Chapter 39. Accessing Location-Based Services

A popular feature on current mobile devices is GPS capability, so the device can tell you where you are at any point in time. While the most popular uses of GPS service are for mapping and getting directions, there are other things you can do if you know your location. For example, you might set up a dynamic chat application based on physical location, so users can chat with those people who are nearest to them. Or, you could automatically geo-tag posts to Twitter or similar services.

GPS is not the only way a mobile device can identify your location. Alternatives include the following:

  • The European equivalent to GPS, called Galileo, which is still under development at the time of this writing

  • Cell tower ...

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