Don't fret about getting lost in your neighborhood anymore ...

The recent reports say that the GPS market in India is poised to grow at a rapid pace. Particularly the GPS Vehicle Tracking segment is expected to reach around 140 crore ($35 million) in the next one year!

Major logistics companies (VRL Logistics, GATI, AFL) are planning to ramp up on GPS Vehicle Tracking system bigtime and are planning to make it a part of their supply chain network.

Good jargon. And trust me, all this is very tickling to hear, atleast to my ears!

Taking a leap in the mobile market, lots of mobiles are coming up with a GPS facility in their mobiles - either pre-installed or supporting the facility etc and aiming the mobile using customers.

Nokia N series not so long back launched Assisted GPS (A-GPS), which is an 'enhanced' version of GPS. A-GPS retrieves assistance data over a data connection (like GPRS or 3G), which helps your device calculate the coordinates of your current location when receiving signals from satellites

A-GPS is designed to get a fix on satellites faster and more reliably, meaning you get a smoother GPS experience. It reduces the time a GPS enabled device requires to find its current position.

Again, very very tickling!

But ...

In a country like India, how many mobile using customers would actually use GPS?
You first need to have a flashy mobile which supports GPS,GPRS and a whole loads of crap.
And then you pay your service provider for data transferred over the cellular network(GPRS/3G etc). Also keep in mind that the charges would be higher while roaming.

Assuming that you are a moron and actually get lost in your own neighborhood - you have a price to pay now for taking assistance from the GPS, which only increases if you are 'roaming'. Ha ha!

In a place like India, if you are lost or need directions, all you need to do is run over to the nearest chai-wala or pan-wala and ask them!!
Bingo!

P.S. For the uninitiated, GPS = Global Positioning System.