The A to Z of wireless

L is for Location-based services

Location-based services (LBS) are all about using mobile services that are specific to where you are. At the moment mobile networks can work out a user's rough location based on his or her distance from mobile transmitters. However, this method will soon be outmoded by GPS, which is expanding from in-car navigation devices into mobile gadgets.

Typical LBS apps could allow a mobile device to locate the nearest restaurant, then guide you there; or your phone could direct you home when you find yourself in unfamiliar territory. O2 offers this kind of service through its i-mode platform with Streetmap, but LBS isn't that widespread as yet.

The list from A to Z

Click on the links below to find out more on each of the entries in the list.

A is for Antivirus
B is for Bluetooth
C is for The Cloud
D is for dotMobi
E is for Email
F is for FMC
G is for GPS
H is for HSDPA
I is for i-mode
J is for Japan Air
K is for Korea
L is for LBS
M is for M2M
N is for NFC
O is for Operating systems
P is for Pubs
Q is for QoS
R is for Roaming
S is for Satellite
T is for TV
U is for UMTS
V is for Virgin
W is for WiMax
X is for XDA
Y is for Yucca
Z is for Zigbee

Other potential uses - not yet available the UK - could be things like location-based billing for phone calls. Some European operators are already doing this, with users being charged lower rates for calls made in their own home.

Business usage in particular is expected to take off in a big way, with ABI Research predicting that by 2011, there will be 315 million GPS subscribers for location-based services, up from the present 12 million this year.