By John Ribeiro, IDG News Service, 02/24/06
SiRF Technology plans to release a software platform for phone operators later this year that it hopes will accelerate the use of location-based services in mobile phones, SiRF President and CEO Michael Canning said.
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SiRF sells chips and software for use in consumer GPS products. It thinks 60% of mobile phones will include GPS capabilities in the next three years or so, but a key challenge is getting operators to offer location-based services to their subscribers, Canning said in an interview this week. Less than 10% of phones have GPS capabilities today, he estimated.
Location-based services had several false starts because the technology wasn't accurate enough and applications were poor, according to Canning. But he said interest is building this year from mobile operators who are looking for new ways to generate revenue.
To help drive the market, SiRF is creating a platform on which third-party developers can write applications for operators. The platform will not be dependent on a particular cellular technology and will work with Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), GSM and other standards, Canning said.
SiRF, of San Jose, is also offering a developer environment called SiRFstudio, which includes APIs and tools. It also offers developers an online testing environment for pre-commercial trials.
The client applications available today are mainly for mobile phones with a lot of memory, said Ashu Pande, vice president for marketing for the wireless segment at SiRF. They include a child-locator, for helping parents keep track of their children. The application is being offered by S.K. Telecom of Korea, in a child's phone made by Bellwave, also of Korea.
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2006/022406-gps-sirf-technology.html?prl
SiRF Technology plans to release a software platform for phone operators later this year that it hopes will accelerate the use of location-based services in mobile phones, SiRF President and CEO Michael Canning said.
Related links
SiRF sells chips and software for use in consumer GPS products. It thinks 60% of mobile phones will include GPS capabilities in the next three years or so, but a key challenge is getting operators to offer location-based services to their subscribers, Canning said in an interview this week. Less than 10% of phones have GPS capabilities today, he estimated.
Location-based services had several false starts because the technology wasn't accurate enough and applications were poor, according to Canning. But he said interest is building this year from mobile operators who are looking for new ways to generate revenue.
To help drive the market, SiRF is creating a platform on which third-party developers can write applications for operators. The platform will not be dependent on a particular cellular technology and will work with Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), GSM and other standards, Canning said.
SiRF, of San Jose, is also offering a developer environment called SiRFstudio, which includes APIs and tools. It also offers developers an online testing environment for pre-commercial trials.
The client applications available today are mainly for mobile phones with a lot of memory, said Ashu Pande, vice president for marketing for the wireless segment at SiRF. They include a child-locator, for helping parents keep track of their children. The application is being offered by S.K. Telecom of Korea, in a child's phone made by Bellwave, also of Korea.
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2006/022406-gps-sirf-technology.html?prl
