Wednesday, March 16. 2005

LBS - Long-overdue Boom Starts

Location-based services may be finally hitting its stride. There was a definite buzz at CTIA this year. And there were services finally being launched in the U.S. like the Nextel/MapQuest "Find Me" service. Positive statements were heard all over the exhibition floor:
Walt Doyle, Direction MapQuest Business Solutions: "This is the year."
Winston Guillory, VP NAVTEQ: NAVTEQ's goal is to drive this market."
Jocelyn Vigreux, President of TomTom: We are finally hitting the convergence point."
Jason Devitt, CEO and Founder, Vindigo: "All the infrastructure is in place."
Joe Astroth, VP Autodesk Location Services: "There was never any killer app...the key now is to location-enable existing applications."

The buzz is real. One senior Sprint executive told me to watch out for other announcements soon. Maybe the long-overdue boom is starting for LBS.

Posted by Joe Francica at 20:04 | Comment (1) | Trackback (1) |

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GPS enabled cellphones and the Universal Address System are starting a new era for using accurate location as often as using time:

1) recording accurate locations of all accidents, crimes and events;
2) telling current locations of people, cars, trucks, boats and airplanes;
3) navigating to the locations of stores, malls, parks, camping sites and fishing spots;
4) finding street lights, sewage exits, fire hydrants, electric wire poles and transformers.

This is because GPS makes accurate location available anywhere and anytime, and the Universal Address System makes accurate location very short and consumer friendly. An eight character Universal Address can uniquely specify any area about 25x34 meters in the world.

#1 Xinhang Shen (Link) on 2005-03-18 09:19 (Reply)

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In reply to	[ Top level ]#1: Xinhang Shen on 2005-03-18 09:19
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