LBS LATAM 2010

Location in a Cloud – a Unique Approach to Provide Location-Related Information and Services

In one of my first posts, I noted that one of the main components of the LBS Value Chain is the ability to acquire and transport a user’s location and give access to that data to many service providers. Getting this information is, in many cases, expensive and presents obstacles to online service providers who would like to develop services based on mobile a user’s location. I was looking for the missing link between the mobile and the web world.

While there are many different approaches (and we might present some of those in the future), Xtify, a company based in New York City, caught my attention. They are creating a cloud of location information where authorized service providers can make available services using the location of their subscribers.

As usual, I was more interested in the business perspective of their operation. The following is a synopsis of my conversation with Josh Rochlin, CEO of Xtify.

I want to thank again Josh for his time and kindness to open up his business for us to learn. I believe many will have much to comment and say.
Follow up.

What is the difference between Xtify and other companies providing similar services?
We are currently the only company that is deriving location persistently from mobile devices and then building business rules around it. We source the location directly from the mobile device, rather than through the wireless carriers. This allows us to make location information available on a persistent and affordable basis.
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Will Location Based Social Networks be like the restaurant business industry? Check their menu!

After the long weekend pass and I had the opportunity to summarize many of the emails and twitts received during the last weeks, I was surprised to still find new Location Based Social Networks coming to the market… not. This week I added to my List of Location Based Social Networks:  Match2blue, My Adventures, Snikkr , Mizoon, Nulaz , Toai , and Glympse.

I also found a few social networks closing or going through difficult times and struggling to survive. Then I remembered last Friday I was saddened to find one of my regular lunch places out of business. I just entered the Subway next door and had a sandwich. Today I found a “coming soon” sign at the same place.

Is there any parallel? Certainly there are LBSN for many tastes. There are gourmet types of Social Networks, others that appeal the masses, some that serve particular type of people, some are for dating, some are for business, some you need certain hardware to get in, and others that are by invitation only.

The fact is that in both cases the owners invest a considerable amount of money to get in, they dream to have fun and be unique, and in some cases they understand very little about the business model and end loosing all their savings.
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More on Business Models for GPS navigation devices, Location Based Social Networking and RFID applications

Sundays is usually posting day, today I’ll take a different approach.

I believe one of the most important results in a post is the readers’ comments. They enrich and bring new perspectives to the initial approach. Skipping over those comments and the exchange of ideas is like ordering a banana split and eating only the ice cream.

I would like to refer you to the readers’ contributions on my post on business models for navigation devices combined with social networking. There, new applications were exposed, a few questions remained unanswered (wireless guys, your input please), and there is an amazing exchange of observations on what is Presence Marketing – how to use it combined with Location Based Social Networks, the extension of RFID applications, and Privacy concerns (my next topic).

My remarks on CES and notes on the Privacy Factor on new business models can wait a day or two.

I encourage you to read the comments to the end and most important, leave yours.

I have nothing more to say but THANK YOU!

Press HERE for the post.

Location Based Services Value Chain – Part 3 – Business Models for Location Based Social Networking

From conversations I had with friends and colleagues, I believe this will be the first of a series of “last parts” regarding business models for Mobile Location Based Services.

I’ll assume through this post that you have read the preceding articles (LBS Marketing Concept / Value Chain 1 / Value Chain 2 / Location Based Social Networks 2.5) as many of the keys for further business models discussions reside there.

In my first post I defined the “Location Based Service concept” as the company’s effort to transform geographical positioning information into valuable and relevant data for a customer, to make a profit. The question here is: who is the customer that is willing to pay for that data?

Tim O’Reilly defines in “What is WEB 2.0” Data is the next Intel Inside and he presents a key question: Who owns the data? And I would add, What Data?

In the following Business Model the LBS service provider owns the data. I reviewed many Location Based Social Networking sites and in most cases “some kind” of lack of privacy is the base of their business model. Differently from carrier fee based pushed services (top – down), this model is based on bottom-up. The LBS provider enables a platform for people to interact for free. In this scenario the handset is usually subsidized by the carrier, interested in generating traffic. The free service is now growing in viral mode and at this point the customers should be called by their real function: “data collectors”.

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