Microsoft is hot on the trail of location-based services for cell phones.
On Monday at the CTIA Wireless 2004 show here, the software giant announced partnerships with U.S. cell phone service provider Sprint and with Bell Mobility in Canada to sell services, mainly to businesses, that exploit a mobile phone"s ability to broadcast its exact location. The Canadian carrier is already selling new services based on Microsoft server software, introduced here Monday, that lets developers plug directly into the "geotracking" databases of cell phone service providers. Sprint, meanwhile, is set to unveil location-based services based on the Microsoft initiative by midyear, according to Steve Lombardi, technical evangelist and product manager for the company"s MapPoint Web Service.
Cell phone geotracking stems from a Federal Communications Commission mandate that wireless providers enable emergency workers to know the exact location of a cell phone dialing 911, a capability they"ve long had whenever someone calls on a traditional landline phone. After years of delays, the nation"s top five providers of cell phone service are now offering what are called enhanced 911 services to a growing number of their subscribers. The inevitable commercial exploitation of the mandate has already begun, but just barely. AT&T Wireless has an opt-in Friend Finder service that lets AT&T Wireless subscribers locate other subscribers, while Nextel Communications has been supplying delivery services with services to track packages and employees.