Spatial Dynamics

Earlier this week, TomTom-owned TeleAtlas signed a $4.6 billion, non-exclusive 5-year licensing agreement with Google to provide data for Google Maps/Earth and other mobile applications based on it’s Android open-source operating system. The contract gives Google access to data for more than 200 countries.

Mobile phones based on Google’s Android operating system will compete against the iPhone and Nokia’s Symbian OS (Nokia paid $8.1 billion for Chicago-based Navteq last year).

One interesting aspect is the symbiotic nature of the agreement, it allows the Google community to send (verified) map corrections directly to TeleAtlas. This should allow the database to be more accurate. benefiting the consumer, Google, and TeleAtlas; it could be considered a proprietary, wiki-database.

This deal between Google and TeleAtlas is not only an illustration of the epic market for quality GIS data, it demonstrates the unpredictability of markets.

It’s difficult to imagine the founders of Navteq and TeleAtlas forsaw their companies would eventually be acquired by larger Finnish or Dutch corporations.

Tags:   iPhone · mobile phones2 Comments

In the third quarter of 2008, Garmin is planning on releasing the Nuvifone, a 3G smartphone designed with its own operating system with GPS navigation at its core. Finding technical details about the Nuvifone is difficult, so it’s rational to assume that development is still underway.

It offers some things not available on the iPhone such as voice directions, preloaded maps, and a built-in database with “millions” of points of interest. It will also provide unique services, for example, when used with a vehicle mount, it will be able to help drivers find their car by automatically marking the position where it was last removed from the vehicle.

Currently, Garmin has no plans on releasing an SDK to allow developers to create custom applications. This suggests that any software used on the phone will have to be corporate-approved or unlicensed hacks. This will put the NuviPhone at a distinct disadvantage to the 3G iPhone, which will provide an SDK and open OS.

After all, can a smartphone be considered “smart” without an open OS?

Nuvifone doesn’t have a carrier yet, so Garmin has the option of selling it as an unlocked device for use with any telecom provider. However, without carrier subsidies, the price may simply be too high to gain a large market foothold. Perhaps, it will be marketed to consumers not subscribed to AT&T.

Instead of being a challenger to the iPhone, the Nuvifone appears to be better positioned to be a competitor against Dash Express. Personally, I would like to see Garmin partner with Google to create a GPS-centric device to contend with the 3G iPhone.

The world awaits a smartphone where GPS is more than an afterthought.

Tags:   Dash Navigation · Garmin · GPS · iPhoneNo Comments.

Geospatial technologies will be an integral in providing services for energy conservation. An obvious application will be related to vehicle navigation, devices such as the Dash Express will allow cars to travel more efficiently and spend less time in traffic.

Additonally, as alternative fuel sources (such as hydrogen and solar power) are being utilized in cars, location based services will be integral for the success of any non-petroleum fuel; consumers will need not only where to buy new fuels, but the most efficient route.

There are many ways to employ GPS in energy conservation, home environments can be altered in relation to the distance of the occupant(s). Home heating and air conditioning can be conditional on distance,  water heaters would be more efficient and appliances could better hibernate.

Spatial technologies should help people make more informed transportation decisions; software will be able to analyze individual movements and uncover ways to reduce energy consumption.

Energy independence will require innovation on a massive scale and spatial technologies are part of the solution.

Tags:   alternative energy · green technologyNo Comments.

The big news concerning Steve Job’s announcement of the July 11^th release of the 3G iPhone is its GPS capability. While the demo of the iPhone’s GPS is slightly underwhelming, it’s the first device capable of bringing location-based services to a critical mass.

In ancient times (pre-3G networks), GPS devices were closed mechanisms; a consumer was indentured with manufacturer-provided software. The 3G iPhone is unique since widgets will be available (wirelessly) to satisfy precise needs; from geotagging photos and virtual graffiti (and applications not imagined yet), there will soon be hundreds of free GPS-applications available.

Currently, major companies such as TomTom, (a Dutch maker of global automotive GPS systems) have announced plans integrate its GPS software with the 3G iPhone. Other companies such as Loopt already provide social mapping software on Apple’s AppStore.

Although some analysts may feel that after a surge of initial use, there will be a decline in GPS popularity due to privacy issues. However, younger consumers will likely have fewer privacy concerns as GPS technology becomes increasingly ubiquitous.

The release of the 3G iPhone is enormously important for both location-based services and GIS.

This is going to be huge.

Tags:   GPS · iPhone · location-based-servicesNo Comments.

Two weeks ago on the BBC, there was an article about a study that was published by the journal Nature that tracked the movements of 100,000 mobile phone users in an undisclosed industrialized country outside the United States. Researchers used cellular towers to track individuals’ locations whenever they received or made phone calls or text messages over six months.

The results indicated that the vast majority of people rarely traveled long distances, most people rarely traveling beyond several miles of a central point. People’s movements appear to follow a power law (or scale invariance).

The study established that nearly half of cellular users usually kept to a circle slightly more than six miles wide, while 83% of the people stayed within a 37-mile wide ring. Only 3% of the population regularly travels beyond a 200-mile wide circle, whereas less than 1% travels often beyond a 620-mile buffer.

Reading about this study provided me inspiration to better analyze the data I’ve collected from my GPS for the past 6+ months.

When examining my data points, the results indicate that over 25% of my data points occur within a mile from my primary residence. Additionally, roughly 65% of my GPS points fall within 3 miles of home. Some of this pattern is because I currently live in a dense, walkable part of DC; the distance between home and work less than 3 miles.

Here are the results in tabular form:

As GPS becomes more integrated into mobile phones, density maps will be effortlessly available to consumers. Furthermore, as location-based services continue to evolve, analysis of travel patterns on a massive scale will improve transportation design and allow for better containment of infectious disease.

Tags:   GPS · location-based-servicesNo Comments.

There was recently an article on CNN about a service called Trapster that allows users to share real-time locations of speed traps.

Subscribers are able to use the service using cellphones or PDAs and it has been integrated into Dash Navigation devices. Due to time sensitivity requirements, Trapster combines WiFi technology (provided by Skyhook Wireless) with GPS to provide instantaneous locations. This likely allows Trapster to perform near populated areas due to WiFi coverage.

The service appears to free, though it is unclear how the site makes money since there aren’t any advertisements on its website.

It could be interesting to see what Trapster will do with its historical record of speed traps, future versions may be able to predict where speed traps will be, based on prior reports. This information could be especially valuable on infrequently used roads and areas with less WiFi coverage.

It appears the technology behind Trapster could easily be used for more benevolent purposes, perhaps other services could be able to alert local police/firefighters of accidents, crimes, or fires.

Representatives of Trapster contend that one of the benefits of a service like Trapster is that it will get people to slow down. While this view could be considered arguable, it’s certain that this is the beginning of spatial social networks.

Tags:   Dash Navigation · location-based-services · Wifi & WiMaxNo Comments.

The Economist recently had an article on the evolving locations of server farms throughout the world. Since data processing and warehousing are becoming funtamental to virtually every industry , it’s becoming an essential “utility”.

While it will always be requisite for many servers to be located near population centers for speed requirements (search engine results, real-time financial data, etc), data processing and data back-up facilities can be located practically anywhere on earth, provided the data center has access to fiber-optic lines.

The article mentions how remote Quincy, Washington has become one of the bigger data centers in the United States. Being located on the Columbia River, it not only has access to a cheap hydroelectric power, it has abundant water to cool the fiber-optic lines, and its isolation provides security. According to Wikipedia, the local utility district offers server farms electricity at 3 cents per kilowatt hour, which is about half the national average.

Since almost half of the electricity used at data centers is used for cooling the facility, it makes sense to build these server farms in colder environments. Currently, Iceland is marketing both its cooler climate and abundant geothermal energy to lure data centers, and Microsoft plans on building a data center in Siberia.

In the future, there will likely be options for using the most environmentally friendly data servers. Perhaps there will eventually be a “green search” button on Google’s homepage, allowing consumers to conduct searches using (slightly slower) services of remote data centers.

Tags:   Economist · green technology · server farmsNo Comments.