Once again it's that time of year where developers from around the planet flock to the Moscone Center in San Francisco, CA for another megadose of really cool Java. JavaOne Conference 2003 is being held June 10-13. For the developer, it's like no other conference. Attendees can experience cutting-edge technologies, interact with their peers in more than 175 Birds-of-a-Feather (BOF) sessions, attend Java University, and more. One of the featured topics at this year's conference is Java Technology in Mobility, with 32 BOFs and 40 sessions where industry experts will provide details concerning the latest developments in J2ME and Java Card technologies. If you've not attended a JavaOne Conference, I highly recommend you do so.

July 7-11 marks another major conference, the ESRI International User Conference 2003 being held in San Diego, CA. LBS solution provider ESRI will feature presentations from a cross-section of ESRI software users in the Telecom and LBS Summit.

We're always on the lookout for interesting new location-based services. This month we feature the world's first taxi hailing service, produced by Zingo, a division of MBH, manufacturer of the London taxi. This service connects customers with the nearest available taxi, a clear value proposition for customers, and cab drivers like Zingo too... less empty cab time.

Finally, as OGC wraps up version 1.0 the OpenLS platform specifications, plans for the next version are well underway. The platform will be enhanced and extended with new services for tracking and traffic during the upcoming OWS 2 initiative. Organizations that wish to set priorities for this next phase as sponsors should contact OGC.

Visit the Java Location Services Web site to stay up to date with the latest in LBS.

Harry Niedzwiadek