Location-based apps come of age
As technology marches on with the encouragement of consumer demand, smartphone-based positioning applications are becoming increasingly ubiquitous. However, the inaccuracy of global positioning system (GPS) technology represents a key barrier to advancing such applications. The European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS, a pan-European satellite navigation system) and the EU's Galileo Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) hold much potential in helping to overcome these limitations. The EU-funded project POSTO is working to contribute to efforts. It is articulating the methodology and supplying the software to help small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) create Galileo/EGNOS chipsets for smartphone applications. To achieve its aims, the project consortium is analysing existing smartphone platforms and related software development kits. It is adapting EGNOS algorithms to smartphone platforms and defining relevant guidelines to support technology manufacturers and developers, particularly the SMEs involved in the project. Already, the project team has analysed the state-of-the-art in smartphone positioning applications development using EGNOS technology along with surveys and questionnaires. It has also defined the technical requirements for outlining the methodology. POSTO's work will be pivotal in providing applications related to hiking and forestry, as well as for tracking vulnerable people such as children or the elderly. Other applications that could be developed include a construction management application, a site health monitoring application in restricted or dangerous areas, and the AgriGeo application. Preliminary smartphone applications in these fields have already been designed and developed while the project's results so far have been disseminated to stakeholders. This is poised to help SMEs significantly in developing new, more precise location-based applications that consumers are demanding or could benefit from. Thanks to POSTO, smartphones are set to become even smarter within a relatively short period of time.
