2009: The Year of the Compass?
If you read our blog you know we like Augmented Reality and are always looking for mobile services that have an relation with the (physical) world. The compass is one of the sensors that will create a complete new era of services. First time we saw the power of the compass is ofcourse the StreetView demo of Google. Later it was Wikitude..
Well the guys that brought us PhonePhight, LastMinute.com Labs, show us a new way how to integrate the compass in mobile services. It is called NRU. Have a look at this great application for Android (only available in the UK). A great graphical innovative and intuitive interface!!
nru (near you) is the latest innovation from lastminute.com’s labs team. Using technology provided by T-Mobile’s G1 running Google’s Android software, lastminute.com can now show you things to do near you, from bars and restaurants to cinemas and cafes.
It does this using the GPS and compass found in T-Mobile’s G1, the only phone on the market to date with these features.
So what do you think about the use of compass information? Will it be big in 2009?
Location Based Services (LBS) will definitely take-off when more mobile phones are equipped with GPS.
Working for a large telecom service company we already provide LBS systems that can be incorporated into an operators network and to provide LBS services to end users and 3pp for years.
I think it is actually a combination of factors that this will make a success. Phones are better equipped with the possibilities to run sophisticated applications (memory, screen, os, MIDP, etc…) and that in combination with data enablers like GPS, data traffic, camera, bluetooth etc… is what these kind of applications stand-out.
[...] Reality wordt mainstream, alhoewel in eenvoudige vorm. Voorbeelden zijn de ING Wegwijzer en NRG. Het begrip Mobile Service Architecture wordt bekender en verschijnt in boekvorm. Niet iedereen is [...]