Location-based services
View Patent ↗Provided herein are methods and systems relating to location-based services such as providing a geofencing, outputting location-based information on a mobile device, varying transmissions to and from a mobile device, and providing location-based alerts. More specifically, a method can include receiving a task on a mobile device, associating the task with a location, generating a geofence around the location associated with the task, tracking a current location of a the mobile device, and generating an alert associated with the task when the current location is within the geofence.
1. A method comprising:
receiving a task on a mobile device;
associating, using the mobile device, the task with a physical location;
generating, automatically on the mobile device, a geofence around the physical location associated with the task;
tracking a current location of the mobile device relative to the geofence; and
generating an alert associated with the task when the current location is within the geofence.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the associating the task with the physical location includes receiving an address representative of the physical location on the mobile device.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the associating the task with the physical location includes receiving a selection, from a map displayed on the mobile device, of a point representative of the physical location.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the generating the geofence includes generating a circle with a pre-defined radius around the physical location.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the generating the alert includes sending a message from the mobile device.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the tracking the current location includes periodically transmitting, from the mobile device, data representative of the current location of the mobile device to a service provider.
7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the generating the alert includes sending, from the service provider, a message to the mobile device.
8. The method of claim 6 , wherein the generating the alert includes sending, from the service provider, a message to a second mobile device.
9. A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium including instructions that, when executed on a machine, cause the machine to:
receive data defining a task;
associate the task with a physical location;
generate, automatically, a geofence around the physical location associated with the task;
track a current location of a mobile device relative to the geofence; and
generate an alert associated with the task when the current location is within the geofence.
10. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 9 , wherein the associating the task with the physical location includes receiving an address representative of the physical location on the mobile device.
11. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 9 , wherein the associating the task with the physical location includes receiving a selection, from a map displayed on the mobile device, of a point representative of the physical location.
12. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 9 , wherein the generating the geofence includes generating a circle with a pre-defined radius around the physical location.
13. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 9 , wherein the generating the alert includes sending a message from the mobile device.
14. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 9 , wherein the tracking the current location includes periodically transmitting, from the mobile device, data representative of the current location of the mobile device to a service provider.
15. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 14 , wherein the generating the alert includes sending, from the service provider, a message to the mobile device.
16. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 14 , wherein the generating the alert includes sending, from the service provider, a message to a second mobile device.
17. A mobile device comprising:
an input facility to receive a task;
a geolocation facility to track a current location associated with the mobile device; and a central processing unit to:
associate the task with a physical location;
generate, automatically, a geofence around the physical location associated with the task;
generate an alert associated with the task when the current location is within the geofence.
18. The mobile device of claim 17 , wherein the input facility is also to receive an address representative of the physical location associated with the task.
19. The mobile device of claim 17 , wherein the input facility is also to:
display a map on the mobile device; and
receive a selection from the displayed map of a point representative of the physical location associated with the task.
20. The mobile device of claim 17 , wherein the mobile device further includes a data communication facility;
wherein the geolocation facility communicates the current location to the data communication facility; and
wherein the data communication facility periodically transmits the current location to a service provider.