Mobile Navigation Gets A Lot Easier
SUMMARYYou are out for a long drive over the weekend but lost your way. Now befoe trying to figure out how to get home you want to quickly grab a bite to eat and want to locate the nearest pizza joint before you move on? What do you do? Well, the answer could just be in your pocket. GPS enabled phone makers from Nokia, Samsung, Motorola as well as cell carriers like Verizon, Sprint and AT&T offer location-based services that make navigation all too easy. Even if you don’t have a GPS enabled phone, you can still make take advantage of some of the location-based services through Google Maps. The Google Maps application for mobile users, My Location, uses cell tower identifications to provide users with approximate location information. It works on phones with and without GPS. The mobile navigation market is poised to be a multi-billion dollar industry as tech companies, cell makers/wireless carriers and marketers envision a largely untapped demand for location-based services.
THE PLAY
Cellphones are becoming smarter than ever! Whether you are using the the iPhone, Blackberry Pearl, Nokia N95 or the soon-to-be-launched Google phone - all are multi-function gadgets that plays music, games and videos as well as grant uses access to the Internet and a host of other applications. Most phones now are coming equipped with GPS systems and iSuppli predicts that the number of navigation-ready cell phones will hit 162 million this year. New GPS phones are embedded with chips that receive signals from GPS satellites that cover every inch of the Earth, transmitting back a radio signal. Even phones without GPS chips can use mapping services. Dial Directions uses speech-recognition software and text messaging to provide free directions that work on any mobile phone - this service is currently available only for few cities. Recently Google has added features for some smartphones without built in GPS which more or less reads the unique identifying number of the cell tower being used and thus displays a map of the area they are in.
Wireless carriers and software developers have already been teaming up to provide location-based services. Verizon’s Chaperone service allows parents to define an area for their child, for example, school or certain city zones where the child is permitted. Parents then receive alerts on their handset when the child’s cellphone enters or leaves these definded zones. Loopt lets Sprint and Boost Mobile users to track friends and sends alerts when they’re nearby. Wherify Wireless offers GPS-enabled phones to track elderly relatives or employees through a Web or cellphone interface or by calling the company’s toll-free number. Helio’s Buddy Beacon allows users to show their locations to their friends and plots directions on Google Maps to see if their friends are nearby.
GPS-enabled phones are offering many other services beyond that of location tracking. The Bones in Motion’s BiM application tracks your speed, location, elevation and calories burned while walking, running or cycling. Other GPS applications include weather reports, off-road adventure trip informationg providing topographic and satellite maps, traffic flow, widgets on events, concerts and other activities. The use of GPS phones and other location-based services with local search provides huge opportunities for marketers. A recent IDC survey showed that half of US adults preferred ad-supported location-based mobile search as compared to subscription fees. Local businesses also have huge potential to boost their revenue streams as mobile consumers are looking for the nearest restaurants, convenience store, hotels etc.
Who knows, in the near future, we may have artificial intelligence enabled-phones that studys our behavior/preferences/location and come up with a list of suggestions/recommendations on events, restaurants, bookstores, movies and much more.
Resources: New York Times, BusinessWeek, San Francisco Chronicle
Bob Rattivarakorn
Trends Research Analyst
RarePlay
