Increased Availability of GPS on Mobile Phones Drives Consumption of Navigation and Other LBS


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SAN FRANCISCO — With GPS available on more new mobile devices, consumer demand for location-based services (LBS) such as navigation is growing, according to Telephia, a service of The Nielsen Company, and the world’s largest provider of syndicated consumer research to the telecom and mobile media markets. In its second quarter report on mobile applications, Telephia also reported that:
Approximately 13 million mobile consumers downloaded a mobile application on their phone.
Of the $118 million in revenue that downloadable mobile applications such as LBS, weather applications, chat/community, and personal organization tools generated during Q2 2007, LBS represented 51 percent.
Networks In Motion (NIM)—an LBS navigation publisher for products including Verizon Wireless’ VZ Navigator—secured a 27 percent share of carrier revenue from mobile applications and leads all mobile application publishers. Telenav Mobile followed with a 15 percent share of carrier revenue and is another LBS navigation publisher. While location-based services deliver highly personalized offerings such as friend-finding and other location-aware features, navigation represents the lion’s share of revenue. Moreover, favorable carrier deck placement for LBS applications and the bundling of navigation services with data packages have contributed to record high downloads. “With consumer awareness increasing, there is enormous potential for even greater LBS growth, especially since Telephia research indicates that there are approximately 130 million GPS-capable handsets in the U.S. alone, and growing,” said Doug Antone, president and CEO of Networks In Motion. “Networks In Motion is committed to remaining an LBS leader by continuing to create compelling mobile phone applications that consumers can benefit from on a daily basis.” LBS applications command a healthy price premium compared to other downloadable mobile applications. The average price per month for an LBS application is $9.23, as compared to a range of $3.82-$5.41 for weather applications, sports, wallpapers/pictures, etc. (see Table 1). The selling price for LBS applications is roughly 180 percent of industry average. However, overall consumer penetration for mobile applications hovers around five percent, as compared to penetration rates of 7-13 percent for other downloadable content like games, ringtones and premium SMS. “There are hurdles that LBS publishers face, most notably the relatively low incidence of application downloads when compared to other mobile data activity. Many consumers may not realize the utility of a navigation application on their mobile phone until they use it,” said David Gill, Director of Mobile Media, Telephia. “However, Nokia’s bid to buy NAVTEQ for $8.1 billion is a very positive sign for the market and validates the strength and potential of LBS.”Table 1: Average Price Paid by Consumers for Mobile Applications (U.S.) Mobile Application Average Price Paid
LBS $9.23
Weather $3.82
Sports $4.58
Wallpapers/Pictures $3.29
Music $4.99
Maps/Directions $3.95
Personal Organization Tools $5.41

Source: Telephia Mobile Application Report, Q2 2007

Wherify Wireless, Inc. Announces Springboard LBS Platform for Multiple Applications

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SAN MATEO, CA -- Wherify Wireless, Inc. (OTCBB: WFYW), home of the award-winning Wherifone GPS Locator Phone and Services, today announces its intent to deliver in Q1 2008 its Location Based Services (LBS) platform, named Springboard, which is designed to enable carriers, application providers and mobile device manufacturers in developing location based services applications for their products and services. Springboard will provide development capability to support a wide array of consumer and enterprise applications beyond navigation, such as mobile social networking, mobile community search and shopping, fleet management, and more. Springboard technology will also support both GPS- and non-GPS-equipped devices. The new Springboard platform will provide an easy to integrate Application Programming Interface (API) beyond basic location features to enable a comprehensive LBS application implementation within a wide variety of electronic devices and service provider offerings. The platform, which fully supports telephony, notification, multimedia and mobile content push features, is GSM-based, but it is implemented independent of carrier infrastructure, and will allow handset manufacturers, application developers and telecommunications carriers to use a single platform to support multiple applications and devices. With Springboard, device manufacturers and service providers will be able to speed their location dependent applications, such as mobile shopping and advertising, to market by avoiding the time consuming and expensive process of designing all of the components of the platform. Additionally, Springboard will allow these organizations to reduce development time and expenses; and raise margins by outsourcing day-to-day operation of the LBS functions and back office support systems. "Over the past few years Wherify Wireless has invested a significant amount of time, capital and energy into developing its LBS technologies and for the first time is opening up this platform for use by other organizations. We believe almost all consumer and enterprise mobile applications in the near future will require location intelligence," said Vince Sheeran, CEO of Wherify Wireless, Inc. "Carriers, Handset Manufacturers, and Application Developers are all facing the same challenge: how to come up with a seamless end-to-end location rich applications, which integrate the GSM network, mobile device and application user experience. Wherify has a long history in solving this problem throughout the development of the Wherifone GPS Locator Phone and Services. We have developed the new Springboard product offering based on our solid LBS expertise to provide a single comprehensive location platform solution." About Wherify Wireless, Inc. Wherify Wireless, Inc. (OTCBB: WFYW) is a pioneering developer of personal location products and services, as recognized by the Smithsonian Institution Museum's adoption of Wherify Wireless' groundbreaking first product, the Child Locator, into permanent display as the world's first commercial personal GPS tracking device. With three U.S. patents granted in the areas of personal location and position tracking and four more patents pending in the area of GPS locator phones, Wherify Wireless continues to be a leader in location technology development by integrating Aided-GPS location into a GSM cellular platform that has been demonstrated on over 100 GSM networks world-wide. Wherify Wireless' expertise in GPS technology for wireless devices and its patented back-end location service engine enable customers to obtain real-time location information on individuals and property directly through the Internet or any phone. Wherify Wireless was founded in 1998, and is located in San Mateo, California.

WiFi positioning system SDK gets "major upgrade"

Oct. 04, 2007WiFi positioning system (WPS) technology provider Skyhook Wireless has announced a "major upgrade" to its WPS software development kit (SDK). The new SDK improves positioning accuracy, supports a broader range of WiFi devices, and adds compatibility with a wide variety of GPS software, the company says.(Click here for larger image of the Skyhook WPS in operation)
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Touted as the first wide-area positioning system based on 802.11 WiFi, rather than satellite or cellular technology, Skyhook's WPS service became available in the largest 25 metropolitan areas of the U.S. in 2005. Skyhook's WPS service was touted as being able to determine the exact location of any WiFi enabled device running on Windows XP or Windows Mobile -- whether a PC, laptop, tablet, PDA, or cellphone -- without requiring any additional hardware.
Skyhook's database of WiFi access points in New York City(Click to enlarge)Now, according to the company, its new WPS SDK extends compatibility to Windows Vista, Mac OS X, Symbian, and Linux platforms. Additionally, WPS coverage is now said to include 19 million access points and 70 percent of the U.S., Canadian, and Australian populations. European coverage already includes London, Amsterdam, and Barcelona, and the majority of the European population will be covered by the end of 2007, Skyhook claims.Skyhook adds that the new WPS SDK also can be deployed in "autonomous mode," on devices such as portable media players (PMPs) and navigation gadgets that only access the network periodically. Velocity information, key for navigational accuracy on such devices, is said to have been improved by almost 50 percent.
iRiver's W10 PMP uses Skyhook's WPSOne PMP using Skyhook's WPS is the iRiver W10. Introduced in July, this is a flash-based PMP that also integrates an FM tuner and VoIP phone calling.Skyhook's new WPS SDK reportedly also adds a "Virtual GPS" feature which, the company says, makes it compatible with any applications that meet NMEA (National Marine Electronics Association) standards for communications. The Therefore, applications that already support GPS require no additional development to be deployed via the SDK, according to Skyhook.Earlier this year, GPS chip vendor SiRF Technology partnered with Skyhook and with software specialist Openwave Systems in order to create the "SiRF Multimode Location Platform." Offered to device makers as part of the SiRF starIII chipset and to wireless carriers using the SiRFLoc Server, this technology is said to switch transparently between GPS and WiFi signals, according to whichever can provide the most precise positioning data at any given moment.AvailabilityAvailable now, the Skyhook WPS SDK can be downloaded from the Skyhook's website, here.

Garmin launches Plug 'N Play Sat-Nav for Your Phone

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The satellite navigation company, Garmin has launched a unique, all-in-one software solution that turns selected smartphones with internal GPS into high-end navigators. Garmin Mobile XT is a mobile phone software application that seamlessly pairs the phone's built-in GPS with Garmin's software so that customers have the benefits of navigation anywhere in Europe or North America. Unlike other mobile phone applications, Garmin Mobile XT offers convenient preloaded maps and includes access to dynamic content like premium real-time traffic alerts and weather reports but does not require any monthly fees.*"Garmin Mobile XT is easy-to-use and affordable, with no monthly charges to get navigating straight away" says Garmin's Mobile Product Manager, Greg Stephenson. "It's a one-time investment that gives customers full-featured GPS sat-nav on their smartphone whenever and wherever they need it, including areas outside of wireless network coverage." Garmin Mobile XT is preloaded on a microSD card (with miniSD and standard SD card converter) that includes Garmin navigation software for UK and Ireland, Europe, or the United States and Canada. Once the card is inserted into a compatible smartphone with embedded GPS, the Garmin Mobile XT application will launch automatically. Customers are then greeted with Garmin's intuitive "Where to?" and "View map" welcome screen. With a few screen or button taps, customers can easily route to a specific street address or choose from millions of points of interest - such as restaurants, hotels, ATMs, and petrol stations. In addition to turn-by-turn, voice prompted directions, users will also see their exact position on a detailed moving map. If a turn is missed along the way, a new route will be recalculated automatically. Thanks to Garmin's vast product line and ability to leverage technology from the other GPS markets Garmin serves, Garmin Mobile XT builds in unique features such as support for travel guides, topographical maps and custom points of interest, as well as advanced features such as route planning with saved routes, custom avoidances and visible trip logs. Garmin Mobile XT users also have the benefit of routing to the location of a contact in their phone's address book or to a calendar appointment (on supported platforms).Garmin Mobile XT also includes PeerPoints, a powerful feature enabling users to send their position to any other phone as well as view and navigate to the location of other Garmin Mobile XT users. PeerPoints is the perfect way to keep track of friends and family and navigate to them with the touch of a button. In addition to navigation, Garmin Mobile XT includes free access to Garmin Online so that customers have useful, constantly-updating information at their fingertips like real-time traffic and weather forecasts. The real-time traffic service identifies accidents, road construction or other incidents affecting traffic, and routes users around the congestion. Real-time weather information lets users see forecasts at their current location or anywhere in the world. Garmin Online is accessed through the phone's wireless data service. Garmin Mobile XT is available now for a recommended retail price starting from £59.99 for UK and Ireland mapping. Garmin Mobile XT is compatible with a wide range of smartphones including models by Sony Ericsson, HP, Nokia, HTC and Samsung. It works with operating systems such as Windows Mobile, Palm and S60 v3. *safety camera alerts free for first three months. For updates subscription charges then apply.About Garmin:Garmin (Europe) Ltd. is a member of the Garmin Ltd. (Nasdaq: GRMN) group of companies which designs, manufactures, markets and sells navigation, communication and information devices and applications -- most of which are enabled by GPS technology. Garmin is a leader in consumer and general aviation navigation and its products serve the automotive/mobile, outdoor/fitness, marine and aviation markets. Garmin Ltd. is incorporated in the Cayman Islands, and its principal subsidiaries are located in the United States, Taiwan and the United Kingdom. For more information, visit Garmin's virtual pressroom at www.garmin.co.uk/mediacentre. Garmin is a registered trademark, and Garmin Mobile, Garmin Mobile XT, Garmin Online and PeerPoints are trademarks of Garmin Ltd. or its subsidiaries.

City Guide To Search SMS, E-Mail For Recommendations

By James Quintana Pearce - Fri 28 Sep 2007 07:26 AM PST

CNet has a review of a service developed by PARC which provides information about a local region: “things like shops, restaurants and event listings based on your location (via the GPS device in the phone), the time of day, your preferences and your past behavior”. Individual parts of it are available but from the sound of it the service does bring them together in a very good way—but it will be launched in Japan in 2009, and it doesn’t sound impressive enough to justify such a long development/marketing time. However, there are a few interesting aspects: “It predicts the likely activity,” said Bo Begole, a co-leader on the project. For example, coffee shops might be displayed in the morning hours, stores throughout the day, and restaurants, bars and movies at night.” It also keeps track of your preferences and adjusts its suggestions to reflect that, and uses collaborative filtering to recommend things other with similar tastes like. More controversially, it can also “detect clues to your activities in e-mails and text messages"… The analysis is done on the handset and Japan has some pretty strong consumer privacy regulations, but it’s still going to freak some people out until they get used to it. Gmail went through something similar, and it doesn’t seem to have hurt it.

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Nokia Plans To Integrate Navteq Technology Into Photos, Videos, Pedestrian Navigation

By James Quintana Pearce - Thu 04 Oct 2007 07:13 PM PST

Nokia’s (NYSE: NOK) recent purchase of Navteq is more than just grabbing a navigation service, according to comments on the companies recent conference call. Anssi Vanjoki, Nokia’s EVP multimedia, said: “Maps and location based services is a key service area we are focusing on. In fact, I see, that location and context information is a key component in our future internet services, including search and navigation, photos and videos, as well as presence and communities. Our vision is that the location information helps build the next base of the bed with context sensitive services.” Vanjoki spoke about making pedestrian navigation a value added service for consumers, claiming that the “pedestrian location-based services market is totally undeveloped with basically zero penetration among the 3 billion mobile devices uses globally”. This includes: finding friends, where your map on the device will show you in realtime where your friends, family and other acquaintances are, allowing you to stay in touch; creating your own location tags to add information to a map; and organise photos, video and other media according to location. Vanjoki said this was the justification for buying Navteq rather than just partnering with it: “These type of features and services you can only create efficiently if you have the map data and consumer application parts in the same company.”

Nokia is looking to generate some extra revenue from those services. In response to a question Judson Green from Navteq said: “A map is not a simple thing, as we have seen over time and as I’m sure we’ll see in the next few years there will be more and more content that we add to our underlying map, both static content and dynamic content, which does give us the opportunity to price seperately for that from the underlying map.”

That’s not to say that Nokia won’t be pushing its Maps service, which is apparently in the top five applications used on the N95 (after messaging, camera and web browsing but ahead of music). Nokia claims that 100 percent of N95 owners have used the maps application (which is a big call, I’m sure there’s at least one or two that haven’t) and that the average usage for the service is three times per week. Nokia has already announced it plans to integrate Nokia Maps into its Ovi service, which itself is a larger push by Nokia to enter the content and services industry and avoid being sidelined as a handset manufacturer. I’m hoping to see some innovative and useful stuff coming out of this deal in the next few years, although it should be noted that Nokia probably isn’t expecting to get $8.1 billion in value for its mobile services—a lot of the value in Navteq is in its stand-alone business, and it is by keeping that going that Nokia justifies the sale price.

Magnetic sensor could allow pigeon-style GPS

A variety of migrating birds, as well as bats and even hamsters successfully use a 'magnetic sense' to navigate on long journeys. Now, a new type of sensor developed by scientists in the US could make it possible for humans do the same trick.
Magnetic global positioning works by matching precise measurements of the Earth's magnetic field with a database of measurements from across the globe.
The magnetic field is like that of a giant bar magnet placed along the globe's axis. Magnetic field lines emerge from the southern half of the globe and re-enter the northern half. To use the field to calculate geographic position requires two measurements – of its angle and its strength.
The Earth's field is strongest at the poles and weakest at the equator. The angle at which it meets the Earth's surface is unique for a particular location, making it possible to refer to the survey data to work out where you are. Measuring both properties improves accuracy.
The sensor developed by researchers at Virginia Tech University, US, exploits a property called the 'giant magnetoelectric effect', where a material changes its electrical properties under the influence of a magnetic field.
The core of the sensor is made from layers of lead zirconium titanate, which has the largest magnetoelectric effect of any material. This means it can detect the tiny variations in field strength and angle needed for magnetic GPS.
3D measurements
To use the device as a geomagnetic sensor, the researchers apply a small alternating current to a coil wrapped around the core and measure the voltage generated from the core as a result. This voltage is proportional to the change in the Earth's magnetic field.
"For GPS applications, we need to take measurements in 3D so we can calculate both the magnetic field and the inclination," team member Junyi Zhai told New Scientist. "We therefore use three sensors, each one perpendicular to the other two to achieve this." The device is roughly cubic and 10cm to a side..
To determine location, the researchers compare the values of the magnetic field and angles obtained to data from the United States Geological Survey, which has tabulated the Earth's mean field and its inclinations at many points over much of the Earth's surface.
Although less accurate than satellite GPS, the new sensor's use of the magnetic field means it is more reliable in certain situations. For example, in remote areas that have no satellite reception, or in bad weather conditions where the connection is temporarily lost.
The researchers say the accuracy of the technique is "quite good", but that it is limited by the grid of values from the US Geological Survey. A more accurate survey of the field across the world would improve accuracy.
"The idea of using the ME sensors for GPS applications is truly novel," says Gopalan Srinivasan, who researches magnetoelectric devices at Oakland University, US. He adds that technical issues with the epoxy used to glue the core together, and its response to temperature will need to be ironed out in any device intended for production.
Journal reference: Applied Physics Letters (DOI:

For handset makers, it's all about location


news analysis Nokia announces plans to spend $8.1 billion on Navteq. Why would it shell out so much for an outfit that's not well known?
By Erica Ogg Staff Writer, CNET News.com -->
Published: October 2, 2007, 4:00 AM PDT
Last modified: October 2, 2007, 10:22 AM PDT
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A correction was made to this story. Read below for details.
news analysis The young market for so-called location-based services may have just found a shortcut to mainstream adoption.
Nokia's announcement Monday that it will purchase digital-map provider Navteq for $8.1 billion illustrates the premium that both mobile handset and services providers are placing on location-based services. It could also mean that budding market will briskly move from niche service to standard feature.
"Everyone's going to have to move in that direction. You'll be missing something if you don't have (location-based services)," said analyst Jack Gold of J. Gold Associates.
Location-based services (LBS) is a phrase used to describe the combination of the mobile Web and GPS data. It's a feature that will become even more in demand as portable gadgets become ubiquitous and staying connected assumes first priority. Add-on services are also one of the most surefire ways for manufacturers to make a few extra dollars in profit margin on consumer hardware. A side effect of the appeal of LBS on omnipresent devices like cell phones is that standalone GPS devices could go the way of the PDA.
Up to now, location-based services for most people meant getting directions from one place to another. But the vast database of location data that companies like Navteq can provide to mobile service providers, ad and marketing companies, and hardware makers opens some intriguing possibilities.
Giving directions is one thing, but when your device knows where you are, a slew of services can be tailored to your specific geographic needs. You could, for example, find the closest Starbucks, the locals' favorite Thai restaurant, or the gas station with the lowest prices. You could plan for inclement weather, reroute your commute around road closures or accidents, compare prices while shopping for gadgets or appliances, or keep tabs on friends or family members.
That Nokia would be the one to scoop up Navteq wasn't necessarily expected, but the Chicago-based map provider has been an acquisition target since navigation device maker TomTom offered to purchase Navteq rival Tele Atlas this summer for just over $2 billion. Navteq is one of the largest providers of digital mapping services, and Google was seen as a likely suitor. The world's No. 1 handset maker stepped in instead, leaving Google and any others fairly slim pickings in terms of acquisition targets now that the two biggest LBS companies have been snatched up.
LBS will be in higher demand by a whole host of industries beyond mobile phones, namely business that sell, well, anything, Gold said. Auction sites, like eBay for example, could find location services helpful in authenticating mobile purchases from its site. And companies such as Google, Yahoo and Microsoft that are targeting advertisements will always want more specific information about consumer characteristics, preferences and locations to tailor their messages.
The technology to do this is already available, but for the most part, it is not yet linked to an individual's specific location. The availability of GPS chips in devices is the main barrier in mainstream adoption. "We're very GPS-poor from a device standpoint," especially here in the U.S., said Gold.
CONTINUED: GPS chips getting cheape...

Nokia to Acquire NAVTEQ

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ESPOO, Finland, October 1 -- Nokia and NAVTEQ today announced a definitive agreement for Nokia to acquire NAVTEQ. Under the terms of the agreement, Nokia will pay $78 in cash for each share of NAVTEQ including outstanding options for an aggregate purchase price of approximately $8.1 billion (EUR5.7 billion), or approximately $7.7 billion (EUR5.4 billion) net of NAVTEQ existing cash balance. The acquisition has been approved by the board of directors of each company and is subject to customary closing conditions including regulatory approvals and NAVTEQ shareholders' approval.The navigation area is a fast growing business, and with location-based services expanding rapidly into mobile communications devices, the industry is poised for even further growth. NAVTEQ brings a number of key assets to Nokia: a great team with best-in-world maps and navigation industry expertise, a strong customer base and an industry-leading map data and technology platform with the broadest geographical coverage.NAVTEQ will continue to provide the most advanced and flexible map data platform to navigation industry players. With NAVTEQ, Nokia will further strengthen its location based services offering and bring to market the most innovative, context aware Nokia Internet services with accelerated time to market.NAVTEQ is a leading provider of comprehensive digital map information for automotive navigation systems, mobile navigation devices, Internet-based mapping applications, and government and business solutions. NAVTEQ also owns Traffic.com, a web and interactive service that provides traffic information and content to consumers. The Chicago-based company was founded in 1985, generated 2006 revenues of $582 million and has approximately 3,000 employees located in 168 offices in 30 countries.Nokia is the world's largest mobile device manufacturer with more than 900 million people using a Nokia mobile device around the world. Driven by Internet and digital convergence, Nokia is expanding its offering to include areas such as entertainment, communities and location based services. Shipping with the GPS-enabled Nokia N95 multimedia computer, the Nokia Maps solution is one of the most advanced location based services in the marketplace today."Location based services are one of the cornerstones of Nokia's Internet services strategy. The acquisition of NAVTEQ is another step toward Nokia becoming a leading player in this space," said Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, President and CEO, Nokia. "By joining forces with NAVTEQ, we will be able to bring context and geographical information to a number of our Internet services with accelerated time to market. We also look forward to maintaining and enhancing the services and support provided to NAVTEQ's existing and future customers"."Nokia's unique vision for location based services aligns perfectly with NAVTEQ's vision to enable everyone to find their way to people, places and opportunities on mobile communications devices, cars, desktop computers and in all the other places that are important to them," said NAVTEQ President and CEO Judson Green. "It's really exciting to imagine what we can achieve by combining our location experience with the resources of a company that has a customer base of more than 900 million people."In commenting on the transaction, Christopher Galvin, Chairman of the Board of NAVTEQ, said "Nokia's offer of $78 per share reflects a very attractive valuation for NAVTEQ's stockholders, representing a 34% premium to our stock price of one month ago. In considering the offer, we approached other potential purchasers about their possible interest in NAVTEQ and our Board took those contacts and discussions into account in determining that Nokia's proposal was the best opportunity available to maximize value for our stockholders."After completion of the transaction, NAVTEQ's current map data business will continue operationally independent, but organizationally a Nokia Group company. Judson Green will report directly to Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo. This will ensure that NAVTEQ's current and future customers continue to have a dedicated and strengthened unit serving them as before with digital map information for automotive navigation systems, mobile navigation devices, Internet-based mapping applications, as well as government and business solutions.The acquisition is expected to close in the first quarter of 2008. Nokia plans to finance the acquisition with a combination of cash and debt, and has secured a commitment on the debt. Nokia anticipates that the acquisition would not impact its share buy-backs under the current mandate, or its future cash distribution strategy in terms of dividends and share buybacks which is subject to the shareholders' approval. The acquisition is expected to be dilutive to Nokia earnings in 2008 and 2009 on a reported basis. However on a cash basis Nokia expects it to be only slightly dilutive in 2008 and slightly accretive in 2009.About NokiaNokia is the world leader in mobility, driving the transformation and growth of the converging Internet and communications industries. Nokia makes a wide range of mobile devices and provides people with experiences in music, navigation, video, television, imaging, games and business mobility through these devices. Nokia also provides equipment, solutions and services for communications networks.About NAVTEQNAVTEQ is a leading provider of comprehensive digital map information for automotive navigation systems, mobile navigation devices, Internet-based mapping applications, and government and business solutions. NAVTEQ creates the digital maps and map content that power navigation and location-based services solutions around the world.
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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.
______________
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."

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

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.

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 Demand for Portable Navigation Devices

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."

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IDC: Portable navigation market to soar

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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

Navizon brings GPS service for your iPhone

location based services
portable navigation devices

RituS | Sep 21 2007

Now, you do not have to wait till next year for the GPS enabled iPhone. Thanks to Navizon as it is bringing GPS service for your iPhone.

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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NAC Google Brings the Power of Universal Addresses onto Your Desktop

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.# # #

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.
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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.
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