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With location-based services (LBS) like navigation and location-aware social networks steadily gaining momentum, ABI Research is predicting more than 550 million GPS-enabled handsets will ship by 2012.
According to the research company’s principal analyst Dominique Bonte, “While most CDMA handsets are already GPS-enabled and GPS is set to become a standard feature in GSM smartphones, GSM feature phones are next on the agenda to be equipped with GPS technology.”
However, as GPS begins to penetrate lower-end phones, the cost, power consumption, and footprint of GPS chipsets will have to be further reduced. This will be made possible by single chipset solutions that combine Bluetooth, WiFi and GPS, and which we’ll see emerging in 2009.
At the same time, the issue of indoor GPS coverage has to be addressed, and ABI sees the issue solved through network assisted A-GPS and high-sensitivity GPS receivers…
More information is available in ABI Research’s report, “GPS-Enabled Mobile Devices,” that examines the market landscape and future potential for GPS-enabled mobile phones.
About The Author
Dusan Belic
Dusan has been using smartphones since their introduction and is now following the latest trends in the industry. The "convergence" is what he's most excited about, and writing about it is the next logical thing to do. He thinks that using a smartphone is what everyone who cares about their time should do. In addition to his interests in mobile phones, Dusan also loves to experiment with the latest web and mobile 2.0 services. The idea of accessing and managing your information from any device no matter where you are simply amazes him. Whether it's an online to-do list, note taking service or a video sharing social network, he's there to try it out. He admits though, he's still searching for the ultimate web-based organizational tool, which "sings" perfectly with the mobile PIM application. Dusan used to run SymbianWatch.com which later became part of IntoMobile. He lives in Serbia, South-East Europe, from where he edits the site on a daily basis.
