Location-Based Technology for Mobile applications are at its boom!
Using the location-based mobile app, one will not only have greater chances to gain a competitive advantage to reach their target audience in close proximity but also enhance the possibilities of direct sale. If you are looking for development of an innovative location-based mobile app, you should be aware of the different location based technologies utilized in the development process of any application. To gain the maximum advantage of the latest technology, selection of the right location based technology is important; which makes your mobile app development worthwhile and growth-oriented.
In this blog, readers will get a proper overview of the different location based technologies popularly used in present times for mobile application development. Selection of the right technology is always necessary in order to gain technological benefits.
WiFi
WiFi LBS is mostly used in places like restaurants, hotels, retail stores, and even in healthcare. For customers, it can be a reliable source to receive relevant information– for example, directing them in the direction that they need to follow to reach a destination on a map or availing best discounts by defining whee they are available. Wi-Fi enabled devices to emit regular ‘probes’ when trying to connect to Wi-Fi. There are several methods and technologies used for computing coordinates of a device. Wi-Fi LBS uses the technology which involves the use of RSSI values (Wi-Fi Signal Strength), fingerprinting etc.
WiFi is slowly becoming the most popular choice for sharing data because of its easy accessibility and use.
Beacons
A beacon is a small Bluetooth Radio Transmitter. It constantly transmits a single signal that other devices can identify. It works with the latest version of the Android (4.3 and above) and iPhone (4S and above) phones. It triggers push notifications when visitors enter within a range of a beacon. For tracking specific data of customers, beacon apps are popularly used by many shopping malls, restaurants, retail shops and more. Mobile app development using beacon technology is helpful for different industries such as Travel, Food, Entertainment, shopping hub, Automation, Health, Retail etc.
Beacons allows you to send customized messages on-site in order to enhance shopping experience based on certain criteria such as consumer’s shopping habits, preferences, location and other details. It enables creating relevant and interactive messages at the time of purchase which helps customers make their shopping pleasant and fast. For a location-based push notification and power alerts, beacon apps become very useful. It has increased its reach from just retailer apps and started being adopted by the small and large sized businesses today.
Its benefits include low battery usage helps in extending battery life of the device, an ideal choice for context-aware messaging, offers accurate results for proximity detection, as well as work across several devices.
GPS
The most reliable tool for determining someone’s position today is the GPS -Global Positioning System. With simple reference, GPS is what Google Maps uses to guide you to your desired destination.
In actuality, a GPS is a network of nearly 30 satellites, orbiting the earth at any point of time at an altitude of 20000 km.At any time, at least for GPS satellites are visible aka showing your position. Each satellite transmits information about its position and the current time at regular intervals. These signals are incredibly fast, traveling at the speed of light and are intercepted by your GPS receiver, which using the given time and speed, calculates how far each satellite is. Once this information is received, using Trilateration, your GPS receiver can pinpoint your location.
Understandably, is in popular demand for its navigational help that provides on land, air, water transporting. It is very useful in studying the environmental behavior of animals. Apart from this, its other uses include usefulness in sectors like Security, Heavy Vehicle Guidance, Geophysics, Surveying and Mapping, Telecommunications, Financial Services etc. It has arguably become a vital part of our day to day life without actually standing out which is the perfect example of what technology is supposed to do.
In comparison, all I can see is that technology is very easy to compare in features but very difficult to compare in usefullness. All three are becoming important parts of our lives and are in popular demand. However it is to be noted that since beacons are relatively fresh, there is more mystery and less buzz around them. However all three in their own respective way are making our lives easier.
