In 2011, the total population of GPSenabled LBS subscribers will reach 315 million, up from 12 million in 2006, according to a new study from ABI Research, USA. This represents a rise from less than 0.5% of total wireless subscribers today to more than 9% worldwide at the end of the study's 5-year forecast period. The LBS market took off first in South Korea and Japan, driven by personal navigation and some family- and people-finder services. In the United States, Nextel and Sprint initially drove LBS adoption with a focus on fleet applications. www.abiresearch.com

The Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) is all set to bring to India the country’s first LBS for mobile phone users. Telenity - a provider of converged services platforms and applications for communications networks - provided this service to BSNL, has already done a soft launch in India and the services are being used by the staff of BSNL for the past couple of months. With Telenity’s Canvas LES, BSNL subscribers can easily find, locate or monitor phones and other assets based on their geographic position, points of interest and securely fine-tune their privacy profile on the fly when they want it.
www.asianage.com

Nokia's first HSDPA (3.5G) device Nokia N95 is an all-in-one multimedia computer with integrated GPS functionality and support for highspeed mobile networks. The 2- way slide concept with multimedia controls and a keypad on opposite end of the phones makes it easy to switch between different modes. 3D graphics provides an intuitive user interface. A GPS is integrated into the device with anticipated accuracy of around 1m (satellite
signal permitting).
www.nokia.com

SiGe Semiconductor Inc., announced Galileo-ready SE4120 receiver for mass market consumer electronics, which will enable the integration of high-accuracy navigation services into portable devices including laptop computers, PDAs, media players, cell phones, and cameras. The combination of GPS and Galileo will improve user experience of LBS by enabling products to determine position data much more consistently, quickly, and accurately.
www.sige.com

Garmin International Inc., a unit of Garmin Ltd., USA announced Garmin Mobile 10, a unique product that turns Bluetooth enabled devices such as laptops, smartphones, Pocket PCs, and PDAs into GPS navigators. www.garmin.com

HP India has reportedly launched the iPAQ hw6900 Mobile Messenger series in India. The series includes a 3- inch transflective TFT display, and sports an integrated GPS, which is a fully-functional satellite navigation system allowing users to track their exact location on a global map. www.techtree.com

DCT Australia has developed net based software which allows customers to satellite track live their vehicle anytime, viewing clear virtual images of their vehicle location including street name, date and time on the mobile phone. DCT’s engineers have combined GSM with Satellite GPS technology to combat vehicle theft or assist in fleet tracking services.
www.ferret.com.au