Vechicles

Ford continued to talk up “Work Solution,” an optional feature that turns the F150 Super Duty Econoline into a mobile work place with 3G support, a mobile computer, a productivity suite with integrated Web browser, and a printer. Convergence indeed! The technology was announced this past summer, but may become more interesting, especially as more contractors (electricians, plumbers, etc.) get to work tackling President-elect Obama infrastructure initiatives. The big “plus” over smartphones or netbooks to enable contractor connectivity? The guts (keyboard, printer, etc.) are locked into and draw power from the truck. Price? $1,200 plus a connectivity fee (plus the price of the truck).

Coming this spring to Sync-enabled vehicles (that’s the Ford/Microsoft effort to introduce wireless connectivity and voice activation) is the poorly named SYNC with Traffic, Directions and Information. The “free for first three years” services are from Airbiquity, Gracenote, INRIX, MACOM, Sirius, TeleNav, Tellme and THX. Sync is sounding more an more like like an operating system for developers, just like the iPhone SDK and Android. Ford leadership hinted at a possibly similar SDK/store option down to the road. Ford CEO Alan Mulally said in his keynote that the automaker is learning to think more like an electronics company. Popular Mechanics' gave it the CES Editors' Choice award. Sync’s original pricing was $395; pricing for the new services was not available.

GPS

TomTom’s Go 740 Live (PC World overview, press release) takes over where the DASH failed. It comes with built-in cell phone connectivity (fee-free for a year) and access to local search, reviews, traffic, gas prices, weather and the ability to find others with TomTom devices. Missing? Access to TomTom Mapshare via wireless and the ability to sync address from a computer. Cost: $500; due out this spring.

Sony trotted out new GPS and map-data enable digital video recorders. One paragraph of the press release addressed the location aspect.

Making it easy to retrace your steps by shooting location, the HDR-XR520V, HDR-XR500V and HDR-XR200V camcorders feature a built-in GPS antenna and NAVTEQ® digital maps for video and photo geo-tagging. Geo-tagged content is marked by a push pin at each shot location and can be played back on the camcorder map index display or enjoyed on the PC using the included Picture Motion Browser software. The feature also highlights your current map location and automatically adjusts the camcorder clock to the proper time zone.

Prices start at $750 and products will ship this spring.

SPOT the company behind the “find me when I’m lost in the wilderness” device will offer US and Canadian customers optional roadside assistance (think AAA) come this spring. The big deal about SPOT Assist, as the service is called? It uses GPS to locate you. That’s in contrast to OnStar, which uses cell signals/towers or any of the call in roadside assistance programs that require you to describe your location. Cost: SPOT Satellite GPS Messenger has a $169.99 price point with SPOT Assist running an additional $129. My take: The company needs to make more money off of devices than those in the wilds provide.

SmartPhones

The big news was what many called the “do or die” announcement for down-and-out Palm. Many are saying the new Pre will get the company back on the map. (I have Palm history - I had the first Palm Pilot and even a Palm OS-based phone up until two years ago. A good friend was on the Folio team; that product was killed before launch and may have been the predecessor to the Pre.) Among the goodies that make the Pre special in a world of iPhones and Android phones are a real keyboard, copy and paste, a flash for the camera, multitasking between applications, wireless charger, GPS, and a replaceable battery. (C|net overview)
Oh and it’s got a cool and fast name, though no one else seems to have made the connection to Steve Prefontaine! I may wait for the spring release and reviews (no price yet) before deciding on my new phone.

MacWorld (It’s the same week...)

It’s the last MacWorld for Apple and Steve Jobs stayed home due to health issues. But there was a nice addition of geo-features to iPhoto, the photo editing app for Macs. Geo-tagging (that was on my unpublished top ten list for 2008 as having gone mainstream) and built in facial recognition are of note. The latter means that consumers are gaining access to some high end imaging tools for “fun.” Is that another step toward more use of image analysis for geospatial? I still believe feature extraction and related image analysis is underutilized in our field.

Operating Systems

WebOS, Palm’s new system used by the Pre (built on Linux, with a WebKit-based browser) garnered interest. So did Windows 7, which was available for free beta download last week, until Microsoft stopped the flow due to high demand (it said). Windows 7 is important for many reasons (not the least of which is to reclaim those who balked at Vista) but also because of its core location tools.

From the Press Room
Directions Media counted about a dozen PRs posted to our site tied to CES announcements.

NAVTEQ showed off several new or already announced offerings. NAVTEQ LocationPoint Advertising is a service to put ads in front of device users at a specific location. It makes sense for those with the data (NAVTEQ) and those with the devices that run the apps (Nokia) and those that own the apps (Nokia) to offer such a plaform. The NAVTEQ/Nokia names carry weight, but the platform may be a bit late to market. Also, shown for the first time was Point of Interest (POI) Content which shows off dynamic POI content including “Air Travel Status, Event Listings and Fuel Prices.”

Garmin announced a package of data for the life of the device called nüMaps Lifetime. Users pay a single fee program for NAVTEQ data updated quarter for the life of their personal navigation device (PND). Pricing depends on coverage: North America is $119, Europe $139 and both $149. Compare that to a single time update for $69. Garmin also announced a Nuvi called the zumo for motorcycles and the nuvi 885T with voice activation, lane helper and enhanced MSN Direct. A free update to existing Garmin devices, ecoRoute suggests fuel-efficient navigation for a greener drive.

Like more and more events the conference part of the show (save the big keynotes) is overshadowed by the show floor. But location technology was represented. Manish Patel, CEO and Founder of Where 2 Get It, Inc., gave a session on “Advertising Analytics and Social Media, Search, Video Search and HyperTargeting” as part of the Digital Hollywood event.

NAVIGON announced new datasets that will be available in its store this spring including red light camera data, Rand McNally Scenic Routes and City Guides, a European map, 3D landmarks, a North American Expansion Pack and extended POI’s. Prices range from $19.99 for the Rand McNally content to $129 for European map data.

Tele Atlas announced a new podcast episode: “An Expert’s Perspective on Digital Mapping Trends,” will feature Dominique Bonte, Research Director at ABI Research. The company also provided data to the new Mio Moov.

The big deal about XACT | TRAX tracking device? There’s no subscription. How do they do it? They charge per locate. (I was originally told users were charged each time they used the satellite.)

This announcement has a bit too much “nano” in it: Nanomatic introduces Integration of nanonavi. But I think the gist is this: you can buy a nanoFinder device and attach it to something mobile. Then you can see where it is via the application your run on your cell phone. In addition, you can add free apps to FaceBook, MySpace, etc. to access the location information there.