The popularity of Bluetooth LBS (location based service) apps is rising as the related applications can be used for direction-tracking or as electronic fences to trace and analyze the footprints of confirmed COVIC-19 cases, helping curb the spread of the coronavirus, Digitimes Research has found.

However, LBS apps cannot be fully popularized due to differences in firmware products among various mobile phones, making portable Bluetooth tabs the best alternative to optimize such applications, Digitimes Research says.

The Bluetooth-based exposure notification app, the API (application programming interface), co-developed by Google and Apple has become a cross-platform that enables the intercommunications of tracking information and decentralization of data storage, while the contact records are stored on user's devices to ensure the security of personal data.

It is estimated that nearly 40% of governments worldwide have adopted the API to develop related contact tracking software and solutions.

The low-power and cost-effective LBS apps has also become location tracing solutions that can address the issue of finding elderly persons or dementia patients by building up the tracking trajectory of indoor/outdoor activities, making up the shortfall of health-care resources.

Taiwan-based LBS service company Fashion Intelligence has teamed up with Chunghwa Telecom (CHT) to jointly offer Bluetooth beacon indoor-to-outdoor location tracking solutions that can work alongside the intersection cameras or Bluetooth locators installed by related organizations to assist in finding lost persons.