Explanation. If I am across the street from Dunkin Donuts and I realize that I have been tracked by Ma Bell (or other carrier), I am going to feel really uncomfortable. I might decide at a certain moment to give away my location, but I don’t want it known all the time.

@Krishna Chodavarapu
The phone does not ring when you pass by McDonalds or start buck, it’s just an SMS message with discount details. Now you can argue about who is going to pay for the incoming SMS message. Well, there are ways to cover up those charges.

@hobnobLover
I understand mobile form factor is small. But there are ways to convey sufficient information in this small form factor. Also, don’t forget, mobile advertisement is going to be huge and it depends on the same form factor to deliver.

Yuri, I never said there weren’t VGA phones. I was talking about implementing such tech. in phones that people use everyday. Meaning, NOT buying new hardware to support a software.

FYI, it’s not hobnob, it’s hobnobLover. :)

• hobnobLover.
  http://www.hobnobLover.com/

God be with you! There are already VGA phones - HTC, Toshiba and Eten to name a few.

Anyways, there’s way too much “Advertisers, advertisers, advertisers.” First of all, no phone can have the viewing window more than around 320px wide by 450px high. The main question is: How can you display advertisement in such a tiny area without messing up a user’s experience? For example, if you’re viewing a map, should ads pop up on the same map? Would you then have enough room to do what you want to do?

I don’t want anyone to feel like I’m bragging or anything, but my company, hobnobLover is very related to location based service by users and so this article. And, I might be launching a mobile version: hobnobLover.mobile. Again, displaying ads can be very tricky. Like Mr. Malik said, showing “sponsored items” first could definitely push advertising to the next level. (I hope I get a chance to push the mobile version…)

Anyways, the last few sentences of this article, I completely agree with! 100% true! LBA will definitely be a huge thing, if we don’t mess it up badly, that is!

Kandarp.
- http://www.hobnobLover.com/

Who is walking around town staring at their phone?
The phone ringing every time I pass Starbucks or a MickyDs doesn’t sound very nice.

No. I imagine LBA being more “pLBA” (primary location) where they advertise that a Starbucks is nearby where you live. But they do this already; I get local circulars for Best Buy, Circuit City, heck even Michaels, every Sunday.

I am not sure what else they can do? Perhaps searching for a store on maps comes with “preferred” stores, or notices of deals? But why do you need a GPS in your phone for that? I have a Palm Centro and Google Maps works fantastically (no ads as of yet), just search “Best Buy 900xx”.