Location Based services are hot
By: Drivers.com staff
Date: 2015-06-17
On December 4-5 this year, Telematics Update will host another of their information and networking conferences on wireless in-car technologies. This time the focus of the conference is Navigation and Location, and in particular, 'location based services (LBS).'
LBS is moving to the forefront these days as wireless service providers look to them for new revenue streams. The technologies will be spotlighted at the upcoming Las Vegas Consumer Electronics Show on January 8, 2008 and undoubtedly will also feature at Telematics Update's January 10th seminar on in-car 'infotainment,' which is also being held in Las Vegas.
The Telematics Update group specialize in bringing together leading-edge participants in the automotive wireless technology industry. At their December 4-5 conference they say the focus in "the hottest development and delivery strategies for personalized navigation and delivery services."
LBS is essentially the delivery of local information that may be of interest to drivers, or any traveler for that matter. Information about traffic conditions, local businesses, entertainment, or any local "points of interest", can be channeled to you if your location is known, and this is becoming increasingly easy to achieve.
Manufacturers of wireless information technologies for cars, as well as mobile phone providers, see LBS as the hot opportunity for new revenue streams.
Knowing where you are
The key to location based services is knowing where you are, and network service providers can get this information either from your GPS navigation device or, if you don't have one of those, by using the tracking capability of your mobile phone.
Most people don't know their mobile phones can provide this information and it's a touchy subject for those concerned with privacy issues. In the U.K., network provider O2 offers its mobile customers a default privacy setting which enables a mobile phone user to be located only by services they have subscribed to, such as calling the 1200 number for traffic news.
"We know there are many benefits to location-based services including the ability for parents and carers to keep track of their children when on the move. But with these benefits comes potential for misuse and inappropriate contact," states O2 on its web site.
O2 handsets enable customers to call 1300 to shut off tracking and location based services.
However, privacy issues notwithstanding, there is little doubt that people on the move are going to want mobile access to the kinds of information they can access at home over the internet. Traffic information will be at the top of the list of information in demand, but also information about nearby fuel services, restaurants, shopping, emergency services, and entertainment, are sure to be popular.
One of the more critical location based services is the capability to find the phone user in an emergency. Other possibilities include tracking vehicles and even keeping tabs on children or elderly users who may need help.
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