A mobile service can show every cinema in a city, or narrow the results to nearby venues recommended by other cinema visitors.
Location-based mobile services are gaining importance for both consumers and companies. Businesses with branch or terminal networks, including postal operators and banks, can use mobile search to help customers find the nearest location or cash machine. Companies can also give employees mobile access to corporate data, allowing records to be maintained while travelling.
This can benefit sales teams by making marketing information continuously available. Marketing departments can build mobile advertising concepts, branch finders or post-box finders on the same foundation.
doubleSlash developed SnapSpot to help companies offer these services. Mobile objects can be followed on a map through a phone, and points of interest can be stored on the map. The web application runs at snapspot.doubleSlash.de, which also provides a Java ME client for phones supporting MIDP 2.0.
Mobile services are expected to become increasingly important in daily life. Phones have continuously integrated functions such as SMS, personal digital assistants, cameras and MP3 players to reduce the number of devices users carry. Navigation appears to be the next step, while information search and communication through email and chat are moving from PCs to mobile devices.