Berg says 100m EuroLBS users by 2012

Berg Insight's latest report on LBS, released last week, notes that as "all the pieces needed for successful LBS are more or less in place", they forsee the explosion of LBS related services on the mobile phone in Europe in the next few years.

Of course, these reports have been rushed out at every possible occasion over the last 10-15 years because LBS technology is not new and its applications and wider benefits are fairly easily understandable. However, I think the difference is (1) the ubiquity of PC map-based technologies such as Google/Yahoo/MSN Maps, (2) the attention given to interesting mashups of different data layers using maps, (3) the increasing ubiquity of mobile web browsers, (4) increasingly cheap mobile web data plans... the elements have definitely come together to make it more plausible.

But the article tempers the projection adding:

First there must be a critical mass of active users to work with, then someone must create a successful model for reaching out to these individuals via their handsets and after that the mobile media must be embraced by the top spenders in the advertising industry

Sounds like Naviblog hunting grounds to me...

Naviblog exhibits at MCPC mobile solutions fair

Naviblog Corporation will be exhibiting their latest products and services on September 9th, 2007, alongside medium to large system integrator and mobile solutions companies in Aoyama's Tepia Hall in downtown Tokyo. This yearly one-day-only fair will include the participation of all carriers, from market leader NTT Docomo to new MNOs such as Willcom, to mobile system integrators such as NEC, Toshiba Solutions, Hitachi Business Solutions, Ricoh, Microsoft and many more.

Visit us at the fair! Print out your free invitation from the URL below:
http://www.ric.co.jp/expo/fair2007/download/fair_ticket.pdf

Exhibition details
Date : Friday September 7th, 2007, from 10.00am to 5.30pm
Location : Aoyama TEPIA, Kita-aoyama 2-8-44, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan
(closest station: Tokyo Metro Gaienmae Station)
Access map : For more information on the conference, and to sign up for the seminars on the day, see here.

For more information on the conference, and to sign up for the seminars on the day, see here.

-----

ナビブログはＭＣＰＣソリューションフェアに出展

来る9月7日（金）に、中堅・大手のＳＩer企業やモバイルソリューション開発会社が出展する東京都港区の青山ＴＥＰＩＡで、株式会社ＮＡＶＩＢＬＯＧは最新の製品とサービスを展示します。１年に1日しか開催しないこのフェアには、携帯電話キャリアのＮＴＴドコモからＷＩＬＬＣＯＭまで、そしてＮＥＣ、東芝ソリューションズ、日立ビジネスソリューションズ、リコー、マイクロソフトなど多くのシステムインテグレーターが出展します。

弊社ブースを見に来てください！無料招待券を下記のＵＲＬから印刷して、記入の上、当日にご持参ください。
http://www.ric.co.jp/expo/fair2007/download/fair_ticket.pdf

出展詳細事項
日時 : 2007年9月7日(金)、午前10時〜午後5時
会場 : 東京都港区北青山2-8-44（最寄駅：地下鉄外苑前駅）
アクセス図 : 青山ＴＥＰＩＡのＨＰをご確認ください。

カンファレンスの詳細情報、またはセミナーの事前登録については、こちらをご覧ください。

Naviblog to speak at Red Herring Japan in Kyoto

Mobile marketing firm Naviblog will be speaking at the first-ever Red Herring Japan / Technology Summit event, on Monday July 23rd, hosted by Red Herring, CNET Japan, CMO Council, and Mobikyo among others.

A star-studded lineup to include such luminaries as (Japan's largest shopping site) Rakuten CEO Hiroshi Mikitani, Chairman of Sony's Advisory Board Nobuyuki Idei, Adobe's Akio Tanaka, Salesforce.com's President Jim Steele, and many others, will be speaking alongside Naviblog's CEO Mandali Khalesi on topics from entrepreneurship to tech business in Japan, to technological trends and internationalisation of the digital contents business.

According to the event website, the invitation-only, CXO-level event will "connect speakers, analysts, entrepreneurs, investors, journalists and observers from across the country for meaningful, technology-specific comparisons and insights. Half of the speakers and attendees will be from Japan, and the other half will be from international locations. If you can only attend one event in Japan this year, this is it"... We look forward to seeing you there!

Presentation details
Date : Monday July 23rd, 2007, from 11.45am to 12.45pm
Registration : Register on the website at www.herringevents.com
Location : Hotel Okura, Kyoto, Japan
Access map : See the Hotel Okura's website here.

For more information on the conference, see here.
Any press inquiries, or requests for interviews, should be directed to info@naviblog.jp.

Naviblog featured in key Frost & Sullivan report

Frost & Sullivan, the well-known market research firm, has featured Naviblog in its latest report on the LBS market. Released two weeks ago, the report entitled "Asia Pacific Location-based Services Markets" focuses on the tremendous growth seen by the LBS market, first in the advanced LBS markets of Japan and South Korea, but also in other up-and-coming LBS markets such as China, Hong Kong, Singapore, and India among others.

According to the report, Japan and South Korea have seen a CAGR of 15 and 25% during 2006 alone, but are lagging behind smaller but more high-growth markets such as Hong Kong and Singapore which saw a staggering CAGR of nearly 30% over the same period. This confirms our belief that the potential for branded LBS services is about to break within Asia-Pacific markets and beyond to Europe and the US. For more details, and a breakdown of the report, see here.

About Frost & Sullivan
Frost & Sullivan, founded in 1961, has 26 global offices with more than 1500 industry consultants, market research analysts, technology analysts and economists. It is the world leader in growth consulting and the integrated areas of technology research, market research, economic research, corporate best practices, training, customer research, competitive intelligence and corporate strategy.
www.frost.com

About Naviblog Corporation
Naviblog (CEO: Mandali Khalesi) is a Tokyo-based mobile marketing firm that provides branded marketing solutions to consumer brands, digital advertising agencies, and mobile operators worldwide. It is a Red Herring 100 company, with its award-winning Naviblog mobile search platform.
www.naviblog.jp