onlinemediadaily reporting:
A new study from
TNS identifies location-based services (LBS) as the function mobile
users worldwide are most interested in using on their devices. As part
of its annual Mobile Life study, the media research firm found almost a fifth (19%) of the world’s 6 billion
mobile users are already using LBS, with many of the non-users (62%) aspiring to do so in the future.
Being
able to navigate via maps and GPS on mobile devices is the main reason
people want
location services. But the study indicated growing interest in more
diverse activities, including being able to check-in to places through
platforms like Foursquare of Facebook Places. Some 13% of
mobile users take advantage of such offerings, up 50% from 2011.
In
that vein, one in eight shared their location in exchange for a deal or
special offer. Among non-LBS users who already get
some type of mobile voucher, or would like to, a third were very
receptive to the prospect of receiving deals when near a store they
like. One in five mobile users (21%) said they found mobile
advertising interesting if it is offering them a deal near their current
location.
Among more common LBS activities, more than a quarter (26%) are using LBS to find restaurants and
entertainment venues, 22% to find friends nearby, 19% to check public transportation schedules and 8% to book a taxi.
A Pew Research Center study released
last September found 28% of American adults use mobile and
social-location based services. It
found 28% of cell owners use their phones to get directions but only 5%
used check-in services like Foursquare. That proportion increased to 12%
when looking just at smartphone users.
The TNS
study estimated smartphone penetration in North America at 46%, well
above the global average of 30%. The Middle East and North Africa (MENA)
was on par with North America, at 46%, followed by
developed Asia (42%), China (39%), Latin America (32%) Europe (31%),
emerging Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa (both 21%), and emerging Asia
(21%).
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