Samsung, Nokia, and Qualcomm team up to improve indoor location technology

The next fronter in location technology could be your supermarket.

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Samsung, Nokia, Qualcomm, and 19 other companies are working together in a new indoor location-focused venture called In-Location.

Using a combination of Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, indoor location technology allows for a much finer degree of precision than what’s available with current technology. This in turn means applications far more impressive than just indoor navigation.

With the partnership, the member companies aim to invest in and create use cases for indoor location services, which they aim to put in consumer devices by next year.

Indoor location has been getting a lot of interest as of late, with companies like Google and CSR already making moves with the technology. CSR has been demoing the technology for months, though the new joint venture aims to take its efforts even further.

One big potential use is allowing smartphone users to broadcast their locations on a more exact level, allowing friends to find them in crowds with minimal fuss (think about what this will mean for services like Foursquare). Retailers could also make use of the technology by using apps to direct customers to products at specific parts of their stores. It’s all about precision.

Here’s the full list of the alliance’s members:

Broadcom, CSR, Dialog Semiconductor, Eptisa, Geomobile, Genasys, Indra, Insiteo, Nokia, Nomadic Solutions, Nordic Semiconductor, Nordic Technology Group, NowOn, Primax Electronics, Qualcomm, RapidBlue Solutions, Samsung Electronics, Seolane Innovation, Sony Mobile Communications, TamperSeal AB, Team Action Zone and Visioglobe.