Maps, games lead location-based services apps

Location-based services, like so many emerging technologies in the wireless space, for years have been on the cusp of widespread use among mobile-phone users. With more global positioning system-enabled handsets coming to market and more tech companies launching LBS applications that exploit previously untapped uses or enhance mapping applications, LBS is poised to make significant headway and account for even more data use in the wireless world this year.Many carriers now offer GPS applications to their customers, and free applications such as Google Inc.’s Google Maps for mobile are increasingly finding their way onto cellphone users’ handsets. The opportunities presented by the technology run the gamut; meanwhile, growth continues in both the consumer and business segments, however consumer-minded products seem to be taking up more ink these days. With the LBS market expected to exceed $1 billion in the United States by 2008, you can be sure countless companies are vying for a piece of the pie before it’s fully risen. Indeed, the power plays—acquisitions, mergers and consolidation—have already begun. The LBS space is filled with more than a half-dozen pure-play mobile developers while Internet behemoths Google and Yahoo! Inc. continue to gain traction as they expand into wireless mapping solutions. Some of those companies are finally gaining interest among carriers, as many are inking deals to provide their applications on their growing suites of GPS-enabled handsets. Still, others are making their applications available for free—taking their product directly to the end user. Nokia Corp. recently made smart2go available as a free download to a variety of smartphones. The mobile navigation platform delivers mapping and routing information in more than 150 countries and supports turn-by-turn satellite navigation in 30 markets. The platform also allows users to download maps for quicker availability.Although GPS technology has been around for years, companies in the field are approaching the industry as if a glass ceiling is hovering above it all. TeleCommunication Systems Inc. recently landed a patent that promises to determine a wireless subscriber’s location more quickly and reliably than traditional methods. According to the company, there are 29 satellites in the GPS network and each orbits the Earth approximately six times a day. The new application will reportedly deliver better data after it receives a list of satellites within range and prioritize the service for which can provide the most accurate location. In a move sure to generate interest through the halls of CTIA this week, Florida-based LOC-AID Technologies Inc. is introducing a live, location-aware game that gives conference attendees the chance to win a $10,000 cash grand prize. Once registered via text message, attendees will receive trivia questions as they move from location to location within the conference hall. The two-stage event will whittle down the field of participants at the CTIA show over Tuesday and Wednesday to the top 10 finalists, who will compete throughout Orlando on Thursday. The “Dash for Cash” event will highlight location-aware mobile marketing opportunities with a treasure hunt theme that aims to introduce location-based promotions, scavenger hunts or point-to-point chases to potential clients. “LOC-AID’s objective in hosting the game is to showcase our creative application for LBS, and more importantly to explode the notion that LBS is just for navigation or family/friend finders,” the company’s CEO Isaias Sudit said. LG Electronics Inc., Qualcomm Inc., NAVTEQ and Intrado Inc. are co-sponsoring the event and instructions for the competition will be available at each of the sponsors’ booths at the show.If not through the swarm of carriers bringing LBS to their customers or the developers looking to generate interest and use among mobile-phone users directly, the trend toward increased growth in this sector was only further validated by a recent report by ABI Research that forecast that at least a quarter of all 3G GSM-based handsets will offer GPS by the end of 2008. While many argue, rightly so, that LBS is more than mapping data and the like, it’s clear that GPS will continue to be the front runner as this technology continues to come to the wireless industry in sets of waves.