Apple Reveals a Powerful Location-Based Service for the iPhone

**cyberathlete** · 05-17-2010, 02:38 PM

what an insanely cool idea!

Within the sixteen patent applications that were published by the US Patent & Trademark Office for Apple Inc today, a single gem emerged. It's a very powerful new concept for a location based application service that is one of the most ingenious ideas that have surfaced on this subject in some time. The idea is simple. Deliver a location based service to information savvy iPhone users that wish to receive temporary retail and service-based applications. Imagine standing at the entrance of a restaurant and viewing their menu on your iPhone or entering a public library and being able to access their database. The minute you leave the library or the front of that restaurant, the app disappears so that you don't clog up your iPhone with hundreds of local business apps. I don't know if Apple will tackle this at their upcoming developer conference, but this is a phenomenal opportunity for hungry developers and/or Business Form companies looking for a new avenue for revenue. There are millions of non-geek business owners who are going to want in on this service so as to attract new tech savvy iPhone using clients. Snooze on this opportunity and you'll Lose.

source

**Sponsor** · 05-17-2010 02:38 PM

**Tr00per** · 05-17-2010, 06:11 PM

It would be cool if it would be implemented here in the Philippines but sadly, I think that this would be a feature that is only available in the U.S.

**aragorn_109** · 05-23-2010, 12:34 PM

I don't see why this would not be possible in the Philippines. If you have the EnjoyPH app and ClicktheCity app on your iPhone, it can actually tell you the nearest restaurant based on your location. This time, it's just doing it the other way around (the restaurant tracks the nearest iPhones). The location-based Twitter clients also work in the Philippine setting, so there is a huge possibility this would work here. The question is how many businesses are willing to pay for this service?

**gang_armani** · 05-23-2010, 01:37 PM

Imagine passing thru a certain bar on a Friday night and you get a notification such as:

"drink all u can margaritas for P300"

That will definitely convince me to go to that bar.

**longbeard** · 05-23-2010, 01:52 PM

Whoa, you can track employees.. or get a notification "it is not after office hours yet, why are you out already, please call the office ASAP"...

**rbenzon** · 05-23-2010, 01:54 PM

cool, but not that innovative. there are people who have contemplated and/or implemented this--just not on the iphone.

it will happen here; it's just a matter of time. there are few things pinoys want more than cheap or free.

and it will be available on every phone, not just the iphone.

**longbeard** · 05-23-2010, 02:37 PM

Originally Posted by rbenzon

cool, but not that innovative. there are people who have contemplated and/or implemented this--just not on the iphone.

it will happen here; it's just a matter of time. there are few things pinoys want more than cheap or free.

and it will be available on every phone, not just the iphone.

I first got the chance to use the mobile phone to track the subscriber (user) when one of our employees went on sick leave but we cannot get hold of him.. We asked the Mobile Switch of Globe (Globe UN) to check the nearest cell site where the Mobile Phone is connected to.. Guess if you have an indoor cellsite in your office the HR will surely notice if you are not there..

BTW you cannot imagine the things you can hear on the longdistance calls while on quality monitoring...

**zChris** · 05-23-2010, 03:10 PM

This isn't really a new concept. The main problem with implementing this using the mobile network is that the level of accuracy of mobile based LBS is not to the level of accuracy at the establishment level, especially if there are a lot of establishments sit-in close proximity.

Keeping GPS on all day to enable this would be too power hungry. Maybe Apple plans to do this using the wifi based LBS approach. More difficult to do here because there are no huge wifi service providers or wifi aggregators that have super extensive coverage of all locations.

**ijingo** · 05-23-2010, 04:42 PM

I'd rather see the menu prepared when I sit, that's the fun of it rather than clogging yourselves in the entrance. I want to see an advancement using your iPhone as a money paying train tickets in US, just swipe it. Think this is already happening in Korea or Japan. No wifi needed here. just unlock an application intended for purchasing.

But its a great idea though.

**shaft** · 05-23-2010, 04:50 PM

Augmented Reality seems a bit similar if not better. There are apps that use AR already for the iphone 3GS utilizing the built-in GPS and Accelerometer and compass. I think this shows more promise.