A new study from ABI Research forecasts that user-generated content will become an increasingly important part of location-based services. Professional content will remain at the heart of most of these services, but there's a new trend among both established providers and start-ups to turn to their users for things like map updates and adding "new dynamic real-time content," according to a Cellular-news article on the study.

A couple of examples include GPS outfit TomTom, which has received a million user-suggested map improvements through its Map Spare technology that launched in July, and GyPSii, a start-up whose service lets users create and share location-based content through their mobile phones.