This makes no sense to me, but I guess we are still in the "solution in search of a problem" mode for LBS. Here's the deal: Everyone gets the last short episode first. The rest are delivered in an order based on location. Does that sound fun or interesting?
The film, Nine Lives, cost of $25,000, and is a collaboration between Singapore's Nanyang Technological University's (NTU) School of Art, Design and Media undergraduates, and its computer engineering undergraduates who developed the GPS apps.
- Straits Times
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94 items tagged "lbs"
Related tags: Sizing [+], Market [+]
All Points Blog
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Movie Segments on Your Cell: Order based on Location
Posted: September 5th, 2008, 1:00pm CEST
Tags: lbs
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Next Phase of GPS-based Mobile Gaming?
Posted: August 28th, 2008, 1:40pm CEST
Tags: lbs
Despite all the hoopla, GPS-enabled mobile games have not exploded. But Wayfinder, a GPS services provider, says the time has come and they will enable the great games. How? By providing an API to their gaming platform to forum members on September 30.
- TechRadar
- press release -
Location Privacy: Are you over it yet?
Posted: August 25th, 2008, 8:02pm CEST
Tags: lbs
Seems like we don't hear much anymore about location privacy. In an op-ed piece today in the Wall Street Journal, L. Gordon Crovitz thinks we "got over" the concerns we had about many privacy issues. He cited several areas of privacy concerns that seemed to have vanished. For example, he cites an AOL study in Britain that found that 84% of people said they would not reveal personal income information online but that 89% of them willingly did. He provided a litany of other examples such as the fact that Amazon "closely records our choices of books" and that Google "scans emails to deliver relevant ads" as well as electronic tolls that record our location.
These digital examples ignore some of basic things that have always been around. Your name and address, for most of us, are in the phone book. If you gave out your business card, we know where you work too. Adding in the digital information such as profiles on LinkedIn or Facebook, you have probably listed your place of business, past associations, clubs, etc. So for about 90% of your day, just about anyone can find where you are. If we add in your travel time, your location is likely recognized by your cell phone. If you have a "friend finder" application...game over...we know where you are.
So, let's not offer faux concern over Internet privacy when we so willingly give and want people to see some of our private lives. And let's not cower behind the pretense of total location privacy when we desparately want the most accurate GPS-enabled mobile device. Can you say, "location-based advertising..."anyone, anyone? We let our guard down so easily and the online and mobile tools are there begging us to do so.
Crovitz cites Lawrence Friedman's book, "Guarding Life's Dark Secrets," and wraps up his editorial quoting Friedman who says, "If the nineteenth century was a world of privacy and prudery...then the twenty-first century is the world of the one-way mirror, the world of the all-seeing eye."
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Podcast: Outdoor Gear Purveyor REI Presents on the Company's New User-generated Maps Campaign
Posted: August 22nd, 2008, 12:33am CEST
Enclosure: [download]
Tags: lbs
REI's Rico Simpkins, Online Community Development Manager, speaks about the past, present and future of REI. Up until now, REI's Internet presence has been merchandise-based. REI's new goal is to bring the community they foster in their stores, to the Web, part of which is getting users to share vacation information such as user-generated maps of their travels. In Rico's words, he wants to develop an "online" community that gets people "offline."
Subscribe to Podcast RSS
Listen Now (to download, right click on the link at left and choose "save target as")
Ed. Note: The Web 2.0 Mapping and Social Networks Group is about sharing, teaching, learning and networking around current and future Web-based geospatial and social networking applications and technology. The group meets regularly on the third Tuesday evening of every month at Google in Silicon Valley, CA. Back Five Productions and Endpoint Environmental LLC are the producers of the Web 2.0 Mapping and Social Networks Meetup Group podcasts, which are sponsored by Directions Media.
Missed any podcasts? Want to subscribe via iTunes, Yahoo, etc? Here's the index with all the info.
Slashgeo
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1st study of how the Open Mobile evolution occurs
Posted: July 28th, 2008, 7:04pm CEST by gignacnic
Tags: lbs
Based on the Press Release of GISuser.com: "the Study 'Open Mobile' Dissects the Battle of Emerging Mobile Internet Ecosystems – and analyzes whether Google, Nokia, RIM and others, can catch the leader, Apple. This is the 1st study of how the Open Mobile evolution occurs, why it is inevitable and how it changes the value chain of the mobile industry. By understanding and anticipating the progression to Open Mobile, readers of the study will be able to tailor their product and service strategies and avoid costly errors and misjudgments as this major market transformation takes place." See this web link for more information: [www.gisuser.com]Read more of this story at Slashgeo.
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Georeferenced Mobile Phone Video Webcasting
Posted: July 24th, 2008, 5:58pm CEST by lxnyce
Tags: lbs
From the Ogle Earth Blog : "Finally! Live georeferenced mobile phone web video: Live mobile phone video streaming site Qik and live GPS phone position site Ipoki have collaborated to let you live stream video from your mobile phone to the web while also showing your location in real time. Here's the obligatory YouTube showing it off:"Read more of this story at Slashgeo.
All Points Blog
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LBS Giants Qualcomm and Nokia Settle Lawsuits; Qualcomm Ups Guidance
Posted: July 24th, 2008, 3:42pm CEST
Tags: lbs
Two of the biggest movers and shakers in LBS, Qualcomm (QCOM) and Nokia (NOK), announced that all outstanding lawsuits had been settled. Under a 15-year agreement, the two companies have resolved difference covering various Qualcomm patents for use in Nokia devices. In a separate announcement, Qualcomm announced (PDF) their Q3 results and revised guidance slightly downward for the remainder of the year but it did not dampen the deal with Nokia; QCOM stock soared 20% in earth trading today.
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Quote of the Week
Posted: July 21st, 2008, 2:13pm CEST
Tags: lbs
"For me, we've always been a believer that Sony Ericsson has done a lot in the past and had a good portfolio. But they've got settled in a comfort zone; they do music and digital imaging very well, but these are now a given for consumers. People are looking for something else now, and that's GPS and browsing and Internet services. Sony Ericsson is going there with the X1 [due in the fourth quarter] but that's just one product."
Gartner analyst Carolina Milanesi on Sony Ericson's disappointing earnings report and plan to cut 2000 jobs, speaking to ZDnet UK via ZDnet Asia.
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Arrington: Facebook, MySpace Blow it on iPhone without Location
Posted: July 17th, 2008, 3:40pm CEST
Tags: lbs
Michael Arrington at TechCruch (via Washington Post) chastises the two social networks because while they offer effective and popular apps for the iPhone, neither added in location, something he says is the only way to draw new users.
But while both applications are useful for heavy users, they won't drive new users to the services because they failed to leverage the killer iPhone feature - location awareness.
He acknowledges privacy concerns, but seems convinced these can be managed. It does seem these and other players are simply "late to the party" giving Loopt, Whrrl and others a jump on the mobile platform.
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Loopt Privacy Issues - Not Location Related
Posted: July 17th, 2008, 3:00pm CEST
Tags: lbs
To my amazement this kruffufle is not about sharing one's location, but rather unintended invites going out, per an InformationWeek blog. To Loopt's credit, it addressed the issue, apologized and fixed the problem. -
Disposable LBS Apps
Posted: July 17th, 2008, 2:47pm CEST
Tags: lbs
Stan Schroeder over at Mashable write on his idea: Location-Aware Disposable Apps For The iPhone. The iPhone part is just obligatory hype since any mobile with location sensing could support the concept.
So, what is the concept? It's not really disposable, but location-activated installation for apps. One example: when you are near the train station an app would "pop up" for installation with train times. Or, when you walk by restaurants, you'd see pop up installs for menus or reviews.
The comments tend toward, "don't pop up things I don't want" and are worth reading. The real answer in my mind is a broker for such services. The end user would select what sorts of apps they might find interesting and have the broker only pop those up. The categories might be: business, food, transportation, entertainment, etc. The other half of the story is the "disposable" part. Would it be possible for the app to "uninstall" automatically when the user "leaves" the area of interest? That'd be ideal for those who forget to dump unused apps. -
Podcast: You are a Sensor
Posted: July 15th, 2008, 8:00am CEST
Enclosure: [download]
Tags: lbs
Clever researchers have determined that you, even without a portable device can be an effective geographic sensor. This week we explore examples of how individuals, sometimes along with their electronic gadgets, can act as effective sensors for disease or natural disaster. Our editors share some proven techniques and explore how this type of data collection might play out in the future.
Subscribe to Podcast RSS
Listen Now (to download, right click on the link at left and choose "save target as")
Read the show notes
Missed any podcasts? Want to subscribe via iTunes, Yahoo, etc? Here's the index with all the info.
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Brightkite API Beta Opens (requests only)
Posted: July 11th, 2008, 3:56pm CEST
Tags: lbs
The BrightKite blog has details. Wow it must be really hard to figure out what LBS platform to develop on, let alone use in your day to day life.
via Profy
AnyGeo - Anything Geospatial
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NAVTEQ Community Blogs
Posted: July 10th, 2008, 8:40pm CEST
Tags: lbs
You may have seen that the Nokia purchase of NAVTEQ is finally a done deal - see details - but did you know you can browse the NAVTEQ community blogs online herePlease visit www.GISuser.com for even...
[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
All Points Blog
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U.S. Senate to Investigate Web-based Micromarketing and Tracking
Posted: July 9th, 2008, 2:40pm CEST
Tags: lbs
The New York Times is reporting today that the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee will hold hearings on how Internet marketers and ISP can track your surfing behavior. Watchdog agencies are suggesting that some are violating federal law. NebuAd, an Internet marketing company that works with ISPs to help track web activity is providing a way for Web users to "opt-out" of being tracked. There was no discussion in the article of how ISPs are now geotargeting Web activity but some of those commenting on the article recognized the use of IP-based location-based advertising. Once you know 'what' and 'who,' the next question is always 'where.'
AnyGeo - Anything Geospatial
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Location-based party hopping.. where was this when I needed it?
Posted: July 8th, 2008, 2:16am CEST
Tags: lbs
Oh man, where was this app when I was growing up and going to College! The youth today have all the cool stuff... imaging this - broadcast the location of your party via mobile and get free drinks in...
[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]] -
Event - Focus on Locus: Symposium on Location Based Services
Posted: July 7th, 2008, 9:32pm CEST
Tags: lbs
An interesting event taking place this Friday in New York... When: Friday, July 11, 2008 Where: 301 Uris Hall, Columbia Business School, 116th & Broadway, New York, NY Hosted by: Columbia...
[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
All Points Blog
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Loopt Launches Web, taxi-based videos to build the brand
Posted: July 7th, 2008, 2:09pm CEST
Tags: lbs
The campaign launches today and is aimed at tech-savvy young consumers. The webisodes feature David Price, host of the Internet's "Middle Show," (never heard of it but apparently it's in the late night vein). He uses Loopt's mobile friend-finding technology as he travels around New York City. There's a Loopt ad and a plug from the host for Loopt around the episode.
New weekly episodes will appear for two month on social networks like YouTube, Facebook and MySpace and on TaxiTV in 6,000 New York taxi cabs. I'll be curious to see what the advertising mavens think of this.
- MediaPost
AnyGeo - Anything Geospatial
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Team Phoenix to compete as a finalist in Microsoft’s Imagine Cup Competition with taxibuses
Posted: July 4th, 2008, 4:26pm CEST
Tags: lbs
What a cool story out of Telogis. A group of four students from the University of Canterbury, New Zealand, calling themselves Team Phoenix, have been selected as a finalist to compete in the Imagine...
[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Slashgeo
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1.2 Million points of interest available for free
Posted: June 28th, 2008, 11:22pm CEST by gignacnic
Tags: lbs
From the Wireless Developer Network web site: "Buzzd, a location-based city guide and social network on the mobile device, has just announced that it has amassed a database of over 1.2 million venues across the United States with reviews, address and other features after launching just four months ago. Consumers in major U.S. metropolitan areas can answer 'What's going on around me, right now?' from trusted listings, alongside real-time user generated content (UGC). In addition to the current and upcoming on-deck carrier deals, buzzd can be accessed by the 1.5 billion phones on the planet that have WAP access or the 3.5 billion phones that have SMS capabilities. On top of this, the buzzd service is free and requires no downloads or subscriptions". See this news for more info: [www.wirelessdevnet.com]Read more of this story at Slashgeo.
All Points Blog
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LBS Apps for Android Run Into Delays
Posted: June 23rd, 2008, 3:47pm CEST
Tags: lbs
The Wall Street Journal today cited delays in the delivery of Android-based mobile phones due mostly to the carriers themsleves. But some of the issues relate to changes that Google is making to the code while it puts the finishings touches to the final release. Two LBS applications developers, Buzzd and the Weather Channel Interactive, were mentioned as running into problems. Nihal Mehta from Buzzd said that since there weren't any Android phones on the market that it was difficult to test their software. Louis Gump from the Weather Channel had basically good things to say about Android but that because of the revisions that Google was making that there would be some rewrites to his code that would have to be made.
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Virtual Sticky Note
Posted: June 20th, 2008, 1:49pm CEST
Tags: lbs
No, not a new idea, but here's an interesting twist - who's paying for research:
And [Romit Roy] Choudhury [an assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at Duke] said he was encouraged when Verizon agreed to pay for the undergraduate work involved in the project. Graduate student work is covered as part of a larger grant from the National Science Foundation.
- News & Observer
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Nuvifone Update
Posted: June 19th, 2008, 1:00pm CEST
Tags: lbs
There's a video of the device making the rounds (Wired). Also, Asus will manufacture the device. it's the first time Garmin has outsourced hardware manufacturing, per DigiTimes. The Street quotes analysts who argue the expected $399 price with $100 discount from service providers for service won't fly. To compete with the iPhone it'll have to be $199. That means less margin and less profit. Garmin dropped 5% on Tuesday, Shares of Garmin have lost nearly half their value since the beginning of the year. On Tuesday, shares fell more than 5% to close to $43.48.
Slashgeo
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Location-based game receives funding
Posted: June 17th, 2008, 3:10pm CEST by lxnyce
Tags: lbs
fglobe writes "After where 2.0 the company Orbster was announced to be among “the best of a dozen geo startups” by Rafe Needleman in this article. Now the location-based game GPS Mission is online and has received funding (full article at www.gpsbusinessnews.com requires registration). The concept differs from other approaches by a somewhat neat web-based game designer (in Flex) & the always online client for dynamic content. Mobile client-based maps come from Autodesk. Insert generic closing question about chances of new startup here."Read more of this story at Slashgeo.
All Points Blog
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Podcast: Exclusive Interview with Judson Green, president & CEO, NAVTEQ
Posted: June 12th, 2008, 5:52pm CEST
Enclosure: [download]
Tags: lbs
In an exclusive interview, Judson Green, president and CEO of NAVTEQ spoke with Directions Media Editor-in-chief Joe Francica about a broad spectrum of topics related to the growth of the location-based services market and the ability of NAVTEQ to address an exploding market for digital map products. Mr. Green spoke of the opportunities for NAVTEQ not just in terms of his current ability to serve a variety of market segments but provided some insights in what may be possible in the future with NAVTEQ data. "Dont think of our map going into a nav system in the front seat of the car; think of our map going into the engine of the car to help drive the car and therein you find dozens and dozens and dozens of applications which would fundamentally improve the safety of the car, the productivity of the car, the efficiencies, and we think thats a very exciting area, said Green. Mr. Green, once the president for Walt Disney Attractions, now has the challenge of sorting through the opportunities that range from real-time dynamic content to advanced driver assistance systems.<br>
The interview was recorded on June 10, 2008 and lasts for approximately 20 minutes.
Subscribe to Podcast RSS
Listen Now (to download, right click on the link at left and choose "save target as")
Missed any podcasts? Want to subscribe via iTunes, Yahoo, etc? Here's the index with all the info. -
Details on Tele Atlas' MultiNav...a data product targeted at developers of LBS apps
Posted: June 11th, 2008, 4:46pm CEST
Tags: lbs
Today, Tele Atlas (TA) is releasing a new version of MultiNav, the street network database from the company that is optimized for navigation products and solutions. So, to be clear, though it is not technically a subset of MultiNet, the complete Tele Atlas road network database, MulitNav contains only certain features most applicable for navigation applications. I spoke with Purvi Rajani, Global Product Director for MultiNav, Ms. Rajani said, The product is analogous to moving from DOS to Windows for us; its a massive move forward for Tele Atlas. She offered several key points to consider in this new release:
Continue reading "Details on Tele Atlas' MultiNav...a data product targeted at developers of LBS apps" -
iPhone has GPS....Yaawwnn...Next
Posted: June 11th, 2008, 2:54pm CEST
Tags: lbs
I've steadfastly delayed comment on the addition of a GPS chipset (Broadcom chip according to Seeking Alpha) to the iPhone because I said a year ago they blew it when the iPhone 1.0 launched without it. So, now we have the iPhone 2.0 with GPS. Sounds like Apple is working from the Microsoft playbook: Launch a less than full featured product at a high price; wait for customer complaints, drop the price and re-launch a second version with better features. I guess Steve Jobs is now a student of Bill Gates. This is news?
So in a year's time what do we know? While Apple still holds only about 5% of the overall smartphone market according to InformationWeek it has picked up share on a quarterly basis since its launch according to CNNMoney. It won't replace your Blackberry which already had GPS capabilities. Why switch? Are you looking for the "coolness" factor or is it that you really like AT&T's cell coverage and speed (that's supposed to be a joke).
Maybe I'm just not a "Mac guy." I can't get excited about this particular news because the market has moved well beyond just GPS as a feature. We are now talking about what we can do with it and more LBS services have already been announced and launched by other phone providers that makes the iPhone news anticlimactic. This is not to say that the iPhone is not disruptive technology. I think it is. But the addition of GPS would have been in keeping with Apple's "coolness factor" to facilitate social networking and other location aware services at its 1.0 launch...not a year later.
What's next? An iPhone icon showing you where the closest Apple store is located? I guess you'll need GPS for that! -
Sony Ericsson's Location-based Music Search Patent
Posted: June 11th, 2008, 2:45pm CEST
Tags: lbs
From the patent LOCATION DEPENDENT MUSIC SEARCH:
A portable device may perform a location dependent music search. During the search, the portable device determines location information that identifies a location of the portable device, makes a request that includes the location information to a database, obtains a list of music sources associated with the location information from the database as a result of a search performed based on the request, selects a music source from the list, and outputs an audio signal associated with the selected music source.
- via IntoMobile
Slashgeo
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Cell Phone Tracking Reveals Users' Habits
Posted: June 8th, 2008, 7:56pm CEST by lxnyce
Tags: lbs
Slashdot currently has an article on the subject. Head on over to their site to see the many reactions from the huge slashdot community. Here is their summary : "'New research that makes creative use of sensitive location-tracking data from 100,000 cellphones in Europe suggests that most people can be found in one of just a few locations at any time, and that they do not generally go far from home.' More interesting than their conclusion, however, is how they got their data. 'The researchers said they used the potentially controversial data only after any information that could identify individuals had been scrambled. Even so, they wrote, people's wanderings are so subject to routine that by using the patterns of movement that emerged from the research, "we can obtain the likelihood of finding a user in any location." The researchers were able to obtain the data from a European provider of cellphone service that was obligated to collect the information. By agreement with the company, the researchers did not disclose the country where the provider operates.' Any guesses which European country requires cell phone providers to record where their customers make calls, and then allows them to give that data away without disclosing that they have done so?"Read more of this story at Slashgeo.
AnyGeo - Anything Geospatial
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The Sony Ericsson Paris Video of the UIQ P5 smartphone
Posted: May 30th, 2008, 7:12pm CEST
Tags: lbs
An interesting video from Paris has been "leaked" to the public. The clip shows the P5, a UIQ smartphone that appears very sleek, has a touch UI, boasts mapping (GPS-enabled??), camera, video, and...
[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
All Points Blog
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Why have LBS Games not "Popped"?
Posted: May 23rd, 2008, 4:20pm CEST
Tags: lbs
"Location is something that needs to develop, especially location based gaming. The only reason its not out there bigger is that noone has yet been able to develop a valid business model for it."
- Kay Gruenwoldt, Head of Industry Marketing, Nokia on a panel at Digital Media Wires LA Games Conference 2008 reported at Digital Podcast
Slashgeo
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GeoTwitter - GeoRSS with Twitter
Posted: May 23rd, 2008, 3:36pm CEST by lxnyce
Tags: lbs
The GeoRSS Weblog informs us the following : "I’ve never really got into the whole Twittering thing, but I’m sure this will be of interest to some. I just came across GeoTwitter, which is an open source .NET code base that does what you think." Please visit the links above for more information.Read more of this story at Slashgeo.
All Points Blog
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Sprint Pays in Location Information Privacy Patent Infringement Case
Posted: May 20th, 2008, 1:38pm CEST
Tags: lbs
A jury has found Sprint Nextel infringed on two patents owned by California intellectual property holding company Enovsys LLC. The decision, made Friday, but announced on Monday awarded Enovsys past damages of $2.78 million.
The patents in question relate not to determining position, but rather to a privacy system that protects the location information between user and carrier. The size of the award may have been impacted by testimony that "Sprint Nextel is the market leader in the growing field of location services and saw a 50% increase in related revenues in 2007 over the prior year."
Inventors Mundi Fomukong and Denzil Chesney hold the patents, the first patent was applied for in 1997. Fomukong owns the IP holding company. I suspect as LBS makes and more money, more suits will be filed.
- press release -
Nokia Happy with TomTom Approval, but Deals Differ
Posted: May 20th, 2008, 12:50pm CEST
Tags: lbs
While Nokia's lead financial executive noted his approval with the EU's approval of the TomTom/Tele Atlas deal, outsiders note that the deals are rather different.
Nokia is looking for revenue from mobile sources and the Internet in contrast to TomTom which for now is a pure play navigation player, says Reuters. While that's true, there's no requirement that TomTom will stay a pure play. All indications seem to be that Nokia's deal will go through and be announced before the August 8 deadline.
- Reuters
Slashgeo
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Track Customers Via Cell Phone Signals
Posted: May 19th, 2008, 4:05pm CEST by lxnyce
Tags: lbs
The Earth Is Square and SlashDot bring us news about how shopping centers are using people's cell phones to track their shopping habits and keep an eye on where they are. From the SlashDot summary : "According an article from the Times, customers in shopping centers are having their every move tracked. Using cellphone signals, the system can tell when people enter the center, how long they stay in a particular shop, and what route each customer takes. The system works by monitoring the signals produced by mobile handsets and then locating the phone by triangulation." Please visit the links above for more detail.Read more of this story at Slashgeo.
AnyGeo - Anything Geospatial
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Forum Nokia Code Camp: Location-based Services heads to Mountain View
Posted: May 15th, 2008, 5:42pm CEST
Tags: lbs
Heads Up! Forum Nokia Code Camp: Location-based Services is scheduled for June 10th inMountain View, California, US - In this LBS session, the Nokia team get you up to speed with the latest enabling...
[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
All Points Blog
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Cell Tower Locating Coming to India Sparking LBS
Posted: May 14th, 2008, 12:59pm CEST
Tags: lbs
Apparently the use of cell towers to locate cell phones is still very new in India. LiveMint (part of the Wall Street Journal) reports on Yalup, one of the first players to use the technology and its database of some businesses 150,000 in Bangalore alone to offer local search on cell phones. While the company is anticipating competition from Google, Microsoft and Nokia, the CEO claims its local data will help distinguish it.
Interestingly, the searches offered will use a static radius of 800 meters. "The listings you find would be (of those establishments) within a 800m (radius) of where you are located," says Gundaiah Sridhar, the 25-year-old chief executive officer of Yulop Websense Solutions Pvt. Ltd." -
GeoGraffiti - annotate locations with voice messages
Posted: May 7th, 2008, 1:00pm CEST
Tags: lbs
Mashable introduces the startup GeoGraffiti which offers a now free tool to post a "voice mail" and associate it with a location (ZIP Code or lat/lon). It's accessible via the Web (Google Map) of phone. Bottom line from the "review": not sure what it's good for, but that's what we thought of Twitter.
If we could get the accuracy for the messages and use a GPS... I could see using it as a tool to create a "treasure hunt" sort of game or even audio instructions for a bike ride or run. -
What if Apple adds GPS to iPhone?
Posted: May 2nd, 2008, 4:14pm CEST
Tags: lbs
There's no official word from Apple about a GPS chip in the upcoming version, but one of the major location providers for the (jailbroken) phone, Navizon, is not worried if the addition should come to pass.
We think it will be good and bad for us," Navizon CEO Cyril Houri said in an interview Thursday. The bad means that many iPhone users won't think they can benefit from Navizon's cellular triangulation product, VirtualGPS. The good means that more users will understand the widespread benefits offered by positioning systems.
iPhone users hold 350,000 of Navizon's 600,000 users. No word on how many pay for the premium service ($24.95 adds better accuracy, route tracking and more, etc.).
- InformationWeek -
LightPole Update
Posted: April 23rd, 2008, 1:34pm CEST
Tags: lbs
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Nokia's Landmark Based Navigation
Posted: April 14th, 2008, 1:00pm CEST
Tags: lbs
There's been inklings of this idea in the past and it sounds valuable. Instead of using a map to tease out your exact location, take a picture of a landmark, have a database with many such photos find a match, and viola, you are found! Nokia is working on this sort of technology and it's already been tested by students at Stanford and U. Washington.
Continue reading "Nokia's Landmark Based Navigation" -
Latest on TomTom/Tele Atlas
Posted: April 11th, 2008, 1:45pm CEST
Tags: lbs
From the TomTom Front, several seemingly different stories on status:
(1) The company "declined to offer concessions to resolve European Union antitrust concerns as part of an EU review of its proposed acquisition of digital-map maker Tele Atlas NV," according to Bloomberg. That means that TomTom is going with its initial takeover plan and "giving nothing" to make the EU more comfortable with the competition issues. The information is gleaned from the EU not changing its decision date. TomTom had until yesterday to submit any remedies; a final decision is expected May 21.
(2) Reuters paints a different picture:
Tele Atlas shares reversed a 5 percent gain on a Thomson Financial News report that the European Commission would not seek harsh remedies for TomTom's proposed merger with Tele Atlas, but traders in Amsterdam said there was doubt about the EU review process, sending Tele Atlas shares sharply lower.
TomTom not offering remedies and the EU not seeking them sound different to me. Still all these reports seem a bit speculative.
(3) Thomson Financial suggests a remedy is on the table.
Satellite navigation group TomTom NV. is offering to license out map databases to alleviate European antitrust concerns over the company's proposed $4.6 billion takeover of map maker Tele Atlas NV., sources told Thomson Financial News.
Suggested licensee? AND.
Another source said the commission is no longer asking for 'physical' remedies -- such as the selling the map database -- but wants 'behavioural' remedies, which could include database updates and contractual agreements.
That seems to jibe with Reuters comment above.
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FCC Taking Steps to Implement WARN Act with Mobile Alerts
Posted: April 10th, 2008, 6:25pm CEST
Tags: lbs
Yesterday the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued a press release on how it will alert the public with text messages in case of a national or more local emergency. The First Report and Order "will support the ability of the nations wireless carriers to transmit timely and accurate alerts, warnings and critical information to the cell phones and other mobile devices of consumers during disasters or other emergencies." The Order is in compliance with the WARN Act, which I have reported on previously (1, 2, 3), and looks to be one of the first statements issued to telecommunication providers that offers guidance on how the legislation should be implemented.
I spoke to Rob Kenney at the FCC to clarify how the alerts will be issued geographically. For now, a county is the smallest geographic level available but could be more localized depending on the carriers network operations and individuals who opt in to the service, according to Mr. Kenney. In terms of a natural disaster such as a hurricane or tornado, which may span multiple counties, the alerts will be sent to the affected regions. State officials, emergency management agencies or first responders will have a say in how the alerts are sent. Presidential Alerts will be issued nationally. -
Bar Code Pilot Has Mixed Success at Case Western
Posted: April 9th, 2008, 1:00pm CEST
Tags: lbs
Mobile Discovery, based in Reston, Va., is running a pilot that uses bar codes posted around Case Western Reserve University to deliver (for a fee) information to those who scan them with their cell phones. The most used app? When's the bus coming? Another hot topic? A graphic in a presentation made by chief executive of Mobile Discovery David H. Miller in a class that showed a woman with such a code on her jeans. The graphic prompted some discussion in class and an article in the school paper questioning such a message.
Unfortunately, there's not been too much interest, thus far, though details are not available from the company. The article from ZDnet notes that many blame the cost. I think part of the issue is that many of the promotions are not really tied to the location. The bus example and alas the implication of the jean's example, are strictly location-based. You want to know when the bus is coming if you are at that location. I'll let you all figure out the other one. But, would you scan an ad just anywhere for a movie trailer? Or to enter a contest? The location is not compelling (unless you are bored there, I guess). The other challenge for me at least? Knowing when the bus is coming should be free - and posted at the bus stop and the 'net!
One other issue - if our phones are moving toward knowing where we are - why do we need barcodes? I figure in time my phone will know when I head toward say Porter Square in Cambridge eventually it will know my routine (take the bus every Mon/Wed/Fri) and let me know that the 77 is ten minutes away from "my stop." -
LBS at CTIA
Posted: April 8th, 2008, 7:51pm CEST
Tags: lbs
I have to say it sure felt like there was limited geo-news from the event. Dominique Bonte, Principal Analyst, Telematics & Navigation reviews what few hot stories appeared. -
TomTom Drops Expectations; Stock Drops
Posted: April 8th, 2008, 7:29pm CEST
Tags: lbs
TomTom said its first quarter revenue will be around 260-270 million euros far below last year's 296 million euros.
With formal reporting expected April 23, operating margins will be single digits vs. recent double digit quarters. European trading saw shares tumble 13.8 percent to 22.78 euros ($35.78) in Amsterdam.
The impact on the TA acquisition?
TomTom's share price has halved since November, and after Tuesday its market capitalization is slightly less than the price it is paying for Tele Atlas.
One analyst suggests it may make it difficult to finance all the debt that comes with the deal. However,
TomTom's Chief Financial Officer Marina Wyatt said she was "comfortable" that TomTom will be able to meet creditor's demands in financing the Tele Atlas buy.
- AP
Slashgeo
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Location-based services poised to hit $13.3B
Posted: April 7th, 2008, 7:23pm CEST by gignacnic
Tags: lbs
From an article found on the Location News web site : "Increasing availability of embedded GPS capabilities in mobile handsets will translate to a huge boom in location-based services, where revenue is expected to grow from $515 million to $13.3 billion in the next five years, according to ABI Research". For more information see this web site : [www.location.net.in]Read more of this story at Slashgeo.
AnyGeo - Anything Geospatial
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Event of Interest - Explore the Mobile Future
Posted: April 3rd, 2008, 4:23pm CEST
Tags: lbs
Heads up on this one... Carnegie Mellon, UC Berkeley Conference to Explore the Mobile Future, April 22. Details - Acknowledging the rise of handheld mobile devices as a dominant computing platform...
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Navteq partners with uLocate
Posted: April 3rd, 2008, 3:02pm CEST
Tags: lbs
Wow, these guys don't waste any time partnering up... although you could see this one coming a mile away! Navteq has just announced today that they have partnered up with uLocate (these guys...
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SpotJots from ten23 takes 1st place in 2008 Navteq LBS Challenge with SpotJots
Posted: April 3rd, 2008, 12:42am CEST
Tags: lbs
Just managed to catch the award ceremony for the 2008 Navteq LBS Challenge from Vegas... some very interesting apps from some new names. And the winner is... from ten23 Software SpotJots (See...
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All Points Blog
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NAVTEQ LBS Challenge Winners Announced at CTIA 2008
Posted: April 3rd, 2008, 12:17am CEST
Tags: lbs
Jeff Mize from NAVTEQ announced the winners of the Global LBS Challenge at CTIA 2008 (Other NAVTEQ Challenges were held at the Mobile World Congress and past CTIAs; CommunicAsia (Singapore) will host an Asia/Pac LBS Challenge). Watch the replay of the awards.
Rob Taylor, Director of Forum Nokia, a group within Nokia that is responsible for promoting applications and new innovation, noted how well run the LBS Challenge is conducted. Nokia commissioned study that revealed that 6 out of 9 applications that they supported recently had a location component. N95 devices are selling incredibly well, too.
Semi-finalists:
America's Emergency Network; Gamepark; Duzine (Sportstalk); heywhatsthat (POI data); Proxido by Holloware; Phonetag by Knowledgewhere; Taxistop by Medianet (Taxi finder); Wildlab by Mediated Spaces; POI Cruiser by SearchQuest; Spotjots by ten23 (social networking app); Trapster.com (speed trap alert system); Twipster (travelers can share vaction experiences); Urban Mapping; MizPee by Yojo; Zoom by Zoospi.
...And the Winners:
Third Runner up: America's Emergency Network for their mobile alerts application.Second Runner up: heywhatsthat
First Runner up: Mediated Spaces Wildlab
Grand Prize Winner: ten23 with Spotjots
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NAVTEQ LBS Challenge
Posted: April 3rd, 2008, 12:09am CEST
Tags: lbs
George Filley of NAVTEQ notes the following facts in his opening statements at the LBS Challenge in Las Vegas at CTIA to provide a view of the current LBS marketplace:- Surpassed 10 million milestone in downloads of LBS services
- Carriers are getting into the game
- CDMA devices are 94% GPS-enabled; GSM devices are getting there
- Applications for mobile navigation is going below $9/month.
- Critical mass momentum around open access and potential it holds for developers
- Applications are reflecting the livestyles of consumers
- Only 3% of LBS subscribers only using LBS applications but growth will be driven by carriers that must increase the marketing they are doing and including LBS as a portfolio of serivces that they offer.
- LBS must see continued innovation
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LBS Apps Flood CTIA
Posted: April 2nd, 2008, 3:18am CEST
Tags: lbs
A flood of LBS-related press releases hit us yesterday from CTIA. You can see all of them at LBS360.NET. A few notable highlights:
Check out a few of the YouTube vodcasts from Networks in Motion on the Atlas Book Navigator; and AAA Mobile on their nav device that can send your location directly for roadside assistance.Getting real-time traffic information seems to be the hot topic with press announcements from TraffiCast's real-time road speed, TrafficGauge's traffic escape service on Blackberry's, Traffic2Go.com from Traffic.com for Java phones, and TrafficLand that aggregates live traffic video from a network of traffic cameras.
Garmin is touting how your cell phone can look like its nuvi PND and has completed alliances with MapQuest and Google allow a user who is sitting at their PC to send navigation information from Google or MapQuest to a Garmin PND with its "Send to GPS" function.
AnyGeo - Anything Geospatial
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Nice job on the video Networks in Motion (NIM)
Posted: April 1st, 2008, 7:20pm CEST
Tags: lbs
I'm not sure why more companies don't do this! NIM has released a YouTube video directly from CTIA Wireless 2008 describing what they to offers visitors to their booth. With smartphones now shipping...
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All Points Blog
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Blue Dasher Offers Differentiators on Street Level Photography
Posted: April 1st, 2008, 4:35pm CEST
Tags: lbs
Blue Dasher came out with announcement today about their new street level photography. I see Blue Dasher distancing itself from other immersive technologies in three areas:
Density of photos. For the applications we might perceive today, I see the 1 photo/10 ft. as a benefit to realtors and prospective real estate buyers who are seeking as much information as possible and giving better "surround-view" perspectives. I could also see a 3D application in the future. But in general, although it looks like unnecessary oversampling, the data is there for other opportunistic applications.
Contextual Advertising. Need an ad placed in the 4500 block of Main Street? No problem. 7-Eleven needs a virtual billboard ad 1000 feet ahead of every c-store? No problem. I like the ability to place an ad wherever you want. It could be a boon for hyper-local ad placement. And ad agencies are probably salivating on placing virtual ads on the back of buses.
Accurate Geocodes. Linking the photos to accurate geocoding provides easy searching and routing, otherwise you simply have dumb imagery. Plus they are offering an API to integrate it with an exising applications. I guess that's four good reasons.
AnyGeo - Anything Geospatial
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Catch the greatest in LBS via webcast on Wednesday
Posted: March 31st, 2008, 8:08pm CEST
Tags: lbs
Webcast of interest... can't get to Vegas this week to take in the Navteq LBSChallenge awards ceremony? No problem as you can kick back in your office chair and watch the awards live via webcast - a...
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All Points Blog
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Surius, XM and LBS
Posted: March 28th, 2008, 2:17pm CET
Tags: lbs
The New York Times Wheels blog offers insight into up and coming offerings from the mergeable satellite radio companies.
XM is touting its new NavWeather service. For an additional $3.99 a month, current weather information is correlated with drivers positions so that warnings about impending meteorological disasters are flashed on a navigation systems screen and routes can be recalculated. One wonders how often such a feature might be useful (are tornadoes or hail storms common in your area?), but its an added hook that when tied to live traffic reports could make some drivers trips smoother.
The first appearance will be in the Accura 2009 TSX.
Not to be outdone, next door at the Sirius booth the company was hawking its new Travel Link service, which is $6.99 a month. It doesnt include weather warnings related to a drivers route (just a standard weather report), but it does have several so-called location-based services, including local gas prices and movie listings en route. Travel Link will be available in 2009 Ford, Lincoln, and Mercury models.
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Wall Street Journal on LBS and Privacy
Posted: March 28th, 2008, 1:35pm CET
Tags: lbs
The WSJ is right on top of things with an article titled, Phones Will Soon Tell Where You Are. It focuses on people tracking and related services, specifically Loopt, which offers "buddy tracking," now offered by Sprint and soon, the article suggests, by Verizon Wireless.
Of interest to me:
He [Sam Altman, Loopt co-founder and CEO] set out to give Loopt strict rules to prevent misuse. The most significant is that cellphone users who sign up can make their whereabouts available only to a network of friends who also buy the service.
I guess that's a safety feature, but aren't some crimes committed by friends and relatives? Moreover, isn't that also a marketing ploy, so they don't just get you to buy in, but also your "circle?" -
EU Extends TomTom/Tele Atlas Review Another 10 Days, Stock Falls
Posted: March 28th, 2008, 12:43pm CET
Tags: lbs
Thursday the EU said it would extend its review of the proposed acquisition by 10 working days. The decision was made by the commission and both companies, said a spokesperson. Tele Atlas lost as much as 3.7 percent on the news. The extension may mean the acquisition may not complete until the second half of the year. One other change: TomTom now has a bit more time to offer remedies to the concerns.
- Bloomberg -
Campus Alerts, The WARN Act and Location-based Emergency Notification
Posted: March 28th, 2008, 10:29am CET
Enclosure: