Mobile Streams Plans to Kick-start LBS

admin — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 10:35:06 +0000

Start-up Connectid is so keen to get location-based content services moving that it’s going to make its own handsets to ‘front load’ the market.

The New York-based company, run by content giant Mobile Streams, will launch in August with the aim of transforming the part played by location in mobile entertainment.

It claims to have created a chip that can improve the LBS capabilities of GSM devices, using Assisted GPS (AGPS). But rather than wait for the major manufacturers to engage, it will make its own handsets and sell them direct to operators. The company will also make single-purpose location-aware devices such as pet collars.

“The big vendors always start with high-end handsets, but we want to create services that everyone can use,” said Simon Buckingham, CEO of Mobile Streams and Connectid. “If we build these location-based applications into our own devices, we can make them genuinely tangible for people.”

These services could include: location-sensitive ads; social networking that lets users tell friends that they’re nearby; location-aware gaming; city guides and maps; localised search; pet tagging and more. » read more »