Monday, June 15. 2009

MapQuest wants you to know...

This from MapQuest:

Today, MapQuest released the new MapQuest 4 Mobile for iPhone application. This free application represents a leap forward in how people interact with maps, directions and local search on their iPhones. MapQuest 4 Mobile for iPhone includes one-tap category search, easy options for creating and following routes (multi-point and full-screen landscape view) and integration with MapQuest.com. Businesses also benefit with an option for placing branded icons in the app.

More at the MapQuest blog.

InformationWeek Reports BI Business Grows 22% in '08; Will LI follow?

Citing studies by Gartner, the market research firm, InformationWeek reports that business intelligence (BI) software solutions grew 22% in 2008 to $8.8 billion with only six vendors comprising 75% of the market: SAP/Business Objects, Oracle, IBM/Cognos, SAS, Microsoft, and Microstrategy. SAP/Business Objects own 24% of the market outright with $2.1 billion in revenue. Gartner suggested some bifurcation of the market with IT departments either purchasing "stack-centric" solutions (e.g. IBM, Oracle, etc.) or targeted solutions for specific departments thus leaving mid-tier BI players with decreasing revenue.

It got me thinking about two issues:

1. Are location intelligent (LI) solutions following the same trend: Will the larger, "stack centric" LI providers like Microsoft, Oracle and SAP be the leaders in the LI space? Are they already?

2. Will LI be absorbed into BI as just another weapon for the BI solution vendors?

OSM on BOL

For those who love OpenStreetMap, Jason in California sent a voice mail about it to Buzz Out Loud that appeared on last Thursday's show.

Oddly, Tom then went on to suggest that TomTom licenses data from NAVTEQ. I think that was true in the past, but not now.

"Landmarks" on Bing Maps Directions

Gary Price at Resource Shelf found them.

ESRI(UK)'s new Enterprise Lab

BAPCO Journal visited the Aylesbury Enterprise Lab aimed at showing how different players can take advantage of GIS technology. It features four "stations" addressing how four different users would access data needed:

The GIS Analyst - "us"
Bronze Command - first responders
Silver Command - C+C level managers
Members of the Public - regular folks

TomTom Addresses Debt with Stock Sale

The four founders will buy shares and some others will be sold via a private placement. That should drop the company debt to €700 million. The company stock price has dropped 66% in the last 12 months, with many concerns related to the debt. With the recent announcement of a nav app for the iPhone, the stock price is up. There's been speculation Apple may invest in TomTom. Forbes' discussions with analysts and insiders suggests that's unlikely.

- Financial Times

ForexYard offers an analysis of the map acquisitions in recent years. Key quoyr regarding TomTom/Tele Atlas: "'In the future this will feature in textbooks as a perfect example of how stupid management sometimes can be,' said Corne van Zeijl from SNS Asset Management, who now owns TomTom shares but did not at the time of the acquisition."