LBS at CTIA

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.

A Happy Ending to a Geo-Patent Story

Well I guess it’s a happy ending; I’ll let you decide. This tale is from C|net’s coverage of a recent Ocean Tomo patent auction. I’ve written about the organization before.

Realtor Martin Eldridge, for instance, got $1 million for a location-based application that combines GPS-like data with information services. If you walk by a painting rapidly in a museum, for example, you might just get the name of the painter sent to your cell phone. If you pause, it might forward you the date it was painted and other details.

He came up with the idea while driving down Highway 1 in California.

Taking bids by phone. Many bidders call in their bids by phone to maintain secrecy. Phone buyers, however, will also have observers in the room.
(Credit: Ocean Tomo)
“I wanted to know what I was driving by,” he said, elated and sipping champagne. He wrote Google, Garmin, Microsoft (all of whom have extensive patent portfolios that the rigorously defend) and several other companies about licensing. None responded. The auction gave him a way to make some money off of it.

TomTom Drops Expectations; Stock Drops

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

New York Times Maps Stories on Google Earth

That the word from the Lat Long blog. While I’m all for different front doors to news, I for one will not be cranking up Google Earth to read the Gray Lady. I’m much more likely to use services that filter and send me news based on my area of interest. Also, doesn’t the New York Times, which has been on the forefront in its website, seem a bit late to the party?

Podcast: BI and Web 2.0 and the Latest in Location Privacy Lawsuits

This week our editors revisit two themes that continue to pop up as geospatial technology, ideas, visualization and data move into the mainstream IT world and popular culture. First we look at two announcements regarding the integration of Business Intelligence or BI, with online mapping. Then, we’ll pick apart the latest data capture privacy lawsuit - where a couple is suing Google over StreetView images of their house.

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