Google Leads Microsoft, Nokia in Location Based Services Development
Google is the first choice among wireless developers for developing location-enhanced applications, according to a newly released survey of professional developers working on applications for mobile devices. The survey, which was conducted worldwide in September, showed that 38.4 percent of developers preferred using Google technologies for location based development. The closest competitors were Microsoft followed by Nokia.
"Google, the premier online internet company, has intensified its focus on the mobile market over the last year, introducing and enhancing a number of new services and applications specifically designed for the small screen to include LBS," said John Andrews, President and CEO of Evans Data Corporation. "Given that there will be approximately three billion mobile phone subscribers by end of 2007, Google sees tremendous potential in further extending their presence with content aimed squarely at this market."
Use of location-based services is strongest in the Asia Pacific region, where over half of wireless developers are currently incorporating location-based services in their development. North American developers were the second most likely to be developing location aware applications where 47 percent were doing so. The most common use of location-based services in development involves individual tracking, followed by vehicle tracking.
Other findings from the survey of almost 400 wireless developers worldwide include:
- Almost two-thirds (60.5%) of wireless developers plan to be using open source or Linux-specific tools to build applications for mobile devices in the next year.
- Application runtime environment is the first consideration when choosing a wireless target platform for 44% of wireless developers - almost three times as many as first consider any other factor - including device, operating system, computer language, etc.
- Java ME is the leading wireless runtime environment.
Posted to the site on 30th October 2007
