Until 2006, Location Based Services (LBS) was more talk than action, but now in the early days of 2008, LBS is a real thing. The technology now exists for these applications to work smoothly, without interruption, and in concert with other applications and technologies. But that's the linchpin of the developer's puzzle: Rethinking the way these applications work together to provide a seamless location based experience instead of a one-off gadget.

The drivers of interest differ across the globe. Business and consumer-oriented applications thrive in North America. Consumer applications are also booming in Asia. And in Europe, personal navigation services are all the rage.

Legislation plays a role in the United States and beyond, by mandating location-enabled technology for wireless callers to emergency numbers. There is talk of implementing similar services in parts of Europe and Asia. The uses are numerous, but the simple fact is that consumers of all kinds are demanding LBS applications bring a more complete, personal experience.

We've all been subject to the talk of more personal experiences. Consumers want 'em; we want to build 'em. The big question is, what makes an application truly personal? Location-based services present interesting angles of approach on the "personal experience" challenge. Now that the technology exists for developers to use location information to bring context to the "who, what, and where" of the user, we can bring the choices of "How and Why" directly to the consumer's small screen.

Here are some cool innovations that I have seen to make the best use of real-time location:

• Location-based personalization of mobile 2.0 type applications-widgets that provide local weather and/or news based on current location.
• Location-aware games - games that look for buddies to participate in play based on user profiles, and games that personalize the experience by providing user interfaces based on location.
• Location-aware photos - applications that allow users to take a picture tagged with location data and share the full context of a photo with friends. Parents can use this feature as a child tracker.
• Location-based messaging - applications that allow users to broadcast their location or send messages to groups of friends who are in the neighborhood. That's a much more eloquent solution than yelling.
• Location-based social networking services - applications that allow users to write notes about the favorite places they visit, so that friends receive notifications about the same place when they come to that vicinity. What a cool twist on geocaching.
• Location-based mobile dating services - users set up a profile and can look for matches. Based on their profile, users can find members in their area, or in specific other areas.

Those are just a few of the cool and inviting features of location-based technology: buddy or friend finders, location based advertisements, location based business finders, location based music services, emergency services, traffic management, geofencing, etc. Alone, though, these just stand as interesting bells and whistles unless they operate in concert, handing off the basic context of "who, what," and "where" in meaningful ways to other location-aware applications.

Based on the trends in the technology industry and adoption of some of these on mobile handsets, the future of LBS sprouts new features every day, and as we work to tie them together into meaningful experiences, we must keep one eye on the horizon to incorporate the new technologies with our planned solutions. A few upcoming technologies to keep in mind include:

• Enhanced data rates and consumption, thanks to network improvements. As the handset radio interface progresses to WiFi, WiMax etc., LBS solutions will need to either need to catch up with the advances, or already accommodate them.
• Traditional location-based services provide the x- and y-axis only - The technology exists to explore the z-axis of a given location as well. That allows for innovative, cooperative applications that simulate a shopping center - Floors 1-3 are social media services, Floors 4-10 are professional collaborative services, Floor 11 is the casino.

As the mobile industry continues to mature with more consumers asking for more personalized experiences, here are some helpful hints to developers:

• Make your solutions usable, with simple user interfaces.
• Remember that an application that effectively responds to multiple user needs allows your user to easily navigate between all those cool features you're coding for them - don't let your features function as silos!
• Expect pedestrian navigation as a key area of innovation in the coming year to two years. Pedestrian navigation really brings the points of interest to the user's attention and perhaps better leverages the location functionality of a device than any prior application or service.
• Linking mobile LBS applications will eventually create the basis for context-aware solutions. With interaction management and context-aware technologies, applications will create a new level of responsive and intelligent applications for consumers that demand simple, but effective solutions. Several examples of standalone applications are out there, but determining how they fit together is a moving target at best, and it's up to the savvy developer to find and explore new connections between applications.

Location based services have indeed arrived. Expect them to explode in 2008. Gone are the days in which location is to be used on a specific vertical market like maps or finders. In the days of real LBS applications, converged, integrated approaches will help developers create compelling personal experiences instead of simple applications.

– Asokan Thiyagarajan, Motorola Technology Evangelist

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