location-based

NEW YORK--GPS map maker Navteq is teaming with its parent company Nokia to help drivers get more accurate information about traffic conditions.

Before Nokia bought Navteq last year, the two began working on a project in conjunction with the University of California at Berkeley called Mobile Millennium that uses GPS-enabled cell phones as traffic monitors or "probes" to collect real-time traffic data.

A pilot program using more than 10,000 handsets has already launched in the San Francisco Bay Area. And on Tuesday the companies were showing off the technology at the Intelligent Transport Systems World Congress here … Read more

Verizon Wireless and Walt Disney Parks and Resorts are teaming up to create a new mobile application to help families plan their trips and get the most out of their Disney vacations.

With more than 90 percent of its guests walking through the gates with mobile phones, Disney Parks and Resorts executives see cell phones as a perfect way to connect with their customers.

On Wednesday, Disney will announce it has entered into an exclusive multi-year agreement with Verizon Wireless. The two companies will develop an application, which will be hosted by Verizon. Also as part of the deal, Verizon … Read more

LOS ANGELES--Windows 7 has a new programming interface designed to make it a whole lot easier for software to figure out where in the world a PC and its user are located.

That should make it easier for a whole new range of location-based services from finding nearby friends to LoJack-like PC tracking programs. Even search could be a whole lot better if the search engine knew where you were. Indeed, searchers often enter their city with their location to try and get just that benefit.

"There's so many times you have to enter in where you … Read more

Loopt, the friend tracking software developer, has struck a licensing deal with a Qualcomm subsidiary to help lower the cost of providing location services.

The company will announce Thursday that it has signed an agreement with SnapTrack, a wholly owned subsidiary of Qualcomm, to use QPoint location-based server software to provide social mapping and other advanced location services.

Location-based services are expected to generate a lot of money for carriers in the future. Already, most major mobile operators are offering some kind of location-based service, such as GPS-enabled navigation or tracking. But the service hasn't taken off in any … Read more

Location Based Technologies, a service provider of locator devices and services that help users track and monitor others, announced today that it's bringing its PocketFinder service to Google's Android platform.

According to the Location Based Technologies, the application aims to give parents and loved ones some peace of mind by knowing where they are at all times. The software will deliver real-time updates that will provide location information, speed of travel, and travel history to users through the use of the Web, their cell phone, or a landline. The Android-based application will eventually integrate with upcoming PocketFinder GPS … Read more

Q: What's the difference between portable navigation devices (PNDs) and smartphones with built-in GPS? Why do we have to pay for GPS service on smartphones, even they have built-in GPS antennas, whereas for in-car GPS, we don't need to pay a monthly subscription? Is there a smartphone which will also function as a PND that will avoid paying monthly subscription to mobile companies? --Wize Chap via e-mail

A: Wize Chap, I completely understand your confusion. On the surface, PNDs and GPS-enabled smartphones seem to offer the same services and navigation tools--maps, points of interest, turn-by-turn directions--so why in … Read more

Chipmaker Broadcom is adding Wi-Fi positioning technology from Skyhook Wireless to its semiconductors to help provide more accurate location-based services.

Broadcom plans to use GPS (Global Positioning System) and Wi-Fi to help provide accurate location-based information for mobile devices, the company said. Location-based services are becoming hot, especially since the launch of Apple's iPhone 3G, which comes with GPS. The location applications that use GPS have been among the most popular applications downloaded from the Apple App Store.

But GPS has its limitations. Skyhook's Wi-Fi location technology can use known Wi-Fi hot spots to augment GPS. The service … Read more

For the most part, the only person you can socialize with on a handheld GPS navigator is the chick who tells you to turn left after 100 yards.

Garmin wants to change that. The device manufacturer has partnered with location-based app company ULocate to bring its Where.com software, previously available only on compatible cell phones and carriers, to some of its devices. (It hasn't said which ones specifically.) This will give Garmin owners access to Where's own Buddy Beacon software, which shares users' current locations with friends. It can be hooked up to Where's Facebook application, … Read more

Skyhook Wireless announced Monday that it is integrating GPS into its geolocation service to get an even more accurate fix for location-based services.

Up until now, Skyhook's geolocation service, which is used on Apple's iPhone, among other services and devices, has used Wi-Fi hot spots to get a fix on location. The service works very well in densely populated areas where there are a lot of Wi-Fi radios transmitting signals. And it's great for locating places indoors or in cities with a lot of tall buildings, all places where satellite-based GPS, or Global Positioning System, technology has … Read more