KARACHI - Instead of offering LBS-driven new emerging mobile applications like Friend Finder, City Info Finder, Family Finder and My Child Tracker solutions with map by Platform vendors, some of the operators will likely to launch a limited scope of Location Based Services (LBS) in the next couple of years in the country but the dependency is still the maps, said telecom sources.   The new emerging mobile applications are being used in fun, work, media, shopping, entertainment, education across the developed world but limited applications are also seeing to be practiced here soon by local mobile population, according to telecom experts. They expounded that LBS uptake is highly dependent on "digital maps" availability. There are a few local companies trying to update the digital maps of Pakistan however, this is a huge scale development exercise with a constant update cycle. Companies like NAVTEQ (recently bought by Nokia) have their complete business set-up doing only geo-mapping. So you can imagine that this is some task. On a query, telecom technologists said, "We do see some use of LBS though but without geo mapping the application is limited". There is need to design the digital maps and dynamic content that power some of the country's most essential navigation and location-based services. The information is the foundation for a wide range of personal and in-car navigation systems and mobile and Internet map applications that would help users find the people, places, products, and services they need. They said that from the range of next generation technology, Push mail which had already launched by TP and Blackberry has been in use by Mobilink subscribers. In PM, servers push incoming emails directly to mobile phone users these push services require devices to be always-connected to the Internet in an active packet-data session. Experts also foresee, Second Life.com application which is not a game, but a 3D online world simulation (imagined and created by its residents) could be used here by mobile phone consumers. Second Life has "SLURLs" - unique identifiers to specific locations - allowing people to "teleport" between the Internet and Second Life. However, there might be some link to the broadband connectivity as the high speed internet would enhance the experience of 2nd life. Experts also anticipate that there seem to be plans to offer Video telephony and other online gaming services over WiMax in near future. WiMax is a new wireless broadband technology that is being introduced in Pakistan by a few providers. The services currently offered over WiMax are high-speed internet and fixed Voice Telephony, which are both competing with existing fixed-line broadband internet services and with existing telephony services by the incumbent operator and the WLL operators. LBS: Globally, an increasing number of world-class carriers and developers of mobile applications are capitalizing on location-based services (LBS) that can be delivered on next-generation wireless devices. As consumers' demands for more sophisticated GPS-enabled services grow - and the mobile phone market continues to expand rapidly around the world - carriers and software providers are looking to offer innovative features that differentiate their service offerings and drive new revenues. LBS solutions deliver information based on the location of a person using a particular digital map device or application - such as a mobile phone, smartphone, PDA, in-car navigation system, or laptop or home computer. With location-based services, consumers benefit from information that is more relevant and timely - and experiences that are safer, more reliable, and more enjoyable than ever before. Location-based services enable a virtually endless range of possibilities. Real-time information relevant to a user's location, such as fuel/petrol prices and traffic alerts, enhances the ability of businesses and government agencies to deliver the goods and services their customers and constituents rely upon. 3G: is a category of next generation mobile networks that operates at a higher frequency bandwidth and a larger channel bandwidth. Moreover, large bandwidth enables 3G networks to support very high data rates, up to 2 Mbps. 3G technologies will enhance data speed and all convergence services while broadcasting facilities would also be available at one platform. Mobile WiMAX" implementations can be used to deliver both fixed and mobile services. In a higher speed network (such as 3G or WIMAX) traditional MMS can be augmented with Video Messaging.