1-800-Mobiles Inc., a wireless catalog and e-tailer based in New York City, said it experienced a 73-percent growth in GPS-enabled phones in the month of August, compared with sales made in July.

This growth should not come as a surprise, as the Federal Communications Commission is requiring cellphones to have embedded location technology to facilitate E-911 calls. Soon enough, all phones likely will have some sort of location-determining technology in them, and GPS will play prominently in that equation.