Mobile GeoWeb
If you are still amazed for the huge amount of location-aware applications that have given rise to the GeoWeb, Prepare yourself for the next trend!!
I read the book The Geospatial Web, How Geobrowsers, Social Software and the Web 2.0 are Shaping the Network Society just 10 months ago. And it is almost obsolete! Many times research proposals are archived in deep drawers, or must wait technology, money or society to become real.But mainly Google Maps, and also Yahoo Maps and Live Search Maps have contributed to a location revolution.
People understand fast location based services, because location is inherent to our existence. For most of us, it is easy to understand the new map-navigation paradigms.
There is just a technology that got in our souls faster than internet. A bad quality and expensive technology: the mobile phones. Now everything points to a convergence between these two succesful worlds. Mobile GeoWeb is arriving and will success probably in less than 12 months. Mobile GeoWeb will allow the user to receive, and add information while on the move. Many people that nowadays can’t access to internet services will find easyer to ask the phone for a restaurant, a beautiful sight or a bank in their neighbourhood.
Some clues are here: New GPS enabled phones, Mapping applications adapted to mobile devices, and increasing of Location based services in mobile frameworks.
GPS enabled phones
Although the list of GPS enabled phones is increasing, the main actors are the following:
Phones working over Windows Mobile OS, as HTC and Blacberry ones.
Phones over Simbian. The biggest mobile vendor, Nokia, offers a couple of devices with the N95 heading the list.
The last apple’s gadget, the iPhone 3G.
Mobile mapping applications
PSP Go! Explorer
And more Location based software
Nokia Exif Location Tagger, Nokia walk and others.
Windows Mobile GPS tracking and navigation software
Webs adapted for mobile devices and Location Based Services.
Aircratf and airport mobile information.
And, What to do?
Let’s get geospatial semantic web mobile.
