Google And Sprint Develop Mobile Portal Using WiMax And LBS

Could this be the tipping point for location based services and advertising?

Google and Sprint will now be able to tie in your location to all of their applications, including delivering relevant ads, on the mobile phone.

Sprint Nextel said on Thursday it would develop with Google a new mobile Internet portal using WiMax wireless technology to offer Web search and social networking.

Sprint's WiMax for high-speed wireless and its services for detecting location will be combined with Google tools including Gmail, Google Talk, Google Photo and other applications.

Through the partnership with Google, people using the service "will be able to see where everyone is on your [Gmail] contact list is," said Peter Cannistra, Sprint's director of strategic partnerships

Customers will be able to pay for the WiMax service and get access to the Internet everywhere in the city with such devices as laptops, MP3 players, digital cameras and cell phones.

In April 2008, Sprint expects to roll out the service to the general public in those cities and other cities not yet announced.

Nokia...A Location Based Service Provider?

Nokia launched a service on Thursday which it said would cut the time a GPS-enabled cellphone takes to pinpoint its whereabouts, opening new opportunities for location-based online services.

Nokia hopes the service, available for users of its flagship N95 phones, will cut the startup time to one minute, from up to three minutes currently. The slowness has so far hampered takeup of cellphone navigation.

Nokia bought into the navigation industry last year through its acquisition of German firm Gate5 and started to offer free maps and routing data in February 2007, while charging extra fees for navigation.

Sprint Launches Slifter For Location Based Search Engine

Introducing a GPS function with search opens a lot of opportunities for mobile marketing and social networking possibilities.

Keyspots, based on GPS location will be the equivalent to keywords for mobile marketing. Just like the keywords sex, travel, and news command high fees, so too will GPS locations with heavy traffic. Manhattan versus Des Moines, what will attract more traffic?

This is how Google Makes A Googol

Sprint is tying in their GPS capabilities with Slifters search engine to deliver location based search results.

Think of this as a mobile Froogle with GPS capabilities.

Sprint and GPShopper today announced the launch of Slifter, the first mobile local product search application that employs GPS technology to find products at neighboring retail locations.

Slifter makes real-world shopping more interactive: customers simply enter a keyword, product name, model number or UPC code (barcode) to find a product. They can then view product availability, price and promotional information. (Imagine the possibilities when a barcode is scanned with your GPS enabled phone.)

See the revenue opportunities for Sprint with this service?

Sprint GPS capabilities ensure the closest possible retailers are identified in the search. From video games to vacuum cleaners, using Slifter, Sprint customers can now search for more than 85 million products available at more than 30,000 retail stores across the country.

The big difference is Slifter powered by GPS uses your phone's GPS ability to give you even more accurate results then regular Slifter. N

Slifter is immediately available for download for $1.99 per month* with Sprint's GPS function.

Slifter, is North America's leading mobile local product search and shopping list application. It is accessible for free without GPS functions via SMS (text "SLIFTER" to 75438), wireless web, or java application download on almost any mobile carrier/device combination .

Would you pay an extra $1.99 per month for GPS to be included in all of your mobile applications? (search, maps, weather, alerts, traffic)