Japan To Require GPS In Mobile Handsets

Japanese regulators are set to announce that GPS will be required in all handsets there after April 2007, and that it be able to locate devices with 15-meter accuracy. Most of KDDI's handsets already feature the technology, but competitors NTT DoCoMo and Vodafone offer few handsets with location ability. i-mode Strategy says that DoCoMo has been working on building up the capabilities of its i-mode location-based services, so the deadline should give them a boost, but that's not really been the experience in the US, where a similar deadline has been delayed time and time again, and LBS remain an underutilized niche market.

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