The Localscope team wrote to share this news:
Apple has announced the much awaited Rewind 2011, considered to be the Oscars for the Appstore, presenting the best Music, Books and Apps of the year. We are honored and ecstatic to be chosen by Apple as the #1 App in the navigation category in the US Appstore and in the top 5 Navigation Apps in most other countries.
It's not an app I hear much about at all. Per the website: "Localscope is your social data powered GPS app."
- Cynapse blog
Boulder-based PlaceIQ, a startup collecting location based information about the world, has raised 4.2M in a Series A funding--but is moving to New York City. The startup--headed by Duncan McCall--said the funding was led by US Venture Partners, and also included Valhalla Partners, IA Ventures, kbs+p ventures, and Jerry Neumann. The firm said it is moving to New York to be closer to the advertising industry.
- Tech Rockies
Google is acquiring the Silicon Valley-based startup Clever Sense, both companies are announcing today. Clever Sense, as you may recall, is the maker of the mobile application “Alfred,” which delivers personalized recommendations for nearby restaurants, coffee shops, bars and nightclubs using a combination of artificial intelligence and machine-learning algorithms.
I've never heard of the company or product. The plan is for the team to join Google Places (not something you hear about much) and perhaps have the tech be used in Schemer.
- TechCrunch
by Adena Schutzberg on 12/14 at 05:42 AM |
Comments |
When you have only two major players in a market, the competitive differences are magnified. And if one coughs, the other sneezes. Such is the case with TomTom and NAVTEQ. Both companies have acquired or been acquired; experienced layoffs, and refocused their business model. The disruption can be directly tied to an explosion in the mobile device market. You would think this would be good for both companies? But in a market where everyone has a navigation device, and you are competing with a company that is both a client and a competitor (i.e. Google), what do you do?
Reorg
Today, TomTom issued a statement regarding the company's reorganization and we've posted the important news items; see the company's press release and All Points Blog about the layoff of 10% of their workforce. When I spoke with company executives this morning, they reiterated that the change to their business model would focus on faster time to market of products and the ability to leverage core assets that include traffic data and an adherence to the Navigation Data Standard (NDS). The NDS has been identified by TomTom as a means to help standardize how maps go into navigation devices. Charles Cautley, managing director of the Automotive, Enterprise & Government Business unit (AEG) for TomTom said, "NDS is hugely strategic for TomTom." Cautley believes that this simplifies content accessibility and the map compilation process.
TomTom sees that there is still lots of growth in maps, POIs and especially traffic products. In the traditional GIS and enterprise market, the company sees growth in various site selection applications as well as real-time information to engineers and city planners. TomTom wants to combine their map products, traffic information and geocoder, essentially a bundle of their strategic assets, and offer them to industry segments.
A focus on Dynamic Traffic Data
Late last year, TomTom released their Traffic Manifesto thereby attempting to stake a unique selling proposition in the navigation market. On a webinar yesterday (December 7), the company announced that they had captured 5 trillion anonymous GPS traffic measurements since 2007 and used the data to create a rich database of historical traffic profiles. The data goes into TomTom's HD Traffic products.
Why the upheaval in digital navigation? What's Changed?
Navigation is becoming pervasive," said Cautley. "Everyone can have navigation; more devices; in car units; or web at home. "[TomTom is] rethinking how you take advantage of navigation." TomTom wants to leverage both crowdsourced and probe data to create more accuracy in maps. "[These] new data are giving us tremendous information," said Cautley. "The strategy is a move to provide more dynamic content … Better quality and more value to our customers."
by Joe Francica on 12/08 at 01:35 PM |
Comments |
Update: Garmin confirms acquisition of Navigon.
- GPS Biz News
--- original post 6/9/11 --
Apple bans DUI checkpoint apps on iOS devices
- C|net
Google Contemplating Offline, Locally Stored Maps for Android?
- Gotta Be Mobile
Navigon: Exclusive Talks for Sale to Garmin?
- GPS Biz News
Adobe Chief Technology Officer Kevin Lynch talked about location based apps appearing on devices as one enters a museum or hotel room. LBS seems to be in the company's future per his talk at the Open Mobile Summit.
- C|net
by Adena Schutzberg on 06/14 at 11:18 AM |
Comments |
If consumers think of geodata as a commodity, what does that say for its future? What are the key data relationships? And what, if anything, will differentiate one offering from another? Our editors ponder these questions in light of evidence that consumers know and care little about who makes, manages and updates basemaps.
Subscribe to Podcast RSS
Listen Now (to download, right click on the link at left and choose "save target as")
Read the show notes
Missed any podcasts? Want to subscribe via iTunes, Yahoo, etc? Here’s the index.
by Adena Schutzberg on 11/03 at 06:00 AM |
Comments |
The article highlights Google’s and MapQuest’s walking offerings and local bicycle routing efforts. Of note:
In Broward County, Fla., planners are working on a project that would let users factor in things such as speed limits, traffic volume, lane widths and shortcuts.
The project, shooting for online launch by next summer, has programmers looking at aerial maps and punching key factors into the route-setting algorithms. They also incorporate things like where people or bikers can make left turns but cars can’t.
If a car can’t make a left turn, a bike can’t either. Unless of course the cyclist dismounts and become a pedestrian. (That’s rare where I live.)
This week, Google Maps launched a feature that offers walking directions for trips shorter than 6.2 miles. That is being added to a feature already helping visitors find the best mass transit routes.
I didn’t realize there was a distance limit. The API would be great for the many sites aimed at race walkers, runners, etc.
But it [Tele Atlas] is open to accepting bike and pedestrian route information from cities and community groups if it can be verified from multiple sources.
TomTom could take the lead here tapping into the cycling, even walking communities… My gut feeling is the money is not there for such an effort, however.
by Adena Schutzberg on 07/28 at 08:23 AM |
Comments |
