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Location-based services (LBS) for consumers using cell phones have been around for years, but, so far, they haven't generated a great deal of attention. Some analysts think that's changing, though, as networks and phones align with GPS capabilities.
Juniper Research shows in a recent report that mobile LBS will generate less than $1 billion in revenues this year on a global basis, but will grow to $8.5 billion during the next four years. Juniper analyst Bruce Gibson says the Asia-Pacific region is the hottest growth area for LBS, followed by Europe and North America.
LBS covers a wide range of services, including navigation or driving directions, family or friend finders and locations of restaurants or other venues. Both Verizon Wireless and Sprint launched family locator services this year. Verizon Wireless kicked off its Chaperone service in June – aimed at parents locating children – and also this year launched its VZ Navigator turn-by-turn directions service, using Networks in Motion technology and Navteq's mapping database.
POISED FOR GROWTH For navigation services, the European research firm Berg Insight says shipments of handset-based solutions in Europe and the United States will grow from 1 million in 2005 to 12 million handsets in 2009.
And Clem Driscoll of C.J Driscoll & Associates says a survey of 5,000 consumers in the United States shows that seven out of the 10 top-rated applications on a mobile phone are location-based services. Early adopters of cell phone-based navigation services report being generally satisfied with the service, but find them less appealing than navigation systems installed in vehicles or on portable GPS devices. Internet location and mapping service MapQuest, a unit of AOL, is launching a new navigation service this summer. The service, called MapQuest Navigator, is designed for use on a wide variety of GPS-enabled CDMA handsets running Java, BREW, Windows Mobile or Symbian.
The Navigator application provides voice-guided, turn-by-turn directions on a phone to a location from a selected starting point or from a current location. MapQuest's technology partner is Telmap, the Israeli company that provides mobile mapping and navigation solutions globally. Navigator also uses MapQuest's database of millions of restaurants, hotels, theaters and other points of interest.
Ori Lavie, product marketing director for Telmap, says the company's technology, Mobile Optimized Navigation Data (MOND), is designed for mobile phones with small amounts of memory and remains functional when users are outside network coverage.
"When you download information to the phone it includes information about your route, as well as a corridor that includes all the streets along it," he says. "You have a local data set with all the information you need, even if you make a mistake by deviating a couple of blocks. All the other navigation systems available today will try to recalculate your route and fail if they are out of coverage."
This capability, Lavie says, means users can download the directions to their destinations and then continue using their phones to make calls. Telmap's technology allows a typical route to be compressed on the phone to about 100 kilobytes, he says.
MapQuest has other LBS services under its Mobile brand, which have been available on several Sprint handsets through the carrier. Telephia says MapQuest Mobile, which offers online maps of locations, is the top revenue-generating downloadable mobile application in the United States. MapQuest Mobile uses technology from TeleNav, which also provides navigation services through Sprint for both its cellular and iDEN networks.
WIDESPREAD AVAILABILITY TeleNav's GPS Navigator application is available for about 40 handsets, including several Java-enabled Sprint handsets and all iDEN phones.
Sal Dhanani, senior marketing director for TeleNav, says a Nextel survey done in 2005 shows the navigation service is a key differentiator for the carrier. TeleNav, he says, has about a 90-percent share of the LBS market in the United States, followed by Motorola's ViaMoto application for Avis.
TeleNav expects to launch soon with two more U.S. carriers. It also plans to launch a new version of its application that will bring 3D mapping to any GPS-enabled phone running Java, Dhanani says. TeleNav had to write its own 3D vector mapping technology and optimize it for phones that don't have a 3D processor.
The new release also will have a feature called "fuzzy search," which will look up locations even when the user has not typed the name correctly, based on the most likely spelling.
TeleNav also will expand associated content, such as restaurant reviews and weather, Dhanani says. The company, whose products are available through carriers, also has started its own branded ad campaigns to try to establish itself and raise awareness among consumers.
"The carriers have a lot on their plates and it takes time and effort by them to raise awareness," he says, "so we're trying to help. We've done a couple of studies that show most people don't even know they have GPS in their phones." Chances are strong that's all about to change.
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