Google gazes into truly mobile future
…location-based ads to revolutionise web?
Tags: google, ads, location based services, advertising
The arrival of a truly mobile web, offering a new generation of location-based advertising, is set to unleash a "huge revolution", Google chief executive Eric Schmidt has said.
The best of Google Earth From Hollywood to Vegas and racetracks to controversial domes... click here to travel the world with Google Earth.
Schmidt said at the World Economic Forum, in Switzerland: "It's the re-creation of the internet, it's the re-creation of the PC story and it is before us - and it is very likely it will happen in the next year."
Current estimates for mobile advertising are cautious, with consultancy Forrester predicting revenues of under $1bn by 2012.
But Schmidt said this figure was too low and failed to take into account the fact the mobile web was reaching a tipping point.
Google aims to be a prime mover by bidding for coveted airwaves to launch an open US wireless network, pitting it against established telecommunications players. The move will take the company well beyond its core web search and online advertising franchises.
Some analysts are worried at the high costs involved but Schmidt said he was confident location-based advertising - which could, for example, direct hungry travellers to nearby restaurants - would be "a very, very good business".
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Advances in GPS chipset development will allow integration of GPS in every mobile device within five years, claims a newly released report. Low cost, GPS modernization, and new Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) will expand the market to 900 million units by 2013, ABI Research forecasts.
Spread the word:digg this story
In-car navigation will remain the most important application of GPS technology, ABI says, but the use of GPS in many other consumer, business, and industrial environments is expected to grow. Examples include telematics and asset tracking, digital cameras with automatic geo-tagging, and consumer devices with location-based social networking features.Lower pricing from GPS chip vendors mentioned in the report -- such as Broadcom, SiRF, and u-blox, along with many others -- will be a major factor in market expansion, according to ABI. But, so will improved availability, reliability, and precision of GPS and other GNSS systems, such as China's Beidou (Big Dipper), the EU's Galileo, and Russia's GLONASS.ABI Research principal analyst Dominique Bonte says, "Personal Navigation Devices for in-car use will be increasingly complemented by converged solutions based on GPS-enabled handsets for pedestrian navigation and location based services (LBS)." However, she adds, GNSS technologies will have to be combined with other positioning solutions, such as assisted GPS, dead reckoning, and WiFi, to address the issue of indoor coverage.For example, the WiFi positioning system (WPS) from Skyhook Wireless works with Windows Mobile and was adopted earlier this week by Apple, via a firmware revision to its iPhone. Even without GPS hardware, Skyhook-enabled phones can calculate their positions by triangulation using a database of known cellular towers and WiFi access points.Marine, avionics, military and surveying applications will also require supplementary technologies, such as laser or sonar, for improved precision and coverage. Therefore, specialists such as Garmin and Trimble will continue to successfully develop products for a wide range of applications and segments, Bonte says.AvailabilityThe 120-page report, "Global Navigation Satellite Positioning Solutions," provides detailed descriptions of products, market players, trends, drivers, and barriers, according to ABI. It also describes all GNSS systems, including GPS and its high-precision variants, such as Differential GPS, Real Time Kinematic (RTK), and augmentation systems. The report concludes with sales forecasts for each region and market segment, according to the company.More information is available from the ABI Research website, here.
Spread the word:digg this story
In-car navigation will remain the most important application of GPS technology, ABI says, but the use of GPS in many other consumer, business, and industrial environments is expected to grow. Examples include telematics and asset tracking, digital cameras with automatic geo-tagging, and consumer devices with location-based social networking features.Lower pricing from GPS chip vendors mentioned in the report -- such as Broadcom, SiRF, and u-blox, along with many others -- will be a major factor in market expansion, according to ABI. But, so will improved availability, reliability, and precision of GPS and other GNSS systems, such as China's Beidou (Big Dipper), the EU's Galileo, and Russia's GLONASS.ABI Research principal analyst Dominique Bonte says, "Personal Navigation Devices for in-car use will be increasingly complemented by converged solutions based on GPS-enabled handsets for pedestrian navigation and location based services (LBS)." However, she adds, GNSS technologies will have to be combined with other positioning solutions, such as assisted GPS, dead reckoning, and WiFi, to address the issue of indoor coverage.For example, the WiFi positioning system (WPS) from Skyhook Wireless works with Windows Mobile and was adopted earlier this week by Apple, via a firmware revision to its iPhone. Even without GPS hardware, Skyhook-enabled phones can calculate their positions by triangulation using a database of known cellular towers and WiFi access points.Marine, avionics, military and surveying applications will also require supplementary technologies, such as laser or sonar, for improved precision and coverage. Therefore, specialists such as Garmin and Trimble will continue to successfully develop products for a wide range of applications and segments, Bonte says.AvailabilityThe 120-page report, "Global Navigation Satellite Positioning Solutions," provides detailed descriptions of products, market players, trends, drivers, and barriers, according to ABI. It also describes all GNSS systems, including GPS and its high-precision variants, such as Differential GPS, Real Time Kinematic (RTK), and augmentation systems. The report concludes with sales forecasts for each region and market segment, according to the company.More information is available from the ABI Research website, here.
Blaupunkt has introduced a Windows CE 5.0-based GPS unit with an unusual round form-factor. The "TravelPilot Lucca 3.5 Edition" features street-level mapping for 22 different European countries, according to the company.(Click here for a larger view of the TravelPoint Lucca 3.5 Edition)Within the TravelPilot's circular case is a 3.5-inch touchscreen display with 320 x 240 resolution. The device has 64MB of RAM and 1GB of flash, and storage can be added via an SD slot. Like many other Windows CE-based GPS devices, the TravelPilot can display photos or play music files loaded from an SD card, Blaupunkt notes.The TravelPilot is built around SiRF's Atlas III, a highly integrated SoC (system-on-chip) that includes a 396MHz ARM926EJ-S core, a 264 MHz DSP, and support for displays up to 800 x 480 pixels. A faster version of the company's Atlas II, the Atlas III runs Windows CE natively and has 30-channel, hardware-accelerated GPS baseband capabilities.According to Blaupunkt, the TravelPilot features maps supplied by TeleAtlas, which can be loaded as needed from a DVD supplied with the unit. GPS functionality includes a "go-home function" from anywhere, points of interest (POI) displays, and route calculation that can avoid toll roads, ferries, or specific highways. "Adaptive adjustment" can take driving behavior into consideration when calculating routes, Blaupunkt claims.The TravelPilot also receives Traffic Message Channel (TMC) broadcasts via the FM Radio Data System (RDS), playing back only those that are relevant to a user's present position. (TMC is currently broadcasting in a variety of western European countries, with others expected to come online soon, according to TMC Forum, the TMC trade association.)Specifications listed by Blaupunkt for the TravelPilot Lucca 3.5 Edition include:
Processor -- SiRF Atlas III (396MHz ARM926EJ-S core and 264 MHz DSP)
Memory -- 64MB RAM and 1GB flash
Display -- 3.5-inch touchscreen display with 320 x 240 resolution
I/O:
1 x USB 2.0
3.5mm headphone jack
DC input
Battery type/life -- 1400 mAh battery lasts approximately three hours
Weight -- 7 ounces (195 g)
Dimensions -- 4.3 (diameter) x 0.8 (thickness) inchesBlaupunkt did not release pricing or availability information, but the TravelPilot Lucca 3.5 appears to be on sale in a variety of European countries.
Processor -- SiRF Atlas III (396MHz ARM926EJ-S core and 264 MHz DSP)
Memory -- 64MB RAM and 1GB flash
Display -- 3.5-inch touchscreen display with 320 x 240 resolution
I/O:
1 x USB 2.0
3.5mm headphone jack
DC input
Battery type/life -- 1400 mAh battery lasts approximately three hours
Weight -- 7 ounces (195 g)
Dimensions -- 4.3 (diameter) x 0.8 (thickness) inchesBlaupunkt did not release pricing or availability information, but the TravelPilot Lucca 3.5 appears to be on sale in a variety of European countries.
Sunday, January 06, 2008
A monopoly for a market that doesn't exist yet! (Score:4, Interesting)
A monopoly for a market that doesn't exist yet! (Score:4, Interesting)
by AtariDatacenter (31657) on Wednesday December 26, @03:07PM (#21823736) Homepage
60% of you will underestimate this.20% of you will misunderstand this.10% of you might believe it.10% of you will totally get this.The next step in 'Internet advertising' doesn't exist yet, and doesn't directly center around the web browser and web pages. There is a real integration of three technologies that is coming around the corner, and Google is far ahead of the game than any other player. In fact, most of the other players don't even know the game exists.What is this magic combo?Cellular Data [real time, anyplace, data transport to a computing device] +Internet [not web pages, but providers of location based services (Google)] +GPS [one of the new key data fields that everything will hinge upon]"But we already have those things today!" "This is nothing new!" "My phone currently does all three!"Yes. Those are three discrete services that your phone may have. But are they INTEGRATED?New world example:You're hungry. You want a place to eat. You go to your [smart device]. It could be a cell phone. It could be a Nokia N800 like device. Yes, it could be built into your car like your existing GPS mapping device. It already knows where you are (and shows your position on the default screen). You query (not through a web browser, but an integrated interface) for a nearby fast food restaurant. With me so far? You didn't go to a web page Yahoo! Local or Google Maps. Your map application was built into the device.Quite a number of nearby locations pop up on your map. But there are a few bolded map selections. Arby's has free desert with any meal purchase. Bill & Ruth's sub shop has a discount of $1 towards any sandwich. And some small pizza place you never heard of has a 2-for-1 special. And then there are quite a number of other choices.How did those bolded deals get there? Some large company built up the infrastructure required to run a service where any advertiser (major corporation or little mom-and-pop shops) could put in advertisements at a local level. They've got the transaction engine necessary to take and bill for advertisements. (That would be an existing online advertising company.) They've got the scale to do this on a nationwide (or even worldwide) basis. They've got a yellow pages database. They've got a way to deliver this to consumers.Who has something like this today? The only things close that I've found are Yahoo! Local [yahoo.com], and our friend Google.Google doesn't have all the pieces yet. But they're assembling them. Adsense is going to start allowing location based advertising. (I wish I kept my reference for that.) They're working on an integrated delivery platform to get that to you (Gphone). They practically have all the pieces in place, and they're working towards the goal of making this happen.Now, DoubleClick is a major online advertising company. They could be competition to Google in this future world. But, if Google absorbs DoubleClick before the market even exists, then they can avoid the whole monopoly issue. So Google isn't just playing for the here and now, but they're playing for the future in advertising. Nobody else (such as local telephone companies which maintain their own yellow pages) will be in a position to compete (because they lack everything needed to gather the ads nationwide, and they lack everything needed to present the ads, except for some ownership of the mobile devices). Which... of course... Google managed to take away their walled garden when it comes to the mobile devices allowed on the next generation wireless networks.And Google totally has this figured out. Hello? Google Maps? Want to know what the business looks like that you're heading for? Google street view. Google is totally lining all of its ducks in a row to corner this new market.DoubleClick is an important piece that a potential competitor would need in order to assemble the pieces to compete with Google in this new market. A market which most people don't even see coming. I'm sure the regulators don't either.I did a quick Google on the topic. I haven't found a lot. But at least I see that someone else [wordpress.com] totally gets it. Looks like his observations dovetail in very nicely with my own.Welcome to Web 3.0. What's different about Web 3.0? The Web Browser is no longer the star. Your location is.
A monopoly for a market that doesn't exist yet! (Score:4, Interesting)
by AtariDatacenter (31657) on Wednesday December 26, @03:07PM (#21823736) Homepage
60% of you will underestimate this.20% of you will misunderstand this.10% of you might believe it.10% of you will totally get this.The next step in 'Internet advertising' doesn't exist yet, and doesn't directly center around the web browser and web pages. There is a real integration of three technologies that is coming around the corner, and Google is far ahead of the game than any other player. In fact, most of the other players don't even know the game exists.What is this magic combo?Cellular Data [real time, anyplace, data transport to a computing device] +Internet [not web pages, but providers of location based services (Google)] +GPS [one of the new key data fields that everything will hinge upon]"But we already have those things today!" "This is nothing new!" "My phone currently does all three!"Yes. Those are three discrete services that your phone may have. But are they INTEGRATED?New world example:You're hungry. You want a place to eat. You go to your [smart device]. It could be a cell phone. It could be a Nokia N800 like device. Yes, it could be built into your car like your existing GPS mapping device. It already knows where you are (and shows your position on the default screen). You query (not through a web browser, but an integrated interface) for a nearby fast food restaurant. With me so far? You didn't go to a web page Yahoo! Local or Google Maps. Your map application was built into the device.Quite a number of nearby locations pop up on your map. But there are a few bolded map selections. Arby's has free desert with any meal purchase. Bill & Ruth's sub shop has a discount of $1 towards any sandwich. And some small pizza place you never heard of has a 2-for-1 special. And then there are quite a number of other choices.How did those bolded deals get there? Some large company built up the infrastructure required to run a service where any advertiser (major corporation or little mom-and-pop shops) could put in advertisements at a local level. They've got the transaction engine necessary to take and bill for advertisements. (That would be an existing online advertising company.) They've got the scale to do this on a nationwide (or even worldwide) basis. They've got a yellow pages database. They've got a way to deliver this to consumers.Who has something like this today? The only things close that I've found are Yahoo! Local [yahoo.com], and our friend Google.Google doesn't have all the pieces yet. But they're assembling them. Adsense is going to start allowing location based advertising. (I wish I kept my reference for that.) They're working on an integrated delivery platform to get that to you (Gphone). They practically have all the pieces in place, and they're working towards the goal of making this happen.Now, DoubleClick is a major online advertising company. They could be competition to Google in this future world. But, if Google absorbs DoubleClick before the market even exists, then they can avoid the whole monopoly issue. So Google isn't just playing for the here and now, but they're playing for the future in advertising. Nobody else (such as local telephone companies which maintain their own yellow pages) will be in a position to compete (because they lack everything needed to gather the ads nationwide, and they lack everything needed to present the ads, except for some ownership of the mobile devices). Which... of course... Google managed to take away their walled garden when it comes to the mobile devices allowed on the next generation wireless networks.And Google totally has this figured out. Hello? Google Maps? Want to know what the business looks like that you're heading for? Google street view. Google is totally lining all of its ducks in a row to corner this new market.DoubleClick is an important piece that a potential competitor would need in order to assemble the pieces to compete with Google in this new market. A market which most people don't even see coming. I'm sure the regulators don't either.I did a quick Google on the topic. I haven't found a lot. But at least I see that someone else [wordpress.com] totally gets it. Looks like his observations dovetail in very nicely with my own.Welcome to Web 3.0. What's different about Web 3.0? The Web Browser is no longer the star. Your location is.
Magellan Partners With Google On GPS Device
SAN JOSE (AP) ― Magellan Navigation Inc. has teamed with Internet powerhouse Google Inc. to put local business listings on its first portable navigation device to feature wireless connectivity. The Magellan Maestro Elite 5340+GPRS, being unveiled at next week's International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, will be among the first in a new crop of global positioning system devices to sport GPRS cellular capability. Several other GPS device makers, including Dash Navigation Inc., are expected to also show navigation products with connectivity features at CES. The connectivity means users on-the-road could get a taste of the same up-to-date information they are already accustomed to getting from the Internet, such as real-time traffic conditions or the location of the cheapest gas. No longer will users be limited to just the points-of-interest or map data embedded in the gadget. For example, users of the Maestro featuring Google Local Search can type "pizza" into the device and then Google will display its relevant results, including Web-based recommendations, around the user's specified or current location, Magellan said. Users or others will also be able to wirelessly send information, such as a destination address or other notes, directly from their PCs or Web-connected gadgets to the car-navigation device. But the cutting-edge connectivity won't come cheap. The Maestro Elite 5340+GPRS will be Magellan's premiere GPS model with a price tag of $1,299 when it becomes available in March. Users will also have to pay a yet-to-be-determined monthly fee for the GPRS service.
SAN JOSE (AP) ― Magellan Navigation Inc. has teamed with Internet powerhouse Google Inc. to put local business listings on its first portable navigation device to feature wireless connectivity. The Magellan Maestro Elite 5340+GPRS, being unveiled at next week's International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, will be among the first in a new crop of global positioning system devices to sport GPRS cellular capability. Several other GPS device makers, including Dash Navigation Inc., are expected to also show navigation products with connectivity features at CES. The connectivity means users on-the-road could get a taste of the same up-to-date information they are already accustomed to getting from the Internet, such as real-time traffic conditions or the location of the cheapest gas. No longer will users be limited to just the points-of-interest or map data embedded in the gadget. For example, users of the Maestro featuring Google Local Search can type "pizza" into the device and then Google will display its relevant results, including Web-based recommendations, around the user's specified or current location, Magellan said. Users or others will also be able to wirelessly send information, such as a destination address or other notes, directly from their PCs or Web-connected gadgets to the car-navigation device. But the cutting-edge connectivity won't come cheap. The Maestro Elite 5340+GPRS will be Magellan's premiere GPS model with a price tag of $1,299 when it becomes available in March. Users will also have to pay a yet-to-be-determined monthly fee for the GPRS service.
NemeriX CTO Lionel Garin to Share His Vision for the Future of Handheld GPS Offerings at CES
Santa Clara, CA and MANNO, Switzerland: NemeriX, a leading fabless semiconductor company specializing in ultra low power semiconductors and solutions for GPS and location-based service devices, today announced that Lionel Garin will share his vision for the future for consumer-oriented, handheld GPS devices in a session entitled: "Market Navigation for the Navigation Market" scheduled to take place on Monday January 7th from 3-4 PM in the North Hall, Room N264 of the Las Vegas Convention Center. This session is moderated by Avi Greengart, Research Director for Mobile Devices at Current Analysis, and will also include Ed Staehlin from Motorola; Amit Desai, from Dial Directions; and Christian Bubenheim, from Magellan; in addition to NemeriX’s Lionel Garin. During this session, Garin will discuss the different technical requirements from the automotive GPS market - where accuracy up to five meters is sufficient - to the pedestrian or last-mile GPS market, which requires a much higher degree of accuracy to provide pedestrian turn-by-turn directions in dense urban environments and indoors. “If you listen to mass market analysts, it might appear as though GPS has become a commodity, where the only differentiation between solutions is cost, and power consumption – but that’s not actually the case,” said Lionel Garin, CTO for NemeriX. “At CES, we’ll examine why the navigation market requires a higher level of performance, and we’ll discuss when the navigation capabilities that address indoor environments - such as shopping malls, and deep-indoor locations - will arrive to usher in wide market acceptance.”At CES, Garin will discuss a series of upcoming, consumer-oriented GPS applications, such as signal authentication and position certification for mobile banking applications, where precise transaction timing and location authentication are required. He will also discuss how GPS location and velocity authentication can facilitate new consumer services, such as pay-by-use car insurance; usage-based toll road charges, and how the technology can be used to resolve litigation related to speeding tickets. These and many other GPS-related items will be discussed all week at CES. Additional NemeriX executives, such as Lew Boore, and Vineet Dujari will be on hand throughout the week at CES. Members of the media interested in scheduling a briefing with NemeriX can do so by contacting Ally Forbes at ally [at] firpr.com. About CEA:The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) is the preeminent trade association promoting growth in the $148 billion U.S. consumer electronics industry. More than 2,200 companies enjoy the benefits of CEA membership, including legislative advocacy, market research, technical training and education, industry promotion and the fostering of business and strategic relationships. CEA also sponsors and manages the International CES – Where Entertainment, Technology and Business Converge. All profits from CES are reinvested into CEA's industry services. Find CEA online at www.CE.org.About NemeriX (www.nemerix.com)Founded in April 2002, NemeriX S.A. (Manno, Switzerland) is a venture-backed fabless semiconductor company specializing in ultra low power GPS and LBS integrated circuits, software and firmware for GPS and wireless applications. With the release of NX4, NemeriX has four generations of low-power, high performance, stand-alone, hosted, A-GPS experience. NemeriX’s devices enable battery powered location determination anywhere, anytime, facilitating the design and manufacture of truly differentiated products and an enhanced consumer experience. NemeriX’s investors include Atila Ventures, Auriga Partners, Cadence, Oak Investment Partners, PolyTechnos Venture-Partners, and Vi Venture Incubator. For more information about NemeriX, please visit: www.nemerix.com.
Santa Clara, CA and MANNO, Switzerland: NemeriX, a leading fabless semiconductor company specializing in ultra low power semiconductors and solutions for GPS and location-based service devices, today announced that Lionel Garin will share his vision for the future for consumer-oriented, handheld GPS devices in a session entitled: "Market Navigation for the Navigation Market" scheduled to take place on Monday January 7th from 3-4 PM in the North Hall, Room N264 of the Las Vegas Convention Center. This session is moderated by Avi Greengart, Research Director for Mobile Devices at Current Analysis, and will also include Ed Staehlin from Motorola; Amit Desai, from Dial Directions; and Christian Bubenheim, from Magellan; in addition to NemeriX’s Lionel Garin. During this session, Garin will discuss the different technical requirements from the automotive GPS market - where accuracy up to five meters is sufficient - to the pedestrian or last-mile GPS market, which requires a much higher degree of accuracy to provide pedestrian turn-by-turn directions in dense urban environments and indoors. “If you listen to mass market analysts, it might appear as though GPS has become a commodity, where the only differentiation between solutions is cost, and power consumption – but that’s not actually the case,” said Lionel Garin, CTO for NemeriX. “At CES, we’ll examine why the navigation market requires a higher level of performance, and we’ll discuss when the navigation capabilities that address indoor environments - such as shopping malls, and deep-indoor locations - will arrive to usher in wide market acceptance.”At CES, Garin will discuss a series of upcoming, consumer-oriented GPS applications, such as signal authentication and position certification for mobile banking applications, where precise transaction timing and location authentication are required. He will also discuss how GPS location and velocity authentication can facilitate new consumer services, such as pay-by-use car insurance; usage-based toll road charges, and how the technology can be used to resolve litigation related to speeding tickets. These and many other GPS-related items will be discussed all week at CES. Additional NemeriX executives, such as Lew Boore, and Vineet Dujari will be on hand throughout the week at CES. Members of the media interested in scheduling a briefing with NemeriX can do so by contacting Ally Forbes at ally [at] firpr.com. About CEA:The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) is the preeminent trade association promoting growth in the $148 billion U.S. consumer electronics industry. More than 2,200 companies enjoy the benefits of CEA membership, including legislative advocacy, market research, technical training and education, industry promotion and the fostering of business and strategic relationships. CEA also sponsors and manages the International CES – Where Entertainment, Technology and Business Converge. All profits from CES are reinvested into CEA's industry services. Find CEA online at www.CE.org.About NemeriX (www.nemerix.com)Founded in April 2002, NemeriX S.A. (Manno, Switzerland) is a venture-backed fabless semiconductor company specializing in ultra low power GPS and LBS integrated circuits, software and firmware for GPS and wireless applications. With the release of NX4, NemeriX has four generations of low-power, high performance, stand-alone, hosted, A-GPS experience. NemeriX’s devices enable battery powered location determination anywhere, anytime, facilitating the design and manufacture of truly differentiated products and an enhanced consumer experience. NemeriX’s investors include Atila Ventures, Auriga Partners, Cadence, Oak Investment Partners, PolyTechnos Venture-Partners, and Vi Venture Incubator. For more information about NemeriX, please visit: www.nemerix.com.
Garmin Chooses Sarantel Technology To Drive Development Of Next Generation Handheld
GPS Devices Printer Friendly
London - Jan 4th 2008 - Garmin has chosen Sarantel's award-winning GeoHelix GPS Antennas for its recently launched Colorado range of handheld GPS receivers. Sarantel (AIM: SLG) develops and manufactures the world's most advanced miniature filtering antennas for mobile, wireless and handheld devices. The technology is one of the most compact and yet accurate positioning antennas on the market today; designed with the varied and increasing demand for GPS technology in mind. Garmin is a pioneer and the worldwide leader in handheld GPS products and the Colorado series represents a dramatic step forward in innovation and usability in the outdoor GPS market segment. Users will benefit from a host of innovative features, such as world class positional accuracy, and will find its small size easier to use and more practical. The range of products incorporates a unique ''Rock 'N' Roller'' input device that allows for one-handed operation, shaded-relief and satellite imagery mapping and vibrant color 3-inch screen with high resolution, 15 hours of operating time on AA batteries, a built-in compass, altimeter, and temperature sensor, plus the ability to wirelessly exchange routes, tracks, waypoints, and geocaches between two units.David Wither, Chief Executive of Sarantel says: "Up to this point the challenge for GPS receiver manufacturers has been to develop a GPS product that works effectively and accurately but matching these performance requirements to an aesthetically pleasing, ever shrinking package is becoming increasingly difficult. Advances in antenna technology now mean that, for the first time, consumers can benefit from high performance in a small hand-held package, like Garmin's innovative new Colorado Series." About SarantelSarantel is a leader in the design of high-performance miniature antennas for portable wireless applications including hand-held navigation, satellite radio and laptop computers.Sarantel's revolutionary ceramic filtering antennas offer dramatically improved performance over existing antenna designs, resulting in a clearer signal, better range and 90 per cent reduction in the amount of signal radiation absorbed by the body.Because of their smaller size and higher capabilities, Sarantel's antennas enable manufacturers to create innovative high-volume consumer products incorporating technologies such as GPS, Wi-Fi, WiMax, 3G, GPRS, Satellite Radio and Bluetooth. More information about the company is available at www.sarantel.com
GPS Devices Printer Friendly
London - Jan 4th 2008 - Garmin has chosen Sarantel's award-winning GeoHelix GPS Antennas for its recently launched Colorado range of handheld GPS receivers. Sarantel (AIM: SLG) develops and manufactures the world's most advanced miniature filtering antennas for mobile, wireless and handheld devices. The technology is one of the most compact and yet accurate positioning antennas on the market today; designed with the varied and increasing demand for GPS technology in mind. Garmin is a pioneer and the worldwide leader in handheld GPS products and the Colorado series represents a dramatic step forward in innovation and usability in the outdoor GPS market segment. Users will benefit from a host of innovative features, such as world class positional accuracy, and will find its small size easier to use and more practical. The range of products incorporates a unique ''Rock 'N' Roller'' input device that allows for one-handed operation, shaded-relief and satellite imagery mapping and vibrant color 3-inch screen with high resolution, 15 hours of operating time on AA batteries, a built-in compass, altimeter, and temperature sensor, plus the ability to wirelessly exchange routes, tracks, waypoints, and geocaches between two units.David Wither, Chief Executive of Sarantel says: "Up to this point the challenge for GPS receiver manufacturers has been to develop a GPS product that works effectively and accurately but matching these performance requirements to an aesthetically pleasing, ever shrinking package is becoming increasingly difficult. Advances in antenna technology now mean that, for the first time, consumers can benefit from high performance in a small hand-held package, like Garmin's innovative new Colorado Series." About SarantelSarantel is a leader in the design of high-performance miniature antennas for portable wireless applications including hand-held navigation, satellite radio and laptop computers.Sarantel's revolutionary ceramic filtering antennas offer dramatically improved performance over existing antenna designs, resulting in a clearer signal, better range and 90 per cent reduction in the amount of signal radiation absorbed by the body.Because of their smaller size and higher capabilities, Sarantel's antennas enable manufacturers to create innovative high-volume consumer products incorporating technologies such as GPS, Wi-Fi, WiMax, 3G, GPRS, Satellite Radio and Bluetooth. More information about the company is available at www.sarantel.com
Thursday, January 03, 2008
Portable navigation on mobiles set to take off
John Walko
EE Times Europe (01/03/2008 8:30 AM EST)
LONDON — Sales of portable navigation devices are set to increase ten-fold over the next eight years, with the huge take-up coming from the the GPS functionality being embedded into mobile phones, according to Telematics Research Group (TRG).
While Garmin and TomTom are predicted to remain global market leaders for portable navigation devices, mobile phone makers such as Nokia, Motorola, LG and Samsung are expected to show the way in the near future, the Minneapolis based market research group suggests in a report on the sector.
TRG sees the worldwide portable navigation market growing from 50 million units in 2007 to more than 500 million units in 2015.
It suggests the change in market leadership is partly due to wireless connectivity opening up new applications and services by bringing together accurate location-based data with advanced POI data including pricing, inventory and user-generated content such as ratings of local businesses.
TRG estimates 30 million dedicated Personal Navigation Devices (PNDs) were sold last year and about 20 million navigation-enabled mobile phones. It estimates that navigation-enabled mobile phones will start outselling dedicated PNDs next year, with the combined segments reaching annual sales of more than 220 million by the end of 2012.
The market researchers suggest that by 2015, Nokia could be selling 180 million devices with GPS capability, followed by Samsung and Motorola (both 70 million), LG (60 million), and TomTom and Garmin both 25 million.
Corresponding figures for last year are said to be 9 million units sold by TomTom, 8 million by Garmin, 7 million by Mitac, 5 million by Nokia and 4 million by Mio/Navman.
"In the years to come navigation-enabled mobile phones will be used for auto navigation, pedestrian navigation and many other types of location-based services," says Egil Juliussen, principal analyst for TRG. "This opens up a new world of services and capabilities".
Recent acquisitions by TomTom and Nokia point the way toward the coming battle for the GPS consumer, according to Juliussen.
"Required for success in the GPS market of the future will be connectivity, inexpensive maps and rich point-of-interest content addresses alone will not be enough", he adds.
Garmin and TomTom are adding connectivity to their devices, he notes, and mobile phone makers are adding maps. "A large volume market for inexpensive, dedicated navigation devices will live on past 2008," Juliussen says, but survival for TomTom and Garmin may mean finding a way to compete for smartphone users.
John Walko
EE Times Europe (01/03/2008 8:30 AM EST)
LONDON — Sales of portable navigation devices are set to increase ten-fold over the next eight years, with the huge take-up coming from the the GPS functionality being embedded into mobile phones, according to Telematics Research Group (TRG).
While Garmin and TomTom are predicted to remain global market leaders for portable navigation devices, mobile phone makers such as Nokia, Motorola, LG and Samsung are expected to show the way in the near future, the Minneapolis based market research group suggests in a report on the sector.
TRG sees the worldwide portable navigation market growing from 50 million units in 2007 to more than 500 million units in 2015.
It suggests the change in market leadership is partly due to wireless connectivity opening up new applications and services by bringing together accurate location-based data with advanced POI data including pricing, inventory and user-generated content such as ratings of local businesses.
TRG estimates 30 million dedicated Personal Navigation Devices (PNDs) were sold last year and about 20 million navigation-enabled mobile phones. It estimates that navigation-enabled mobile phones will start outselling dedicated PNDs next year, with the combined segments reaching annual sales of more than 220 million by the end of 2012.
The market researchers suggest that by 2015, Nokia could be selling 180 million devices with GPS capability, followed by Samsung and Motorola (both 70 million), LG (60 million), and TomTom and Garmin both 25 million.
Corresponding figures for last year are said to be 9 million units sold by TomTom, 8 million by Garmin, 7 million by Mitac, 5 million by Nokia and 4 million by Mio/Navman.
"In the years to come navigation-enabled mobile phones will be used for auto navigation, pedestrian navigation and many other types of location-based services," says Egil Juliussen, principal analyst for TRG. "This opens up a new world of services and capabilities".
Recent acquisitions by TomTom and Nokia point the way toward the coming battle for the GPS consumer, according to Juliussen.
"Required for success in the GPS market of the future will be connectivity, inexpensive maps and rich point-of-interest content addresses alone will not be enough", he adds.
Garmin and TomTom are adding connectivity to their devices, he notes, and mobile phone makers are adding maps. "A large volume market for inexpensive, dedicated navigation devices will live on past 2008," Juliussen says, but survival for TomTom and Garmin may mean finding a way to compete for smartphone users.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
