Report: GPS smartphone growth accelerating this year

Smartphone sales are expected to outpace the wider handset market, and analysts expect the devices to generate significant market changes. But what about the features smartphones enable? According to new research from Strategy Analytics, worldwide GPS smartphone shipments will grow 34 percent this year, from 57 million units in 2008 to 77 million units in 2009. What is driving GPS adoption? According to the research firm, it's both increasingly widespread consumer acceptance of personal navigation devices and the proliferation of mapping services on smartphones such as Apple's iPhone, Nokia's Nseries phones and Research In Motion's BlackBerry devices. Release