Candid conversations about using GPS and wireless technology for work and fun.
Posts tagged LBS
Will “Augmented Reality” Become an LBS Reality?
Aug 28th
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An example of Augmented Reality, with information digitally overlaying a real-world view
If you’ve been keeping an eye on technology and LBS publications recently, you may have noticed that something called “Augmented Reality” (AR) seems to be the latest craze. Although I can’t guarantee the technology will reach iconic status like the slap bracelet and hypercolor t-shirt crazes of my childhood, I wanted to take a little time to discuss the technology and how it’s currently being used for a variety of mobile functions.
The basic premise behind AR is the overlay of digital or computerized images on a real-world view, whether it be direct or indirect. The digital imagery is used to supplement or enhance the real-world view in some way, providing interactive content or relevant information. One of the most common and identifiable uses of this is in the sports world, with AR being used to create the yellow first down line that is overlayed digitally on the field during broadcasts of college and NFL Football. That in itself would be enough for me to become a fan of AR, but that’s only the beginning.
With the ever expanding capabilities of today’s mobile devices, a number of companies have begun to use AR to overlay digital information onto smartphone screens. Using a combination of the phone’s camera view, GPS capabilities and internal compass, it’s possible to use AR to display relevant information on top of what your viewing right out of your phone’s camera lens. Don’t believe me? Here’s a post from The Boy Genius Report showing an AR app that will locate traffic cameras in the direction you’re viewing and enable you to instantly access the view from the lens of any camera you choose. As you can see, the indicators of the traffic camera locations are overlayed digitally on top of the actual view you see through the camera, and this information changes as you face different directions.
GPS Business News recently posted an in-depth article on the growing trend of AR within the LBS industry. The article identifies a number of companies who are using AR to do everything from displaying small “wiki” information bubbles on top of your camera’s view to give you insight into what you may be looking at, to pointing your phone’s camera in a specific direction and receiving an overlay of where the closest train station is. It appears industry experts aren’t seeing this as just another ”fad” technology either, as the article points out that research firm Gartner has identified AR as one of the top ten disruptive technologies for 2008-2012.
I don’t know about you, but this is the type of advancement that gets me excited to live in this technology fueled world of ours and to work in an industry with as much promise as LBS. Just think of the possibilities . . .
Report Indicates GPS Solutions Deliver Substantial ROI to Businesses
Jul 24th
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TeleNav Track Delivers Location Information from a Mobile Handset to an easy to view Web-based system
As some of you may know, in addition to the consumer turn-by-turn navigation applications we develop here at TeleNav, we also develop a suite of location-based products for business customers called TeleNav Track. These products range from our “LITE” solutions that provide the back office, through a Web-based interface, with location information for mobile workers and resources to our Premium services which build on the capabilities of the LITE services by providing deeper operational tools such as wireless timecard entry and form completion, mileage tracking and vehicle diagnostic monitoring right from the field.
We currently have approximately 9,000 organizations using our TeleNav Track products through our carrier partners AT&T and Sprint and we’re constantly receiving feedback from our customers explaining how the improved visibility into the location of their mobile workforce has cut costs through reduced mileage, more efficient dispatching and better customer service. Check out some of our case studies.
But don’t just take our word for it. A recent report from Aberdeen Group provides the results of a survey of companies using GPS enabled services and the findings indicate that GPS services are certainly providing substantial ROI for businesses. This TMCnet article outlines some of the survey findings.
According to Aberdeen Group, use of GPS enabled solutions by businesses with mobile workers and resources has reduced idle time and increased fleet utilization. The survey results indicated that these companies have experienced substantial reduction in fuel costs and cut their miles driven by nearly one-third. Reduced time spent behind the wheel means more time on the job site, which might also explain why these companies have experienced a 23 percent increase in workforce productivity.
Our customers have reported similar ROI after implementing TeleNav Track into their operations. This ROI is likely the reason Aberdeen Group reports that monitoring of workers and vehicles by companies responding to the research have increased by 12 percent over last year’s figures. Aberdeen Group expects that number to continue to rise as more companies look to benefit from integrating location information into their operations.
If you’re a small business owner with mobile employees or the manager of a large fleet, now may be a good time to look into location-based solutions. In the current economy, any solution that has been proven to lower operating costs could be a wise investment.
NY Times: “Are GPS Devices Going the Way of the Tape Deck?”
Jul 8th
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Have you made the switch from a dedicated GPS device to using GPS navigation on your smartphone?
This morning, the New York Times reported that smartphones are ‘beginning to displace’ standalone GPS devices as a more convenient way to get GPS navigation. The paper cited a recent report from Compete which asserted that more than 40 percent of all smartphone users are using GPS turn-by-turn on their device (for iPhone users its up to 80 percent!). The article also noted that sales of traditional GPS units have fallen sharply recently. (UPDATE: we are looking for the original Compete study but this may also include mapping services without turn-by-turn navigation)
Separately, Gartner published a report this week stating that the number of location-based services (LBS) subscribers will double in 2009 to reach nearly 96 million by the end of the year.
It goes without saying (but we’ll say it anyway) that we have always been believers of the potential of GPS navigation and other location-based services on phones – this was the vision of our founders when they started the company nearly 10 years ago. TeleNav services have been popular on BlackBerry smartphones for awhile but new smartphones, like the Sprint Palm Pre and the iPhone have also made a big difference. With large touch screens, these devices are very similar in size to many standalone GPS devices and can provide very nice and easy-to-follow on-screen mapping. (We’ve come a long way from the earliest versions of our service – check out this YouTube video one of our founders recently posted of TeleNav GPS Navigator v. 1.2 from 2002.)
I read a lot of comments from our customers over Twitter or on this blog that they have made the switch from standalone GPS devices to using our GPS navigation on their smartphone. What about you? Are you one of the 40 percent? Why or why not?
AT&T Navigator (powered by TeleNav) Named Consumer Navigation Application of the Year by Frost & Sullivan
May 20th
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Consumer Navigation Application of the Year, AT&T Navigator, in action on the Nokia E71x
Just two weeks ago we were patting ourselves on the back for being named Best Mobile Resource Management Solution on a Handheld Device by respected industry analyst firm Frost & Sullivan. While we always remain humble and maintain a fervent drive to improve our products, we thought we would take time out to give ourselves and partner AT&T one more pat on the back as it’s been announced that AT&T Navigator (powered by TeleNav) was selected by Frost & Sullivan as the Consumer Navigation Application of the Year.
AT&T Navigator puts an array of capabilities at your fingertips and is far more than just turn-by-turn directions and a map. Available on a number of AT&T devices, some features of AT&T Navigator include:
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Speech Recognition – with the simple push of a button you can speak the address or business name and AT&T Navigator will provide voice and on-screen turn-by-turn directions to your destination.
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Biz Finder - can’t find the best sushi restaurant in town? Don’t worry, AT&T Navigator has more than 10 million business listings complete with reviews and ratings.
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Daily Gas Prices – with the summer season upon us and gas prices climbing, one great feature of AT&T Navigator is the ability to receive gas price information at stations around your current location.
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Global Information – AT&T Navigator Global Edition provides 3D Maps of the United States, Mexico and Canada and Icon-mode navigation in Western Europe and China. This edition also supports a number of languages including U.S. English, UK English, Italian, German and Spanish.
We’re pleased that Frost & Sullivan has recognized AT&T Navigator with this award and we’re excited to be powering AT&T’s best selling application. As more phones feature AT&T Navigator, we’re hopeful that users will continue to see the benefits a connected navigation application offers to them.
In another positive piece of news, Frost & Sullivan predicts that U.S. carrier-generated annual revenues for location-based applications will reach approximately $3.3 billion in the consumer sector by 2013. It’s an exciting time for the location based industry and this fast paced growth and innovation are sure to benefit you. What location services would you like to see come to fruition in the coming years?
TeleNav CTIA Recap
Apr 10th
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TeleNav and Sprint Win First Place for TeleNav Vehicle Manager in the CTIA E-Tech Awards
Phew! We are still recuperating from all the activity last week at the CTIA Wireless conference in Las Vegas. It was an extremely busy week with a lot of great news. We’re pretty proud of our accomplishments from the event. Not only did we launch TeleNav GPS Navigator on the BlackBerry App World but we also won two awards at the show:
- Well-known wireless analyst Andy Seybold named our TeleNav Shotgun as the Most Innovative Mobile Device to launch in 2008. What a great honor – we were up against some tough competition. Mr. Seybold said that TeleNav Shotgun is a ‘must have’ for business travelers.
- Sprint and TeleNav won First Place for TeleNav Vehicle Manager in the CTIA E-Tech awards. The category was Enterprise and Vertical – General Business Solution. We’re really excited about our collaborative effort with Sprint on this product.
Besides the awards, our CEO, HP Jin, also spoke on the conference’s location-based services (LBS) panel along with executives from companies like Google and Virgin Mobile. The topic was “Commercializing LBS.” Here’s one reporter’s summary of the key discussion points.
If you went to the show and we didn’t see you, let us know. We hope to see you at the next one!
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