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Is Geofencing the Future of Location-Based Apps?

9 Jul. 2010 | Author: Ben Broshi | german

First of all, what is geofencing? Basically, it’s a series of virtual perimeters for real-world geographic areas. In other words, geofencing is the process of creating virtual borders for the purpose, of say, being alerted of events in your current area, or perhaps of friends who are around the corner. So what does this mean for location-based technologies?
Up until this point, location services on mobiles have had problems with both location technology standard differences and with the fairly significant battery draining caused by the use of the apps. However, with the new background apps and increased battery power with the new iPhone, there’s finally a fitting platform for geofencing apps.

The iPhone is leading the pack with the new iOS 4.0. With the new features, iPhone developers have now been granted permission to begin building their own geofences. This is now much more efficient, as the iOS 4.0 has released background apps.

So what does this all mean? A good way to get a glimpse into the future is by taking a look at some of the current location-based apps. Apps like Foursquare and Gowalla could allow users to automatically check-in when entering a certain perimeter. This makes the entire “check-in” process a whole lot easier for fanatics. Yelp, well known for its social local search, has already got this one down, additionally allowing automatic check out procedures, so you never miss one of your buds.

Location-based marketing could also get a boost by being able to see exactly how long users spend time in which businesses. Users can also automatically be alerted if there are some friends in the area. The possibilities even go so far as integrating geofencing to homes to have house lights or air conditioning units automatically turn on when the user approaches.

Trapster has already been developed as a background app, which is designed to alert users of road hazards, speed traps, and even road kill. That means that users can be automatically alerted of any snags and snares during the daily commute or a road trip, all while enjoying the latest tunes on the radio.

What’s the catch? As with many other iPhone location-based apps, reception isn’t always spectacular. And sometimes the GPS doesn’t seem to be working at all. Oh, and probably the most important thing with Trapster is that you have to edit the settings for the app to alert you of things like, say, a couple of unmarked cops up the road who are eager to pull over the next lead-foot. If so, location-based advertising can probably recommend a good lawyer nearby, but that is another story. But if you set everything up properly, you’ll just need to watch out for the whole reception thing.

Is Geofencing the Future of Location-Based Apps?
Posted in Events, Lokale Suche per Smartphone, Discussion, Local Search per PC, Local Search on the go, Local Search per Mobile phone, Local Search, Localization technology, Search Technologies, News, Local Search Engines, Practical features | Tags: , , , , ,

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