Video and Location Based Services Poised to Arrive on Mobile DevicesVideo and Location Based Services Poised to Arrive on Mobile Devices

The future of mobile devices is on display this week at the Mobile World Congress 2008 in Barcelona. Handhelds that support high quality video and those that can be easily tracked will become more common in the coming months.Nokia, a leader in the handset space, unveiled four new models designed to promote collaboration. The Nokia N96, Nokia N78, Nokia 6220 classic, and Nokia 6210 Navigator support Location Based Services (LBS) and multimedia functions, from pedestrian navigation to geotagging and movie viewing to video and photo sharing. The Nokia N96 features a 2.8" screen and 16G bytes of internal memory, so it is capable of supporting high-quality video in various formats. The Nokia 6220 combines a 5 megapixel camera with Global Positioning System (GPS) functions, so high quality images and videos can be snapped, tagged, edited and shared online, phone-to-phone or even watched on television.

Nokia has been locked in a titanic struggle with Samsung and Motorola to deliver higher performance handsets. Like these other vendors, the company has been trying to fashion a software ecosystem, one where third parties will build new mobile applications for its handhelds. Nokias Ovi Internet services environment now includes Share on Ovi, a free personal media sharing community that enables users to upload, manage and share information in different formats and generated on mobile, desktop or other connected devices.

The company is working to add applications in a few areas. LBS hold a great deal of promise for small and medium businesses because they enable delivery of relevant content to users. Before visiting a new potential customer, directions can be downloaded to a salespersons phone. Video is also becoming a more common amenity on phones. If an employee is sitting in the airport, he or she can watch a training video and be better prepared to answer key questions before an important meeting.

Because of their convenience, cell phones have become key business productivity enablers. New features, such as LBS and better support for video, will ensure that these devices become even more important to small and medium businesses in the future.