Need more proof that it’s all about location these days?  A new report published by Berg Insight indicates global shipments of GPS-enabled GSM/WCDMA handsets increased 92 percent in 2009 to 150 million units.

Growing at an impressive compound annual growth rate of 38.7 percent, shipments are forecasted to reach 770 million units in 2014.  With adoption of GPS technology starting in the smartphone segment, where it’s now essentially a standard feature on all new models, it’s anticipated that GPS will see heavy inclusion in new low-cost smartphones and “feature phones” about to enter the market as well.

Significantly impacting the growth of GPS-enabled devices will be the accuracy improvements coming down the pipes in the very near future.  While GPS is accurate outdoors with a clear view of the sky, there continues to be limitations indoors and in areas with geographic limitations.

The report from Berg Insight suggest many improvements to location-accuracy are in the works, including use of a Russian positioning satellite to compliment existing technology, as well as new developments in hybrid positioning technologies that take into account signal measurements from multiple satellite systems, cellular networks and Wi-Fi, together with data from various forms of sensors such as accelerometers, gyroscopes and altimeters.

“Chipset developers and handset vendors are already working on next-generation location technologies that will address the limitations of GPS when using handsets in urban canyons and indoors”, said André Malm, Senior Analyst, Berg Insight. “Multi-mode receivers that also support the Russian GLONASS satellite system will appear in handsets in 2011. By combining the two systems, more visible satellites will increase the chance to receive sufficiently strong signals to get a fix in more locations”

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In a new report titled “Mobile Location Based Services: Applications, Forecasts & Opportunities 2009-2014,” Juniper Research suggests revenue from location-based services (LBS) are expected to surge to $12.7bn in 2012.

Attributed to a combination of Smartphone proliferation, a surge in app store launches, and new developments in hybrid positioning technologies, LBS and location-based advertising are expected to become a major aspect in the mobile ecosystem, with nearly every mobile player integrating location into their services in one way or another.

The report suggests that while mobile LBS saw a number of false dawns over the 2000-2007 period, improvements in handset user interfaces, together with easier consumer access to an array of app distribution channels, has led to greater interest from service providers in providing LBS applications.  Another key growth indicator is the advancement in mobile broadband capabilities and consumer comfortability with mobile Web usage.

The key to continued growth, the report suggests, will be finding ways to integrate LBS into feature phones- getting away from the present smartphone-focused LBS ecosystem.  In addition, finding ways to limit the constraints of privacy and user-information security concerns will be vital for its future.  Interestingly, service usage is expected to be highest in Far East & China over the next five years, with the greatest revenues coming from Western Europe.

It’s an interesting read, while there’s no doubt extraordinary growth when it comes to location, it’s still interesting to see what’s holding things back, and what areas of the industry are seeing the most growth and consumer adoption.  One thing’s for sure, location will remain the buzzword in the mobile realm for a long time to come.

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A new study published by Chetan Sharma consulting on behalf of GetJar indicates that mobile app downloads will soar to 50 billion by 2012, up from 7 billion in 2009.  In addition, the global mobile application economy is estimated to be worth $17.5bn in 2012, more than CD sales, which it predicts will be $13.83bn.

The study predicts a surge in advertising-supported mobile apps as a means for monetization, with Google’s Android platform leading the pack for the foreseeable future.  Today, advertising-based revenue accounts for about 12% of app revenue, but by 2012 this figure is expected to rise to 28%.

The average selling price for mobile apps in 2009 was about $1.90, but the study suggests the during the next three years, this is predicted to decrease by 29% while apps will get cheaper.  However, advertising revenue derived from apps is likely to stay relatively flat.

By 2012, “offdeck” apps, which are offered independently from a carrier, is predicted to be the largest revenue generator, accounting for almost 50% of all app revenue.  By comparison, in 2009, apps available from mobile operators still accounted for more than 60% of all app revenue, but this will fall to just under 23% by 2012.

The study theorizes the market will continue to grow exponentially as mobile devices become as powerful as computers, and wireless networks deliver consistently higher bandwidths. “With the consumer appetite for mobile apps rocketing, the opportunities for developers are huge,” says the CEO and founder of GetJar, Ilja Laurs.

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Microsoft has always had high hopes for Silverlight, it’s Flash alternative, and has announced its availability to mobile developers in hopes of gaining usage in the explosion of mobile gaming and the future of 3D development on mobile devices.

Developers can download a comprehensive set of tools for Silverlight development on the Windows Phone 7 Series, including Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 Express for Windows Phone, Windows Phone 7 Series add-in to use with Visual Studio 2010 RC, XNA Game Studio 4.0, Windows Phone 7 Series emulator for application testing and a separate downloadable Expression Blend for Windows Phone Community Technology Preview.

Though there’s hardly a thriving development community waiting in the wings to develop apps for the Windows Phone 7 Series, doing so using the newly released Silverlight development toolset allows access for things such as the accelerometer, a Microsoft Location Service for  location information, the Microsoft Notification Service to push information, regardless of whether or not an application is running and hardware-accelerated video with DRM, among other things.

It’s definitely a comprehensive suite of tools, but the problem remains that there’s simply no interest in developing for Windows Mobile devices- at least not yet, or anytime in the near future.  Developers focus on platforms that sell, and that are popular with users.  At the moment that’s iPhone and Android, bottom line.  This isn’t to say that Microsoft isn’t doing the right things to set the stage for increased consumer enthusiasm and interest from developers, but there’s still a long way to go.

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I’ve always had a keen interest in Skyhook Wireless.  The company has been building a massive database of location information since its founding over 7 years ago.  Dubbed “XPS,” its location gathering technology combines GPS, cell tower triangulation and Wi-Fi positioning to create the “first true hybrid positioning system.”

With location being the hottest topic at the moment in the mobile realm, Skyhook’s technology has never been more relevant.  To put its hat into the ring, the company today announced the launch of SpotRank, a firehose of sorts to allow developers to tap into its wealth of location information.

SpotRank data is based around hundreds of millions of anonymous location lookups processed daily through Skyhook’s core hybrid positioning system.  Since Skyhook has been used on numerous devices around the world (including every iPhone) for location-based services, the platform powers positioning requests on tens of millions of devices and applications around the world.  Skyhook continually mines this data to create detailed behavioral intelligence profiles for over half a billion 100 meter “spots” around the world.

While companies like Gowalla and Foursquare rely on “check-ins” to accrue location-data, Skyhook’s system works far different in that it logs data everytime a device needs location for anything, creating a valuable resource for developers never before available until the launch of SpotRank.

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Google is obviously serious about mobile advertising, and is filing patents left and right with one common theme- location.  We reported a while back that Google had developed a process — and filed a patent — for “sniffing” data packets sent and received by users utilizing location-based services in an attempt to come as close as possible to having what the carriers have- true user location data at all times for its subscribers.

Last Tuesday, Google was awarded a patent filed over six years ago related to using location for “targeting, setting a minimum price bid for an ad, offering performance analytics, and modifying the content of an ad,” as well.  While broad, it covers all basis for Google’s plan for mobile advertising, even though most of what they describe is already being implemented by the company.  Last week, for example, Google starting allowing users to modify their search results based on their location to show results nearby, and Google Buzz was launched using “location feeds” as well.  Here’s what the patent states as part of its abstract;

The location information used to target and/or score ads may be, include, or define an area. The area may be defined by at least one geographic reference point (e.g., defined by latitude and longitude coordinates) and perhaps additional information. Thus, the area may be a circle defined by a geographic reference point and a radius, an ellipse defined by two geographic reference points and a distance sum, or a polygon defined by three or more geographic reference points, for example.

Its just yet another pawn in the game by both Google and Apple to dominate in the mobile advertising market each want so badly.  When Google bought up AdMob, Apple fired right back with Quattro’s acquisition, and each are making move after move to help themselves compete stronger.  While one would think that Google has the undoubted upper-hand, Apple’s sheer reach with its iPhone and the lock it has on the device from hardware to software to now advertising gives it a stronger position than even Google would like to admit.

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APIs have become an important aspect of the Web, powering unique mashups, services and solutions that work with leading data providers such as Google, Twitter and Facebook.  For developers working with varying sets of APIs, however, there’s few resources available to help organize, analyze and create enhanced mashups in a centralized environment.

Apigee, an innovative startup out of Santa Clara, CA, entered the market last August with its free, self-service API management tool to fill the aforementioned gap, and is posting strong growth numbers in only a few short months.  Through adding robust functionality since its launch, Apigee is poised to gather never-before-seen insight into the state of API usage across the Web and mobile platforms.

Built on Sonoa’s industrial-strength cloud service and API infrastructure that powers the likes of MTV Networks and MySpace, among others, Apigee now features a revamped Web interface, animated API setup and rate limiting dialogues following its latest update.  These features allow users to easily get started, view detailed analytics on API requests over time and determine automatic responses to changes that can disrupt service.  Apigee has also added SSL support for APIs based on HTTPS protocols, opening up prominent APIs including PayPal to safe, efficient usage and deep visibility.

Through developers use of its platform, Apigee is quickly gaining valuable insight into how APIs are being used, and has identified a continued trend for location-based functionality and social media mashups.  Some apps that are already using Apigee include mLocal, which aggregates local classified advertising, Social Mention, which indicates social sentiment across varying social networks, as well as Flikr Photosets, a Facebook Flikr app that’s built using APIs from both Facebook and Flikr, proxied through Apigee.

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