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LBS Report Card

Posted: September 11th, 2008, 6:02pm CEST

Tags: lbs
Kanwar Chadha, chief marketing officer and founder of SiRF Technologies, opened his Location 2.0 Summit by giving a report card of LBS since last year's event. What's changed?
1. Nokia has adopted location as a major driver; they've taken a leadership position in the cellular and location. the company received the "Leadership" Award from Chadha at the close of the conference.
2. In the cellular space, all major carriers are taking a look into location as core element of their service. It's no longer just an afterthought.
3. Consumers or developers no longer have to "kluge" together many different devices to get location-based information. Many devices already or will soon have location-aware components embedded in them.
4. Education of the marketplace. We dont have to explain to people anymore about what GPS does.
More on XOHM: Sprint Nextel Embeds Location in WiMAX

Posted: September 11th, 2008, 5:45pm CEST

Tags: lbs

An integral part of Sprint Nextel's WiMAX initiative, as we previously covered in APB, will be location. Barry West, president of the company's XOHM business unit, said that, "XOHM is based on an ultra-fast and secure access service. It will have location and presence." In differentiating XOHM from other wireless services West said that the customer is at the center of our experience. "What makes the cellular industry such a poor experience? Reason the cost of the device requires a subsidy...[We] need to change the paradigm from having a contract to being able to come and go as you please. As we move to the next generation is to make sure we break that subsidy paradigm. We shouldnt charge you per device but charge you per person."

The description of XOHM's "geobrowsing" is not much different than what you expect from other location-relevant services for consumers. It will have access to local weather, events, etc. But West was looking long term to when "all" electronic devices have a WiMAX chip embedded in them...anything from washing machines, thermostats and toasters to cars and other mobile devices. West said that, "[the] ebedded ecosystem is based on having low cost WiMax chips...in the range of $3 to $15 dollars in a few years. When you get into that price range, then the BOM becomes affordable."
Google GeoEye Deal Aimed at Android?

Posted: September 11th, 2008, 5:04pm CEST

Tags: google

Eric Jackson at The Street thinks so:

More importantly, GeoEye is intimately tied with Google's plans for Android, the mobile operating system it will roll out to handset providers later next year. Google is effectively buying proprietary mapping technology from GeoEye that can be later integrated into new location-based services we have not yet seen.

For example, with high-resolution images from a satellite that circles the earth several times a day, it becomes possible to integrate real-time traffic information when plotting traffic directions. It also becomes possible to easily track GPS-equipped vehicles.

GeoEye also has significant mapping tools that can be used to analyze multiple or time-series images, an interesting feature that could be interesting for Google Earth and Google Maps to implement.

He goes on to note that the two Google founders, not some product manager, was a the launch, suggesting a far deeper relationship that "just" new maps for Google Maps.

I'm not sure this money guy knows much about the technology, but its interesting speculation.
Patent Watch: Apple's Next Gen "Nike+" has Sensors, LBS Ads

Posted: September 11th, 2008, 4:34pm CEST

Tags: Sensors

Apple's application for the Smart Garment patent was published today.

Apple Insider has a nice discussion of the technologies included, but in short they include:

- internal sensors to measure how the foot strikes and potentially to tell when the shoe is "past its prime"
- perhaps a move to other brands
- the ability to compare performance between one shoe and another
- GPS for tracking distance location and providing LBS ads/POIs info while working out
ESRI/AP Making Waves in Gillette Wyoming Real Estate Market

Posted: September 11th, 2008, 3:43pm CEST

Tags: ESRI

On Monday the Gillette News-Record published an AP article about local home prices dipping. In particular, "Teton County experienced the largest decline in median home values, with a drop of 9.1 percent." The report cited ESRI figures.
Today, The Jackson Hole News and Guide offered a rebuttal from local agent saying essentially, "That can't be right!" Unfortunately, calls to ESRI to get details of how the value was calculated were not returned.

I guess this can be filed under "lies, d*&) lies and statistics." Also, it's interesting to see ESRI's name in the news for data rather than software.
US Military Moves Ahead with BASIC Satellite Plans

Posted: September 11th, 2008, 3:22pm CEST

Tags: Remote Sensing

The Broad Area Space-based Imagery Collector (BASIC) which we discussed in a podcast is a new vision for government ownership of remote sensing satellites. Talked about for some time, the plan is actually moving ahead. On Monday Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Director of National Intelligence Michael McConnell approved the purchase of two commercial grade satellites (and related launch and monitoring facilities) for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO). The deal uses military intelligence funds.

The contract details are still up in the air but it appears the NRO will launch birds with 1.1 meter aperture in about four years at a cost of $1.7 billion. There are no details on resolution. Commercial players are not happy about this move, nor is Pentagon acquisition chief John Young, who says it goes against a presidential directive to use commercial sources whenever possible.

- Reuters
Quote of the Week

Posted: September 11th, 2008, 2:25pm CEST

"Even though there seems to be a Starbucks on every corner, we have served up 1.7 million Starbucks searches."

- Dan Gilmarting VP of Marketing for uLocate on the success of the company's iPhone apps in an article in Tech News World
The Bizarre Story of the PA 9/11 Memorial and GIS

Posted: September 11th, 2008, 1:51pm CEST

I'll let you read the details of allegations of the memorial being designed points to Mecca along with alleged threats. I want to draw out just one paragraph from the story in the Daily American News (Somerset County Pennsylvania's paper) because of how it covers the tools used by one professor to explore the directionality issue:

My assessment has gone from unconvinced to definitely stating that Mr. Rawls does not have a mathematical proof he has only a calculation, Griffith said. I have produced counterexample graphics (employing Mr. Rawls own memorial orientation graphic) with both ArcGIS (a state-of-the-art GIS software package) and Google Earth.

I think it's telling that ArcGIS requires an explanation as an unknown scientific tool and Google Earth requires none. Equally interesting: GIS is not written out, nor defined. The author, who I believe included the parenthetical remarks, clearly feels readers know of GIS if not ArcGIS.
Maptech Sale Complete

Posted: September 11th, 2008, 1:00pm CEST

Tags: Geospatial business

I wrote about the sale of Maptech back in April. Now word from a former employee (nothing official) that the company closed its doors on August 29th. The various parts have been divided up among several companies and one product, Pocket Navigator has been discontinued. Of perhaps most interest of the geospatial community:

Maptechs Land Navigation division, including products such as Terrain Navigator and Terrain Navigator Pro, as well as the popular online Mapserver, has been purchased by mytopo.com. We have also reached agreement to continue to host the historical USGS map collection. For technical support for these products, please email us at support@mytopo.com or call 406-294-9994. Sales inquiries may be directed to 800-627-7236.

Thanks to reader Brian for the tip.
Northrop Grumman Acquires 3001 Inc.

Posted: September 11th, 2008, 1:00pm CEST

Tags: Remote Sensing

This was announced yesterday (press release) but I note it here because there were so many press releases yesterday it seems to have gotten lost in the shuffle. NG released no information on the cost, but it seems the well known government contractor is getting more involved in data capture/analysis. This continues the consolidation we've been predicting in the industry in recent months.

3001 Inc. is based in Virginia with offices around the country.

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LBS Report Card

Posted: September 11th, 2008, 6:02pm CEST

Tags: lbs

More on XOHM: Sprint Nextel Embeds Location in WiMAX

Posted: September 11th, 2008, 5:45pm CEST

Tags: lbs

Google GeoEye Deal Aimed at Android?

Posted: September 11th, 2008, 5:04pm CEST

Tags: google

Patent Watch: Apple's Next Gen "Nike+" has Sensors, LBS Ads

Posted: September 11th, 2008, 4:34pm CEST

Tags: Sensors

ESRI/AP Making Waves in Gillette Wyoming Real Estate Market

Posted: September 11th, 2008, 3:43pm CEST

Tags: ESRI

US Military Moves Ahead with BASIC Satellite Plans

Posted: September 11th, 2008, 3:22pm CEST

Tags: Remote Sensing

Quote of the Week

Posted: September 11th, 2008, 2:25pm CEST

The Bizarre Story of the PA 9/11 Memorial and GIS

Posted: September 11th, 2008, 1:51pm CEST

Maptech Sale Complete

Posted: September 11th, 2008, 1:00pm CEST

Tags: Geospatial business

Northrop Grumman Acquires 3001 Inc.

Posted: September 11th, 2008, 1:00pm CEST

Tags: Remote Sensing