So you want to prove indoor Location Based Services really work but how to do it? Well, how about you set up a trial in Helsinki’s largest indoor shopping centre, offer the shoppers indoor GPS and mapping services to help them get around the mega-mart?
Funnily enough, that’s exactly what Nokia has set up at the Kamppi centre. Shoppers can search for their favourite brands, shops and restaurants and be led right to them - all courtesy of Nokia.
This is the top story hitting the Nokia neighbourhood this morning. Other big stories include the Nokia 5800 NAM back up and onsale in the US, and the Nokia 6710 Navigator up and running on video. Read on for the full stories...
Nokia trials Location Based Services (LBS)
We first brought you the news that Nokia was experimenting with indoor Location Based Services back in September of 2008 but the tech-guys haven’t let the grass grow under their feet, as a trial of the service is now up and running.
Speaking of the experiment, Hannu Kauppinen Head of Business Validation, Nokia Research Center said, ‘With this trial Nokia Research Center is making indoor location based services easy and accessible to shoppers with a web browser on their phone. By combining location information with promotions from the Kamppi retailers we aim to provide a compelling mobile offering. Later this year we plan to extend the trial to bring more customized information to the user.’
The service is free and should be running for some time. To make it work shoppers need to access http://kamppi.nokia.mobi from their phone, and be inside the centre!
When the Nokia 5800 NAM launched last week no one expected it would end with no 3G reception in the NY area. Anyway, it seems the problem wasn't hardware related at all and has been fixed with a firmware update. So things are now back on track.
If you want to get your hands on the new Nokia 5800 and live in the Big Apple, you’ll find the Nok back in stock.
Nokia 6710 Navigator in action
We first got our hands on the Nokia 6710 Navigator at the recent MWC. The new addition to Nokia’s expanding GPS range isn’t expected to ship until the Q3 of this year. At the time we said 'makes getting to your maps and sat-nav data a whole lot easier. Then there is the ful support for Sports Tracker, so you can log your routes and favourite workout sessions and even upload them to the site.'
We think it's going to be a winning device for Nokia, with some specific GPS features that no one else seems to be tackling head-on. It seems we're not the only ones thinking this way, as Daily Mobile has got a nice video of the new Nok in action and also gives it a great little overview.