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“Some people think that we can track them with GPS. That’s not the case, but we are happy to let people think that.”
- Bob Love, chief ranger at Saguaro National Park on current efforts to tag theft-prone cacti with RFID chips as quote on MSNBC.
Hybrid positioning refers to handsets that use GPS and another technology to determine the device’s location. Such solutions use Wi-Fi access points, cell towers, TV towers and their related signals, RFID, Bluetooth as a companion for when GPS is not enough. A recent report suggest growing use of hybrid solutions. What might your future and that of geospatial marketplace look like as these solutions proliferate? Our editors share some scenarios and point out gaps in the existing infrastructure, i.e., places to make money.
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In a press release I must have missed from last week but which I think is significant, ABI Research offered predictions on the market potential of hybrid positioning systems. That is, when one form of position determination is not available, others must be available on the same handset. Dominique Bonte, ABI’s principal analyst for telematics and navigation (see my podcast interview with him from last August on LBS) states that, "Users expect a seamless and transparent location experience regardless of application or environment…Since no single positioning technology can provide this, the future will be about hybrid positioning systems, combining A-GPS, Cell-ID, Wi-Fi, cellular, motion sensors, and even TV broadcast and proximity technologies such as Bluetooth, NFC and RFID. A-GPS, Wi-Fi and Cell-ID will be the winning combination offering accuracy, availability, interoperability and short fix times at low cost. It will represent 25% of all positioning solutions by 2014. Stand-alone Cell-ID and/or Wi-Fi will remain important in regions with low GPS handset penetration."
So, here are a few questions:
1. What’s the size of the handset or chip set that must be equipped with all of these various positioning options?
2. Will there eventually be a nationwide network of just one or two technologies that win out over the long term?
It’s called a SNIF Tag and it comes out of SNIF Labs, a company formed by grads of MIT’s Media Lab. The idea:
The tag itself – a small device that attaches to a dog’s collar – essentially records the pet’s movements and, in some cases, social encounters, and then uploads that data to the Internet. An owner can find out by logging onto the company’s site whether their dog has been playing, resting or running around.
The tag, $300, or $200 is bought now online, uses active RFID/accelerometer and base stations (your computer) to determine the dog’s activities and if its been frolicking with its dog buddies. That data is uploaded to a secure site where the dog’s human can see what he did all day. Ideally, it allows for a pair or more of dogs’ people to hook up. The first year of full service comes with the tag. It’s $89/year after that.
I’m not a dog person, but I know dog people and how they like other dog people. And, I have to believe in rural areas where dogs roam free (not my city) this would be fun. And, with just active RFID, the tag will not help find Rover if he’s lost.
There’s no question there’s currently an abundance of location information out in the world. How do we “protect ourselves” from that very information and technologies? How much can we rely on automated systems to protect us from the dangers? How much must we do on our own? What types of protection do we not have that should be invented?
Listen Now (to download, right click on the link at left and choose "save target as")
Missed any podcasts? Want to subscribe via iTunes, Yahoo, etc? Here’s the index with all the info.
