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Titans Intel and Microsoft Commit to Location Based Services

Microsoft and Intel both have plans to offer location based services within the next two years.
Intel says they’re working on it:

“Location-based services are certainly something that we’ve been exploring and have a lot of work going on in,” said Anand Chandrasekher, vice president and general manager of Intel’s Mobile Platforms Group.

“You can expect to see capabilities like that being brought on to the notebook marketplace, probably in the ‘06 timeframe would be my best estimate at this time,” he said.

Microsoft does too, but it’s due in the slip-and-defeaturing-prone Longhorn, so I consider this one less certain:

Microsoft Corp. plans to offer support for location-based services in the next version of its Windows operating system, known as Longhorn, which is expected to ship in 2006.

Microsoft executives have outlined some of the location-based services that they expect will become available. These include the ability for computers to switch default printers and automatically connect to a wireless network based on the specific location of the computer. In addition, users will be able to get directions and search for services offered by nearby shop.

Anyway, how useful is location based services on a laptop anyway? Who wants to fire up a laptop to find a good restaurant?