Sprint and Microsoft Join Forces to Deliver Real-Time Location Services to U.S. Businesses

Sprint and Microsoft Join Forces to Deliver Real-Time Location Services to U.S. Businesses: "MLS and Sprint Business Mobility Framework combine to create an easy platform for integrating real-time network services into line-of-business applications. Third-party application developers and business customers benefit from the Sprint Nationwide PCS network that now includes location, messaging and notification capabilities. Microsoft's rich set of development tools for building location-based applications and powerful mapping capabilities powers a wide range of applications, including those used for asset tracking, fleet management and mobile-worker dispatch based on real-time location information.
The MapPoint Location Server provides access to real-time location of mobile devices via applications that have been tested and certified for Sprint Business Mobility Framework, and acts as a proxy between business applications and MapPoint Web Service. Support of standards such as Extensible Markup Language (XML) and Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) removes traditional barriers associated with the adoption of location information into applications. MLS enforces user privacy preferences in the enterprise's network, giving the enterprise control of default privacy settings and a single platform for developers to connect to multiple wireless networks."

I saw a demo of this last week -- very powerful for mobile application developers. E.g., Microsoft provides a level of abstraction that buffers app developers from network service provider API differences, so it's simpler to create apps that currently work with Sprint in the US as well other network service providers elsewhere in the world.