Products based on Global Positioning System (GPS) technology will apparently be in the futures for many people. According to a new report from Parks Associates, "GPS: A Path to New Applications on Mobile Devices," more than 830 million GPS-based products will be produced globally by 2012. Many of these devices will include mobile handsets and smart phones, but personal navigation devices (PNDs) will remain the most widely used and preferred navigation choice over the next three years.
Harry Wang, senior analyst for Parks Associates, notes: "GPS will come to your mobile handset as a standard feature, but mobile carriers are still a couple of years away from turning GPS into a money-making, mass-market feature. The use of navigational services on mobile phones will lag behind adoption of PNDs and GPS-integrated handsets in the near term." Wang adds that carriers can boost consumer interest in GPS by developing flexible and innovative service models.