Location-enabled services such as navigation, family tracking, emergency services, asset tracking, logistics planning, workforce management, customer management, location-based advertising, and social networking that are delivered over a mobile network to a location-ready multimedia handset.
Published in Chapter:
Assessing the Future of Location-Based Services: Technologies, Applications, and Strategies
Robert Harmon (Portland State University, USA) and Tugrul Daim (Portland State University, USA)
Copyright: © 2009
|Pages: 18
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-60566-156-8.ch005
Abstract
Location-based services (LBS) are approaching an inflection point. The continued rollout of the technological infrastructure, the availability of LBS applications, and the market’s increasing awareness of their potential value should lead to increasing business opportunities. However, there is still a high degree of uncertainty in the LBS space. Challenges are emerging to the cellular network operator-centric LBS model. Hardware companies, application providers, competing infrastructure technologies (such as Wi-Fi, WiMAX, and satellite networks), and new competitors from the computer and Internet industries are all vying for market position. Customers are becoming interested in location services, but the uptake has been slow. New LBS business models and new strategies need to be considered. This chapter evaluates the future of location-based services through a critical assessment of the technology, service applications, market trends, and strategic issues.