Next Generation Wireless Applications: Creating Mobile Applications in a Web 2.0 and Mobile 2.0 World, 2nd Edition

13.6 INTEGRATING LBS APPLICATIONS

In the introduction to the book (Chapter 2), we talked about becoming ‘smart integrators’, being able to take the new technologies and rapidly integrate them to provide exciting mobile services. It is highly likely that this is the future of mobile services; a constant stream of services that users selectively subscribe to according to their needs. It is even possible that users could construct their own services to meet their precise needs. Although the means to do this requires some further thought, there should be no doubt that such an eventuality is possible given the highly conducive nature of the underlying technologies we have been discussing throughout the book in terms of facilitating flexible and rapidly changeable solutions.

Earlier in this chapter we talked about the nature of location services being very much event-driven. There are so many possibilities for location services and many lead to the generation of events. For example, it has become increasingly popular to buy items via online auctions like eBay. For some items, the postage and packing costs are sometimes prohibitive. Also, there is a tendency to have a passing interest in certain goods, but not a compulsion to buy them. Under these circumstances, the use of location-based services may assist the buyer by introducing them to goods available within their locality, wherever that happens to be. Perhaps the user has a casual interest in acquiring a certain type of old car, ...