Amazon Web Services Inc. announced the general availability of a new service today that developers can use to add location-based capabilities such as package tracking to applications.

Amazon Location Service provides a simple and cost-effective way to add location functionality to all manner of apps without compromising on data security or user privacy, Amazon said. The service uses maps provided by Esri Global Inc. and Here Technologies Global B.V. and throws in a number of capabilities that Amazon has implemented on top of those maps.

For example, it provides tools to create software that can be used for tracking objects such as packages that are being delivered to consumers. The built-in geofencing capability provides a way to detect if a tracked object enters a given location such as a warehouse or logistics center.

Amazon Location Service can also be used to build maps directly into applications. So a retailer, for example, could add a map to its website or app that overlays its store locations for people to find them more easily.

The service was introduced in preview in December. Amazon Location Service General Manager Andre Dufour explained in an interview on SiliconANGLE’s livestreaming studio theCUBE that another promising use case is location-based customer engagement.

“What that means is including a location component when you are reaching out to your customers with timely offers,” Dufour said. “So, for example, when they’re in close proximity to one of your retail locations, sending them an offer tends to increase their satisfaction and their conversion.”

Amazon Location Service is a direct rival to Google LLC’s better known Google Maps Platform, which is a service for developers based on Google Maps that’s used to integrate location data into apps. Amazon is also taking on Microsoft Corp.’s Azure Maps, which is a similar service for developers that want to add location capabilities to apps hosted on the Azure cloud.

In a blog post, AWS Senior Developer Advocate Marcia Villalba said Amazon Location Service is a great option for companies that already run applications and workloads on the AWS cloud. Aside from the convenience of sourcing location data from the same platform, Amazon Location Services offers much friendlier licensing terms, she said. Whereas other maps providers impose terms that enable them to access, use and commercialize people’s location data, the terms of Amazon Location Services do not grant Amazon or any third parties that right.

“The biggest challenges I faced when I worked with location providers were integrating the applications into the existing application backend and frontend and keeping the data shared with the location provider secure,” Villalba wrote. “When Amazon Location was made available in preview last year, I was so excited. It uses trusted location providers like Esri and HERE and customers remain in control of their data.”

Villalba revealed two new features that have been added to Amazon Location Service since it entered preview, including satellite imagery that can be overlaid onto maps to add context for users. The service also gains routing capabilities so apps can provide information such as travel times and distances between two locations.

“This makes it possible for your application users to obtain accurate travel-time estimates based on live road and traffic information,” Villalba said.

Another advantage of Amazon Location Service is its cost, with Amazon claiming that it can be up to 10 times cheaper than rival services when it comes to geocoding and routing, and a fraction of the cost for most other mapping use cases. More information on pricing is available here.

Amazon said Amazon Location Service can be accessed through the AWS Management Console, AWS Command Line Interface or through the Amazon Location Service API. It’s available now in the company’s US East (N. Virginia), US East (Ohio), US West (Oregon), Europe (Frankfurt), Europe (Ireland), Europe (Stockholm), Asia Pacific (Singapore), Asia Pacific (Sydney) and Asia Pacific (Tokyo) regions.

Here’s more from Andre Dufour in his interview on theCUBE last year:

Image: AWS