We’ve seen a resurgence in location-based services of late as GPS becomes more common in phones and powerful location-enabled applications make their way into the phone deck. The most obvious of those are navigation applications and user-location services: from Google Maps and MapQuest Mobile and advanced vehicle navigation services like TeleNav’s to the family finder apps being launched by Disney and Sprint.

But according to Darren Koenig, the wireless market director for Tele Atlas, we’ve seen only the tip of the iceberg. Tele Atlas like its competitor Navteq provides the base maps and GPS coordinates that applications developers use to design their location content. To say Tele Atlas provides just maps would be an understatement, though, Koenig said. Tele Atlas is mapping more than just streets and major landmarks, he said; it’s building a database of everything from street gradients, to façade textures, from roofline silhouettes to stadium seating diagrams. Tele Atlas isn’t just making a road Atlas, it’s rendering the as much of the real world as it can scan, representing it virtually.

Eventually mapping technologies will not only tell you where you are, but they will tell you about the place you’re at. Mapping software won’t just give directions to your desired location, but it will help you coordinate your activities once you arrive. Mapping technologies could coordinate the locations of several people and suggest the most convenient bar or coffee shop for them all to meet at, Koenig said. It won’t just get you to the outdoor theater for a concert, it will help you find your seats and where your friends are sitting.

And then there are the services that don’t even require the customer to use a map -- rather the application uses a map behind the scenes to bring you a wealth of other data. Imagine being at Yankees Stadium, and snapping a digital photograph, Koenig said. A GPS radio in the digital camera would not only know where you are, say in the Bleachers, it could draw upon outside information, all readily available if it knows where to look. The location and time stamp could imprint the fact you were at a Yankees-Giants game. It could tell you what inning the game was in, and who was pitching and who was at bat when the photo was snapped. It could tell you if batter struck out, hit a grounder or a fly ball. And it could tell you who ultimately won the game. Not a bad way to organize your photos without lifting a finger.

Contact me at kfitchard@telephonyonline.com.