Wikitude Drive, considered the first mobile augmented reality (AR) navigation system with global maps, is set for its worldwide launch. The key men behind its development tell Christopher Backeberg how the system was developed and what makes it so different...

Location-based social networks like Foursquare, Gowalla and MyTown have paved the way for dedicated, location-based dating networks, and some of them are even making money. Christopher Backeberg puts on his lounge lizard suit and explores some of the dating venues...

Thomas Hallauer, roving editor for TheWhereBusiness, has been immersing himself in a research study of location technology. He pauses for a few minutes to see how much you know about what he's been gleaning from top brains in the business...

I meant to write a very exited blog about the new iPhone 4 having a gyro, which I thought would really advance the options to get indoor nav on your smartphone. It turns out there are $1 gyros and $7 gyros. Guess which one is in the iPhone and which one is useful for navigation…

The demand for gyros pushed by the iPhone4 definitely means that the prices are coming down, but let's wait a few years to see how quickly and strongly mobile gyro nav is adopted. In the meantime, trust Layar to show us what gyros can enable on a smartphone (and on the forthcoming Nintendo 3DS).

 

Coming back from the rather buzzy Location Business Summit Europe 2010 (i.e. MetaPlaces) a few things were clear to me: operators haven't yet written down their location strategies, LBA is a reality the agencies are now very interested in, and everybody thinks it's a great idea to build their own location database.

In fact, Wi-Fi sniffing is spreading among young startup, Google was first to overdose on the stuff...

Mophoto, a location-based social networking app from ChoiceVendor, adds a new, visual element to the check-in system which has become popular on other social networks such as Foursquare and Gowalla. With Mophoto, users check in by posting geotagged photographs.

Why is location changing the business of social networking? Because it is the missing link between virtual societies and the real world. Once I can identify the location of each member of my community, I can easily find ways to make money from it.

The value of location

The UK has recorded the highest annual growth in the use of mobile mapping and direction services in Europe, according to research from comScore.

 

Location has migrated beyond the navigation and emergency domain. It has come to be an expected feature in most mobile services.

This is the view held by John Kavulich, the amiable genius (in my opinion) who serves as business manager of all things location-based at Qualcomm.

Clue Trust has announced the first mobile version of its Cartographica family of geographical information system (GIS) products.