San Francisco — Map maker Tele Atlas found GPS is the second most important cellphone feature and that 73 percent of consumers view GPS navigation as a valuable feature for their cellphone.
A study by Tele Atlas conducted with Synovate, also found nearly 75 percent of those surveyed want to use a cellular phone to find points of interest or other information about their surroundings. Study results were released today at the CTIA Wireless I.T. & Entertainment show.
Built-in GPS was ranked as the second most important cellphone feature, preceded only by a digital camera. Respondents ranked GPS as a more important “must have” and “nice to have” feature than Internet access, MP3 players, games, TV content, videos and movies, said Tele Atlas.
Eighty-four percent of respondents expressed interest in child-locator services that would show a route to where their child is currently, and 47 percent expressed interest in friend-locator services.
Consumers said they were willing to pay for such services. Approximately 74 percent of respondents with a minor child indicated an acceptance of monthly fees for child-locator offerings, and nearly 40 percent of respondents said they were would pay for friend-locator offerings. Respondents expressed heightened interest for such offerings if provided via ad-sponsored models.
The Tele Atlas Wireless GPS Study polled U.S. mobile phone users identified as “technically advanced” consumers who possess a portable MP3 player, a digital camera with at least 2 million pixels, cellphone with color screen and home access to broadband Internet, said Tele Atlas.
