade before that vision unfolds. For one, who's organized enough to record their meals? Not me.
It's also unclear which companies will win in a world where mobile phones are possessed by ads (that will no doubt rudely leap out at us during the most inopportune times).
If the mobile Internet is anything like the Web, content supported by advertising dollars will far surpass paid content. Consumers spent $2 billion on content, like digital songs and personal dating services on the Web in 2005, the Online Publishers Association was expected to announce Tuesday.
Certainly, newspapers will angle for business, even if mobile is not a big priority today. Consider: McClatchy (MNI : McClatchy Newspapers, Inc.
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MNI51.17, -0.38, -0.7%) , which announced Monday that it's paying $6.5 billion in cash and stock for Knight-Ridder Inc. (KRI : Knight-Ridder, Inc.
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KRI64.22, +0.30, +0.5%) . McClatchy CEO Gary Pruitt didn't have much of a vision about mobile news when I asked him what his strategy would be to get local advertising dollars placed on mobile devices. To be fair, I can't blame him. Who has any idea?
To be sure, we're slowly, but surely starting to see what a mobile world looks like.
While we're far from Schmidt's vision, we're already seeing location-based services at work as GPS phones emerge.
"Less than 10% of the global units are GPS-enabled today," but that's up from 1% in 1999, said Albert Lin, an analyst at American Technology. "About 25% to a third of new phones being sold in non-developing countries have GPS-capabilities today," he added.
In keeping up with my column last week, regarding features and services on our mobile devices, here's another review of other services on mobile phones I've been testing out.
TeleNav navigation
One of the services I like comes from TeleNav, a privately-held company that just raised $30 million in venture funding. It's a GPS navigational tool that gives you guided voice and visual directions, much like the GPS in cars today. The upside to this service is that I never have to type in my location, which is great especially if you're in the middle of a highway and have no address. It's also mobile. So, not only did I use this service to guide me around at night in my car, I used it during the day on my bike.
Additionally, the TeleNav service clocked how quickly I traveled on foot, on my bike and in my car too. I was traveling 3 miles per hour crossing the street. The service is $9.95 a month. I'd say, at this juncture, it's one of the better services out there. To be sure, the device is small. So, in the car, the visual guide is hard to see. I also highly advise anyone wanting guided directions to type them in before setting out to drive. Additionally, the voice-recognition software is poor. I tried multiple times to get directions to highway 80, and multiple times I got back, "Did you say, 'Highway 20?'" I tried "Lake Tahoe, California." I got, "Did you say, Lake Tahoe Boulevard?" There are a variety of GPS-enabled phones this service can work on. I tested out the service on Research In Motion's (RIMM : research in motion ltd com
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RIMM82.99, +2.03, +2.5%) Blackberry 7100i, running on Nextel's iDen network.
MapQuest Find Me
One of the best services out there to find a business and directions based on your location comes from MapQuest, a division of Time Warner's (TWX : time warner inc com
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TWX17.27, +0.14, +0.8%) AOL. Like TeleNav, you never have to type in your location and you need a GPS-enabled device. But unlike TeleNav, MapQuest "Find Me" doesn't give navigational guides. It costs less, however, at $3.99 a month. I think MapQuest's Find Me service does a better job locating establishments -- restaurants, gas stations, coffee shops, etc. -- than TeleNav. It's also a nicer user interface. The Find Me service is also useful in locating friends, family, and colleagues. Whoever is on the Nextel network, and agrees to be visible to others can be. There are potential privacy concerns here, but Alan Beiagi, MapQuest general manager of wireless, said that "privacy" can be maintained. For instance, you can choose to not have your location visible. And, unlike some services, such as eBay's (EBAY : ebay inc com
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EBAY39.31, +1.43, +3.8%) Skype, where people are in a Skype directory for others to search and find, MapQuest's Find Me keeps everyone anonymous. The downside to this service is that there is no real-time traffic information available. But I hear it is coming. Today, there are about 50,000 people who've signed up for this device, according to Beiagi.
On Tuesday, a GPS-enabled mapping and direction application for Rand McNally, called StreetFinder, will be announced, according to Kevin Tsurutome, senior director of products at TeleCommunication Systems (TSYS : telecommunication sys inc cl a
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TSYS2.19, -0.03, -1.4%) . TCS is an application and infrastructure provider for wireless carriers, and Rand McNally. StreetFinder is similar to MapQuest but costs about 50 cents more a month. I will be testing out soon.
Real-time traffic
Meanwhile, for real-time traffic, Rand McNally Traffic for $3.99 a month is definitely useful. Since you don't need a GPS-enabled phone, this service is widely available from carriers, such as Verizon Wireless, which is a joint venture of Verizon (VZ : verizon communications com
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VZ34.39, +0.07, +0.2%) and Vodafone (VOD : vodafone group plc new sponsored adr
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VOD22.65, +0.09, +0.4%) , as well as Sprint PCS, Nextel, AT&T Wireless, ALLTEL, nTelos and U.S. Cellular. The Rand McNally Traffic service has a much nicer map interface than Palm's (PALM : palm inc new com
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PALM42.42, +0.37, +0.9%) free Traffic service I tested out last week. You can go to the area you want and color-coded icons appear representing traffic speeds and the cause of any slowdowns. A red sign means traffic is moving less than 50% of the speed limit. Click onto the icon and you'll see the cause, and whether roads are closed. It updates as often as the news sources, like the highway patrols and radio stations, update their traffic reports.