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‘To be truly successful, the technology must move to the background, and allow the user applications to shine through’ ~ Chris Harlow.

When a person buys a Garmin Nuvi 350 or a Mio 136 Mobile GPS today, he is worried more about the cost and feature rather than principles on which it is functioning. He thinks more in terms of what he will be able to do with the device as a USER. He is not worried much about the map datasets and it’s accuracy. These are now peripherals which are more like objects which can be brought for a cost and plugged into the system, if they are not part of the equipment purchased. He is a car driver who will preferably not get into the domain of automobile engineering.

Location Information is emerging as an enabling platform, which either independently or in convergence with other products will provide a common man economic benefit, personal security and entertainment.

Services and products based on location information for car navigation, personal navigation, tracking of child, buddy & pet etc, are available in the market, although the extent of it’s acceptance may vary from region to region. The situation appears more promising when viewed in association with the industry moving from the disconnected world to the subscription based system. The user will be liberated from the worry for currency of the data and system features, be it for location based services or games. Leaders of the gaming industry like Sony has already announced it’s plan to have GPS in it’s PlayStation Portable which will be launched in later part of 2006. Microsoft and others may be on their way to have GPS in their gaming box. A skeptical look at this, would term this move as a push given by the industry, owing to the need for a differentiator.

From war planes to gaming devices, satellite based positioning, navigation and timing has come a long way.

Or may be the journey has just begun!

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