.Tel Sales Open Today; Implications for Location?

The news is covered in many places, but the New York Times Bits blog highlights how .Tel can, in addition to being a holding place for phone numbers, e-mail addresses and the like could also be a holding place for location information.

Individuals can also choose to display their location, allowing their contacts to see where they are at any given time and opening the door for location-based services.

The way this will work, as I understand it, instead of “saving” a phone number in your address book for an individual/company, you’d save their .tel domain. Thus whenever they update anything - phone number in this case - you address book is updated. The same for their location.

For now only trademarked names are for sale; the rest of us can buy (expensively) in Feb and (less expensively) in March.

Latest Navigon Panned

It’s the 8100t and both David Pogue at the New York Times and Rachel Cericola at Wired vote a clear “No.” This is the first time in a while I’ve read a sold “don’t buy it” review of any GPS. Even the low end ones typically get an “ok for the price” review. The $600 8100T fails on interface issues per Pogue and sluggishness and outdated data per Cericola, not pure GPS tech.

Phone’s Killer App: Voice

“These survey results highlight that voice still remains the ‘killer application,’ despite the growth of some data services,” reports Ronald Gruia, Principal Analyst for Emerging Telecoms at Frost & Sullivan after reviewing a survey that highlights how few people, worldwide, are using phones any differently than they did five years ago. The survey commissioned by AppTrigger included 1,850 mobile users across the UK, North America, Canada and China.

- Cellular News

When the Location Pitch Fails…

Ok, I have to give the folks at the PR firm credit, they tried to catch me with this pitch in their e-mail: “Item? Illinois Boasts #11 Rank for Fastest Internet in the Nation - What does that mean for businesses, consumers?” The goal: to get me to write about a survey that found the fasted Internet speeds. The attached PR (already posted on a radio station blog) included a list of how all 50 states ranked.

It took me a few moments to realize the sender tracked the address of this blog to Illinois (that is the Directions Media biz address). But the sender didn’t explore our publications to learn that our publications are national/internationally focussed, not local. Oops.

I think the addition of a map along with the raw data would have turned it into a national tech story. Then it could have been pitched that way to tech pubs like ours.

Hardware-based “Tourism Radio” for New Zealand

There’s quite a push to link GPS and tourism, most notably on cell phones and devices users already have in hand. In New Zealand one hardware/software combo combines a GPS and a delivery system that interrupts current radio to fill in the driver and passenger about landmarks whizzing by. Tourism Radio is aimed at rental car agencies and many have already signed up.

I think we are moving away from “specialized devices” for content and aiming toward a single interoperable solution (even if we must pay for some content). I don’t expect this type of solution to last long; it should be part of the nav device or the radio, if not the phone!

- Homes Worldwide Australia