The GPS Insider

With this morning’s housing numbers showing an 11% YoY decline in median home prices and a 9.6 month supply at the current sales rate, this deal raises some eyebrows. Mobile real estate listing company Smarter Agent recently closed a $6.2 million “oversubscribed” first round of funding. The round was led by private equity magnate Ira Lubert, who co-founded Lubert-Adler’s multi-billion dollar real estate fund, LLR Partners, Quaker Bio Ventures and Versa Capital. The funding will support the roll-out of Smarter Agent’s GPS real estate searches including a Homes for Sale application due to launch at the beginning of Spring. Smarter Agent has a service which lets people find houses for rent or sale near where they are when they make the enquiry—it launched on Sprint a year or so ago and gains subscription revenue though a monthly fee. It claims that over 25,000 people used the service over the summer and 35 percent placed calls to the agent/property owner.

That’s a nice-sized investment for the company and should help to get things moving. Right now they’re stagnating with just one carrier, Sprint Nextel (which happens to be bleeding to death right now). Integrating the apps with an ad model should work well. And with one third of users placing calls to owners/brokers there could be a really nice commission model there as well. It would make sense to push the app for free, although the carriers would never let that fly. I’ll bet that Apartments for Rent application will get some good traction with the foreclosure tidal wave upon us…

via MocoNews.net

Share This

Non-profit motorist org American Automobile Association just announced AAA Mobile for GPS-enabled phones. You’ll get turn-by-turn directions, AAA’s diamond ratings for nearby hotels and restaurants, and a geo-location feature that relays your whereabouts to AAA should you need roadside assistance. AAA Mobile is another flavor of Networks in Motion’s white-label navigation application (see VZ Navigator, etc).

Strangely, the press release mentions absolutely nothing about carrier availability. Click a bit further and you’ll find that the service currently only works on Sprint with eight phones: Samsung M500, Samsung M510, Sanyo SCP-7050, Sanyo M1, Sanyo SCP-8400, Sanyo MM-9000, Sanyo SCP-3200 and LG 550 (Fusic). According to RCR Wireless, AAA is working with another, undisclosed carrier to expand the application’s availability (what application developer isn’t?). Jeff Green, managing director of location-based technology for AAA, said that about 50% of the 29 million calls received by AAA each year come from cellular phones, providing a large potential customer base for the application. Yes, but how many of those 14.5 million calls come from eight phones on the Sprint network, Mr. Green? Sound like a lot of spin here.

I honestly like the added-value features like AAA-ratings and sending your location to an AAA roadside assistance rep. But the turn-by-turn category is growing increasingly crowded. The Sprint deck alone now offers Sprint Navigator (powered by Telenav), Telenav GPS Navigator, Garmin Mobile, GuideWorx GPS, MapQuest Find Me and Ask Mobile GPS. I don’t believe there’s that much pie to go around at this point. However, if AAA manages to effectively tap some unique distribution channel (its membership) it might see some decent results.

check out AAA Mobile

Share This

Nothing says “back to school” like the smell of new sneakers, some sharp pencils…and a GPS in your kid’s backpack? UK-based Blue Tree Services is offering a GPS child tracking system squarely aimed at this market. The unit provides continuous location tracking with four-meter accuracy for £19.95 per month. A parent can view the child’s position anywhere in the UK and Ireland on a dynamic map, either through a secure website or on a mobile device. The system also includes an optional panic alarm which allows the child to alert parents if they are in trouble. Sales have apparently increased after the recent disappearance of the four-year-old British toddler Madeleine McCann in Portugal.

Mike Smuts, managing director of Blue Tree Services, said: “We have seen a huge demand for this product from across all sectors of society. It is good to know that parents can allow their children a little more freedom and at the same time manage their independence.”

This kind of mobile service already exists in the United States: Family Locator on Sprint, Chaperone on Verizon, and Family Locator on Disney Mobile. No one has a problem with installing LoJack on their car or even tracking felons, but it brings up major privacy and parenting issues when you start tracking children. I’m still undecided on the approach - ask me again in 10 years…

[from VNU]

Share This

Hot on the heels of a WiMAX collaboration with Clearwire, Sprint has partnered with Google “to bring WiMAX mobile Internet customers search, interactive communications and social networking tools though a new mobile portal. The collaboration between Sprint and Google will help spur new mobility and location-assisted services as Sprint untethers Internet access for consumers, businesses and government customers.” In simple terms: a Google homepage.

Here’s the best part: “Google and Sprint will optimize the Internet experience for the digital lifestyle,” said Barry West, president, 4G Mobile Broadband for Sprint. Yeah, ’cause I love my 1s and 0s. And didn’t Google already optimize it?

Google is focusing heavily on location-based services because better targeted ads equal higher CPMs. These location-based services inevitably mean maps, and the content cost will squeeze Google’s margins as its commitment to LBS grows. I would think a Google counteroffer for Tele Atlas or an acquisition of Navteq makes sense before they head too far down this road.

Read the press release

Share This

If you happen to have one of 12 GPS-enabled phones on Sprint/Nextel you can now buy three of Trimble Outdoors’ GPS applications in one bundle for $6.99/month.

• AllSport GPS
• Trimble Outdoors
• Geocache Navigator

Perfect for your adventures in the great outdoors (just bring the bug spray). CrunchGear’s Josh Goldman had good things to say about the bundle: “The combo is pretty fantastic letting you monitor your fitness goals, use your phone for geocaching and navigation and outdoor trip planning, mapping and GPS navigation.” Check out more on the bundle here.

Share This

Garmin announced today that Handmark, a mobile software distributor, will sell Garmin Mobile for BlackBerry devices enabled with GPS. The app will be priced at $9.99/mo. “We are pleased to offer Garmin Mobile through Handmark’s vast distribution channels because it will make it easier for BlackBerry customers to subscribe to Garmin Mobile, regardless of the carrier,” said Charles Morse, Garmin’s director of mobile and PND marketing.

The key phrase there is “regardless of the carrier.” Garmin, despite their enormous brand in the GPS space, has failed to make much progress in mobile. They are currently available only on Sprint, although Telenav is the carrier’s preferred partner. Garmin Mobile is relegated (along with MapQuest Mobile) to poor deck position. Looks like they are tired of waiting for the carrier to come around.

press release: Garmin® Teams with Handmark to Expand Garmin Mobile™ Distribution

Share This

Big LBS news today. At least for Loopt. Their social mapping software will be available in the coming weeks on more than 25 Sprint and Nextel phones for $2.99 per month, plus standard data charges. Loopt has been available as a free trial on Sprint subsidiary Boost Mobile since November ‘06 and lined up 100,000 users in the first three months. So the price isn’t bad. Until you realize that “standard data charges” means a $15 Power Vision plan. Ouch. Also interesting, it appears that Sprint is white-labeling Loopt as “Friend Finder.” Ouch again. At least their VCs will recoup a bit of that $5 million in Series A funding.

press release: Loopt To Launch On Sprint As First-Ever Social Mapping Service On A Major U.S. Carrier

Share This