Android + Travel = Location Based Services

Mobile applications are not really my passion, but I have to say that after playing with my wife’s iTouch and viewing the latest videos about Google Android, I am truly excited about what the mobile web has to offer. I had a discussion with my colleague Phil Caines just today about AirG, a Vancouver based company that has developed a mobile social networking platform. It is very cool but I wondered how sustainable the model is given that mobile technologies will eventually support regular web applications. Phil’s argument was that our mobile market (North America, Japan, and Europe) represents the fat end of the tail and the emerging markets like India, China, Brazil, and others are the long tail of the mobile market. These emerging markets are still using phones that may be less sophisticated and the networks may not have the same penetration. There is, therefore, an opportunity to cash in on these emerging markets.

My feeling is that based on what I have seen coming out of Google, as far as Android is concerned, that these emerging markets will quickly catch up with the rest of the World and the requirement for mobile applications as we know them now will disappear. The opportunity now is to develop applications for Android that tie into web applications that provide location based services like directions to local restaurants, ratings of services, interaction with services, and booking of attractions and tours on your phone.

Enough… check out this video and if you want somemore go to the official Android Site.

Sphere: Related Content

Similar Articles

• The Long Tail of Travel
• Top 5 Travel & Tourism Technology Trends for 2008
• Mobile Travel Technologies - Gerry Samuels
• So what would a Google + Expedia Look Like?
• PhoCusWright Identifies Seven Emerging Themes for Travel Industry