Wireless Users Tap into GPS

Mobile phone features such as Internet access and games have won a lot of attention, but a new survey by Ipsos-Insight indicates that GPS may in fact be the most prized feature.

The survey found that only 9% of respondents have GPS on their phones, but 50% said it would be something "nice to have," more than for any other feature, including a camera (49%), Internet access (42%) and e-mail (37%). Interestingly, these features are used by many more users, but fewer consider them "nice to have."



What's the attraction of GPS? Ipsos speculates that the interest in GPS could be a result of parental concerns: "We're seeing more focus on adaptations of cell phones specifically for the pre-teen market, with various 'one-button' contact and security features. Certainly GPS could play well there."

GPS sticks out from other mobile applications in that it is not focused on entertainment or business, but merely practicality. People are more likely to need to find directions in a pinch than surf the Web, and functions like e-mail and text messaging can be replaced by phone services. Everyone gets lost or needs to figure out where an address is occasionally, and on-phone GPS is an easy way to resolve such dilemmas.

Research from Telematics Research Group indicates that phone-based GPS systems could prove more popular than in-vehicle systems. TRG estimates that the number of cell phones with navigation features will increase from about 300,000 in 2005 to 8.9 million by 2011. By that year, it predicts, there will be twice as many cell phones with GPS than in-vehicle systems.




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