Navigating the future of GPS
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Louisa HearnSeptember 28, 2007 - 2:07PM
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Nokia N95
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There has never been a better time to buy an in-car GPS navigation system; entry level models now retail for as little as $399, and for just a few hundred bucks more you can buy a unit that will also synch in with your phone and iPod.
But a shadow is looming over the sector as mobile phone giants seek to muscle in on the action, much as they did with cameras a few years ago.
Total unit sales for the in-car navigation sector are expected to swell to 1 million next year as the early adopter crowd gives way to the mass market, delivering annual growth of 200 to 300 per cent. Given these glowing predictions it's hardly surprising the mobile giants want a slice of the action.
Nokia and BlackBerry are just two of the handset makers pushing a range of high-end GPS-enabled phones, while phone service providers Telstra and Vodafone are peddling satellite location services to mobile customers with compatible phones.
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Fast Forward Blog: would switch your GPS for a mobile phone?______________
But Chris Kearney, marketing manager for portable GPS manufacturer Tom Tom, believes an inherently problematic issue for in-car navigation on a mobile phone will be the screen size.
"The big screen of in-car devices is what people are asking for so, in the short to medium term, we do not anticipate cannibalisation from mobile phone makers," he says.
He adds that screen size is one of the features that customers are happy to pay a premium for, along with features such as Bluetooth connectivity, synchronisation with a mobile phone and music player functionality.
However Nokia's director of multimedia business, David Watkins, argues that screen size is becoming much less of a consideration for customers.
"Our screens have 2.8-inch displays and the way we are rendering the information means you don't actually need a bigger screen.
"We believe single purpose devices like in-car navigation, which are not connected to the internet, will become quite niche players," he says.
He adds that the location based market has far more sweeping applications than in-car use, providing consumers with access to world maps and local content suitable for those finding their way around a city by foot.
"For instance if I want to find a Croatian restaurant in the middle of Sydney I could locate one and maybe even read their menu and check out some reviews," he says.
It is this flexibility that he believes will win the race in the navigation wars.
But for now most mobile product offerings are still out of reach of the masses, with GPS-enabled handsets tending to cost about $1000.
Phil Moujaes, Bing Lee general manager, believes that the market for in-car navigation will survive for a long time to come, in spite of the new generation of mobile offerings.
"Not everybody wants to have a mobile phone as a navigation product, and downward price movement means you will now only pay between $399 and $900 for a dedicated in-car navigation system, whereas many of the devices were originally priced at around the $1000 mark," he says.
And along with the lower prices come an enticing range of new features. Pay a little extra for Bluetooth connectivity and your telephone address book can be transferred to enable hands-free phone calls, with incoming calls displayed on the screen. Some devices will even connect to your iPod or play music from a memory card. Another compelling feature coming soon to Australian users will be live traffic reports, helping drivers to dodge accidents and traffic jams.
Citing parallels with the camera market, Mr Kearney says that, while mobile phones try to do lots of things well, car navigation system manufacturers try to do just one thing well.
"Cameras have not gone away and, if anything, people have become more and more aware of the different products out there," he says.
But Jerson Yau, IDC wireless research analyst, says the mobile navigation market is evolving quickly, with high-end navigation features likely to reach the middle market within two years.
"In that time frame I would expect these location-based services to be as commonplace as a camera on mobile phones. It will be a basic function of the phone and users will choose whether or not to use it," he says.
So will consumers ultimately be swayed by the richness of a dedicated navigation unit, or will the convenience of having everything they need in one small, portable device win the toss?
Nokia's Watkins says that there is a clear trend of mobile phones slowly taking over the camera business.
"Nokia has sold more than 170 million megapixel cameras and we are the largest manufacturer of cameras and digital music players in the world. You will see that trend in the navigation market as well," he says.
However Yau argues there is no guarantee that either platform will ultimately dominate the space.
"My opinion is that future cars will have a touch screen about the size of A4 that will become an interface for your phone and any other devices that you carry with you. This will all be driven by a sophisticated operating system built into the car and it's very likely that car manufacturers will partner with big brand names in the computing field.
"There are a lot of ways to get the consumer to where they are going and it may simply be a case of who gets there first."
Sunday, September 30, 2007
My thoughts on Consumer LBS
Posted Wednesday, August 15, 2007 4:06 pm
The other night at Mobile Monday, I ended up in a circle conversation that included David Rolf who used to be at Gate5 (an LBS company that was sold to Nokia) and is now a VP at Vantage Point. The topic came around to Location stuff, and since I have developed some very clear and concise thoughts on Location Based Services, I proceeded to expound on them, forgetting for that moment what Gate5 did... Doh! David objected a bit, but we didn't get a chance to really get into it. It was a good reminder that I haven't posted about LBS online before, and I wanted to correct that now.
I actually refrained from getting too much into the subject for a long while as I had worked at an LBS company, and didn't want to be too negative and bash an old employer. But it's been a few years now, so now let me state my definitive opinion on location services:
Most LBS applications are a black hole of wasted time, effort, money, and opportunity.
I think that's pretty clear, no? LBS has been the next big thing for years now, but it's never, ever, ever, ever going to be big in a way the proponents of the technology think it will.
That's not to say LBS stuff is useless - far from it. Mapping services and location is an absolutely incredible technology, which - thanks to companies like Navteq, TomTom, Garmin and Google - is becoming more accessible every day. I love having Google Maps on my phones for example, and my kid loves to explore Google Earth on my PC. Mapping, satellite images, location finding, turn-by-turn directions, and even street level pictures are all super cool and super useful applications of the technology. LBS is definitely not an easy, off the shelf commodity technology either - it takes a lot of technology and manpower to translate a street address into real lat/long coordinates, and it takes even more technology to do things like routing, "geofencing", real-time updates, fleet tracking, etc.
What I'm talking about is the "magic". You know, the idea of consumer-facing LBS applications that will integrate seamlessly into our every day lives. Virtual graffiti, alerts that a friend is close by, location based coupons for Starbucks, etc. Most of the LBS proponents think that just about any social situation can be improved and made "must have" just by adding location information. If online dating is good, online dating with location added must be awesome! If shopping is good, shopping with location is even better. You get the idea. This is the stuff I'm talking about when I say that LBS is just a waste of time and effort.
Let me just go through my basic reasoning:
LBS is not magic. The technology is flaky as hell - another *several* generations of improvements and infrastructure upgrades are needed before it has the accuracy and reliability it would need to make most of the pie in the sky ideas possible. Getting a "fix" from satellites is usually a time and power consuming process that generally requires being outdoors to make it work. And the accuracy will always be sketchy - the level of detail I need when I'm going down a highway in my car is not the same level of detail that you'd want or need inside your apartment.
Location isn't really that important. First, the Internet has made location less important to daily life in general. My parents are in New Hampshire, my friends live and work in different cities or even different countries from me, but they're all in my IM list. Knowing where they are at any moment won't do much for me. Not only that, but most everyone is in one of three places: home, work/school, somewhere else. Not only do we spend the vast majority of our time in the first two places, we also have a pretty limited number of places we go in the "third place" as well. In general, location is just another data point. If you could somehow magically add location information to every one of my Facebook contacts, it would just be one more piece of information about them in the stream of status updates. Sometimes that location data is relevant, most of the time it's not.
My gadget's location isn't always relevant. Most of the location information I need on a daily basis is for places I'm going *to*, not about where I am, since I know where I am for the most part. If I do a job search or a local business search, I type in my zip code. It's not onerous, and it works, is flexible, and can be in my current city or a city somewhere else. Automation actually hinders that process. This is the same for posting photos online - if I take a picture of the Golden Gate Bridge, for the most part I want the coordinates of the *bridge* to be included in the meta data, not of where I happen to be standing when I took the shot. I could be a mile away. And if I took a bunch of photos, and wanted to upload them later? Again, my location at that point isn't relevant.
We're all paranoid. The most common response I got when pitching "child tracking" to Soccer Moms years ago was the most straight-forward: "Wait a second, exactly WHO is going to know where my kid is?" Just about every Mom I talked to were psycho that even if they could somehow get their kid to lug around a tracking device everywhere they go, that some predator/uber-hacker was out there just waiting to break into the Internets and steal the information and kidnap their child. Insane but true. Beyond that, no one particularly likes the idea of having their daily movements tracked constantly by anything, even an application that they themselves have turned on.
Interesting LBS apps are niche apps. This is my final thought, based on the above example and one of the only company I've heard of that's doing something worthwhile in the consumer space. My friend Spencer Nassar and his partners at Bones in Motion have a great app - you can set your GPS-enabled phone to track you while you're out jogging, and then post the results to your weblog or online community. Great! Except that I'm not a jogger, and amusingly neither is Spencer. It's a great idea and implementation, but it's very specific as is just about every *useful* LBS app you can think of (fleet tracking, package tracking, etc.). The only *general* uses for LBS are the ones that are the most obvious, to simply help me find out how to get to a business or an address somewhere. I used to use the yellow pages and a paper map, and now I use an online search and an online map. If I have a GPS device, I can even ask it to help me drive there. It's just an improvement on the technology, not a magic service that is going to allow us to do more, just what we did before, faster and easier.
I hope that helps clarify my thoughts on the matter. If you have opinions, I'd love to hear them - email 'em over or post them to your blog.
-Russ
Posted Wednesday, August 15, 2007 4:06 pm
The other night at Mobile Monday, I ended up in a circle conversation that included David Rolf who used to be at Gate5 (an LBS company that was sold to Nokia) and is now a VP at Vantage Point. The topic came around to Location stuff, and since I have developed some very clear and concise thoughts on Location Based Services, I proceeded to expound on them, forgetting for that moment what Gate5 did... Doh! David objected a bit, but we didn't get a chance to really get into it. It was a good reminder that I haven't posted about LBS online before, and I wanted to correct that now.
I actually refrained from getting too much into the subject for a long while as I had worked at an LBS company, and didn't want to be too negative and bash an old employer. But it's been a few years now, so now let me state my definitive opinion on location services:
Most LBS applications are a black hole of wasted time, effort, money, and opportunity.
I think that's pretty clear, no? LBS has been the next big thing for years now, but it's never, ever, ever, ever going to be big in a way the proponents of the technology think it will.
That's not to say LBS stuff is useless - far from it. Mapping services and location is an absolutely incredible technology, which - thanks to companies like Navteq, TomTom, Garmin and Google - is becoming more accessible every day. I love having Google Maps on my phones for example, and my kid loves to explore Google Earth on my PC. Mapping, satellite images, location finding, turn-by-turn directions, and even street level pictures are all super cool and super useful applications of the technology. LBS is definitely not an easy, off the shelf commodity technology either - it takes a lot of technology and manpower to translate a street address into real lat/long coordinates, and it takes even more technology to do things like routing, "geofencing", real-time updates, fleet tracking, etc.
What I'm talking about is the "magic". You know, the idea of consumer-facing LBS applications that will integrate seamlessly into our every day lives. Virtual graffiti, alerts that a friend is close by, location based coupons for Starbucks, etc. Most of the LBS proponents think that just about any social situation can be improved and made "must have" just by adding location information. If online dating is good, online dating with location added must be awesome! If shopping is good, shopping with location is even better. You get the idea. This is the stuff I'm talking about when I say that LBS is just a waste of time and effort.
Let me just go through my basic reasoning:
LBS is not magic. The technology is flaky as hell - another *several* generations of improvements and infrastructure upgrades are needed before it has the accuracy and reliability it would need to make most of the pie in the sky ideas possible. Getting a "fix" from satellites is usually a time and power consuming process that generally requires being outdoors to make it work. And the accuracy will always be sketchy - the level of detail I need when I'm going down a highway in my car is not the same level of detail that you'd want or need inside your apartment.
Location isn't really that important. First, the Internet has made location less important to daily life in general. My parents are in New Hampshire, my friends live and work in different cities or even different countries from me, but they're all in my IM list. Knowing where they are at any moment won't do much for me. Not only that, but most everyone is in one of three places: home, work/school, somewhere else. Not only do we spend the vast majority of our time in the first two places, we also have a pretty limited number of places we go in the "third place" as well. In general, location is just another data point. If you could somehow magically add location information to every one of my Facebook contacts, it would just be one more piece of information about them in the stream of status updates. Sometimes that location data is relevant, most of the time it's not.
My gadget's location isn't always relevant. Most of the location information I need on a daily basis is for places I'm going *to*, not about where I am, since I know where I am for the most part. If I do a job search or a local business search, I type in my zip code. It's not onerous, and it works, is flexible, and can be in my current city or a city somewhere else. Automation actually hinders that process. This is the same for posting photos online - if I take a picture of the Golden Gate Bridge, for the most part I want the coordinates of the *bridge* to be included in the meta data, not of where I happen to be standing when I took the shot. I could be a mile away. And if I took a bunch of photos, and wanted to upload them later? Again, my location at that point isn't relevant.
We're all paranoid. The most common response I got when pitching "child tracking" to Soccer Moms years ago was the most straight-forward: "Wait a second, exactly WHO is going to know where my kid is?" Just about every Mom I talked to were psycho that even if they could somehow get their kid to lug around a tracking device everywhere they go, that some predator/uber-hacker was out there just waiting to break into the Internets and steal the information and kidnap their child. Insane but true. Beyond that, no one particularly likes the idea of having their daily movements tracked constantly by anything, even an application that they themselves have turned on.
Interesting LBS apps are niche apps. This is my final thought, based on the above example and one of the only company I've heard of that's doing something worthwhile in the consumer space. My friend Spencer Nassar and his partners at Bones in Motion have a great app - you can set your GPS-enabled phone to track you while you're out jogging, and then post the results to your weblog or online community. Great! Except that I'm not a jogger, and amusingly neither is Spencer. It's a great idea and implementation, but it's very specific as is just about every *useful* LBS app you can think of (fleet tracking, package tracking, etc.). The only *general* uses for LBS are the ones that are the most obvious, to simply help me find out how to get to a business or an address somewhere. I used to use the yellow pages and a paper map, and now I use an online search and an online map. If I have a GPS device, I can even ask it to help me drive there. It's just an improvement on the technology, not a magic service that is going to allow us to do more, just what we did before, faster and easier.
I hope that helps clarify my thoughts on the matter. If you have opinions, I'd love to hear them - email 'em over or post them to your blog.
-Russ
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Budget in-car GPS runs Windows CE
Sep. 27, 2007Taiwanese device-maker Holux Technology has announced a low cost, in-car GPS system that runs Windows CE 5.0. The "GPSmile 55" features a 4.3-inch wide touchscreen and Bluetooth.(Click here for a larger view of the GPSmile 55)Holux says the GPSmile 55 is based on a Samsung S3C2440A processor clocked at 400 MHz. Its memory complement includes 64 of DRAM and 64 MB of flash, plus the option of expanding storage via an SD slot.The unit's resistive touchscreen display features 480 x 272 pixel resolution and an auto-backlight adjustment. And, while the company's data sheet provides no information about supported formats, the device is said to display not only maps, but also still pictures, video, and eBooks.The GPSmile 55 can pair with a phone to offer hands-free calling via Bluetooth, says Holux. In addition, purchasers get the expected speaker and 3.5-mm headphone jack, though a microphone is not listed.According to Holux, the GMSmile is also available with an optional Traffic Message Channel (TMC) module. Using the FM Radio Data System, this plays back only those audio alerts that are relevant to a user's present position. (TMC is currently broadcasting in several western European countries with others expected to come online soon, according to TMC Forum, the TMC trade association.)While Holux's data sheet does not name the device's GPS chipset, it is rumored to be the 20-channel SiRF starIII receiver found in a host of other handheld navigation devices. This seems likely, since SiRF's part is used in Holux's GPSmile 52, an otherwise-similar device that has a 3.5-inch screen.Key specifications that have been released by Holux include:
Processor -- Samsung S3C2440A, clocked at 400 MHz
Memory -- 64 MB DRAM; 64 MB flash
Storage expansion -- up to 2 GB via SD slot
Display -- 4.3-inch touchscreen TFT LCD, 480 x 272 pixel resolution
GPS receiver:
built-in antenna, plus MMCX connector for 2.8-V external antenna
20 parallel channels
Speed of operation:
reacquisition of signal -- 0.1 second average
hot start -- 1 second average
warm start -- 38 seconds average
cold start -- 42 seconds average
Other I/O -- mini-USB connector
Battery type, life -- 1150 mAh lithium-ion battery, 3-5 hours
Dimensions -- 4.7 x 3.2 x 0.9 inches (122 x 80 x 22 mm)
Weight -- 6.7 ounces (190 g)Holux has provided no software, pricing, or availability details. However, a likely indicator of cost is the fact that the earlier GPSmile 52 is currently available from various U.S. retailers for under $140.
Sep. 27, 2007Taiwanese device-maker Holux Technology has announced a low cost, in-car GPS system that runs Windows CE 5.0. The "GPSmile 55" features a 4.3-inch wide touchscreen and Bluetooth.(Click here for a larger view of the GPSmile 55)Holux says the GPSmile 55 is based on a Samsung S3C2440A processor clocked at 400 MHz. Its memory complement includes 64 of DRAM and 64 MB of flash, plus the option of expanding storage via an SD slot.The unit's resistive touchscreen display features 480 x 272 pixel resolution and an auto-backlight adjustment. And, while the company's data sheet provides no information about supported formats, the device is said to display not only maps, but also still pictures, video, and eBooks.The GPSmile 55 can pair with a phone to offer hands-free calling via Bluetooth, says Holux. In addition, purchasers get the expected speaker and 3.5-mm headphone jack, though a microphone is not listed.According to Holux, the GMSmile is also available with an optional Traffic Message Channel (TMC) module. Using the FM Radio Data System, this plays back only those audio alerts that are relevant to a user's present position. (TMC is currently broadcasting in several western European countries with others expected to come online soon, according to TMC Forum, the TMC trade association.)While Holux's data sheet does not name the device's GPS chipset, it is rumored to be the 20-channel SiRF starIII receiver found in a host of other handheld navigation devices. This seems likely, since SiRF's part is used in Holux's GPSmile 52, an otherwise-similar device that has a 3.5-inch screen.Key specifications that have been released by Holux include:
Processor -- Samsung S3C2440A, clocked at 400 MHz
Memory -- 64 MB DRAM; 64 MB flash
Storage expansion -- up to 2 GB via SD slot
Display -- 4.3-inch touchscreen TFT LCD, 480 x 272 pixel resolution
GPS receiver:
built-in antenna, plus MMCX connector for 2.8-V external antenna
20 parallel channels
Speed of operation:
reacquisition of signal -- 0.1 second average
hot start -- 1 second average
warm start -- 38 seconds average
cold start -- 42 seconds average
Other I/O -- mini-USB connector
Battery type, life -- 1150 mAh lithium-ion battery, 3-5 hours
Dimensions -- 4.7 x 3.2 x 0.9 inches (122 x 80 x 22 mm)
Weight -- 6.7 ounces (190 g)Holux has provided no software, pricing, or availability details. However, a likely indicator of cost is the fact that the earlier GPSmile 52 is currently available from various U.S. retailers for under $140.
Tele Atlas Maps Featured in New Mio Personal Navigation Devices
New York — September 27, 2007 — Tele Atlas (FSE: TA6, EUNV: TA), a leading global provider of digital maps and dynamic content for navigation and location-based solutions, announced it will provide Mio Technology, Ltd. with digital maps and rich navigation content for its new devices, the Mio DigiWalker™ C720t, Mio DigiWalker™ C230 and Mio DigiWalker™ C320, which were unveiled this week at the DigitalLife technology conference. “Our consumers are seeking GPS solutions that offer rich navigation and digital entertainment features that play a central role in their everyday lives,” said Kiyoshi Hamai, North American sales director, Mio Technology Ltd. “The latest digital map data and content from Tele Atlas, combined with our range of product offerings deliver the navigation experience right for the GPS fanatic or first-time user.”The new Mio devices feature Tele Atlas digital maps for the United States and Canada and content for millions of points of interest (POIs), to help provide users with a range of shopping, dining, sight-seeing and entertainment information. To help provide a clear, user-friendly navigation offering, the devices offer turn-by-turn routing and Tele Atlas Voice Maps. Notably, the C720t delivers an industry-leading 12 million POIs and expanded map coverage, with full maps of the United States and Canada and additional map information for Mexico City, Guadalajara, Aguascalientes and major roads throughout Mexico.“Today’s savvy technology consumers seeking portable GPS offerings want devices that enable them to find more of what they’re looking for, arrive at their destinations with greater ease, and also fit in with their digital lifestyle,” said Quan Vu, vice president, personal navigation, Tele Atlas. “As Mio continues to deliver innovative, easy-to-use GPS technology products that offer unique, feature-rich experiences, we’re excited to continue to support and help expand their success in the market.”About Tele AtlasTele Atlas delivers the digital maps and dynamic content that power some of the world’s most essential navigation and location-based services (LBS). The information is the foundation for a wide range of personal and in-car navigation systems and mobile and Internet map applications that help users find the people, places, products, and services they need, wherever they are. The company also works with business partners who trust its digital map data to deliver critical applications for emergency, business, fleet, and infrastructure services. Through a combination of its own products and partnerships, Tele Atlas offers digital map coverage of more than 200 countries and territories worldwide. The company was founded in 1984 and today has approximately 2,400 full-time staff and contract cartographers at offices in 24 countries and uses a sophisticated network of professional drivers, mobile mapping vans, and more than 50,000 data resources to deliver highly accurate and up-to-date digital maps. Tele Atlas is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (TA6) and on Euronext Amsterdam (TA). For more information, visit www.teleatlas.com.About Mio Technology Ltd. (MTL) Mio Technology Ltd. (MTL) operations are worldwide. Foreseeing that the mobile lifestyle and mobile commerce will be mainstays of life in the near future, the company is dedicated to the development of enabling devices. Its main business is the sale of Mio DigiWalker™ - branded mobile communication products, such as smartphones, Pocket PCs and handheld GPS systems. For additional information on MTL and its products, the North American headquarters are located at 47988 Fremont Blvd., Fremont, CA 94538. Phone (510) 252-6950 · fax (510) 252-6930 · e-mail at sales@miogps.com. The company is online at www.mio-tech.com
New York — September 27, 2007 — Tele Atlas (FSE: TA6, EUNV: TA), a leading global provider of digital maps and dynamic content for navigation and location-based solutions, announced it will provide Mio Technology, Ltd. with digital maps and rich navigation content for its new devices, the Mio DigiWalker™ C720t, Mio DigiWalker™ C230 and Mio DigiWalker™ C320, which were unveiled this week at the DigitalLife technology conference. “Our consumers are seeking GPS solutions that offer rich navigation and digital entertainment features that play a central role in their everyday lives,” said Kiyoshi Hamai, North American sales director, Mio Technology Ltd. “The latest digital map data and content from Tele Atlas, combined with our range of product offerings deliver the navigation experience right for the GPS fanatic or first-time user.”The new Mio devices feature Tele Atlas digital maps for the United States and Canada and content for millions of points of interest (POIs), to help provide users with a range of shopping, dining, sight-seeing and entertainment information. To help provide a clear, user-friendly navigation offering, the devices offer turn-by-turn routing and Tele Atlas Voice Maps. Notably, the C720t delivers an industry-leading 12 million POIs and expanded map coverage, with full maps of the United States and Canada and additional map information for Mexico City, Guadalajara, Aguascalientes and major roads throughout Mexico.“Today’s savvy technology consumers seeking portable GPS offerings want devices that enable them to find more of what they’re looking for, arrive at their destinations with greater ease, and also fit in with their digital lifestyle,” said Quan Vu, vice president, personal navigation, Tele Atlas. “As Mio continues to deliver innovative, easy-to-use GPS technology products that offer unique, feature-rich experiences, we’re excited to continue to support and help expand their success in the market.”About Tele AtlasTele Atlas delivers the digital maps and dynamic content that power some of the world’s most essential navigation and location-based services (LBS). The information is the foundation for a wide range of personal and in-car navigation systems and mobile and Internet map applications that help users find the people, places, products, and services they need, wherever they are. The company also works with business partners who trust its digital map data to deliver critical applications for emergency, business, fleet, and infrastructure services. Through a combination of its own products and partnerships, Tele Atlas offers digital map coverage of more than 200 countries and territories worldwide. The company was founded in 1984 and today has approximately 2,400 full-time staff and contract cartographers at offices in 24 countries and uses a sophisticated network of professional drivers, mobile mapping vans, and more than 50,000 data resources to deliver highly accurate and up-to-date digital maps. Tele Atlas is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (TA6) and on Euronext Amsterdam (TA). For more information, visit www.teleatlas.com.About Mio Technology Ltd. (MTL) Mio Technology Ltd. (MTL) operations are worldwide. Foreseeing that the mobile lifestyle and mobile commerce will be mainstays of life in the near future, the company is dedicated to the development of enabling devices. Its main business is the sale of Mio DigiWalker™ - branded mobile communication products, such as smartphones, Pocket PCs and handheld GPS systems. For additional information on MTL and its products, the North American headquarters are located at 47988 Fremont Blvd., Fremont, CA 94538. Phone (510) 252-6950 · fax (510) 252-6930 · e-mail at sales@miogps.com. The company is online at www.mio-tech.com
Saturday, September 22, 2007
New Demand for Portable Navigation Devices
location based services
Greater public awareness, lower entry price points, more sophisticated features, and additional channels of distribution are all key trends contributing to the surge in demand for consumer navigation devices.
Portable navigation devices (PNDs) remain the most popular segment of the consumer navigation market, representing 62 percent of the total worldwide market and nearly doubling in size with 93 percent growth over last year. IDC expects the entire consumer navigation market to grow by 53 percent worldwide in 2007.
By far the largest regional market represented in IDC's forecast is Western Europe, where the PND segment has been historically strong, followed by the U.S. However, IDC also expects increased demand for PNDs in Asia-Pacific where China already owns a GPS satellite network.
IDC suspects the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing will spark PND popularity in China as the world navigates to the games.
According to IDC's special study, PNDs are not the only segment of the consumer navigation market that will experience sizable growth and additional revenue opportunities. Consumer interest in outdoor activities and fitness will likely contribute to growth for outdoor and fitness-focused GPS devices as well as marine products, which IDC says are expected to represent $1.2 billion in revenues collectively by 2011.
While in-vehicle navigation solutions are currently growing at a slower pace than their PND peers, IDC believes this segment will remain strong in many markets around the world as long as technology providers work more closely with auto manufacturers to introduce lower-cost solutions into future new model year designs.
As in-vehicle navigation interest grows, IDC says it will increasingly compete with aftermarket PND category.
The huge opportunities for the entire consumer navigation ecosystem has a number of second- and third-tier players such as LG, Navigon, and Dash, entering the market to get their piece of the pie. IDC believes these new market players will create a shift in product differentiation from traditional hardware offerings to new forms of content and additional services, as vendors focus on total solutions instead of just devices.
"It's clear that services will become an increasingly important part of the navigation picture going forward as these devices compete with other consumer devices such as mobile phones," says Diana Hwang, IDC research manager. "IDC expects overall consumer navigation device growth to remain strong as GPS technology and additional services become integrated into a variety of product offerings affecting the way consumers live, play, and interact in the future."
Labels: asia-pacific, ce, china, device, gps, mobile, wireless
0 C
IDC: Portable navigation market to soar
location based services
portable navigation devices
Story Tools
FRAMINGHAM, Mass.
The portable navigation device market will nearly double in 2007 as prices drop, technology improves and public interest grows, said market research company IDC on Monday.
Portable navigation devices are the most popular segment of the consumer navigation market. They represent 62 percent of the worldwide market and have grown 93 percent over last year, IDC said.
IDC expects the entire consumer navigation market to grow by 53 percent worldwide in 2007, with Western Europe by far the largest regional market, followed by the U.S.
IDC also sees growing demand for portable navigation devices in Asia, and predicts the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing will spark their popularity in China.
Introducing the Seventh Sense: Location Awareness
location based services
portable navigation devices
Tuesday, October 16, 2007 @ 6:00 PM - Directions/Maps 
Speaker: Sam Altman, CEO, Loopt
Moderator: Rajeev Chand, Director of Research, Rutberg & Co
Panelist: Russ McGuire, Director of Corporate Strategy, Sprint Nextel
Michael Sharon, Co-founder, Socialight
Jodi Sherman Jahic, Principal, Voyager Capital
Rick Witham, Business Development Manager, Nokia
Event Description:
We perceive and interact with our world through sight, sound, smell, taste and touch. As more of us are increasingly "connected" through cell phones and the Web, the evolution of location based services (LBS) stands to dramatically enhance our lives. Come and discover the incredible capabilities and services that are already available to us as well as the cutting edge technologies around the corner. A distinguished panel of experts spanning the ecosystem of LBS will share and discuss the opportunities and challenges that await, including mobile search and social networking. The event features Loopt, Nokia, Sprint/Nextel, Socialight and Rutberg & Co.
Speaker:
Sam Altman 
CEO
Loopt
Sam founded Loopt to improve the way friends communicate. His primary responsibility within loopt is driving the product vision, assembling a passionate team to realize that vision and making sure people have fun while they're at it. Sam studied computer science at Stanford University, focusing on security and machine learning. He also helped build an autonomous helicopter navigation system while in school.
Loopt is a Silicon Valley based startup that has built a revolutionary social mapping service to change the way people use mobile phones to keep in touch with their friends. Loopt facilitates real-world interaction between friends and puts an end to frustrating missed connections. Using location-based technologies, Loopt lets you know where your friends are by automatically updating maps on your mobile handset. Loopt even lets you send messages to nearby friends or receive automatic alerts when they're nearby so that you never miss an opportunity to meet. Loopt also lets you journal your life so that your friends can see what you're up to. With Loopt, mobile subscribers put themselves on the map. Loopt is backed by venture capital firms Sequoia Capital and New Enterprise Associates, the same firms that helped found Google, Yahoo!, PayPal and TiVo among many other technology innovators.Loopt is available on Boost Mobile and Sprint Nextel and will be available on other major US carriers soon.
Moderator:
Rajeev Chand
Director of Research
Rutberg & Co
Rajeev Chand serves as the Director of Research and Senior Equity Research Analyst for wireless at Rutberg & Company. As Director of Research, Mr. Chand is responsible for building and managing the firm's private equity research practice in industries under coverage, including digital media and wireless. In addition, Mr. Chand leads the firm's coverage of the wireless industry, including roles of thought leadership, private company analysis, and transaction counsel. Specifically, his team has categorized and tracks over 2,200 privately held wireless companies globally. In addition, he works with over 100 publicly held corporations, 300 venture capital firms, and 10 academic institutions to understand, formulate, and evaluate investment and acquisition theses. Mr. Chand's practice spans a broad range of product and technology categories, including semiconductors, devices, infrastructure, applications, and services, as well as wireless wide-, metropolitan-, local-, and personal-area networks.
Established in 2001, Rutberg & Company, LLC is a research-centric investment bank focused exclusively on providing M&A advisory services to both public and private companies, and raising mid to late stage capital for industry leading emerging growth companies in the wireless and digital media industries.The firm is unique in its research concentration on private companies, in contrast to other investment banks, which focus on providing institutional coverage of public companies. The core intellectual capital derived from the firm's research is highly differentiated, and facilitates superior access to key corporate decision makers and investors within the industries they cover. Additionally, by utilizing a research-based approach in evaluating private companies, they are able to adhere to the strictest standards in selecting investment banking clients, resulting in significant credibility with investors and strategic acquirers. Rutberg & Company's research team currently covers approximately 2,200 privately held companies. Through its research and investment banking activities, the firm maintains relationships with the majority of relevant acquirers in industries under coverage. Additionally, the firm maintains relationships globally with over 300 venture capital and private equity firms. Key relationships and intellectual capital coupled with substantial investment banking transaction execution expertise allows for the firm to deliver exceptional advice and investment banking services to clients.
Panelist:
Russ McGuire
Director of Corporate Strategy
Sprint Nextel
Russ McGuire is a leading strategist and visionary in the telecom industry. As director of strategy for Sprint, he is responsible for developing the strategic vision and competitive strategies for the $40 billion+ telecommunications giant. Mr. McGuire is also the author of The Power of Mobility, a book about how businesses can prosper in the next technology revolution which will be published by John Wiley & Sons in the fall of 2007. His daily weblog on these topics can be read at www.law-of-mobility.com. Mr. McGuire's experience includes 20 years in the telecom industry. Prior to joining Sprint, Mr. McGuire was Chief Strategy Officer for TeleChoice, and prior to that he was vice president of strategic development for Williams Communications. Mr. McGuire has also founded or co-founded two technology start-ups. He began his telecom career as a software developer for Northern Telecom.
Sprint Nextel offers a comprehensive range of wireless and wireline communications services bringing the freedom of mobility to consumers, businesses and government users. Sprint Nextel is widely recognized for developing, engineering and deploying innovative technologies, including two robust wireless networks serving 54 million customers at the end of the second quarter 2007; industry-leading mobile data services; instant national and international walkie-talkie capabilities; and a global Tier 1 Internet backbone.
Michael Sharon
Co-founder
Socialight
Michael Eyal Sharon is the co-founder and CTO of Socialight, a New York-based company developing social media tools for mobile devices. He is an Adjunct Professor at NYU and Columbia University, teaching graduate classes in mobile application design and urban gaming. His work has been featured in a number of outlets including The New York Times, Wired, The Guardian, The Discovery Channel, The Wall Street Journal, The London Times, Business 2.0, Time Out NY, Smart Mobs, and Engadget, among others. His writing has appeared in The Feature, Brainstorm, ITWeb, SL Magazine, and African Expressions. His quarterly column on technology and culture appears in African Communications magazine.
Socialight is a platform that lets anyone publish and distribute mobile and web location-based content services. They allow users to find media and information from trusted sources tied to physical locations such as schools, shops, and urban centers around the world. They meld user-generated content and social networking with the real world and allow anyone to find and discuss information that is most relevant to them. It works today on the web and on almost any mobile phone.
Jodi Sherman Jahic
Principal
Voyager Capital
Jodi Sherman Jahic is based in Voyager's Silicon Valley office and leads Voyager's wireless sector team. She is a board member or observer at 1020, Tropos Networks, Melodeo, and Airlink Communications (acquired by Sierra Wireless, SWIR).
Jodi joined Voyager in 2001 from Battery Ventures, where she invested in a number of early-stage companies in wireless data, semiconductor process control, and communications software. In 1999 she was selected as a Kauffman Fellow in venture capital by the Kauffman Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership. Before entering the venture capital business, Jodi was on the founding team of several successful startups such as Prague-based Personnel Select (now a division of Hudson). She also worked in the technology industry group at Accenture, where she led projects for clients such as Motorola Semiconductor Products Sector, Pacific Bell, and Sun Microsystems.
Jodi graduated magna cum laude from Pomona College in STS with a concentration in physics and holds an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. She is a frequent speaker on the topics of wireless communications and venture investment and is a regular columnist for industry publications like RCR Wireless. She serves on the Board of Advisors for the Forum for Women Entrepreneurs and is a member of the Executive Council of Astia. Jodi is an avid traveler and has visited over 45 countries around the globe.
Rick Witham
Business Development Manager
Nokia
Rick Witham joined Forum Nokia, Nokias global developer support organization, in 2005 where he is responsible for identifying and building relations with companies developing mobile applications, content and services.
Mr. Witham has more than 14 years experience developing and managing strategic relationships and creating marketing strategies for companies in the technology industry. He also has a background in market research and competitive business intelligence and analysis. Within Forum Nokia, he heads the team focused on developing business models and creating business opportunities for businesses bringing Location Based Services (LBS) to the global marketplace.
Prior to joining Nokia, he was a Senior Account Manager/Licensing at PalmSource, Inc., where he managed Palm OS strategic licensees to maximize product success. Earlier, he headed a consulting company that conducted market research and synthesized key findings to assist software manufacturers in planning and positioning of next generation desktop and Internet based software products.
He has also worked at America Online, Inc., where he developed and implemented new marketing programs to drive incremental registrations through partnerships with firms such as Apple Computer, Hewlett Packard and Intuit. Earlier, he served as a product manager in AOLs CompuServe Division where he identified and launched Web-based products.
Mr. Witham earned his BA in Economics & Political Studies from Pitzer College, Claremont, CA
Event Media:
Press release: unavailable
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Intel Says WiMax Is Coming Next Year — This Time for Sure
location based services
By Bryan Gardiner 09.21.07 12:00 AM
One thing was very clear at this week's Intel Developer Forum, the semiannual gathering of hardware and software developers sponsored by the semiconductor giant: If it's small and mobile, Intel wants to put a chip in it. The lumbering rectangular towers we so often refer to as PCs have become passé, and according to Intel, are increasingly taking a back seat to a new breed of laptops, ultramobile PCs, mobile internet devices and cell phones.
In his keynote on Wednesday, David Perlmutter, senior vice president of Intel's Mobility Group, described mobile users with "insatiable appetites," hungry for ever more mobility and connectivity.
The company plans to sate this hunger with something called Montevina in mid-2008. Montevina, which will become the company's next-generation Centrino mobile platform, is based on Intel's 45-nanometer fabrication technology. It will support things like DDR3 memory, Blu-ray and HD-DVD playback, as well as an integrated Wi-Fi/WiMax module the company calls Echo Peak.
What that means in plain English is that Montevina notebooks will be faster and low-power, will include support for the latest optical storage standards, and will presumably be ready to connect with the latest wireless networks out of the box. As testament to the clout Intel wields, a number of laptop manufactures like Lenovo, Acer, Toshiba and Panasonic have already committed to using Montevina.
Key to Intel's wireless strategy is the standard known as Mobile WiMax (IEEE 802.16e). Yes, that's the same WiMax you've been hearing about -- but not seeing -- for close to five years now. But according to Intel, as well as Sprint Nextel and Clearwire, WiMax really will be ready for its public debut next year.
With Sprint Nextel and Clearwire (which counts Intel among its major investors) teaming up for a $5 billion WiMax build-out by 2010, Intel CEO Paul Otellini said he expects "150 million [people] will be covered [by WiMax] in 2008, 750 million in 2010 and 1.3 billion in 2012."
"We are on the cusp of a new global network, seamlessly integrated around the globe, to go into these ultramobile devices," Otellini said.
So what will WiMax mean to you and me? Intel CTO Justin Rattner believes you'll have the same kind of broadband experience you're accustomed to at home (on your PC), but wherever you go, whatever you're doing, and without wires. This, Rattner said, "will change the paradigm for mobile devices."
Rattner points to his new BlackBerry, with GPS software supplied by TeleNav, which doesn't store maps on the device, but downloads them as needed -- a feature only made possible by having lots of bandwidth.
"I think (bandwidth) is going to inspire all kinds of new applications and architectures ... that will leverage all the information in the cloud and be able to stream that down to the client, whatever it is: mobile, ultramobile or cell phone," Rattner said.
Intel has been pushing hard for WiMax over the years, though the standard hasn't reached consumer products yet. Now, with substantial investments in companies like Clearwire, as well as attempts to cultivate an ecosystem around the wireless technology, the company finally believes WiMax is ready to move into the public domain.
But don't expect everyone to be downloading data on WiMax in 2008. Just as it was for Wi-Fi, the rollout for Mobile WiMax will likely be slow, despite the continued hype.
Dewayne Hendricks of Tetherless Access isn't convinced WiMax will even appeal to the public at large, given that existing third-generation (3G) cellular and Wi-Fi standards are already in place and will continue to evolve. Because these standards even now offer data rates comparable to WiMax, Hendricks is skeptical about Sprint Nextel and Clearwire's plan.
"If the carriers deployed 3G, which they will, what would you need WiMax for?" Hendricks said. "The fact of the matter is, it's coming too late and there's already established and entrenched standards out there for customers. I just don't see a place for WiMax."
Indeed, Rattner's high-bandwidth BlackBerry uses a cellular network, not WiMax, to connect to the internet.
Sriram Viswanathan, vice president of Intel Capital and the man in charge of the company's WiMax program, isn't fazed. "Even if demand isn't there initially, WiMax-enabled devices will only push things along," he said.
It better. The more time it takes WiMax to gain a foothold here in the U.S., the more time those existing network standards have to get faster and more reliable.
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location based services
By Bryan Gardiner 09.21.07 12:00 AM
One thing was very clear at this week's Intel Developer Forum, the semiannual gathering of hardware and software developers sponsored by the semiconductor giant: If it's small and mobile, Intel wants to put a chip in it. The lumbering rectangular towers we so often refer to as PCs have become passé, and according to Intel, are increasingly taking a back seat to a new breed of laptops, ultramobile PCs, mobile internet devices and cell phones.
In his keynote on Wednesday, David Perlmutter, senior vice president of Intel's Mobility Group, described mobile users with "insatiable appetites," hungry for ever more mobility and connectivity.
The company plans to sate this hunger with something called Montevina in mid-2008. Montevina, which will become the company's next-generation Centrino mobile platform, is based on Intel's 45-nanometer fabrication technology. It will support things like DDR3 memory, Blu-ray and HD-DVD playback, as well as an integrated Wi-Fi/WiMax module the company calls Echo Peak.
What that means in plain English is that Montevina notebooks will be faster and low-power, will include support for the latest optical storage standards, and will presumably be ready to connect with the latest wireless networks out of the box. As testament to the clout Intel wields, a number of laptop manufactures like Lenovo, Acer, Toshiba and Panasonic have already committed to using Montevina.
Key to Intel's wireless strategy is the standard known as Mobile WiMax (IEEE 802.16e). Yes, that's the same WiMax you've been hearing about -- but not seeing -- for close to five years now. But according to Intel, as well as Sprint Nextel and Clearwire, WiMax really will be ready for its public debut next year.
With Sprint Nextel and Clearwire (which counts Intel among its major investors) teaming up for a $5 billion WiMax build-out by 2010, Intel CEO Paul Otellini said he expects "150 million [people] will be covered [by WiMax] in 2008, 750 million in 2010 and 1.3 billion in 2012."
"We are on the cusp of a new global network, seamlessly integrated around the globe, to go into these ultramobile devices," Otellini said.
So what will WiMax mean to you and me? Intel CTO Justin Rattner believes you'll have the same kind of broadband experience you're accustomed to at home (on your PC), but wherever you go, whatever you're doing, and without wires. This, Rattner said, "will change the paradigm for mobile devices."
Rattner points to his new BlackBerry, with GPS software supplied by TeleNav, which doesn't store maps on the device, but downloads them as needed -- a feature only made possible by having lots of bandwidth.
"I think (bandwidth) is going to inspire all kinds of new applications and architectures ... that will leverage all the information in the cloud and be able to stream that down to the client, whatever it is: mobile, ultramobile or cell phone," Rattner said.
Intel has been pushing hard for WiMax over the years, though the standard hasn't reached consumer products yet. Now, with substantial investments in companies like Clearwire, as well as attempts to cultivate an ecosystem around the wireless technology, the company finally believes WiMax is ready to move into the public domain.
But don't expect everyone to be downloading data on WiMax in 2008. Just as it was for Wi-Fi, the rollout for Mobile WiMax will likely be slow, despite the continued hype.
Dewayne Hendricks of Tetherless Access isn't convinced WiMax will even appeal to the public at large, given that existing third-generation (3G) cellular and Wi-Fi standards are already in place and will continue to evolve. Because these standards even now offer data rates comparable to WiMax, Hendricks is skeptical about Sprint Nextel and Clearwire's plan.
"If the carriers deployed 3G, which they will, what would you need WiMax for?" Hendricks said. "The fact of the matter is, it's coming too late and there's already established and entrenched standards out there for customers. I just don't see a place for WiMax."
Indeed, Rattner's high-bandwidth BlackBerry uses a cellular network, not WiMax, to connect to the internet.
Sriram Viswanathan, vice president of Intel Capital and the man in charge of the company's WiMax program, isn't fazed. "Even if demand isn't there initially, WiMax-enabled devices will only push things along," he said.
It better. The more time it takes WiMax to gain a foothold here in the U.S., the more time those existing network standards have to get faster and more reliable.
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NAC Google Brings the Power of Universal Addresses onto Your Desktop
NAC Geographic Products Inc. announced the release of the NAC Google - a powerful Google Desktop gadget that has integrated NAC Enhanced Google Maps, Google Local Search and Google Driving Directions onto one simple user interface.
/24-7PressRelease/ - TORONTO, CANADA, September 20, 2007 - NAC Geographic Products Inc. (www.nacgeo.com) announced the release of the NAC Google (www.nacgeo.com/nacgoogle.asp) - a powerful Google Desktop gadget that has integrated NAC Enhanced Google Maps, Google Local Search and Google Driving Directions onto one simple user interface, and brings the ease and power of Universal Addresses and Google Maps directly onto your desktop. You can immediately get any of these services not only with lat/lon pairs, street addresses, street intersections, POIs and postcodes/ZIPs, but also with Universal Addresses. Commonly used street addresses for location based services have many problems. They are always very long and it is time consuming to input them. They are language dependent and it is difficult to type when they contain foreign characters. They are full of variations and frequently result in failures. They are available to very limited locations (_1% of the earth surface) and more than 99% of locations can't be specified by street addresses. Enhanced with the capability of the Universal Addresses, users of NAC Google can directly get the maps including high resolution satellite images, seach nearby businesses and obtain turn-by-turn driving directions of any locations in the world whenever they want on their desktop thanks to the efficiency, language independency and geographic complet coverage of the Universal Addresses. For example, you can simply input the short Universal Address: H5Q2 R48Q to get the map of Eiffel Tower in Paris instantly. A Universal Address is an eight or ten character Natural Area Code (NAC) which can represent both areas and locations anywhere in the world. A two character NAC can specify any area about 1000 km in length and width like a province, a four character NAC represents a 30 km long and wide area (like a city) approximately, a six character NAC is roughly equivalent to any square kilometer area on the earth, an eight character NAC can uniquely identify every house or building in the world, and a ten character NAC can pinpoint any location in the world to the resolution of one meter. With the Natural Area Codes, people can easily represent any areas and locations from countries, provinces, national conservation parks, cities, stadiums, museums, universities, hospitals, shopping malls to hotels, restaurants, post offices, railway stations, bus stops, docks, street lights, fire hydrants, sewage exits, electric wirepoles, trees; and from locations of crimes scenes, accidents, pollutions, underwater wreckages, news events to locations of your dating benches, BBQ tables, camping sites and fishing spots. Therefore, more and more businesses start including the Universal Addresses on their websites, advertisements, business cards and yellow pages listings such as Campgrounds. Here are some examples of NAC enhanced products and services: NAC Earth - a Universal Address enhanced Google Earth which allows users to fly to any locations in its virtual earth. NAC Smart Tag DLL automatically highlighting all the Universal Addresses on Outlook emails, Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, PowerPoint presentations and Access databases and linking them to their corresponding detail satellite images. Locamagic - a NAC enhanced GPS cellphone application providing positioning, locating, navigating, local business searching, real-time tracking and real-time monitoring services. Universal Addresses Lookup Service and Free Geocoding Service providing Universal Addresses for any locations in the world. NAC Enhanced Google Maps mapping Universal Addresses of any locations in the world on high resolution satellite images. NAC Enhanced Google Local displaying the Universal Addresses of all nearby businesses of any location. NAC Enhanced Google Driving Directions providing driving directions between the Universal Addresses of any locations. With NAC Google, all main stream media (televisions, radios, newspapers and magazines) now can easily participate in the discussion of tourist attractions, natural disasters, and important events anywhere in the world as effective as online websites by publishing Universal Addresses with their reviews and reports so that their audience and readers can get to the "scenes" instantly on NAC Google. They can also publish hot virtual sightseeing destinations gracefully on their travel sections daily or weekly thanks to the efficiency and beauty of the Universal Addresses. Here are some sample Universal Addresses: Point of Interest Universal Address Acropolis, Greece JZ9G P9TP Arch of Triumph H5SX R497 Arecibo Observatory 9F3J L1PL Buckingham Palace GZM7 RKH3 CACTUS site 57WF NSBR CN Tower, Toronto 8CHX Q86D Colosseum, Rome J16W PZFH Eiffel Tower, Paris H5Q2 R48Q Forbidden City, Beijing SNZ PMK Point of Interest Universal Address Great Wall at Badaling SN0H PPR4 The Millennium Dome H00 RKH Mount Everest Q797 MMVR Niagara Falls 8D9 Q5C Saint Peter's Basilica and Square J148 PZHB Statue of Liberty 8SVM PRFC Sydney Opera House WL13 9BPG Versailles Palace, France H592 R40N Washington Monument 8KDB PGFD All computers with Google Desktop can install NAC Google. You can download the installation package here free of charge.
About NAC Geographic Products Inc.Incorporated in 1995 in Toronto, Canada, NAC Geographic Products Inc. is a world's leading company in geographic information technologies. In addition to the Natural Area Coding System, the company has developed many important GIS software products and provides real-time geo-services (geocoding, reverse-geocoding, mapping, driving directions, nearby business searching and traffic information) for web applications and wireless location based services.# # #
location based services
NAC Geographic Products Inc. announced the release of the NAC Google - a powerful Google Desktop gadget that has integrated NAC Enhanced Google Maps, Google Local Search and Google Driving Directions onto one simple user interface.
/24-7PressRelease/ - TORONTO, CANADA, September 20, 2007 - NAC Geographic Products Inc. (www.nacgeo.com) announced the release of the NAC Google (www.nacgeo.com/nacgoogle.asp) - a powerful Google Desktop gadget that has integrated NAC Enhanced Google Maps, Google Local Search and Google Driving Directions onto one simple user interface, and brings the ease and power of Universal Addresses and Google Maps directly onto your desktop. You can immediately get any of these services not only with lat/lon pairs, street addresses, street intersections, POIs and postcodes/ZIPs, but also with Universal Addresses. Commonly used street addresses for location based services have many problems. They are always very long and it is time consuming to input them. They are language dependent and it is difficult to type when they contain foreign characters. They are full of variations and frequently result in failures. They are available to very limited locations (_1% of the earth surface) and more than 99% of locations can't be specified by street addresses. Enhanced with the capability of the Universal Addresses, users of NAC Google can directly get the maps including high resolution satellite images, seach nearby businesses and obtain turn-by-turn driving directions of any locations in the world whenever they want on their desktop thanks to the efficiency, language independency and geographic complet coverage of the Universal Addresses. For example, you can simply input the short Universal Address: H5Q2 R48Q to get the map of Eiffel Tower in Paris instantly. A Universal Address is an eight or ten character Natural Area Code (NAC) which can represent both areas and locations anywhere in the world. A two character NAC can specify any area about 1000 km in length and width like a province, a four character NAC represents a 30 km long and wide area (like a city) approximately, a six character NAC is roughly equivalent to any square kilometer area on the earth, an eight character NAC can uniquely identify every house or building in the world, and a ten character NAC can pinpoint any location in the world to the resolution of one meter. With the Natural Area Codes, people can easily represent any areas and locations from countries, provinces, national conservation parks, cities, stadiums, museums, universities, hospitals, shopping malls to hotels, restaurants, post offices, railway stations, bus stops, docks, street lights, fire hydrants, sewage exits, electric wirepoles, trees; and from locations of crimes scenes, accidents, pollutions, underwater wreckages, news events to locations of your dating benches, BBQ tables, camping sites and fishing spots. Therefore, more and more businesses start including the Universal Addresses on their websites, advertisements, business cards and yellow pages listings such as Campgrounds. Here are some examples of NAC enhanced products and services: NAC Earth - a Universal Address enhanced Google Earth which allows users to fly to any locations in its virtual earth. NAC Smart Tag DLL automatically highlighting all the Universal Addresses on Outlook emails, Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, PowerPoint presentations and Access databases and linking them to their corresponding detail satellite images. Locamagic - a NAC enhanced GPS cellphone application providing positioning, locating, navigating, local business searching, real-time tracking and real-time monitoring services. Universal Addresses Lookup Service and Free Geocoding Service providing Universal Addresses for any locations in the world. NAC Enhanced Google Maps mapping Universal Addresses of any locations in the world on high resolution satellite images. NAC Enhanced Google Local displaying the Universal Addresses of all nearby businesses of any location. NAC Enhanced Google Driving Directions providing driving directions between the Universal Addresses of any locations. With NAC Google, all main stream media (televisions, radios, newspapers and magazines) now can easily participate in the discussion of tourist attractions, natural disasters, and important events anywhere in the world as effective as online websites by publishing Universal Addresses with their reviews and reports so that their audience and readers can get to the "scenes" instantly on NAC Google. They can also publish hot virtual sightseeing destinations gracefully on their travel sections daily or weekly thanks to the efficiency and beauty of the Universal Addresses. Here are some sample Universal Addresses: Point of Interest Universal Address Acropolis, Greece JZ9G P9TP Arch of Triumph H5SX R497 Arecibo Observatory 9F3J L1PL Buckingham Palace GZM7 RKH3 CACTUS site 57WF NSBR CN Tower, Toronto 8CHX Q86D Colosseum, Rome J16W PZFH Eiffel Tower, Paris H5Q2 R48Q Forbidden City, Beijing SNZ PMK Point of Interest Universal Address Great Wall at Badaling SN0H PPR4 The Millennium Dome H00 RKH Mount Everest Q797 MMVR Niagara Falls 8D9 Q5C Saint Peter's Basilica and Square J148 PZHB Statue of Liberty 8SVM PRFC Sydney Opera House WL13 9BPG Versailles Palace, France H592 R40N Washington Monument 8KDB PGFD All computers with Google Desktop can install NAC Google. You can download the installation package here free of charge.
About NAC Geographic Products Inc.Incorporated in 1995 in Toronto, Canada, NAC Geographic Products Inc. is a world's leading company in geographic information technologies. In addition to the Natural Area Coding System, the company has developed many important GIS software products and provides real-time geo-services (geocoding, reverse-geocoding, mapping, driving directions, nearby business searching and traffic information) for web applications and wireless location based services.# # #
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Earth-imaging satellite travels to space
location based services
Tue Sep 18, 7:57 PM ET
VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - A rocket carrying a next-generation Earth-imaging satellite blasted off Tuesday on a mission that promises to zoom in on objects as small as 18 inches across.
ADVERTISEMENT
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The WorldView-1 satellite, built for DigitalGlobe, which supplies much of Google Earth's imagery, was lofted into space aboard a Delta 2 rocket. The satellite separated from the rocket about an hour after liftoff and was circling some 300 miles above the Earth.
WorldView-1 was designed to collect up to 290,000 square miles' worth of imagery a day — an area about the size of Texas. Information gathered by the 5,000-pound probe can be used by governments and companies to assess damage after a natural disaster or plan escape routes before a catastrophe, the company said.
It is expected to be in operation for about seven years.
WorldView-1 is the first of two advanced remote sensing satellites that DigitalGlobe plans to launch. The company has said its sister satellite, WorldView-2, will be ready for launch late next year.
DigitalGlobe, a privately held Colorado-based provider of high-resolution commercial satellite imagery, also manages the QuickBird commercial satellite launched in 2001. While WorldView-1's resolution is only slightly higher than QuickBird, the new probe can store more images because it has a larger onboard system.
___
On the Net
location based services
Tue Sep 18, 7:57 PM ET
VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - A rocket carrying a next-generation Earth-imaging satellite blasted off Tuesday on a mission that promises to zoom in on objects as small as 18 inches across.
ADVERTISEMENT
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The WorldView-1 satellite, built for DigitalGlobe, which supplies much of Google Earth's imagery, was lofted into space aboard a Delta 2 rocket. The satellite separated from the rocket about an hour after liftoff and was circling some 300 miles above the Earth.
WorldView-1 was designed to collect up to 290,000 square miles' worth of imagery a day — an area about the size of Texas. Information gathered by the 5,000-pound probe can be used by governments and companies to assess damage after a natural disaster or plan escape routes before a catastrophe, the company said.
It is expected to be in operation for about seven years.
WorldView-1 is the first of two advanced remote sensing satellites that DigitalGlobe plans to launch. The company has said its sister satellite, WorldView-2, will be ready for launch late next year.
DigitalGlobe, a privately held Colorado-based provider of high-resolution commercial satellite imagery, also manages the QuickBird commercial satellite launched in 2001. While WorldView-1's resolution is only slightly higher than QuickBird, the new probe can store more images because it has a larger onboard system.
___
On the Net
Apple to Introduce Faster iPhone Next Year
location based services
portable navigation devices
By Scott MoritzSenior Writer9/17/2007 2:37 PM EDTClick here for more stories by Scott Moritz
Zecco.comApple (AAPL - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) will deliver the next version of the iPhone early next year, TheStreet.com has learned.
A faster third-generation, or 3G, iPhone will be available sometime in the first quarter, say people familiar with the production plans. The new iPhone should help quiet critics who were unimpressed by the 2.5G EDGE technology the first version used.
Apple declined to comment.
Wireless industry observers say the two biggest complaints about the iPhone were the high prices and slow network connections. Earlier this month, Apple slashed the iPhone price by 33% -- a move that seems to have spurred some demand. TheStreet.com reported earlier Monday that the Cupertino, Calif., company was boosting production targets.
Holdouts waiting for the full-speed 3G iPhone may still be frustrated that the device won't be available this year. But a clearer timeline and the promise of new features could help soothe unhappy Apple fans.
The new 3G iPhone is expected to include features like global positioning for navigation services.
In fact, sources say Apple has tapped Broadcom's (BRCM - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) Global Locate unit to supply chips for the phone. Broadcom acquired Global Locate in July. The tech shop makes so-called assisted GPS chips that use a combination of satellite and cellular antenna signals to pinpoint locations. This technology is designed to improve signal reception indoors or in cities where direct satellite views are unavailable.
Another chipmaker winning a place in the new iPhone is TriQuint (TQNT - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr), say people familiar with the plan. TriQuint will supply power amplifiers for the new iPhone, these sources say.
location based services
portable navigation devices
By Scott MoritzSenior Writer9/17/2007 2:37 PM EDTClick here for more stories by Scott Moritz
Zecco.comApple (AAPL - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) will deliver the next version of the iPhone early next year, TheStreet.com has learned.
A faster third-generation, or 3G, iPhone will be available sometime in the first quarter, say people familiar with the production plans. The new iPhone should help quiet critics who were unimpressed by the 2.5G EDGE technology the first version used.
Apple declined to comment.
Wireless industry observers say the two biggest complaints about the iPhone were the high prices and slow network connections. Earlier this month, Apple slashed the iPhone price by 33% -- a move that seems to have spurred some demand. TheStreet.com reported earlier Monday that the Cupertino, Calif., company was boosting production targets.
Holdouts waiting for the full-speed 3G iPhone may still be frustrated that the device won't be available this year. But a clearer timeline and the promise of new features could help soothe unhappy Apple fans.
The new 3G iPhone is expected to include features like global positioning for navigation services.
In fact, sources say Apple has tapped Broadcom's (BRCM - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) Global Locate unit to supply chips for the phone. Broadcom acquired Global Locate in July. The tech shop makes so-called assisted GPS chips that use a combination of satellite and cellular antenna signals to pinpoint locations. This technology is designed to improve signal reception indoors or in cities where direct satellite views are unavailable.
Another chipmaker winning a place in the new iPhone is TriQuint (TQNT - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr), say people familiar with the plan. TriQuint will supply power amplifiers for the new iPhone, these sources say.
Microsoft launches GPS-based mobile search
Posted by Tricia Duryee at 10:54 AM
For some time, Microsoft has been providing mobile search capabilities to Sprint Nextel, the third largest U.S. carrier.
Late last night Microsoft said it expanded the partnership by integrating two new features into the search capabilities -- GPS, or location based services, and voice search using Tellme technologies.
Users will also be able to surf both information provided by Sprint and the entire Internet. The Tellme voice search will be available on selected Sprint phones as a separate download.
The service sounds a lot like the other search application that Sprint uses. InfoSpace's Find It! application, which has been on the Sprint network for some time, uses GPS and voice capabilities to search Yellow Pages, including movie times and other information.
Coincidentally, that application changed hands Monday when InfoSpace announced it sold its Switchboard.com yellow and white pages directory to Idearc for $225 million.
Share: Digg Newsvine
Post/read Comments
location based services
portable navigation devices
Posted by Tricia Duryee at 10:54 AM
For some time, Microsoft has been providing mobile search capabilities to Sprint Nextel, the third largest U.S. carrier.
Late last night Microsoft said it expanded the partnership by integrating two new features into the search capabilities -- GPS, or location based services, and voice search using Tellme technologies.
Users will also be able to surf both information provided by Sprint and the entire Internet. The Tellme voice search will be available on selected Sprint phones as a separate download.
The service sounds a lot like the other search application that Sprint uses. InfoSpace's Find It! application, which has been on the Sprint network for some time, uses GPS and voice capabilities to search Yellow Pages, including movie times and other information.
Coincidentally, that application changed hands Monday when InfoSpace announced it sold its Switchboard.com yellow and white pages directory to Idearc for $225 million.
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Bush accepts Pentagon position on GPS
location based services
1 hour, 29 minutes ago
WASHINGTON - President Bush on Tuesday accepted the Pentagon's decision to stop buying Global Positioning System satellites that can intentionally degrade the accuracy of civil signals used for a myriad of purposes — from tracking aircraft to finding missing skiers.
In May 2000, President Clinton abandoned the practice of deliberately degrading the accuracy of civilian navigation signals, a technique known as "selective availability." This capability will no longer be present in the next generation of GPS satellites.
"While this action will not materially improve the performance of the system, it does reflect the United States' strong commitment to users by reinforcing that this global utility can be counted on to support peaceful civil applications around the globe," the Defense Department said in a statement.
The move coincides with the Air Force's solicitation to purchase the next generation of GPS satellites known as GPS III.
GPS devices are used to steer cars, fly planes or find missing skiers and hikers. They are used in emergency response, mining and construction and exploration for natural resources as well.
The government said its former practice of deliberately degrading the accuracy of GPS signals protected national security by preventing adversaries from obtaining precise location measurements. When the Clinton administration abandoned the practice in 2000, it said the government never again would degrade GPS signals, but the U.S. has said since then that it still can prevent civilian receivers in specific regions from using GPS signals.
"All users, and their governments, have a stake in the future of GPS," White House press secretary Dana Perino said in a statement. "The United States promotes international cooperation in the operation of civil global navigation satellite systems and continues to work to build international support for the protection of these signals from intentional interference and disruption."
location based services
1 hour, 29 minutes ago
WASHINGTON - President Bush on Tuesday accepted the Pentagon's decision to stop buying Global Positioning System satellites that can intentionally degrade the accuracy of civil signals used for a myriad of purposes — from tracking aircraft to finding missing skiers.
In May 2000, President Clinton abandoned the practice of deliberately degrading the accuracy of civilian navigation signals, a technique known as "selective availability." This capability will no longer be present in the next generation of GPS satellites.
"While this action will not materially improve the performance of the system, it does reflect the United States' strong commitment to users by reinforcing that this global utility can be counted on to support peaceful civil applications around the globe," the Defense Department said in a statement.
The move coincides with the Air Force's solicitation to purchase the next generation of GPS satellites known as GPS III.
GPS devices are used to steer cars, fly planes or find missing skiers and hikers. They are used in emergency response, mining and construction and exploration for natural resources as well.
The government said its former practice of deliberately degrading the accuracy of GPS signals protected national security by preventing adversaries from obtaining precise location measurements. When the Clinton administration abandoned the practice in 2000, it said the government never again would degrade GPS signals, but the U.S. has said since then that it still can prevent civilian receivers in specific regions from using GPS signals.
"All users, and their governments, have a stake in the future of GPS," White House press secretary Dana Perino said in a statement. "The United States promotes international cooperation in the operation of civil global navigation satellite systems and continues to work to build international support for the protection of these signals from intentional interference and disruption."
Monday, September 17, 2007
Google Broadens AdSense Program To Mobile Sites
location based services
portable navigation devices
By David Kaplan - Mon 17 Sep 2007 08:47 PM PST
A week after Google (NSDQ: GOOG) said it would open its AdWords system to mobile users, it will now bring its pay-per-click ad program AdSense to cell phones as well, Reuters reported. The mobile expansion includes all the websites within the AdSense affiliate network. Google has been testing the system with a limited number of advertisers and publishers this year, and now it will open it to all mobile publishers in 13 countries, including the United States, Britain, France, China and India.
The move is expected to give AdSense members a significant boost, as they’ll now be able to realize revenue when a mobile user clicks on their ad, which will consist mainly of text. The text ads will use the same auction model as the websites do; the ad messages will be aligned with the site’s content in mind and is intended to deliver an ad that’s designed to fit the interests associated with its users.
-- NYT: Google has asked its AdSense members to restrict themselves to two ads per mobile page, as opposed to the looser limits for using AdSense on the web.
More here in Google’s Adsense official blogpost.
Google Includes AdWords In Google Mobile Search
GPay—Google Patents Mobile Payment System
More on Google Phone, From Boston
location based services
portable navigation devices
By David Kaplan - Mon 17 Sep 2007 08:47 PM PST
A week after Google (NSDQ: GOOG) said it would open its AdWords system to mobile users, it will now bring its pay-per-click ad program AdSense to cell phones as well, Reuters reported. The mobile expansion includes all the websites within the AdSense affiliate network. Google has been testing the system with a limited number of advertisers and publishers this year, and now it will open it to all mobile publishers in 13 countries, including the United States, Britain, France, China and India.
The move is expected to give AdSense members a significant boost, as they’ll now be able to realize revenue when a mobile user clicks on their ad, which will consist mainly of text. The text ads will use the same auction model as the websites do; the ad messages will be aligned with the site’s content in mind and is intended to deliver an ad that’s designed to fit the interests associated with its users.
-- NYT: Google has asked its AdSense members to restrict themselves to two ads per mobile page, as opposed to the looser limits for using AdSense on the web.
More here in Google’s Adsense official blogpost.
Google Includes AdWords In Google Mobile Search
GPay—Google Patents Mobile Payment System
More on Google Phone, From Boston
Sprint To Use Microsoft’s Search On Its Service
By Rafat Ali - Mon 17 Sep 2007 08:03 PM PST
Sprint (NYSe: S) Nextel will offer a new Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) online and local business search app on its phones using location based technology and voice recognition, allowing users to find local businesses by speaking into a handset. The service is based on the speech technology and voice database Microsoft acquired when it bought Tellme Networks this year for about $800 million, reports Reuters.
Sprint customers will find a new Windows Live search bar on their menu page when they access the Web. It will let users search the Internet, local businesses and Sprint’s own network at once...it is a free service, which is a nice change. This launch expands on a deal Sprint did with Microsoft last year.
By Rafat Ali - Mon 17 Sep 2007 08:03 PM PST
Sprint (NYSe: S) Nextel will offer a new Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) online and local business search app on its phones using location based technology and voice recognition, allowing users to find local businesses by speaking into a handset. The service is based on the speech technology and voice database Microsoft acquired when it bought Tellme Networks this year for about $800 million, reports Reuters.
Sprint customers will find a new Windows Live search bar on their menu page when they access the Web. It will let users search the Internet, local businesses and Sprint’s own network at once...it is a free service, which is a nice change. This launch expands on a deal Sprint did with Microsoft last year.
TruePosition Wins LBS Patent Suit Against Andrew Corp; $45.3 Million Damages
By James Quintana Pearce - Mon 17 Sep 2007 03:04 PM PST
The jury in the United States District Court in the District of Delaware has awarded LBS company TruePosition $45.3 million in damages in a patent infringement suit it filed in 2005 against wireless company Andrew Corporation. The patent in question deals with the locatin of wireless phones using the wireless network control channel, and the suit focused on contracts offered by Andrew Corporation to tier 1 operator in Saudi Arabia. For its part, Andrew Corporation said it would “fight aggressively to overturn this verdict, either at the trial court level or on appeal” (release). TruePosition could seek to increase damages, up to trebling the amount.
In 2004 TruePosition won a settlement from Andrew Corporation of $35 million and warrants to purchase one million shares of Andrew’s common stock after the court ruled Andrew infringed on patents held by TruePosition.
By James Quintana Pearce - Mon 17 Sep 2007 03:04 PM PST
The jury in the United States District Court in the District of Delaware has awarded LBS company TruePosition $45.3 million in damages in a patent infringement suit it filed in 2005 against wireless company Andrew Corporation. The patent in question deals with the locatin of wireless phones using the wireless network control channel, and the suit focused on contracts offered by Andrew Corporation to tier 1 operator in Saudi Arabia. For its part, Andrew Corporation said it would “fight aggressively to overturn this verdict, either at the trial court level or on appeal” (release). TruePosition could seek to increase damages, up to trebling the amount.
In 2004 TruePosition won a settlement from Andrew Corporation of $35 million and warrants to purchase one million shares of Andrew’s common stock after the court ruled Andrew infringed on patents held by TruePosition.
Brussels to present finance plans to save Galileo satnav project
location based services
by Catherine Marciano 1 hour, 20 minutes ago
BRUSSELS (AFP) - The European Commission will on Wednesday present its public financement plans for the troubled Galileo satellite navigation network, with unused farm funds viewed as a potential piggy bank, according to sources.
Whatever the solution, the warnings are growing that the whole project, seen as a showcase for Europe's technical know-how, could crash and burn without a swift funding agreement.
"For us it's not time for more options but for decisions," said European Transport Commissioner Jacques Barrot.
"If no decision is made before the end of December, including for financing, the whole project will be placed in jeopardy," he added, without detailing the Commission's proposals.
Galileo is designed as an independent European alternative, for civilian use, to the free, military-run global positioning system (GPS) in the United States.
Promising location precision of around one metre, as opposed to ten metres for the US version, the Galileo system, due to be up and running by the end of 2012, has so far failed to get off the ground due to cost over-runs and bickering among private contractors.
Somehow the Commission needs to find an extra 2.4 billion euros from the public coffers to finance the project in the 2007-2013 period.
Critics have warned that the costs could keep rising and have questioned the logic of replicating the existing, free US service.
Also while Europe has dithered over Galileo, Russia and China have been working hard on getting similar projects into the sky and at the same time the United States is updating GPS, which is already used widely in cars, boats and planes.
Last spring the European Commission adjudged that the emblematic project could be helped from funds already in the EU budget, but unused and theoretically to be redistributed to member states in the form of credit.
According to European sources, the Commission could finally assure the project's survival through affording it unused funds from the Common Agricultural Policy for 2007 and 2008.
Brussels, while favouring communal funding, has also been persuaded to submit an alternative proposal under which the EU governments involved in the project would make supplementary contributions, according to sources.
While Germany, where industry has a key role in Galileo, strongly supports that approach, France feels it leans too heavily on the public purse.
In the second scenario the European Space Agency, expected to manage the whole project under Brussels supervision, would put forward half the funding with interested member states stumping up the other half.
Under that scenario contributing countries would be guaranteed contracts for their industry companies.
ESA comprises 17 countries -- 15 members of the European Union (EU) plus Switzerland and Norway.
Industries in France, Germany, Italy and Spain are particularly involved in the project.
On the other hand Britain and the Netherlands, notably, have reservations.
Under the original plan, public money was supposed to pay for the first four satellites and then the private consortium companies building the satellites were to pay for two-thirds of the 26 remaining satellites.
The companies -- AENA, Alcatel, EADS, Finmeccanica, Hispasat, Inmarsat, TeleOp and Thales -- were to cover their investment costs by then operating the satellites and collecting the fees once they were in operation.
However, after successive deadlines were missed as the companies argued over their share of the pie, the European Commission recommended a shake-up that would see the whole project financed with public money.
Not wanting to be left out in the cold, the main industrials involved -- Astrium (EADS group) and Thales Alenia Space (Thales and Finmeccanica groups) -- have stressed in recent months their wish to pursue industrial cooperation in the project.
EU transport ministers conceded in June that more public funding was required. They will meet again in Luxembourg on October 2 to examine the options which the Commission comes up with.
EU finance ministers, and behind them their heads of state and government, will also have to give the green light to a revised financial plan
location based services
by Catherine Marciano 1 hour, 20 minutes ago
BRUSSELS (AFP) - The European Commission will on Wednesday present its public financement plans for the troubled Galileo satellite navigation network, with unused farm funds viewed as a potential piggy bank, according to sources.
Whatever the solution, the warnings are growing that the whole project, seen as a showcase for Europe's technical know-how, could crash and burn without a swift funding agreement.
"For us it's not time for more options but for decisions," said European Transport Commissioner Jacques Barrot.
"If no decision is made before the end of December, including for financing, the whole project will be placed in jeopardy," he added, without detailing the Commission's proposals.
Galileo is designed as an independent European alternative, for civilian use, to the free, military-run global positioning system (GPS) in the United States.
Promising location precision of around one metre, as opposed to ten metres for the US version, the Galileo system, due to be up and running by the end of 2012, has so far failed to get off the ground due to cost over-runs and bickering among private contractors.
Somehow the Commission needs to find an extra 2.4 billion euros from the public coffers to finance the project in the 2007-2013 period.
Critics have warned that the costs could keep rising and have questioned the logic of replicating the existing, free US service.
Also while Europe has dithered over Galileo, Russia and China have been working hard on getting similar projects into the sky and at the same time the United States is updating GPS, which is already used widely in cars, boats and planes.
Last spring the European Commission adjudged that the emblematic project could be helped from funds already in the EU budget, but unused and theoretically to be redistributed to member states in the form of credit.
According to European sources, the Commission could finally assure the project's survival through affording it unused funds from the Common Agricultural Policy for 2007 and 2008.
Brussels, while favouring communal funding, has also been persuaded to submit an alternative proposal under which the EU governments involved in the project would make supplementary contributions, according to sources.
While Germany, where industry has a key role in Galileo, strongly supports that approach, France feels it leans too heavily on the public purse.
In the second scenario the European Space Agency, expected to manage the whole project under Brussels supervision, would put forward half the funding with interested member states stumping up the other half.
Under that scenario contributing countries would be guaranteed contracts for their industry companies.
ESA comprises 17 countries -- 15 members of the European Union (EU) plus Switzerland and Norway.
Industries in France, Germany, Italy and Spain are particularly involved in the project.
On the other hand Britain and the Netherlands, notably, have reservations.
Under the original plan, public money was supposed to pay for the first four satellites and then the private consortium companies building the satellites were to pay for two-thirds of the 26 remaining satellites.
The companies -- AENA, Alcatel, EADS, Finmeccanica, Hispasat, Inmarsat, TeleOp and Thales -- were to cover their investment costs by then operating the satellites and collecting the fees once they were in operation.
However, after successive deadlines were missed as the companies argued over their share of the pie, the European Commission recommended a shake-up that would see the whole project financed with public money.
Not wanting to be left out in the cold, the main industrials involved -- Astrium (EADS group) and Thales Alenia Space (Thales and Finmeccanica groups) -- have stressed in recent months their wish to pursue industrial cooperation in the project.
EU transport ministers conceded in June that more public funding was required. They will meet again in Luxembourg on October 2 to examine the options which the Commission comes up with.
EU finance ministers, and behind them their heads of state and government, will also have to give the green light to a revised financial plan
The Mobile Map Killer
location based services
portable navigation devices
by Russell Buckley on September 17th, 2007 in Analysis
I was packing this morning to come to London to speak at the Mobile Web 2.0 conference tomorrow and go to the Mobile Entertainment Awards - AdMob is up for another one, so I hope we’ll see a repeat of our Meffy’s triumph. By the way, if you’re going to either or both, please come and say hello.
While we’re on the subject of keeping in touch, please link up via Facebook, Linked In (both emails are russell AT mobhappy DOT com). I also have a Twitter (russellbuckley) account that I’m using intermittently that you might like to check out, or follow, to use the right terminology.
London is the sort of town where you need to have access to a map, even if you’ve been a taxi driver, or a delivery man driving a white van in my case - a holiday job from a long time ago! So I picked up my pocket size A-Z (the brand name of the most popular street map of London, for you non-UK folks) to pack and then realised I hadn’t used it on my last few visits, as I’d been using the excellent Google Maps app (see, I can say nice things about them too!). So I didn’t pack it.
In fact, I think I’ve now purchased my final A-Z, as if I ever do move back to the UK, the combination of Google Maps and Car Nav has made this trusty old tool, not to mention, brilliant product design completely irrelevant to modern life. Meaning that the mobile can add the suffix “killer” to paper and book maps, just as it’s done to PDA’s, cameras, calculators, alarm clocks and I would argue is about to do to stand-alone MP3 players and video cameras.
This death knell has sounded almost exactly 70 years after the first A-Z was published by a quite remarkable lady called Phylliss Pearsall and has turned out to be just as iconic for Londoners as Henry Beck’s more famous map of the Underground. The A-Z shows literally every street in this higgledy pigledy ancient city and she spent years cycling and surveying the 23,000 streets contained in the original. The first draft was turned down by the book trade en masse, so she self-published, delivering her first books in a wheel barrow.
Interestingly Phyllis saw the A-Z as a way to continue her real work as a painter and writer and left all her shares in a trust to benefit the employees. Alas, not for very much longer if I’m right on this one.
location based services
portable navigation devices
by Russell Buckley on September 17th, 2007 in Analysis
I was packing this morning to come to London to speak at the Mobile Web 2.0 conference tomorrow and go to the Mobile Entertainment Awards - AdMob is up for another one, so I hope we’ll see a repeat of our Meffy’s triumph. By the way, if you’re going to either or both, please come and say hello.
While we’re on the subject of keeping in touch, please link up via Facebook, Linked In (both emails are russell AT mobhappy DOT com). I also have a Twitter (russellbuckley) account that I’m using intermittently that you might like to check out, or follow, to use the right terminology.
London is the sort of town where you need to have access to a map, even if you’ve been a taxi driver, or a delivery man driving a white van in my case - a holiday job from a long time ago! So I picked up my pocket size A-Z (the brand name of the most popular street map of London, for you non-UK folks) to pack and then realised I hadn’t used it on my last few visits, as I’d been using the excellent Google Maps app (see, I can say nice things about them too!). So I didn’t pack it.
In fact, I think I’ve now purchased my final A-Z, as if I ever do move back to the UK, the combination of Google Maps and Car Nav has made this trusty old tool, not to mention, brilliant product design completely irrelevant to modern life. Meaning that the mobile can add the suffix “killer” to paper and book maps, just as it’s done to PDA’s, cameras, calculators, alarm clocks and I would argue is about to do to stand-alone MP3 players and video cameras.
This death knell has sounded almost exactly 70 years after the first A-Z was published by a quite remarkable lady called Phylliss Pearsall and has turned out to be just as iconic for Londoners as Henry Beck’s more famous map of the Underground. The A-Z shows literally every street in this higgledy pigledy ancient city and she spent years cycling and surveying the 23,000 streets contained in the original. The first draft was turned down by the book trade en masse, so she self-published, delivering her first books in a wheel barrow.
Interestingly Phyllis saw the A-Z as a way to continue her real work as a painter and writer and left all her shares in a trust to benefit the employees. Alas, not for very much longer if I’m right on this one.
location based services
Mercedes-Benz Search & Send1 is a new and convenient way to plan your trip destinations ahead of time. Using familiar Yahoo!® Local Maps and Google™ Maps web sites from the comfort of your home or office computer, you can search for a destination online, then send it right to your Mercedes-Benz.
Once you're in your vehicle, simply push the i-button and your destination will be downloaded directly to the vehicle's navigation system via your Mercedes-Benz Tele Aid System2. You'll be prompted to either start route guidance immediately or save the information for later use in your navigation memory. Instead of spending time inputting data into your navigation system, your destinations will be available whenever you need them.
Where Internet convenience meets engineering excellence
Your time is valuable and having options is important. Mercedes-Benz Search & Send gives you the flexibility to plan trips when you want — whether you're on a lunch break or surfing the Web while you relax at home — along with the freedom to access your destinations at any point along your route. Best of all, you can share this feature with colleagues, friends, or family, so they can send destinations to you while you're on the road.
And, like so many other ground-breaking automotive innovations, Mercedes-Benz is first to offer this functionality in the United States on select vehicles.
 | Experience Mercedes-Benz Search & Send at upcoming 2008 C-Class Ride & Drive events |
Available at the touch of a button
By activating your complimentary first year's subscription to Mercedes-Benz Tele Aid3, you receive Mercedes-Benz Search & Send, along with a suite of additional services that connect you to the enhanced security, efficiency and luxury offerings that you expect from Mercedes-Benz. The entire suite of Tele Aid services has been specifically designed to enhance your driving experience with relevant features that are there for you at the touch of a button.
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Blom brings oblique aerial imaging to navigation and LBS
location based services
portable navigation devices
Pictometry on PND and Smartphones
At the Canalys Navigation Forum this week in Barcelona Blom ASA, a listed Norwegian company did a demonstration of its oblique aerial imaging for personal navigation devices, called Pictometry, (see exclusive video below) and announced a first customer, I-Joy S.A., a Spanish PND manufacturer. Blom, which specializes in geographic information databases, was established in 1954 and has subsidiaries in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Germany, UK, Italy, Spain, Portugal and Poland in addition to approximately 200 people at own production units in Romania and Indonesia. Its expected revenue for 2007 should exceed US$128 million, said the company in its latest financial guidelines. In 2005 Blom signed a 10 years agreement for the marketing and sales of Pictometry in 23 countries throughout Europe. Pictometry, a new digital photo and software technology, was patented in 1993 by a US-based company called Pictometry International. This technology enables the users to view high-resolution digital color images (aerial photographs) of selected areas from optional angles.
location based services
portable navigation devices
Pictometry on PND and Smartphones
At the Canalys Navigation Forum this week in Barcelona Blom ASA, a listed Norwegian company did a demonstration of its oblique aerial imaging for personal navigation devices, called Pictometry, (see exclusive video below) and announced a first customer, I-Joy S.A., a Spanish PND manufacturer. Blom, which specializes in geographic information databases, was established in 1954 and has subsidiaries in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Germany, UK, Italy, Spain, Portugal and Poland in addition to approximately 200 people at own production units in Romania and Indonesia. Its expected revenue for 2007 should exceed US$128 million, said the company in its latest financial guidelines. In 2005 Blom signed a 10 years agreement for the marketing and sales of Pictometry in 23 countries throughout Europe. Pictometry, a new digital photo and software technology, was patented in 1993 by a US-based company called Pictometry International. This technology enables the users to view high-resolution digital color images (aerial photographs) of selected areas from optional angles.
Australia readies itself for a Google Maps election
location based services
Friday, September 14, 2007 at 10:01 PM
It might not be widely known to our friends in the northern hemisphere, but a federal election is due to take place in Australia before the end of the year. Nothing captures the public's attention or stirs emotion quite like an election, however, many of our citizens do not have easy access to electorate information. A recent launch in Sydney of a Google Australian election website helps to remedy this by providing Australian voters with an intimate look at the parties, candidates and election issues.
The main product for this initiative is an electorate Mapplet, which identifies which parties hold what seats, who the sitting member is and what margin they currently enjoy. It has a number of interactive features that allow people to analyze the political landscape in depth. And once the election is called, we intend to add polling booth locations and even more candidate information.
It is worth noting that this Mapplet was built with publicly accessible data using Google Pages for hosting and is something any developer could have constructed — all of the tools we used are available to the public. For more information, please view the product demo below.
Database gains Google Maps Mobile support
location based services
Sep. 14, 2007
Syware has added support for Google Maps Mobile to its mobile database development tool for Windows Mobile devices. The updated version of Visual CE, version 10, now lets applications display maps or satellite views relating to any database record, the company says.
Click for larger view of sample map
In order to display the map relating to a database, users simply click a button on the Visual CE form. It's said Visual CE will retrieve the location from the record, launch Google Maps Mobile, and then display the area with no further user intervention.
According to Syware, the record may contain an absolute address (for example, "1600 Pennsylvania Ave Washington D.C.") or a description (for example, "Statue of Liberty").
"The integration of Google Maps Mobile with Visual CE means developers can create information-rich, mobile database applications for end users in just a few hours or days," the company said in a statement.
Visual CE was last updated in May, with changes allowing it to run on all Windows Mobile devices. The tool is said to offer an intuitive, drag-and-drop interface that simplifies the design, maintenance, and use of flexible forms and databases.
Syware says its software includes a macro editor that guides non-programmers through the process of creating well-structured, well-documented macros. Macros can now be totally behind the scenes, kept "tidy and unobtrusive," yet still easily viewed, called, and edited, according to the company.
Other features that were listed as new in version 10 include:
* Support for the Windows CE Universal Camera API
* Custom color capability
* Navigational drop-down lists
* Tap and hold to cut, copy, and paste
* Grid control enhancements
* Field and variable values allowed in messages
* New events -- action, left, right, up, down, or hardware buttons pressed; form start-up; grid column changed; and moving off record
* New commands -- timer and abort
* Development environment enhancements -- control position is displayed; tap and hold creates control; and marquee select enabled
Availability
Syware Visual CE is offered in two versions, according to the company: a $129 "personal" edition, which includes full forms design, relational database, and synchronization capabilities and is intended for individual use; and a $399 "professional" edition, which includes all the functionality of the personal edition plus royalty-free application distribution rights. A 30-day free trial download of Visual CE is available here.
location based services
Sep. 14, 2007
Syware has added support for Google Maps Mobile to its mobile database development tool for Windows Mobile devices. The updated version of Visual CE, version 10, now lets applications display maps or satellite views relating to any database record, the company says.
Click for larger view of sample map
In order to display the map relating to a database, users simply click a button on the Visual CE form. It's said Visual CE will retrieve the location from the record, launch Google Maps Mobile, and then display the area with no further user intervention.
According to Syware, the record may contain an absolute address (for example, "1600 Pennsylvania Ave Washington D.C.") or a description (for example, "Statue of Liberty").
"The integration of Google Maps Mobile with Visual CE means developers can create information-rich, mobile database applications for end users in just a few hours or days," the company said in a statement.
Visual CE was last updated in May, with changes allowing it to run on all Windows Mobile devices. The tool is said to offer an intuitive, drag-and-drop interface that simplifies the design, maintenance, and use of flexible forms and databases.
Syware says its software includes a macro editor that guides non-programmers through the process of creating well-structured, well-documented macros. Macros can now be totally behind the scenes, kept "tidy and unobtrusive," yet still easily viewed, called, and edited, according to the company.
Other features that were listed as new in version 10 include:
* Support for the Windows CE Universal Camera API
* Custom color capability
* Navigational drop-down lists
* Tap and hold to cut, copy, and paste
* Grid control enhancements
* Field and variable values allowed in messages
* New events -- action, left, right, up, down, or hardware buttons pressed; form start-up; grid column changed; and moving off record
* New commands -- timer and abort
* Development environment enhancements -- control position is displayed; tap and hold creates control; and marquee select enabled
Availability
Syware Visual CE is offered in two versions, according to the company: a $129 "personal" edition, which includes full forms design, relational database, and synchronization capabilities and is intended for individual use; and a $399 "professional" edition, which includes all the functionality of the personal edition plus royalty-free application distribution rights. A 30-day free trial download of Visual CE is available here.
Navigation devices set to take mass market route
location based services
portable navigation devices
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By John Tilak
BANGALORE, Sept 14 (Reuters) - Portable navigation devices are poised to take off this holiday shopping season as market leaders Garmin and TomTom race each other to make deeper inroads into the mass market by pushing out cheaper models.
The trend for entry-level gadgets will mean lower profit margins for Garmin Ltd (GRMN.O: Quote, Profile, Research) and TomTom (TOM2.AS: Quote, Profile, Research), but the companies are willing to make that sacrifice to lure consumers and go one up in their intense battle for market share, analysts said.
"Portable navigation devices are becoming a 'must have' device for a growing percentage of the population," JMP Securities analyst Ingrid Ebeling said.
Prices in the portable navigation devices market, worth about 8.5 billion euros ($11.79 billion) this year, have been sliding as Garmin and TomTom make more of their products for ordinary consumers.
The sleek gadgets show users where they are through preloaded maps on touch screens and also offer related information and features like a MP3 player and Bluetooth capability dep
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