Nokia keeps adding newer features to its phones. The latest feature that the Espoo-based company is looking to add to its lineup is indoor navigation software that would allow users to do things like find a specific store in a big mall, or find the bathroom in a big airport. Nokia details the new technology in a post on the Nokia blog.
Nokia has formed an alliance with more than 20 different companies across different industries, named the In-Location Alliance. The alliance aims to work on new standard-based short-range wireless technology that will make it possible to locate objects or positions indoors with high accuracy on mobile devices.
Nokia has released a video that showcases some of the features of the new indoor navigation technology. According to the video, phones will automatically switch from outdoor to indoor navigation and have real time routing. The technology also allows you to keep track of your belongings, such as bags.
According to the blog, the phone company has focused on what it calls the Nokia High Accuracy Indoor Positioning (HAIP) Solution, which uses a low energy feature of Bluetooth 4.0 and allows an accuracy of one meter. With further changes, the company says that the technology can be extended to an accuracy of 20 centimeters.
According to the blog, “The Alliance members are confident that the key criteria have been met and technology demonstrations have already been designed and deployed in trial sites.”
Nokia’s Jouni Kämäräinen, chair of the In-Location Alliance, said, “We are seeing the value of cooperation with companies that are interested in bringing out products based on indoor positioning; we are accelerating the market deployment of these indoor positioning solutions and services and with the alliance we can predict that companies will be more willing to invest and start implementing of these features into mobile devices.”
Members of the In-Location Alliance include Broadcom, CSR, Dialog Semiconductor, Eptisa, Geomobile, Genasys, Indra, Insiteo, Nokia, Nomadic Solutions, Nordic Semiconductor, Nordic Technology Group, NowOn, Primax, Qualcomm, Rapid Blue, Samsung Electronics, Seolane Innovation, Sony Mobile Communications, TamperSeal AB, Team Action Zone and Visioglobe.
Nokia is also getting ready for an upcoming press event with Microsoft that will hopefully show off phones running Windows Phone 8. The Verge received an invitation to a press event for Windows Phone 8 being held by Microsoft and Nokia. There are speculations that one of the things announced at the press event will be Nokia’s “Phi” device with the 4.3-inch screen, but these are still just speculations.
Microsoft seems to be stepping up to take on the Apple and Google dominated smartphone market. This press event is taking place just days before the rumoured Apple press event where it may be announcing the highly anticipated iPhone 5.
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