Uniden is a relative newcomer to the GPS game, but it has years of experience in high-end radar detectors. So it’s no surprise that, come CES, it will be the first company to introduce a MapTrax GPS navigator with radar detection built in. This should be a profitable niche for Uniden, even as prices and margins are plummeting on mainstream PNDs. Of course, detectors are illegal in a few regions. Maybe Uniden will lock down the detector functionality in banned areas like Virginia by using GPS location.
This year Google has teamed up with the real Santa-tracking pros — the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). You can currently count down to the big sleigh ride on the NORAD Tracks Santa website, and starting at 1 am PST on December 24th, you’ll be able to download a special KML file that lets you follow his trip in real time through Google Earth. Check out the Official Google Blog to read the humorous story of how NORAD (and now Google) became involved in the Santa-tracking tradition that began more than 50 years ago.
And while you’re in the Santa mood, check out Wired Magazine’s side-splitting analysis of Santa’s supply chain and the $27.5 billion annual cost for Operation Christmas (warning: PDF link)
O’Neill Europe is showing off their new NavJacket, a Gore-Tex jacket with an integrated navigation tool. The NavJacket is the product of a partnership between O’Neill’s Wearable Electronics Department and MyGuide. According to some O’Neill propaganda, the jacket allows you to navigate through the mountains with the help of the integrated display on the sleeve and the audio instructions in the hood (is it that annoying British female voice?). “Simply enter your desired location and let the NavJacket guide you effortlessly down the slopes.” I’m fine with getting routing for something static like streets, but for an environment as dynamic as a ski slope? Also displays your current speed, weather forecasts, and details about your route, such as distance and time. Finally, the jacket has a friend finder function, which allows you to track down buddies on the slopes. The NavJacket will be available as part of the O’Neill Fall/Winter 2008/09 collection.
Google’s My Location has really milked the media machine this week, certainly an accomplishment for incorporating a decade-old technology into Google Maps. Sure, there’s bound to be some confusion and ignorance from writers and readers alike, but I was floored by some of the reactions. How ’bout this headline from Om Malik: With Google’s My Location, Who Needs A GPS? Gee, maybe anyone who wants to get accurate routing (navigation)? Cell-ID positioning works fine for local search (read: finding the nearest Starbucks) in densely populated areas where accuracy can be as good as 500m, but in suburbs and rural areas where cell towers are spread out, it could be closer to kilometers. Countless wireless carriers and application developers have attempted to leverage this technology with little success due to its low accuracy.
I subscribe to Minyanville’s Buzz & Banter ticker and my jaw dropped when I read a post this morning from options analyst Jon Najarian titled Google Developing Mobile Competitor to GPS: “What isn’t GOOG going to own going forward? Reports on sites like VNUnet.com say the search giant is developing a competing mobile navigation system to tap the multi-billion dollar GPS market.” Really? Apparently even the Street analysts are blinded by the Google Machine into believing that everything they announce is homegrown and/or new. Yikes.
Lest you think I’m completely sour grapes on this, using cell-ID will be a useful supplement to GPS since it works indoors, uses less battery power, and has a faster “fix” time. Same will happen with WiFi positioning. Nice feature, but please put down the Kool-Aid, everyone.
Something happened in the mobile turn-by-turn space a few weeks ago that didn’t get a lot of play in the news. But it was a shift that I saw as game-changing. Not a new feature or distribution channel, but a new price: sub $5.
MapQuest, in partnership with Telmap, is now selling MapQuest Navigator 5.0 to consumers through a new direct-to-consumer storefront on MapQuest.com. Customers who subscribe before December 31, 2007 can download the application directly to their handset and purchase the service for the “promotional price” of $4.99 per month for the life of the subscription. This new version is available for several Blackberry devices for Sprint, T-Mobile and AT&T customers.
At this price and with the included set of features, Mapquest Navigator might capture a new segment of customers that is not willing to pay the industry-standard $10 a month. Indeed, a poll by Harris, conducted in May and June 2007, shows that with a price set at $11.99 per month only 4 % are extremely likely/very likely to subscribe; at $8.99 they are 6% and at $5.99 it grows to 19%. (read more here). Just one question: are BlackBerry owners that price sensitive? I’m inclined to think that they’re chasing the wrong segment with price cuts. The Telmap guys are sticking with the “promotional price” story, but we all know that it’s nearly impossible to raise the price on consumers (just ask GM about their 2005 discounts). At $5/month, there’s not a lot of pie to go around: application developer (Telmap), brand (MapQuest) and content provider (Navteq). Gotta sell a lot of apps at that margin…
Don’t you love the drama? Less than a month after Tom Tom finalized a $2.5B bid for Tele Atlas, Garmin trumps with a $3.3B offer. This puts the Tele Atlas board in a very uncomfortable position. The strategic fit with Tom Tom is much stronger - both companies are based in the Netherlands and most of Tom Tom’s devices use TA data. But the board has a fiduciary responsibility to TA shareholders and would have no choice but to accept the new offer, if the bid is indeed apples to apples. On the other side of the table, Garmin almost exclusively uses Navteq data. I’m not sure how deeply integrated the data is, but it won’t be a trivial process to change horses. And here’s the kicker - Garmin won’t make the offer official until December 4th, the same say the Tom Tom bid expires.
How’s this for a possible soap opera: Tom Tom loses Tele Atlas and switches to Navteq for licensing data. Garmin gets TA, overpays and has a nice goodwill write-off in a few years. Nokia ends up the winner, despite a mammoth $8.1B price for Navteq, since mobile LBS is the future. Meanwhile, Google launches an open source mapping program that makes all of this consolidation seem laughable in hindsight. It could happen…
So much for the “several weeks” window for the N95-3. Engadget is reporting that the phone is available immediately in Nokia’s New York and Chicago flagship stores for $699. No word on an AT&T agreement…this might not be a good sign for a subsidized version.
I know I said that I was done with AT&T last week, but it appears that I spoke too soon. Turns out it’s the SGH-i780, a device that was passed around at Dubai’s GITEX show earlier this month. From the spec sheet adjacent to the display phone, you can pretty clearly make out Windows Mobile 6 Professional (touchscreen), WiFi, HSDPA, a 2 megapixel camera and GPS. Might this be the rumored BlackJack 2?
Engadget claims that the N95-3, the U.S. version of the popular GPS-capable phone with American 3G support, is scheduled to hit shelves in the next two weeks. And by American 3G, we’re talking about AT&T (850 / 1900MHz bands of HSDPA). The N95 has been putting up solid numbers in Europe and Nokia looks to be pushing this phone to other regions now. I’ve heard rumors (from very reliable sources) that Telstra will be launching a version Down Under. And getting AT&T to subsidize one in the U.S. would be a very good thing.
Let’s wrap up the week with a final GPS-enabled phone from AT&T. I’m honestly amazed at the sheer number of capable handsets rolling out right now (HP iPAQ 900, Moto Q Global, BB 8820, HTC Tilt). Either AT&T is seriously ramping up their location-based strategy or the handset vendors are pushing the agenda. I’m a happy camper either way. So the HTC Kaiser (also known as the TyTN II or 8925) is currently available from numerous European carriers or unlocked from importers. But we all know that Americans like their phones cheap and subsidized on contract. AT&T was scheduled to launch a rebranded version as the “Tilt” in the September 25th release window but it looks like it might slip to October. You want to know specs? Windows Mobile 6 Pro, HSDPA, QWERTY pad, WiFi and SiRFstar III GPS.
