What Are Location-Based Services?

location based services

Location-based services (LBS) are applications that leverage the user's physical location to provide an enhanced service or experience. Location awareness can be used, for example, for navigation and mapping, workforce tracking, finding points of interest, and getting weather information. It presents a compelling new business opportunity for application developers, operators, and content producers. Location awareness differentiates mobile applications from traditional PC and wired Internet services.
The S60 platform offers developers easy-to-use APIs and ready-made user interface components to make mobile applications location-aware. Additionally, starting with S60 3rd Edition, the Location Acquisition API is also supported via JSR-179, the Location API for the Java™ 2 Platform, Micro Edition (J2ME™).
To learn more how you can capitalize on location-aware applications, please take a look at our LBS White Paper.
The following table provides you an overview of the availability of LBS features in different platforms and devices.