January 26, 2007

GPS to be found on European handsets in 2007

An interesting read from the BBC... the article provides some numbers on the state of the GPS industry, noting that some 12 million+ gps devices were sold in Europe in the first 9 months of 06. That number is expected to double in 07. They note that most of the users are sailors and hikers - you know, those people that need to know their exact location all the time. But that's expected to change in 07 with more GPS enabled handsets hitting the shelves - like the new Nokia N95 (see allaboutsymbian.com for a nice review of this device) - for more on this topic see this article on the BBC new channel - are you using an y location-sensitive apps on your cell phone yet? I use google maps (although its a bit of a pig on my nokia N80), however, once my position is known by the device and my search results are automatically "localized" the potential uses of location-sensitive apps will be much more compelling. I'm alreadu geotagging my flickr photos (occasionally) but there's so much more that I'd like to do... where am I apps, locate a shop near me, friend finder apps, directions etc... looks like 07 just might be the year. In a shameless plug see also our own www.lbszone.com for the latest updates on location technologies and LBS.

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