Location Services Are Heating Up

It seems like you can't swing a dead cat around here without hitting an announcement about some new location service or analytics application. This is a growth space, that is obvious. Whether locating wireless client devices on a WLAN with greater accuracy as an end to the means, or taking it up a notch and building a full-blown suite of location-based services, a lot of names are in the game. Let's take a sniff at a handful of examples in a space I have been watching for years.

Nearbuy Systems promises "A Practical Way to Deliver on the Omnichannel Shopping Experience Today". Headed up by CEO Bryan Wargo (a long-time professional acquaintance of mine, and sweetheart of a guy), Nearbuy has made it into my Network Computing Blog a few times since their formation. Nearbuy leverages your wireless network to work it's magic.

Aerohive Networks recently formed a partnership with Euclid Analytics to leverage both companies' retail customer bases. Again, the partnership was announced in my Network Computing Magazine blog column.

Canadian startup Wifarer  looks to make it big as a provider of indoor positioning services. Using a customer's own WLAN, Wifarer maps customer venues and provides a range of services (handicap routes through a venue, for example), and content-enabled benefits via their app. Pass a coffee shop, get offered a coupon- that sort of thing. Their demos are worth watching to get a flavor for their offerings, and here's Wifarer's mention in Network Computing.

Aruba Networks doesn't really tout their location tools, but Aruba's AirWave management tool has always competed well with Cisco's graphical client tracking services, and it wouldn't surprise me to hear more from the #2 WLAN company in the market on location services in the near future.

Even Google is in on it, with their no-cost-to-you Indoor Mapping Service.

I'll finish this one with Cisco Network's recent announcement regarding their Mobility Services Engine (MSE) new 7.4 code. Cisco announced details here, and at the recent Wireless Field Day 4 event. As an MSE owner (I have three in use on a very large WLAN) I have a lot to digest on this. From what I heard first-hand at Wireless Field Day, it seems that MSE 7.4 comes pretty close to doing what Wifarer promises- and Cisco claims better analytics than Euclid with MSE 7.4.Update- though I have yet to get to 7.4, I have learned that the new magic in CIsco MSE 7.4 comes from a partnership with Meridian.

There's obviously a lot to follow here- stay tuned for more, and let me know what you are digging in the WLAN location services space.