MobHappy: New Ideas in Location Based Services

Location Based Services sound like something that should be really exciting and have the potential to change our lives significantly. Except when you start trying to think of examples of such revolutionary products, outside navigation and asset tracking, it ain't so easy.
Even ABI Research, no stranger to hyperbole when it comes to selling its reports (it described Mobile TV as "a gold mine") is left struggling for words when describing opportunities in LBS, with a view to selling its latest research. Indeed, it's reduced to stating the bleeding obvious in the hope that it sounds deep and meaningful:
"It's not just a technology in your mobile phone that says 'you are here.' It can also pass that information to many other applications."
Do you want a route home? A friend's location, relative to where you are? A location-stamp on that picture you took with your camera phone? LBS enable all these functions.
Excuse me while I slap my forehead in sudden insight and yawn with excitement at all the incredible examples.
To their credit, at least they didn't mention Starbucks being able to send you a coupon for a half price latte, as you walk past their store. For reasons why this probably won't work, email me for a copy of my White Paper on location based marketing.
The press release goes on to claim that Hutchson's 3 is attracting attention as "the best in the region." While it might indeed be the best, it only serves to underscore the sorry plight of the LBS sector in Europe, where many operators haven't actually deployed anything anyway.
3's location product portfolio actually consists of the dull and worthy foursome of maps, directions, traffic info and dear old "find my nearest", which is hardly inspiring or kicking down the door of innovation.
So, what conclusion can we draw here?
Firstly, that not much is happening in LBS as ABI can't seem to muster up the energy to pretend its normal ebullience. The press release leaves one with the feeling that they're not really sure why they wrote the report, but someone thought it might be a good idea, but they can't remember who.
Secondly, that if LBS is ever going to blossom, we need to look outside the obvious and leave behind the stuff that just doesn't work - like find my nearest.
My theory (I don't have the answers either) is that the secret lies in looking at LBS as the bridge that links the physical world with the digital one. We can learn a lot from projects like Dodgeball and Yellow Arrow, which both leverage this aspect. LBS gaming could be another winner.
But the real answers won't come until a few operators deploy the APIs and let some hot, young, independent developers and entrepreneurs play and see what they come up with. Maybe they could offer the feeds free to start with, to let the applications get some traction (OK I can dream).
It's only when the proven innovators are let loose that we'll get some services people want, rather than stuff they ought to want - but patently don't.
Posted by Russell on August 17, 2005 at 02:18 PM in Analysis Permalink

TrackBack
TrackBack URL for this entry:http://www.typepad.com/t/trackback/3013270
Listed below are links to weblogs that reference New Ideas in Location Based Services:
» Value of Location-Based Services from Mobile Analyst WatchIn a new report, ABI Research finds that the value of location-based services (LBS) is the enabling of applications, "delivering value greater than the sum of their parts." [Read More]
Tracked on August 17, 2005 at 05:11 PM
Comments

Hi to all there.
I am the CIO of a startup company in Spain. (www.blobject.es) We have have developed and later implemented a GPS unit in a computer within an electric car which we rent out for our 2200 years old hometown visitors (Córdoba, Spain). Our company offers LBS since as the car passes by a point of interest or in the near future, any resturant or store will show up in the 8 1/2" display. (First time ever done in the world -electric tourist cars with GPS unit)
In our services, we link the virtual and the physical world showing lots of information in the points of interest that surround the car (audios, videos, reconstructions, 19th and 20th century pictures)
For us, one of the reasons for the lack of current LBS services lies in the size display. With current mobile or PDA displays, it is very difficult to develop new appealing applications for customers to be showed in such a small display. That's is one the advantages to have a 8 1/2" to show all that info. Information can be display clearer and in an attractive way to our customers.
Besides and much more important, LBS need to face the attention economy the world is heading to. Only in real added value applications which enhance our daily life, whatever technology does not need a lot of attention from it, will have a chance to succeed.
That's the primarily reason in our company we always recommend our customer, not to pay too much attention to the computer within the car (just in case they are interested on knowing more in the point of interest), but to focus on the surroundings, and in the physical feelings. We want them to pay attention, not to a computer, but to the physical world, where you can experience sensorial emotions.
That's perhaps why we chose to implement LBS for something that people already do (tourism). When visiting a city, why not to choose a car which have a GPS unit which allow us to know the city in a better way and more comfortable way? (More points of interest to visit, more places to know, more information to have) The LBS can succeed when incorporated to our daily lives routines, not in applications that require to have new things to do for another new experience (think of the Rise and fall of some social grops software like Friendster or Orkut) -in the way we know of today-.
In conclusion, wherever LBS to succeed will be directly proportional to the solution's transparency and being incorporated to our routines. If not, attention economy will be the biggest enemy of any LBS.
My 2 centsAlfredo Romeo
Posted by: alfredo August 18, 2005 at 03:02 AM
Russell, Thanks for the LB marketing white paper. It's well-written and a very insightful read. I have already sent it to a couple of startups looking into the LBS market.
Posted by: John August 19, 2005 at 06:45 PM
hostName = '.typepad.com';

Post a comment