UNTIL recently, GPS devices were used almost exclusively for navigation to guide you around while driving or hiking.
But since they made their way out of dedicated navigation devices and into cellphones, a new wave of application is using the GPS to do much more than just direct you. Some even create games for you to play while moving around a city.
The location revolution is under way, with just about every new smartphone on the market containing a GPS chip or being able to locate you geographically using the cellular network.
Google is one of the companies focusing on location-based services. Its foundation is the fact that your phone knows where you are at just about any time.
Google's free Maps service is one application that has been integrated with cellphone devices; it forms part of the firm's strategy to sell contextual advertising. It's a simple concept; you're searching for pizza on Google and you're standing two blocks away from a pizzeria that advertises with AdWords - it doesn't take a rocket scientist to put two and two together.
Inevitably, human beings will find ways of turning things into games and there are at least two applications that make location a sport.
Gowalla and Foursquare are location-based applications that make it easy for you to find your friends, play games and share information while on the go using Google Maps as a foundation.
Location can be fun and games
Foursquare is available as an application for iPhone, Android, BlackBerry and most other smartphone platforms. Whenever you arrive somewhere, you can "check in". Foursquare will then give you points for where you are, based on whether you're the first user to visit that place or other factors.
It will tell you if any of your friends are in the same location or nearby. It also gives you information left by your buddies specific to that location, like "Tom checked in here last week, and says the veal is amazing".
Foursquare makes you the "mayor" of a place if you check in there more often than your friends, and awards virtual badges for achieving things like visiting all the bars in a street, lots of places in a short space of time or whatever. Mostly pointless, but it has its uses.
Gowalla is similar to Foursquare but incorporates virtual items you can pick up and drop off around town. It has a "trips" section where you can load up pre-defined tours and have your phone guide you around a town. At the time of writing, Gowalla is only available for iPhone.
Both services combine social networking, gaming and location.
At this point we should problem mention geocacheing - a sport that has been around for some time where people use GPS device to locate physical stashes left by other users and play associated games. Needless to say, cellphones have taken this sport to a whole new level.
Handle with care
Nokia is also about to release an application it has been testing for some time called Ovi Lifecasting. It integrates with Facebook and other services, and allows you to update your location and activities from your cellphone on the go. At the moment the product is in beta testing, but will be available soon.
And Google has Latitude, an application that makes it easy to locate your contacts using Google Maps and cellphones.
I realised the dangers of this type of service late last year, however, when I met a friend for coffee, checked in on Foursquare - which I was testing at the time - and promptly had someone who was stalking my semi-famous pal arrive at our destination. Foursquare automatically updates Twitter, the stalker had seen the mention, and with one click had the name of our destination, complete with map.
I'm not suggesting that location-aware applications are a bad thing, only that they should be used with caution - especially if you have kids using these services with their friends.
For the most part, however, location-based mobile applications are fun and useful. I'm in Paris this week and, thanks to my cellphone and Google Maps, know that the Eiffel Tower is around the corner from my hotel. So if you'll excuse me, I have some sightseeing to do.
- Fin24.com