Mobile Phones

Cellular phone features now include GPS as an added consumer attraction. These GPS-enabled handsets are predicted to increase the uptake in subscription for mobile phone telecoms carriers who had struggled recently with their sales as markets are saturated. The next value-added service they plan to introduce will be location-specific services to cellphone owners. Industry insiders call these services as points-of-interest and geo-tagged photographs that will utilize the GPS capability. This will be integrated into one single microchip that includes Bluetooth and Wi-fi capabilities.

Right now, only the pricier cell phone units have GPS features but manufacturers plan to include them even in the lower-priced models. Their remaining obstacle in doing so is mainly technical, how to reduce the power consumption of the unit. Close to 550 million new units will be manufactured incorporating this new feature. Cell phone makers are a bit happy as this will tap new markets for them after suffering from sluggish sales lately.