@Road continues wireless data consolidation with MDSI buy (5-6-04)

by Mike Dano RCR Wireless

Mobile asset tracking and wireless data company @Road Inc. announced it will acquire rival wireless enterprise vendor MDSI Mobile Data Solutions Inc. in a deal worth $86 million. The agreement is the latest in the rapidly consolidating wireless data market.

@Road said the combined company’s annual revenues total $110 million, and it will count close to $100 million in cash balances, 650 employees, more than 125,000 subscribers and more than 80,000 licensed users worldwide. @Road said it plans to cross sell the companies' products, and that the acquisition of MDSI opens up opportunities in the utilities, telecommunications, and cable and broadband markets.

“Our customers and prospects, especially our large customers and prospects, have been asking for an integrated mobile resource management solution that allows them to manage both mobile workers and their work,” said Krish Panu, @Road’s president and chief executive officer. “We believe that the complementary integration of the two companies' products and services will comprehensively address the entire workflow.”

Investor reaction to the deal was mixed. @Road’s stock was down more than 10 percent after the deal to $11.85 per share, while MDSI’s stock leapt more than 50 percent to $8.67 per share.

Under the terms of the agreement, MDSI shareholders can trade in their stock for either 0.75 shares of @Road common stock or $9 in cash for each MDSI share. If all MDSI shareholders decide to receive @Road common stock, MDSI shareholders will own 10 percent of @Road’s stock. The companies expect the deal will close in the third quarter.

The acquisition is the latest in a series of major deals in the space. Sybase Inc. recently purchased wireless enterprise rival XcelleNet Inc. for a blockbuster $95.2 million, and Square Enix recently purchased UIEvolution, M-Qube bought Sharp Robot, and TeleCommunication Systems Inc. bought Aether Systems Inc.’s wireless enterprise division.

@Road sells technology to businesses to track drivers and mobile workers, as well as technology to remotely access corporate information. MDSI sells similar technology, including technology for wireless corporate access.

Daimler Accepts Some Blame for Toll Venture By MARK LANDLER (NY Times)

INDELFINGEN, Germany, Feb. 19 - A day after the board of DaimlerChrysler announced that it would extend Jürgen E. Schrempp's contract as chief executive, Mr. Schrempp ran into a storm of questions on Thursday over the company's role in a botched highway toll collection system in Germany.

Mr. Schrempp, who appeared at DaimlerChrysler's financial news conference in this suburb of Stuttgart, admitted that the company had stumbled on the project, which the German government angrily canceled this week, after technical flaws repeatedly delayed its operation.

"Mistakes were made by all sides, that is quite evident," Mr. Schrempp said. "We don't want to escape responsibility."

The futuristic system, which is designed to track and collect tolls from trucks with a network of satellites and wireless transmitters, was supposed to set the standard for Europe and the world.

Instead, it has become a humiliating symbol to many here of the decline of German engineering.

The German government has threatened to hold DaimlerChrysler and its partner, Deutsche Telekom, liable for damages in excess of 6.5 billion euros ($8.2 billion). The companies are already paying 250,000 euros a day in fines, a penalty that will increase to 500,000 euros a day next month.

Mr. Schrempp said he was confident the sides would resolve their differences. He disputed suggestions that the debacle had sown broader doubts about DaimlerChrysler's reputation.

"Despite all the justified criticism, there is a chance, even with this long delay, to make the system work," he said. "This is a highly complex system, and if it materializes, it will be an E.U. standard."

For Mr. Schrempp, the problem-plagued Toll Collect project only makes his sales job more difficult. DaimlerChrysler said it had taken a charge of 250 million euros ($317 million) in 2003 to cover its share of the losses at the venture, plus provisions to pay fines for failing to complete it on time.

But the bigger cost may be to the company's image. When DaimlerChrysler and Deutsche Telekom signed a contract with the government in 2002, they made grand promises about how quickly they could design and build an exceedingly complicated system. When one deadline after another passed, the partners settled into a surly standoff with the government.

Analysts say they were in over their heads.

"To use satellite-tracking technology, allied with mobile phones, should work in theory, but nobody has ever done it in practice on such a grand scale," an analyst at Standard & Poor's, Robert Bain, said.

The German transport ministry has given the companies two months to come to a new agreement, which would include stiff damages. Otherwise it said it would solicit new tender offers for the project. Mr. Aney said DaimlerChrysler would probably pay a fee to settle the dispute.

Analysis: While I have not seen any technical assessment of the problems with this hybrid of RFID and GPS technology, my hypothesis on the issues are:

• Did not scale the project appropriately with a phased rollout (e.g. alpha, beta, then individual market trial and finally full rollout)
• The RFID technology selected in terms of tags and readers were either inadequate or the assumptions at which they were expected to operate were too optimistic.  For example, any combination of the read range of any given type of tag in the truck combined with the data speed of transmission between the reader and the tag translates into a maximum speed of which the truck could travel going through the reader.  Whatever this speed is, it is possible that the assumption was incorrect (e.g. the trucks moved too fast)
• The volumes associated with the system overwhelmed the supporting infrastructure.  In particular, the integration of these technologies (customer using and back-office) was potentially flawed/inadequate. 
• As more detail emerges we will update these hypotheses; this has significant implications for future applications that are based on a hybrid of RFID and GPS technology

Wireless Technology Solves Boat Theft Problem (2-10-04: Source WirelessDevNet.com)

Vancouver International Boat Show, February 4, 2004 - A Vancouver wireless company today launches a security system that, for the first time, notifies boat owners immediately when their boats are being stolen or broken into, 24 hours a day.

The SilverTip Marine ESP 3000 allows boat owners to maintain contact with their boats from virtually anywhere in the world, 24 hours a day through real-time two-way communications. Sensors placed throughout the boat trigger immediate SMS messages when disturbed, alerting owners to a problem far more quickly than services that pass messages through third parties. Aware of a problem, owners can take immediate action to protect their property. Even if the thief is able to remove the boat, the chances of getting away are negligible as the owner is able to track the boat's movements via GPS satellite and pinpoint its location in real-time through a web interface accessible through any computer.

"Our product shows how leading-edge technologies can be applied to a vertical market," says SilverTip Marine founder and CEO Ian McEachern, who was inspired to find a better solution after his own boat was robbed. "Our product is a demonstration of how GPS and wireless technology helps solve an industry-wide problem."

Unlike other options such as adapted car alarm systems that are easily set off by wind or waves, the SilverTip Marine product has been specifically designed for the marine environment. The ESP 3000 combines two-way communication capability available through GSM / GPRS technologies with web-interface, advanced sensors and GPS satellite based geo-fencing (a perimeter-based trigger system) for a simple to use but effective boating solution.

The SilverTip Marine product also includes telematics solutions. With multiple sensors placed throughout the boat, owners can remotely track the status of important functions such as battery level, bilge pump and refrigeration.

It also allows family and friends on shore to keep track of loved ones on the water, for peace of mind during bad weather or emergencies.

Officially launched at the Vancouver International Boat Show, the SilverTip ESP 3000 retails for $2,000

Analysis: A delightful example of focused LBS application development AND marketing!

Wireless Lights the Way (1-19-04)
Wireless is everywhere these days, including in lamp posts. Startup company Last Mile is using highway lamp posts as the base network for a wireless world. The idea is to install electronics in lamp posts to create networks with each lamp post talking to the others. A U.K. Highways Agency is putting out a tender for just that - equipping major road with wireless. The winning bid could provide basic traffic telemetry and telematic services to meet government requirements and then use the extra capacity for commercial services - making it quite a windfall. (Source: The Register)

Analysis: While not yet knowing the details, this could provide a low-cost way to provide high-accuracy LBS services in Europe, since they LBS to-date has been via network-based technologies

Vodafone and AND develop first true Location Based Services (1-9-04) Source: WirelessDevNet.com

Rotterdam, 8 January 2004 - Vodafone is the first mobile operator in the Netherlands to launch true Location Based Services. Building on the latest XML technologies, AND developed Streetguide in close corporation with Vodafone. Streetguide automatically plots the current location of the mobile phone owners on a map. The service is available on the Vodafone live! platform.

AND developed the Streetguide for Vodafone, based on the wishes and demands by Vodafone. With GeoAccess, AND's XML Web Service, AND was able to develop an unique Location Based Service. "The joint development of Vodafone and AND proved to be very successful. Based on the mobile expertise of Vodafone and technological geo expertise of AND, Vodafone and AND reconfirm their leading position in their markets." says AND's Dirk van Loenen.

Streetguide determines the current position of the mobile phone in the Netherlands based on cell information. This functionality helps users to find locations and establish the direction of travel to reach a given destination. Using the location generated by the mobile phone, one can search for the nearest Point of Interest and plan a route. The route description indicates the most important directions along the route, making navigation easy. Streetguide is available on the Vodafone live! platform.

Privacy guaranteed
Vodafone commits itself to guaranteeing the privacy of its customers in the best possible way. Therefore Vodafone will only offer location-based services to customers who have explicitly indicated that they want to use these services. This means that the customer's location in the network will only be determined after giving prior consent. By means of a signed contract Vodafone ensures that the providers of these services only use the location-information for services that customers have signed up for.

Analysis: I love these guys (both genders) for their marketing prowess and willingness to be a leader in their markets.  Hopefully this will be expanded rapidly across the rest of  Europe.

Wherify Unveils World's Smallest GPS Locator Phone at CES (1-9-04) Source: Wirelessdevnet.com

REDWOOD SHORES, Calif. Wherify's GPS Locator Phone is the latest product in a family of next-generation Wherify GPS locators to be showcased at CES

Wherify Wireless Inc., developers of innovative GPS-based location products and services, is unveiling the world's smallest GPS Locator Phone at this year's 2004 International CES (booth #20669), the world's largest annual tradeshow for consumer technology, January 8-11, in Las Vegas, Nev. Wherify's new GPS Locator Phone is geared towards consumers looking for a unique personal safety and security device that can be used to keep tabs on the location of loved-ones (no matter their age), within feet, through the Internet or any phone, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The Wherify GPS Locator Phone incorporates such features as a two-way mic/speaker, a one-touch button with direct dial to 911 and an operator in the event of an emergency, as well as a programmable button with direct dial to a parent, guardian, spouse, co-worker or other important contact. Wherify's GPS Locator Phone will retail for less than $150 and will be available to consumers late second quarter 2004.

Wherify is also showcasing at CES a family of other GPS Locators that are smaller and lighter than their predecessor, the Wherify GPS Locator for Kids, and come in a variety of form-factors from handheld devices with unique designs, to GPS Locators about the size of a matchbox.

"The two-way voice speaker adds an extra layer of safety and security for the person carrying the Wherify GPS Locator Phone and will become a standard feature in all future Wherify personal location devices," said Timothy Neher, president and CEO of Wherify Wireless. "In case of an emergency, not only will the 911 emergency operator get the person's location within feet, they'll also be able to assess the situation, stay in contact with the user of the Wherify GPS Locator Phone, and determine the appropriate level of emergency response."

Neher added that the company's new GPS Locator Phone could also be used in a variety of business applications. He cited such business uses as executive security, fleet management, vehicle and cargo tracking, valuable asset tracking, and mobile workforce communication.

Through the convergence of Global Positioning System (GPS) and digital wireless technologies -- in combination with Wherify's patented back-end location technology -- Wherify's GPS Location products and services offer a tested and proven safety solution that gives consumers and businesses peace of mind knowing they can locate loved ones or valuable property, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Simply, the Wherify subscriber logs on to the Internet at www.wherify.com or any telephone to quickly identify the location of their loved-ones or valuable assets within feet, in about a minute. In the event of an emergency, either the subscriber or individual carrying a Wherify GPS Locator can request an emergency 911 response and local police will be dispatched.

About Wherify Wireless

Wherify Wireless, Inc. is a privately-held developer of patented wireless location products and services for child safety, parental supervision, personal protection, Alzheimer and memory loss, supervision, law enforcement, animal identification, and property asset tracking. The company's proprietary integration of global positioning systems and wireless communication technologies will enable customers to obtain real-time location information on individuals and property directly through the Internet or any phone. Founded in March 1998, Wherify Wireless is located in Redwood Shores, Calif. For more information, or to purchase Wherify products, visit the company's website at www.wherify.com

Webraska Unveils New LBS App (1-2-04)
Webraska Mobile Technologies unveiled the newest version of its SmartZone Navigation application for SmartPhones. SmartZone Navigation is expected to play a major role stimulating consumer uptake of low-cost GPS navigation. Webraska says SmartZone Navigation is a market-ready application for wireless carriers seeking to offer a valuable branded service that will create opportunities to increase average revenue per user (ARPU) and stimulate device upgrade. The company, which specializes in a number of location-based services (LBS)-like applications, displayed the product at the Mobile Office exhibition in Paris. (Source: Scotsman.com)

Gearworks and Motorola introduce new LBS solutions for enterprise workforces (1-2-04, Source: WirelessDevnet.com)

Gearworks, a Minneapolis-based provider of wireless mobile workforce management solutions, and Motorola Inc. (NYSE: MOT), a global leader in providing integrated communications and embedded electronic solutions, today announced a joint marketing agreement to provide new location and mobile productivity solutions to the enterprise workforce.

Motorola and Gearworks will develop and market solutions based on Gearworks successful etrace(TM) mobile workforce management service and Motorola's VIAMOTO(TM) suite of location-based services.

Gearworks etrace combines a GPS-enabled mobile application that runs on Java-based phones with a hosted, web-based application for dispatching, mapping, tracking and reporting. Motorola's VIAMOTO delivers text or audible route guidance prompts to users, literally "talking" users through directions to a destination, speaking street names and maneuvers along the way. Motorola's VIAMOTO server is continuously updated and integrated with traffic conditions and point-of-interest databases to provide users accurate and up- to-date navigation services.

"This is a leading edge enterprise solution that will reduce costs and let workers perform their jobs more effectively and efficiently, especially in travel-intensive markets like field service," said Neal Campbell, general manager of location services for Motorola's Personal Communications Sector. "Businesses ranging from large scale delivery services to real estate agencies will benefit by connecting their workers to vital customer, work order and traffic information, in real time over their mobile phones."

"Gaining real-time knowledge of mobile worker time, location, activity and events can transform the economics and expectations of field service and services-based businesses," states Todd Krautkremer, senior vice president of marketing and business development at Gearworks. "The product offerings planned from Gearworks and Motorola will enable service-based organizations to manage operating costs and improve productivity and customer satisfaction."

About Gearworks
Minneapolis-based Gearworks ( http://www.gearworks.com ) provides wireless and Web-based applications that improve business at the point of delivery - the last mile of the supply chain where dispatched mobile workers deliver goods or services to customers. The company's flagship product, etrace(TM), runs on standard mobile devices and allows businesses to automate and manage transactions, data collection, customer relations and communications with dispatched workers, etrace also provides a real-time connection back to enterprise systems to expedite billing, tracking and other operations. The results for customers are shortened job cycles, improved communications with customers and mobile workers, and reduced operating costs.

Bell Mobility launchs gpsOne-based A-GPS location services (1-2-04) - Source:  WirelessDevNet.com

Canadian wireless operator Bell Mobility on the network launch of its new precision location-based services (LBS) enabled by QUALCOMM's gpsOne(TM) hybrid Assisted GPS wireless location solution. gpsOne is the world's most broadly deployed, and commercially mature and innovative precision solution for locating mobile phones. Bell Mobility is not only providing its wireless subscribers with new phone-based precision location services, such as its popular Roadside Assistance service, but also E9-1-1 emergency call location services that will help Canadian safety officials respond more effectively to emergency calls, while saving lives.

"This offering by Bell Mobility is an exciting first, marking the debut launch of precision gpsOne-enabled consumer LBS in North America," said Kamil Grajski, senior vice president and general manager of SnapTrack, a wholly owned subsidiary of QUALCOMM. "QUALCOMM's gpsOne technology has helped US carriers meet the Federal Communications Commission's E9-1-1 emergency call location mandate, and now it is helping to bring to Canadians the benefits of precision LBS that can enhance the wireless user experience, improve productivity, and help save lives." The Bell Mobility Roadside Assistance service enables customer service representatives to locate customers automatically, with their consent, when they call for roadside assistance. The Roadside Assistance service is available anywhere and any time, 24 hours a day, seven days a week in Canada and the United States. However, the location based technology is only available within the Bell Mobility wireless network.

Bell Mobility's emergency E9-1-1 service is being implemented in two distinct phases. Phase I enables emergency operators to automatically identify the general area from where the wireless emergency call is made, as well as the 10-digit wireless phone number of the mobile phone from which the call originated. This reduces emergency response time and gives the emergency operator crucial callback information should the call be disconnected for any reason. E9-1-1 Phase II uses an even more precise, Assisted GPS, which allows emergency operators to locate customers using a gpsOne A-GPS enabled wireless handset or device.

QUALCOMM's gpsOne hybrid, Assisted GPS solution improves upon regular GPS, and provides industry leading all-terrain accuracy and performance by combining GPS satellite and CDMA network ranging data to locate mobile phones in both outdoor and indoor environments. While the cost-effective gpsOne solution is embedded in most QUALCOMM CDMA chipsets for mobile devices, it supports both CDMA and non-CDMA wireless standards.

GlobeTrac Introduces Vehicle Management System for SLBM of the U.K.) 1-2-04

GlobeTrac Inc. (OTC BB: GBTR), a leading supplier of telematics and tracking services, is pleased to announce it is the exclusive provider of vehicle management systems for SLBM. GlobeTrac has completed installation of its L2000 wireless data communications system in the SLBM Fleet. Operating on Orange's GPRS data network the Locator 2000 mobile asset management solution allows dispatchers to: -- Monitor driver activities to aid in route adherence and time management

-- Quickly locate and manage mobile assets

-- Easily view and management mechanical and maintenance data

-- Document activity to evaluate efficiency and utilization of data

Based in Leeds UK, South Leeds Builders Merchants is a privately owned and operated distributor of building materials, with a fleet of HGV's for the delivery of building materials all over the United Kingdom.

"We have been exploring vehicle telematics systems for over two months, and our decision was driven by the need to manage rising fuel costs (excess mileage) and overtime claims (productivity). Also we needed to have a reliable management tool which would assist our customer service department to provide better service than our competitors," said Tony Foster of SLBM.

Tony added, "The Quadrant(TM) - fleet management system provided by GlobeTrac Limited, proved to be flexible to our needs as well as value for money. All this combined with the exceptional customer service, made my final decision between GlobeTrac's product and another GPRS competitor very simple."

Colin Albert (Chief Operating Officer for GlobeTrac Limited) said "I am delighted with SLBM's decision and how rapid the interest in GlobeTrac's offering is increasing since recently expanding the UK sales team into the Midlands, Northern England & Scotland."

Location Developer Secures Funding, Moves HQ (Wi-Fi Planet - 12/4/03)
By Vikki Lipset

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Wireless LAN software developer PanGo Networks said Wednesday at the Wi-Fi Planet Conference and Expo here that it has closed a $4.4 million round of venture capital funding and will relocate to Boston.

IDG Ventures of Boston led the round, along with Alexandria, Va.-based Columbia Capital. Previous investor Innovation Works also contributed.

The four-year-old company needed the cash infusion to stay afloat. It flirted with bankruptcy in 2001 before securing $290,000 from Innovation Works in March 2002. Including this latest round, PanGo has raised more than $6 million since its founding.

PanGo will move its headquarters from Pittsburgh, Pa., to Boston early next year to be closer to potential customers and investors, according to Rick Thompson, vice president of marketing for PanGo.

Thompson said PanGo will use the venture funding to further develop its software platform for WLAN location-based systems. Specifically, the company will focus on two main areas: intelligent information management, which would "deliver location-relevant data to mobile users," and mobile asset tracking, which he called "one of the holy grail applications" of the location market.

PanGo believes location-based applications could be the next big thing in Wi-Fi. "Locationing is a segment of the market that's starting to heat up, [and] applications and services are the next growth segment," Thomson said.

Analysis: A sign of renewed investor interest in the location market???

Orange Unveils Online Mobile Phone Crime Game (12-4-03)
Wireless service provider Orange unveiled a new online game called 'Street Smart,' that will help fight Europe's mobile phone crime epidemic. The game will focus on teaching wireless customers about the dangers associated with mobile phone crime and it features four real-life scenarios including daytime in the city, the early evening rush hour, dark alleys at night and a crowded festival. The game takes you through various challenges including passing by a street gang, crossing the street without getting hit by oncoming traffic and dodging a vicious dog. (Source: Ananova.com)

Analysis: An interesting LBS service would be to get an alert as you near high-crime areas

Internet Dating Goes Mobile (11-24-03)
Trilibis(TM) developed the peepsnation, an application built on the Trilibis m-Community Engine(TM) (mCE(TM)), for QUALCOMM's BREW platform. The application enables users to connect and meet others on their wireless phone with similar interests, values and experiences. Users can seek friends, partners and find potential dates. Trilibis partnered with webdate.com to provide webdate.com customers with wireless access to the dating community. The service is available to ALLTEL, Midwest Wireless and Verizon Wireless subscribers. (Source: PR NewsWire)

Analysis: While this functionality does not yet include actual location; I for one (with a teenage daughter) want to delay location functionality for this kind of service until never.

Orange Offers Subscribers Mobile Mapping Service (11-24-03)
Wireless carrier Orange is offering its customers a mobile mapping service. Through an agreement with m-Spatial, subscribers to Orange's network can pull up a mini map on their cell phone to map locations and work out travel routes. The "Mapway" full A to Z map features regularly updated and detailed maps showing the location of shops, bars and restaurants and a search facility enabling users to find locations by partial address or destination names. (Source: Net Imperative)

Brazilian Network Trials LBS (10-21-03)
Brazil’s GSM network operator Oi launched a location based services (LBS) trial in the country’s Recife region. Supplied by Cambridge Positioning Systems (CPS), the new Matrix high-accuracy location technology requires software-enabled standard GSM handsets and a small number of servers to be successful. Oi’s trial covered a range of environments, including applications running on an LBS network, such as tracking solutions for fleet management, dispatch and asset tracking. (Source: cellular-news.com)

Analysis: Let's hope the time between trials and full deployment is small indeed.

_____________

Finland Considers Tracking Children Wirelessly (10-21-03)
Finland is considering a law that would allow parents to track their children via wireless phones. The proposed law does not require consent and could be a benchmark for privacy and wireless device use in the European Union. The proposal is part of a law on privacy in electronic communications and was accepted by the government unanimously this week. The Parliament expects to begin debate on the new law in early November. (Source: Reuters)

Analysis: Imagine the various LBS permutations (child care, teen tracking, socials, etc.)!  Also, will drive a need for sophisticated privacy infrastructure, even if consent is not required.

Cell Phones Could Become Smoke Alarms (10-6-03)
A research team says in the future a wireless phone could be used to detect smoke and other toxic gases, such as methane and carbon monoxide. The technology that would be used to equip the device with this function would include the addition of a battery with sensors in a mobile handset. Accordingly, the device would pick up and compare data on atmospheric content and inform the device owner any suspicious gases are detected. (Source: M2)

Analysis: Obviously any alarm capability on a cell phone will need location information to be truly effective.

Motorola awarded China LBS Contract (9-15-03) Source: WirelessDevNet

China Unicom, operator of China's sole Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) network, has awarded Motorola (NYSE: MOT - News) Global Telecom Solutions Sector (GTSS) a $10 million contract to build Phase II of its value-added location based services (LBS) network. Motorola will provide equipment, network support and optimization services.

LBS allows China Unicom's subscribers to access a range of location-based information, including nearest public facilities, restaurants and entertainment outlets. It also allows customers to play location-based games. The contract includes deployment of GPSOne position determining equipment (PDE), which can accurately determine the user's location.

"One of our ambitions is to build a range of value-added services that will help simplify and enhance the lives of our customers, and location based services are a key aspect of our plan," said Zhai Yi Bing, vice general manager of the Value Added Services department of China Unicom. "The stability and ease with which Motorola helped us deploy the core positioning platform of the LBS, and the success we've already seen with that system, made them the obvious choice for Phase II."

Motorola has a global reputation as a leader in CDMA2000 1X technology. It is the largest supplier to China Unicom, and has a long-term business relationship with the operator. In addition to their collaboration on LBS, the companies also recently announced the deployment of Motorola's JAVA technology-based platform to deliver mobile content to its millions of subscribers in China.

Deployment of LBS services for China Unicom demonstrates Motorola's commitment to help operators improve average revenue per user (ARPU) and encourage revenue-generating data service uptake: "Now is the time to understand customers' application demands as well as to determine the business model that will carry operators through 3G deployment," said Rueybin Kao, corporate vice president and general manager, Motorola GTSS China. "Motorola is an acknowledged leader in providing the cost-effective, value-added solutions that will allow China Unicom to take full advantage of this key learning time while at the same time allowing them to open new revenue streams."

Analysis:  Hopefully these sentiments are contagious

Wireless Phones Help Smokers Kick Habit? (9-15-03)

Sheffield University psychologists say wireless phones could help smokers kick the habit. The process includes smokers pushing a button on their phone when they crave a cigarette. The phone then creates "visual noise," or a pattern of flickering dots on the phone's screen. This action is said to interrupt pleasurable images smokers associate with smoking and cancel out the urge to light up. The idea was successfully tested on students using a desktop computer. (Source: internet magazine)

Analysis: The above triggers a new niche-market thought - Smokers Anonymous, Alcoholics Anoynomous, Narcotics Anonymous, Gamblers Anonymous.  Most applicable for members outside their home meetings, these LBS applications that help members find these meetings (or avoid certain areas) might be an attractive niche application.  Privacy aspects of course very important.

Number Portability Expected to Increase Churn (9-15-03)
Number portability, which takes effect on November 24, is expected to cause an increase in churn. As a result, wireless carriers are offering customers special deals, free phones and free airtime, as well as giving service representatives wide berth to negotiate contracts with customers. (Source: Wall Street Journal)

Analysis: .............  Note to Carriers - LBS, done right, can nip at least the higher ARPU customers in the bud from fleeing due to WNP.   Scroll down to see God knows how many examples/extensions of this concept.

Total Access Launches GPS Fleet Tracking System (9-8-03)
Wireless operator Total Access Communication and U-CAT Medias launched WiseTrak, a satellite-based vehicle monitoring and tracking system. The system monitors fleets and notifies fleet managers via SMS when trucks speed, have an accident or deviate from pre-set routes. (Source: The Nation)

Analysis: Seems like much of the LBS market has chosen "Fleet Management" applications as their lead application.  Two problems: 1) Many entrants, and 2) Not enough differentiation - Fleet Management can (should) be viewed as a horizontal application, not a quasi-vertical application.  As such it (fleet management) needs to be uniquely tailored to individual verticals

_________________

WNP Could Mean Savings for Major Corporations (9-8-03)
Telecommunications expense management firm, Teldata Control, says wireless number portability (WNP) could mean millions in savings for major U.S. corporations. The firm's founder noted if corporations do their homework and time their negotiations successfully, the FCC mandated WNP rule could save them millions on cell phone bills. As no one knows exactly what effect WNP will have on the country, of top importance is to get a read for how the carriers are going to proceed on pricing over the next four to six months, then proceed from there. (Source: PR NewsWire)

Analysis: WNP adds Enterprises to the list of vulnerable customers.  BIG Time problem train coming down the line (carrier) folks.

University Students Design Wireless Leash for Children (6-4-03)
A group of mechanical engineering students at the University of Pittsburgh have designed

New App Integrates Location With Calendar (9-8-03) (Source: WirelessDevNet)
OpenMotion LS(TM) by RACO Wireless, the first location-aware wireless information service, today announced that it has released its Premium Address Book feature that uploads Microsoft Outlook contacts from a PC to their secure server. Your cell phone is turned into a mobile directions finder, providing step-by-step directions to or from anywhere, and it can also auto-connect to a contact telephone number.

With the OpenMotion Premium Address Book product you can be certain that your Outlook contacts are always with you. The flexible search options make it easy to find a contact by searching any of the contact information fields. OpenMotion provides the power of a PDA with the added feature of getting directions to or from any of your contacts, all on your cell phone.

All that is needed is a cellular telephone with a data plan and the OpenMotion service. OpenMotion's Premium Address Book works on every major wireless carrier network in the U.S.

"With the Premium Address Book on OpenMotion, you'll never be caught without your contacts. Many OpenMotion users load appointment contacts prior to a trip so they can get directions to meetings. It's a great feature for business travelers," said Rob Adams, CEO of RACO.

Analysis: While a new "story", it annoyed me enough that I minimized the font.  Too much self-promotion, e.g. "the first location-aware wireless information service".  Get over it.  The premise is sound however - combine location with non-location capabilities to broaden the appeal.  Particularly attractive: location with Time Reporting

Verizon, AirLink Expand Telemetry Offerings (9-2-03)
Verizon Wireless teamed with AirLink Communications, Inc. to launch Verizon-certified AirLink products, including the AirLink Redwing CDMA, AirLink Raven CDMA and AirLink Pinpoint CDMA. With the certification of these products comes the expansion of AirLink’s telemetry offerings. The products, combined with Verizon’s nationwide wireless network will provide customers with a cost effective and efficient solution to the highest quality telemetry options on the market. (Source: PR NewsWire)

Londoners Hail Taxis Wirelessly (8-18-03)
Location Net and eTX now offer Londoners a new mobile booking service for taxis called "Taxi Points." Taxi Point signs have a four-digit code and are placed at locations across the city. Mobile users text the location code to the service, the closest taxi is dispatched to the location and the user receives a message indicating the taxi is on the way. (Source: BWCS)

Michigan School District To Allow Cell Phones (8-18-03)
Port Huron, Mich., schools plan to allow students to bring their cell phones on campus during the next school year, which starts in less than a month. According to the new policy set forth by the Port Huron school board, both middle and high school students will be allowed to bring wireless phones to school and use them any time except in class. It is reported that the district changed the policy because it now believes that cell phones have lost their "drug dealer" alias, and the phones could now be used as a means for students to keep in contact with parents in the event of an emergency. (Source: Times Herald)

Analysis: The case grows for family-oriented security applications

m-spatial Launches LBS for Pedestrians (8-18-03)
U.K.-based, m-spatial is offering a new location based service (LBS) that will allow pedestrians to map their walking routes via wireless. The company’s product, MapWay, will employ LBS to recognize the walking cell phone user’s location, providing them with a map that targets the closest, fastest route to their planned destination. The maps, which are designed to fit the small screen of a mobile phone, will allow the user to view a sequence of options, each tailored to the user's phone, indicating directions from starting point to destination. (Source: The Register)

Analysis: U.K. is emerging as an LBS leader, at least in the number of apps reaching the market

More Colleges Offering Cell Service to Students (8-18-03)
Colleges and universities offered long-distance service in dorm rooms at a marked-up price, making a nice little profit. Loyola University used to receive $30,000 to $50,000 in long-distance revenue and now receives next to nothing. With the proliferation of cell phones, schools are changing their strategy in order to make up some of the lost revenue. Schools are starting to push cell phone service instead. Some schools worked out deals where they buy in bulk and get free cell phones for employees, and others worked out commission structures. About 4.4 million students, or 78 percent of college students have cell phones and a third of those without one, plan to get one within the year. (Source: Wall Street Journal

Analysis: Combine this trend with Wi-Fi deployments on campus, and you start to make a very strong case for Location-Sensitive Wi-Fi applications

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Vodafone Provides Traffic Information (8-18-03)
Vodafone announced an agreement with Yeoman Group to provide traffic and travel information on its Vodafone live! service. Yeoman's TravelM8 mobile navigation service has been in operation since 2001. The deal with Vodafone boosted Yeoman's shares up 75 percent. (Source: ZDNet UK)

Picture Messaging Can Save Lives (8-18-03)
The Fife Fire and Rescue Service in the United Kingdom is working with a Orange Business Solutions to let its crews send picture messages directy from emergency scenes. Residents at the Queen Margaret hospital are able to assess the injuries before the patient arrives, allowing them to mobilize appropriate medical teams. The technology saves time, improves productivity and allows workers to save lives. (Source: The Guardian)

40,000 U.K. Children Own Mobile Phones (8-18-03)
Research group mobileYouth recently conducted a study in the U.K. that found over 40,000 children under the age of 10 own a mobile phone. MobileYouth estimates this number will increase to over 500,000 by the end of 2004. (Source: Cellular-News)

Service Traces People's Location via Mobile Phone (8-18-03)
Last month in the United Kingdom, the Car Phone Warehouse PLC launched its mapAmobile service, which traces peoples' locations via their mobile phones. The service targets parents and companies needing to locate employees and costs $48 a year and 48 cents per location request. (Source: AP)

Cell Phones Fight Traffic in Helsinki (7-17-03)
Using signals from individual cell phone owner's cars, the government in Finland is documenting traffic patterns in and around Helsinki. The Finnish Technical Research Center released an evaluation of the technology this week and urged that it be expanded throughout the country. The Finnish Road Administration and carrier Radiolinja worked in conjunction to create a system that trackes the cell phones that pass between points spaced at three mile intervals. Information gathered in real time was then posted on a Web site. The groups say they are ready to expand the service. (Source: AP, Silicon Valley)

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LogicaCMG Develops Mobile Traffic Services (6-23-03)
This summer, LogicaCMG is set to offer a new, innovative traffic information service via wireless. Logica's Mobile Traffic Services (MTS), available on GSM networks, will provide the Netherlands province of North Brabant with important traffic information concerning national, provincial and municipal roads. North Brabant is scheduled to use Logica's MTS up until mid-2004, at that time it will be decided on whether the service proved useful and worth continuing. (Source: PR NewsWire, First Call)

New Functions for Cellphones By SABRA CHARTRAND (NY Times - 6/4/03)

he Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association counted 140 million cellphone subscribers in this country in 2002 — a number that is sure to keep rising as cellphones become smaller, lighter and more versatile.

One of the most popular new configurations is the cellphone with a built-in personal digital assistant. But that combination represents only a small fraction of what telecommunications or computer companies and independent inventors say cellphones can do.

An Israeli inventor in Jerusalem has won a patent for using cellphone signals to determine where people are driving in their cars so traffic signals can be timed to reduce congestion. David Myr has invented a system that gathers location information from cellphone signals and uses mathematical formulas to calculate the travel times of those phones' owners as they drive along roads, through intersections, around corners and while waiting at lights. Those times can then be used to adjust traffic signals to ease vehicle flow. Mr. Myr received patent 6,539,300.

Another inventor working on behalf of I.B.M. has won a patent for using cellphone signals to alert drivers of the speed limit on the roads they are using. Faisal M. Awada's invention uses a Global Positioning System receiver to detect a cellphone location. It then looks up the speed limit for that location in a database. The legal speed limit is transmitted to the car driver via his cellphone speaker or display. The system can also compare the speed limit to the driver's actual speed, and set off a warning if the driver is speeding. Mr. Awada, of Round Rock, Tex., won patent 6,515,596.

While most inventors are working to enhance cellphone versatility, one man at Lucent Technologies has won a patent for a system that shuts down cellphones altogether. Ivan da Silva, from Hillsborough, N.J., has designed a system that will cut off service to wireless devices like cellphones, beepers, pagers, portable computers and personal digital assistants. In his patent, he says his system makes it impossible for people to ignore rules forbidding the use of wireless communication devices in places like restaurants, theaters, concert halls, hospitals or airplanes. He also says law enforcement or military officials can use his invention to cut off the ability of people like hijackers, hostage takers, and fleeing suspects to communicate.

The system monitors the power signals and electronic serial numbers of cellphones that are transmitted when phones are in use. It can then cut off service to those phones, and can be modified to cover fixed or moveable geographic areas and to operate permanently or for specific time periods

Analysis: While I have alot of doubts about the market attractiveness of some of these idea, it does illustrate the breadth of location-related applications that are possible if we in the industry are creative enough AND diligent enough to follow through through implementation.

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University Students Design Wireless Leash for Children (6-4-03)
A group of mechanical engineering students at the University of Pittsburgh have designed a wireless version of a leash parents use on children to keep them from wandering. Parents wear a pager-like device and their child wears a wristwatch-looking device. The parent sets an acceptable distance and the devices beep when they go outside the range. Though other similar devices exist, the students have improved the design enough for the university to file a patent. Several companies are interested in buying the rights to the design. (Source: AP)

Analysis: Again, demonstrates the market of advanced location-based security services

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Find Friends Using a Mobile Phone (5-23-03)
Two Wall Street Journal reporters recently tested location-based services on mobile phones. These data services can give names, contact information and directions to various destinations all based on a user's location. Location-based services are available through some wireless carriers for an additional service fee. Users will also need handsets with built-in Web access and location services. The reporters thought the services impractical but do give a glimpse of future, improved services. (Source: Wall Street Journal)

Full Text Follows

New Cellphone Services Help
Find Friends and Places to Go

By TIM HANRAHAN
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL ONLINE

Wireless companies have been pushing data services to boost usage of their cellphones and drive up monthly bills, which are under constant pressure from price-cutting.

These wireless Web services let users get news, sports scores and other information on their phones. Among the most interesting new offerings are so-called location-based services.

Location-based services take into account where you're using your phone in the physical world. They can give you names of nearby restaurants or hotels in an unfamiliar city, for example, along with a description, phone number and directions. You can also interact with users of similar phones.

These services are in their infancy, and it shows. They are fun, but so far are a little impractical; and they have complicated, costly rate plans. Still, they give us a peek at what's to come.

A colleague and I tested the Find Friends location service offered by AT&T Wireless Services. Find Friends allows users to keep tabs on each other, based on the location of the nearest cellphone tower, and includes handy city-guide listings to help users find a place to meet.

The service is limited to those who have upgraded to the company's newest phones and its mMode service plans, which count usage in kilobytes of data transmitted, not minutes. These plans range from an extra $2.99 a month for minimal users of multimedia services to $19.99 for heavy users.

AT&T Wireless has taken steps to protect users' privacy. For Find Friends to work, each user has to give permission for the other person to track him or her. Once permission has been granted, a person can choose to be "invisible" to specific or all users through easy-to-use menus. Moreover, every time a person requests to find a friend, a text message alerts the person being sought.

These steps help prevent Find Friends from being used, say, by a jealous ex-boyfriend or an overzealous boss.

We tested Find Friends using a Panasonic GU 87, which I used, and a Motorola T720, which my colleague Katherine Meyer used. Both phones had built-in Web access and location services . The Panasonic also came with a built-in camera that can send photos to certain other high-end phones (but not to the T720) and to e-mail accounts.

Getting a cutting-edge phone doesn't mean more-reliable signals or fast Web access; we were constantly waiting for connections. The Motorola's screen is straightforward, with three main buttons: Exit, Main Menu and Select. There's a thumb pad for scrolling and for switching between screens. The Panasonic has the same number of buttons, but crucial functions frequently change meanings and places, which led me to accidentally delete text messages. On both phones, it often isn't clear how to return to the main menu. It's less irritating to turn off the phone and restart.

After getting comfortable with basic functions, we tested how well we could track each other. Katherine headed off to a location in Manhattan, then text messaged me when she got there. I pinged Katherine's phone via Find Friends and it told me she was "near Washington Street & Bethune Street near West Village in New York, NY."

A taxi dropped me off at the intersection, but Katherine was nowhere in sight, which we had expected. Cell towers can be many blocks apart -- or miles apart in a rural area. Find Friends simply identifies the closest tower, which the company made clear. After several text messages back and forth, I found her at a restaurant just a few blocks away.

What worked best were the service's suggestions on places to meet -- near you, near your friend, or in between. Once you answer, "Meet Where?" by choosing a restaurant, bar, library or museum, to name a few on the list, plus the distance you're willing to travel, the phone gives you some choices.

When you pick a time and place, Find Friends provides a phone number for the location. Several times, it lets you opt to just call your friend -- a smart touch -- to finalize plans the old-fashioned way. But if you press on with Find Friends, it offers to set up the meeting for you, sending your friend the name of the suggested spot and time, which he or she can then decline or accept.

The next step, getting directions, can be time consuming, as you have to type in your exact location using phone keys. The directions I tested were accurate, but they assumed I was in a car, meaning some slight detours for users on foot.

AT&T Wireless sells spinoff products as well. Match Mobile, a deal with dating service Match.com, allows daters to use their cellphones to message each other for an extra $4.99 a month. AT&T also offers premium city guides from 10Best for $1.99 a month, or 49 cents for 24-hour access. These give reviews of restaurants and nightlife in your area, broken down by cuisine, ambiance and other categories.

Location services are engrossing, but at this early stage, if you want to meet a friend, it's better to make a call.

E-mail me at tim.hanrahan@wsj.com. Walt Mossberg is on vacation.

Updated May 22, 2003 11:59 p.m.

Analysis:  We've got a long way to go, boys and girls

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Women Text More than Men (5-22-03)
Research from the Mobile Data Association has found that U.K. women are more likely to use text messaging services than U.K. men. 74 percent of the women surveyed had used text messaging in the last two minutes compared with just 26 percent of men. Two-thirds of the women described themselves as text competent compared to only a third of men. The women said texting was the preferred way to keep in touch with friends and family. (Source: BBC)

Analysis: This may have interesting implications for LBS application design and marketing, to the extent that texting and "keeping in touch (e.g. tracking) friends and family" are similar.

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Mafia Uses Mobile Phones To Monitor Voters (5-20-03)
Italian authorities may not allow mobile phones in voting booths at upcoming regional elections after it got wind of a plan by the Italian Mafia. Apparently, the mafia planned to influence elections by using 3G mobile videophones to send back images proving voters had cast their ballots as instructed. Previously, the mafia has used bribery and threats of violence to persuade voters to vote for a particular candidate. Mobile phones, especially those with 3G technology are increasingly popular in Italy. Hutchinson, a 3G network provider in Italy, plans to have a million subscribers in Italy within the year. (Source: BBC)

Analysis: When you add location to the mix, unlawful monitoring could conceiveably take even more sinister turns.

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Cell Phone Gaming Gains Popularity (5-14-03)
Equipped with color screen phones that run on high-speed networks, more consumers are downloading and playing games. Verizon Wireless, AT&T Wireless and Sprint PCS have introduced a number of games designed by SEGA Mobile and JAMDAT. The hit game on Sprint's high-speed network is SEGA "Monkey Ball." Verizon's most downloaded game is JAMDAT's bowling. The wireless gaming phenomenon is expected to get a boost from the introduction of Nokia's N-Gage combination game console and cell phone. It can run such games as 3D Monkey Ball, THQ's "Red Faction," and Eidos' "Tomb Raider." (Source: Chicago Tribune)

Analysis: LBS Developers have a growing a gaming market to support development business cases and a development platform (Nokia's N-Gage); now is time to add location to the gaming mix with games such as virtual paintball, scavenger hunt, and many, many more!)

Many Say They Can't Live Without Their Cell Phones (5-14-03
In a survey by the Henley Management Center and Teleconomy, 46 percent of respondents aged 25 to 34 said they could not live without their cell phones. The survey also found that 46 percent of respondents used their phones to lift their moods or entertain their friends. The researchers found that cell phone users fell into three groups: "cyborgs," who cannot imagine life without cell phones and see them as extensions of their personalities; "prosthetics," who see cell phones as functional devices that are used to organize their lives; and the "Connected but Unattached," who see cell phones as necessary, but use them mainly to make work or emergency calls. (Source: BBC, Ananova)

Analysis: Interesting Segmentation

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Sunday Communications Launches Tracking Service (5-9-03)
Hong Kong-based Sunday Communications announced a tracking service for its customers. “Family Watch” is marketed as a way for family members to keep track of one another and allows subscribers to add or delete anyone from an authorization list. Subscribers to the service can be traced within 100 to 150 meters. The company expects the service to be widely popular. (Source: Reuters)

Analysis: What can we say, besides: "We Told You So!"  

Jumpstart Marketed to Businesses Creating Mobile Offices (5-9-03)
IBM recently introduced the “Jumpstart” package, a platform designed to help businesses migrate into the mobile realm with minimal technological difficulties. The package features an upgraded version of WebSphere Everyplace Access middleware with features such as location-based services, intelligent notification, device-management, email and instant messaging features. The new product currently supports an estimated 90 percent of all handheld operating systems, including Palm, Pocket PC, Symbian and Linux. (Source: NewsFactor)

Analysis: Will be interesting how they market this package, particularly (for this web-site) with respect to the LBS component.

U.K. Pre-Pay Consumers Pay More than Monthly Consumers (5-9-03)
According to the U.K.’s Consumers’ Association, customers who use a pre-paid mobile service while abroad are likely to pay more than those who pay monthly. Holiday Which magazine has reported that pre-paid customers are paying up to twice as much as monthly customers. Industry regulator, Oftel is currently investigating the pre-pay phone charges market. (Source: BBC)

Analysis: If this is a wide-spread trend (and we are not saying it is), it would represent a MAJOR impact on how wireless business cases are "calculated" (note the sarcasm about the "calculation"comment, but not the impact).

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Motorola Introduces New Instant Messaging Device Targeting Teens (5-9-03)
Motorola has introduced a wireless device that works with AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) and allows users to break away from the computer to chat with buddies. IMfree, targeted at teens aged 12-17, connects a computer and allows users to roam within 150 feet while accessing AIM. Designed to be easier than other AIM mobile devices, IMfree has a small QWERTY keyboard and helps prevent computer squabbles within a household. IMfree also allows parents to control children’s use of the device, while still allowing children to maintain their privacy. (Source: Wall Street Journal, New York Times)

Analysis: Don't know the details yet of the device mentioned, but its premise is clear: mobile devices are getting smaller (duhh!); AND, for some markets, the device and its application are becoming more "integrated" (or co-dependent).   Both represent new challenges for application AND device designers

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NTT DoCoMo Offers Wrist-Phone (5-9-03)
NTT DoCoMo now offers a wireless wristwatch phone. Created by Seiko, Wristomo, a wireless handset that wraps around the user’s wrist, can be unfolded into a handset or used as a speakerphone with the touch of a button. Wristomo can connect to the Web, receive email, swap data with Bluetooth enabled devices, and has up to two hours talk time on its rechargeable battery. The phone is marketed for $310 and relies on NTT DoCoMo’s cellular technology, therefore Wristomo is unlikely to appear in the United States in its current form. (Source: New York Times)

Analysis: Note to LBS Application Designers: You think it's tough now, wait until you have to design menus and dialogs to meet wrist-watch sized screen requirements!  No kidding; we have to re-think the entire user interface (until voice recognition becomes a practical reality)

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Roto-Rooter enters new era of wireless applications that will use GPS-enabled phones to help dispatch, track technicians (5-9-03)

When the toilets back up or the basement is flooding, the last thing you want to hear is that the plumber will be there "sometime between Noon and 4 p.m." Getting your plumbing fixed is not like having cable TV installedóit's an emergency, and you need service before the sludge slowy filling your finished rec room reaches the top of the ping pong table.

Fast service has been a hallmark of Roto-Rooter Inc., the largest provider of plumbing and drain cleaning services in North America. To boost dispatch efficiency and further speed service, the company is rolling out a wireless solution to help track and manage its more than 1,500 field technicians. Using GPS-enabled mobile phones, Roto-Rooter will be able to get the closest technician to the customer site as quickly as possible.

"We provide emergency, same-day service, and our customers are always in need of service quickly, especially if there is a mainline problem, like sewage in the basement," says Stephen Poppe, chief information officer at the Cincinnati-based company. "One problem we've had in the past is that the technicians weren't always where we needed them. With GPS, we'll know exactly where the technician is and exactly where the service problem is."

Roto-Rooter will deploy a mobile workforce management software solution called etrace from Gearworks, Minneapolis, on the Nextel i58sr phone. etrace will act as an electronic clipboard for technicians, transmitting messages, job status and GPS location in real-time back to the company. Customer service representatives will be able to track technicians' locations on a digital fleet map.

The phones will receive the customer name and address, a description of the problem, an invoice number and customer information if there is a service contract in place (such as at a commercial site). Technicians will also receive driving directions. Currently, technicians receive work orders on alphanumeric pagers.

Data will be routed through Gearworks' servers. Information such as driving instructions and GPS location are managed entirely by Gearworks, while Roto-Rooter retains ownership of its customer data.

The phones will communicate via Bluetooth short-range wireless technology with mobile printers and credit card swipe devices. Technicians will enter numeric responses into standard fields in the mobile application, and use a bar code scanner to enter customer charges from a price book.

Poppe says the company chose mobile phones because they will be easy to carry, and end user training will minimal. "We think that most of our training will already be done for us, which is important in service because staff turnover is high. We also didn't want to have to set up an entire computer system in our customers' kitchens," he says.

While the phones aren't as durable as the rugged computers often used for these types of systems, Poppe says the "guts" of a broken phone can easily be swapped out to a replacement unit. The phones are also significantly less expensive. About 70% to 80% of Roto-Rooter's technicians already use Nextel phones.

In addition to efficiency and customer service improvements, Poppe says the biggest benefits will be that employees at the dispatch center can take more customer calls, and swiping credit cards on site will cut processing charges. The system will also reduce the paperwork load for the technicians.

Roto-Rooter will put a prototype system in place this quarter, and Poppe expects a return on investment in 12 months.

www.gearworks.com

Analysis:  A great example of enterprise-level LBS applications with potentially hugh payoffs for the sponsors, both in terms of cost reduction (e.g. higher field calls per day per technician) an customer service (reducing the ever annoying 4 Hour window for field techs to (possibly) show up at your door)

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Irish Truants Managed By Text Messaging (5-9-03)
Two schools in Dublin are using text messaging to report on truants. According to David Sweeney, principal of the Portmarnock Community School, a database records the names of absent students each day and automatically sends a text message to the student’s parents. If the absenteeism is legitimate, parents can ignore the message or contact the school if it is not. According to the schools the system is working well and interest in it has expanded. The only problem the schools seem to face are students reluctant to give their parents mobile phone numbers. (Source: Reuters)

Analysis: One more interesting issue to deal with for the "Truancy" LBS application

Casinos' In-Room Telephones Lose Out to Cell Phones (5-8-03)
More travelers are using their own cell phones in order to avoid charges for hotel and casinos' in-room phone services. Casinos including Las Vegas's Hard Rock Hotel, MGM Mirage and Venetian have seen revenues from in-room phone service decline. According to a study from PKF Consulting, the phone revenues of 4,000 U.S. hotels were $212 million in 2002, down 22.4 percent from 2001 revenues. To offset the losses, many hotels are offering in-room fax machines and high-speed Internet connections. They are also gaining revenue by allowing cell phone companies to lease rooftop space for antenna sites. (Source: Las Vegas Review-Journal)

Analysis:  Perhaps (wait, not perhaps, definitely) a better strategy is to focus on the advantages of their LOCATION relative to nearby attractions (including internal to the casino via Wi-Fi/Location casino applications) - CHANGING the business model from pipe revenue to services/advertising revenue, and improving customer satisfaction to boot.

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U.S. Wireless Firms Add Subscribers, But ARPU Declines (5-5-03)
Competition among U.S. wireless carriers has resulted in falling prices for consumers, but that may not be good for the companies, analysts say. As the carriers battle for a share of a shrinking supply of available new customers, they are lowering rates, and turning to prepaid calling plans designed to attract teenagers and those with much less than the best credit. Cingular Wireless, for example, was able to turn around its sliding subscriber numbers, with prepaid customers an important component of the reversal. But such programs are leading to declines in carriers' Average Revenue Per User (ARPU), a key performance measure for wireless companies. Sprint PCS, Cingular, Nextel and Verizon Wireless all reported lower first quarter 2003 ARPU, compared with the fourth quarter of 2002. If the trend continues, it will affect revenue growth, an analyst said. (Source: CNN/Money)

Analysis: LBS business cases need to pay particular attention to the potential to increase ARPU; the trick is how to "prove" it and by how much.  Focus groups are usually effective in doing this if designed correctly.

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MapInfo and MasterCard introduce ATM Locator (4-29-03)

MapInfo Corporation (Nasdaq: MAPS) today announced that it has teamed with MasterCard to create the first mobile ATM Locator. Now available to TELUS Mobility PCS and Mike clients across Canada, the MapInfo-powered ATM Locator enables users to locate more than 35,000 MasterCard^®, Maestro^® or Cirrus^® ATMs using their mobile phones.

 

“MasterCard is committed to providing its customers with products and services that improve the efficiency of their day-to-day lives. We wanted to help our customers find the most convenient MasterCard ATM, no matter where they are located,” said Tatiana Mulry, vice president of Information Products and Services, MasterCard. “By offering the wireless ATM Locator, built on MapInfo’s industry-leading location technology, TELUS Mobility clients can quickly and easily locate a MasterCard, Maestro or Cirrus ATM by simply clicking a few buttons on their mobile phones.”  (Originally released March 18th...Oops)

Analysis: A great example of FOCUSED Product Development and Target Marketing

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MapInfo and Sendum Introduce family of Wireless Tracking Devices (4-29-03) (Originally released March 17th)

MapInfo Corporation (Nasdaq: MAPS) and Sendum Wireless Corporation will reveal a family of wireless tracking devices at CTIA Wireless this week. Using MapInfo miAware^™, Sendum’s tracking devices enable companies to track many different types of assets, ranging from packages to cargo to vehicles. The devices help organizations prevent loss and improve customer satisfaction by providing a fast and efficient means to ensure the safety and security of assets. Demonstrations of the devices are available at MapInfo’s booth #5913.

 

 Every day, companies lose millions of dollars as a result of lost or stolen shipments. This problem has enormous cost implications, as well as a significant impact on customer satisfaction. Sendum’s solution combines wireless technology with Global Positioning System (GPS) technology to create package-tracking solutions that are small, low cost and work in environments where traditional GPS can not.

Analysis:  MapInfo appears to be pursuing a Niche product/product marketing strategy, and one progressively less dependent on wireless carriers.

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Editorial Calls Wireless Industry Opposition to Number Portability A Losing Effort (4-23-03)
A New York Times editorial said that the wireless industry is fighting a losing battle in opposing an FCC mandate that cell phone firms provide number portability – allowing customers to keep their cell phone numbers when they change carriers within the same calling area. The editorial said that cell phone companies need to face the fact that dissatisfied customers will change carriers. The editorial also called on the FCC to move as quickly as possible to enable landline phone customers to be able to keep their phone numbers when they change to wireless service. (Source: New York Times)

Analysis:  Number portability will be a disaster for carriers without meaningful "sticky" applications - e.g. those applications that have a high-value add and naturally integrate with other users or services, such as family security LBS applications or Wi-Fi/LBS integrated applications, to name a few.

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Outdoor Adventurers Go Wireless (4-23-03)
Outdoor enthusiasts are equipping themselves with the latest tech gadgets before setting off into the wild. Hikers are toting mobile phones, PDAs, MP3 players, global positioning systems, watches with altimeters, barometers and more. Outdoors retailer Eastern Mountain Sports reported an increase in sales of electronic gadgets and attributes the growth to improvements in technology. (Source: USA Today)

Analysis: One more example of an attractive niche market

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Virgin Mobile Reaches 500,000 Customers (4-23-03)
In its first nine months of operation Virgin Mobile USA has added 500,000 customers, most of which are 15-to-30 year olds. The joint venture between Virgin Group and Sprint Corp. offers pre-paid wireless service with no contractual obligation, simple pricing and features including ringtones and messaging. According to Virgin Mobile, its customers have downloaded more than 700,000 ringtones and sent or received nearly 50 million text messages. (Source: Reuters)

Analysis: Perhaps LBS application developers are better off trying to link up with smaller companies such as Virgin who might be more ready to invest in LBS.

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Boston Marathon Runners Send Alerts During Race (4-22-03)
Over 7,000 runners in today's Boston Marathon will be sending emails and text messages to family and friends updating them on the their progress. Nextel Communications has set up a system for the runners that allows them to wear a lightweight transponder on their shoes. When the runners cross 11 checkpoints, the device will generate a short email or text message to six wireless phone numbers or email addresses the runner wishes to contact. Counting updates listing all winners and top-finishing Americans in the race, Nextel could easily send more than 150,000 messages and alerts today to people who have signed up for information from the Nextel Athlete Alert Program. Now in its sixth year as the race's official wireless sponsor, Nextel is also providing race officials with 375 of its phones with the ''DirectConnect'' walkie-talkie feature. (Source: Boston Globe)

Analysis: Need attention-grabbing tactic - question: how to leverage it in a broader (niche) capacity?

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Strategy Analytics: Location Based Services Growth Can Reach $8 Billion by 2008 (4-7-03) Source: www.wirelessdevnet.com

...but Carriers Must Open up the Market for Location Coordinates to Third Parties

Carriers, Buoyed by the Success of SMS as a Wholesale Product, Must Now Do the Same for Location Coordinates to Generate LBS Momentum

According to the latest Strategy Analytics research, the location based services (LBS) market has been stalled due to carriers' failure to sufficiently invest in resources. Although cellular network operators can currently identify the location of users, more resources must be allocated to position determining equipment and associated platforms if mobile safety, navigational and entertainment applications are to reach their potential. While cash strapped operators are reluctant to increase their investment in location solutions, there are strategies they can pursue to catalyze the market in the near term.

Philip Taylor, Senior Analyst at Strategy Analytics comments, "In particular, operators need to develop twin track strategies for location content, offering location as a component within their branded portals, while selling on location coordinates as a wholesale product to third-party developers." Taylor continues, "Although operators originally wanted to provide all services, some are beginning to realize that location coordinates, like their billing systems, can be used as a strategic asset to build the market for mobile services."

Looking ahead, Strategy Analytics believes that the more stringent FCC requirements regarding E-911 regulations will pay off in the longer term. David Kerr, Vice President of the Strategy Analytics Global Wireless Practice, notes, "LBS service revenues in Western Europe will be overtaken by those of North America in 2006, as US carriers finally begin to realize revenue from the more accurate positioning solutions mandated by the FCC."

However, while the market will pick up from mid-2004, the suppliers of location software will continue to have a tough time over the next twelve months. Kerr adds, "Location applications are trickling onto the market, but not in time to save many middleware players. We believe that only by aligning themselves further with wireless infrastructure vendors, such as Nokia and Ericsson, or key application platform vendors, such as LogicaCMG and Openwave, can location middleware players survive in the current market."

Analysis: Another example that carriers are one of their own worst enemies with respect to LBS

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Finland Tracks Traffic Congestion Using Cell phone Signals (3-27-03)
An experiment to use cell phone signals to track where traffic congestion is occurring has been deemed successful by Finland's Technical Research Center. The Finnish Road Administration and mobile phone firm Radiolinja tracked information about the number of GSM cell phones passing between certain measuring points to deliver to a Web site real-time information about traffic congestion, and the speed of traffic flow. Not only would drivers get information about where congestion is occurring, they could also receive information on how long it would take to travel through an area. To avoid raising privacy concerns, a random number is linked to a phone as it travels through the system. The road administration said it has no way to link the random number to a particular cell phone. (Source: AP)

Simple, yet effective Privacy technique

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New mobile phone tracker pinpoints and verifies locations over all UK networks (3-19-03)  Source: www.wirelessdevnet.com

URL(s): www.verilocation.com

Overview Mapping has launched an automatic location service using mobile phone signals from any of the UK’s network operators. A registered mobile’s location can be pinpointed through the new Verilocationä service via a simple Website displaying street-level maps.

Verilocationä combines up to 100-metre accurate cell location with Overview’s own up-to-date UK digital street mapping. The system is based on cell information provided by the four UK mobile networks, T-Mobile, Orange, O2 and Vodafone. Designed as a pay-as-you-go web application that requires no special equipment and only an initial registration fee, any company can take immediate advantage of the new service.

Verilocationä is primarily aimed at companies with staff travelling out and about and with most people now owning a GSM mobile phone this is a service that anyone can use. In addition Verilocationä provides a simpler, more portable, and lower cost alternative to GPS satellite location systems where accuracy to the nearest metre is not required.

Companies in time and service critical industries will have considered fitting GPS location and telemetry to their vehicles. However, sub 2 metre GPS location accuracy may be overkill for most. GSM cell location offers a much more cost-effective option that can link the mobile phone user to the underlying road network providing an accurate visual location using the on screen map.

Verilocationä is also expected to be of interest to domestic users; anyone who needs to locate someone such as an elderly relative travelling away from home or children out and about on their own.

Typically a web user will enter the number of the mobile phone they wish to locate, the Verilocationä server then processes the data call. This takes cell location data from the relevant mobile network and combines it with Overview’s own street mapping data prior to onward delivery to the customer. Data Protection regulations, require prior authorisation from the phone owner.

The service will appeal to both small and larger enterprises looking for a low cost location solution including courier companies, service management organisations in fact any organisation that needs to make the most of its mobile workforce. The basic service plots the position of the mobile phone targeted with more advanced applications utilising resource allocation tools, routing and multiple plot points over historical periods. Verilocationä requires no additional hardware and can be integrated with back end customer service management or CRM systems, or simply viewed via a web browser on a company’s intranet.

Data protection issues have been fully addressed and the service is now ready for implementation.

A proof of concept web site, www.verilocation.com, demonstrates how the system would work. The Data Protection Act prevents spurious feeds from mobile networks so locations delivered are randomly generated.

Analysis:  Looks to be a well-put-together concept, INCLUDING privacy needs.   My question is whether they are over-optimistic  in their assumption that GPS-level  accuracy requirements are overkill

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Washington Group International Introduces New System to Secure, Track, and Monitor Hazardous Waste Containers (3-6-03) (Source: WirelessDevNet.com)

Smart Secure Drum can be Tracked and Monitored Remotely

BOISE, Idaho, Feb 27, 2003 - Washington Group International, Inc. (OTCBB:WGII) today introduced a new system that secures, monitors, and tracks transportation containers used in the shipment and storage of hazardous waste and other highly sensitive material. The new Washington Smart Secure Drum was introduced at the Waste Management trade show in Tucson, Arizona, where Washington Group is demonstrating the product this week.

Utilizing a tamper-proof stainless-steel electronic locking device, customizable sensor arrays, a global-positioning system (GPS), and secure wireless communications for remote detection, the system is designed to safeguard and monitor standard 55-gallon drums often used to ship hazardous waste and other sensitive materials.

"According to the United States Department of Transportation, hazardous material traffic levels in the country now exceed 800,000 shipments a day, resulting in the transport of more than 3.1 billion tons of such material every year," said Ralph R. DiSibio, president of Washington Group's Energy & Environment business unit. "As a provider of services and solutions to the nuclear, chemical, defense, and transportation industries, we saw the need for such a device - particularly in the dangerous post-9-11 world we live in today."

Because of the system's self-contained communications and monitoring features, the exact location and condition of each container fitted with the device can be monitored real time by a remote command center. The system also can be customized for a variety of applications.

"Each unit can be customized to accommodate a wide range of substances - including nuclear, chemical, and biological materials," said Ambrose L. Schwallie, president of Washington Group's Defense business unit. "Because of that, we're just starting to see the tip of the iceberg in terms of interest in our product by those businesses and agencies who are concerned about homeland security, transportation safety, material theft and sabotage, and monitoring of contraband."

Analysis:  Tip of the iceberg is right

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Mobile Phones Viewed as Means of Control (2-28-03)
According to a three-year study by a team from Lancaster University in the U.K., mobile phones are becoming tools that people use to control circumstances in their lives. Young women, for example, said that having a mobile phone enabled them to take control of situations such as having to walk home at night. They could remain in contact with someone as they walked. Researchers said the multimedia messaging will bring new nuances to how phones are used. For example, providing people with the ability to ask for proof of another's location. Text messages aren't the emotional missives that network operators think they are, the study found. Texters carefully compose them. Voice still conveys most emotional messages. The challenge for mobile phone network operators will be managing spam messages to phones. If the messages aren't in the right context and balance, consumers could be repelled by them. Operators should give mobile phone users tools to be able to sort personal messages from spam. (Source: BBC)

Analysis:  I don't know why it took 3 years to come to the conclusion that cell phones are fundamentally affecting peoples lives, but so be it.  This (blindingly obvious) and now (scientifically proven) "fact" can now be added to LBS business cases.

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Contract Freighters to Equip Fleet of 2,400 Trucks with Aether MobilMax (2-28-03)
Aether Systems announced on Wednesday that Joplin, Missouri-based Contract Freighters Inc. (CFI) has agreed to equip its entire fleet of 2400 trucks with Aether MobilMax. CFI began using wireless tracking and mobile communications nearly 10 years ago and has a state-of-the-art operations center regarded as a model for the industry. CFI plans to complete the conversion to Aether's fleet tracking and messaging technology by December 2003. (Source: Washington Business Journal)

Analysis: LBS-based fleet management entities need to take a look at this.

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AT&T Wireless Launches Dating Service with Match.com (2-12-03)
In time for Valentine's Day, online dating site Match.com said it will provide wireless dating, matching and communication capabilities to AT&T Wireless mMode customers via their mobile phones with Match Mobile (mobile.match.com). Match Mobile allows singles to exchange messages and communicate anonymously with other singles who live in their areas. Initially matches will be based on zip codes, but in the coming months, the service will be enhanced with location-based technology. The means that Match Mobile users can locate their matches within an approximate geographical location automatically using their wireless phones. (Source: Reuters)

Analysis: The niche LBS application train is picking up steam...

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Mobile Gaming - This week I had a chance to Schmooze with a large
group of journalists, game developers, and mobile communication industry leaders in London. The occasion... Nokia officially launched Nokia N-Gage. This tri-band, handheld device supports bluetooth, XHTML browsing, email, and of course gaming. Nokia reps emphasized that a big differentiator of this device is the support for multi-user gaming in a
true mobile experience. Something to look forward to is the addition of location-based services with the mobile gaming experience... stay tuned. LBS solution providers, if I were you I'd be looking into this!
http://www.forum.nokia.com/main/1,35452,1_75_15,00.html (SOURCE: WirelessDevNet.com)

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Growth in U.S. Wireless Subscriptions to Come from Youths, Hispanics (2-11-03)
The U.S. mobile industry closed 2002 with 53 percent of the total population in major metropolitan areas subscribing to mobile phone service, according to market researcher Telephia, Inc. Looking toward 2003, findings from Telephia’s online survey of 50,000 wireless subscribers and non-subscribers showed that one in four non-subscribers expects to sign up for mobile service in 2003, with young adults 18 to 24 years old, and Hispanic populations likely to emerge as high-growth market segments. Based on results from its Market Metrics service, which performs continuous tracking of activity on all major cellular and PCS networks in 44 major U.S. markets, Telephia found that 53 percent of residents now have mobile phone service. Individual market penetration rates showed significant variability by market, ranging from a low of 45 percent to a high of 71 percent. The markets with the highest penetration rates were Greenville, S.C. (71 percent), St. Louis (69 percent), Raleigh, N.C. (65 percent), Orlando (65 percent), Atlanta (64 percent), Washington D.C. (64 percent) and Boston (63 percent). Overall U.S. penetration increased to 53 percent in December 2002 from 50 percent in June. (Source: Reuters) - more info

Analysis: Additional info to drive business case for youth-oriented applications.   Research will need to be conducted to determine appropriate "niche" LBS applications for Hispanic market.

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Verizon's Get It Now Customers Can Now Get Video on Their Phones (2-5-03)
Subscribers to Verizon's Get It Now services can now view images from personal or publicly installed Web cameras thanks to a recent agreement between Verizon and webcam technology company Logitech. Those Verizon customers with the appropriate phones and service contracts can select a public camera from a list on Logitech's Web site or select a private webcam and enter a password to connect with the one-way video directly on the handset's screen. The new service is being marketed as a great way to keep track of friends and family. Whether they are at the office or on the road, parents can keep an eye on their kids. The service is expected to be popular with the youth market. (Source: Wireless NewsFactor) - more info

Analysis: Only one step more to adding location of phone to greatly enhance the possibilities of this application.

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Camera-Phone Uses Escalate (2-5-03)
Debuting in the U.S. late last year, the camera-phone is being recognized for many practical uses other than as just a great toy. According to the Chicago Tribune, owners of camera-phones have used them to build Web pages, enhance caller-ID and e-mail, do comparison-shopping; and in business, take pictures of things they need instant access to. Camera-phones range in price from $99 to as much as $500 and either fit as attachments onto a phone or are built into the phone. Several manufacturers and U.S. carriers offer the phones. (Source: Chicago Tribune) - more info

Analysis:  Adding location "stamping" to pictures on camera phones at a minimum is a great "add-on", and indeed could represent a whole new class of applications, e.g. field techs sending in pictures of parts of field installations in order to get detailed specs returned real-time, etc. 

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Keeping Tabs: A Two-Way Street

By WILL WADE (NY Times, Circuits, 1-16-03)

n ordinary day at the zoo for Timothy Neher was quickly turning traumatic. "It was the first time I ever got to take out my niece and nephew by myself," he remembers of the 1997 outing. "Everything was fine until lunchtime. I glanced up at the menu at the snack bar; it couldn't have been more than a few seconds, but when I looked down they were gone."

His 5-year-old niece and 3-year-old nephew were nowhere in sight. "I felt that panicky feeling every parent dreads," Mr. Neher said.

Then the five-minute crisis was over. The children had wandered behind the snack stand. "When I took the kids home that night," he said, "I told their parents we'd had some excitement, but I'd come up with a great idea for a company."

Almost six years later, the company, Wherify Wireless in Redwood Shores, Calif., has produced the Personal Locator, a satellite-based tracking device intended to head off the kind of panic that Mr. Neher experienced.

Location-sensing technologies based on satellite-based systems or infrared tracking are not new. But design advances have made the components small enough to fit into hand-held units, or to be built into bracelets or backpacks, relaying information that can readily be monitored on the Web. Couple that with a more security-conscious world, and suddenly tracking systems seem to be everywhere, keeping tabs on the whereabouts of children, elderly relatives and even belongings - in addition, of course, to helping drivers, hikers and sailors find their way from point to point.

But for most consumers, the tracking may be not always be so much a service as a cost of doing business. Increasingly, cellphones can allow your location to be traced, ostensibly to help in an emergency. Grocery carts equipped with infrared devices can keep track of your wanderings in the ice cream aisle or the produce section. And fare-paying medallions like E-ZPass record when and where you passed a tollbooth.

Location industry veterans see a strong demand for tracking technology. "The demand for pure navigation systems is limited," said Marc Prioleau, director of marketing at Sirf Technology of San Jose, Calif., a developer of satellite-based navigation components. Boats and planes are a small market, and the largest potential area for navigation systems is cars.

Mr. Prioleau noted, however, that tracking gear could be included in almost anything. It is already used by shipping companies to monitor their trucks and by law enforcement agencies to keep tabs on parolees, and new applications are beginning to emerge. "I think that's going to be the driving force going forward," he said. "We're starting to see a pretty major uptick in sales."

Even as such devices are becoming more attractive to consumers, the two-edged nature is also becoming more apparent.

Eric Orr, a retired police officer and private security consultant in Chesapeake, Va., liked the concept of the Wherify Personal Locator so much he bought five of them and plans to buy five more. "I have two young children, and with all the nieces and nephews there are a lot of kids in our family," he said. "When I'm done, all of them are going to be wearing these bracelets."

But as a security expert specializing in surveillance, Mr. Orr also sees the potential of this technology to monitor people without their knowledge or consent. "It would be very easy to mount this type of device in a car and keep track of where people are going all the time," he pointed out. "It only takes half a twist to make this a real invasion of privacy. It's very scary."

The technology at the heart of the Personal Locator and comparable devices is the Global Positioning System (G.P.S.), developed by the military in the 1970's and 80's for navigation applications, like helping sailors and pilots determine their location. G.P.S. is based on a network of 24 satellites, each constantly broadcasting a radio signal. A receiver unit on the ground compares the signals coming in from three or four satellites to calculate its precise location, usually to within 20 yards.

Some receivers can refine this calculation using additional timing data obtained from ground-based communication networks, often improving their accuracy to within about five yards. Infrared sensor systems can also monitor the movement of objects, with much better accuracy but within a smaller area.

Wherify's Personal Locator is worn on the wrist and looks like a digital watch pumped up on steroids. Parents can give it to their children and then use the Wherify Web site to find out where they are. It has G.P.S. and cellular telephone components, so whenever a user logs onto the Web site, the network basically calls the Locator and asks the built-in G.P.S. device for its location, in latitude and longitude. Mr. Neher said the bracelet design is better than stitching the system into a backpack, because packs are easy to take off.

Those coordinates are then plotted on a map and displayed on the Web. If parents are not near a computer, they can call the Wherify center and ask an operator to find their child. "If you're in Central Park and you lose your kids, we can tell you over the phone where they are," Mr. Neher said. "We can say they are 50 feet in front of the north gate."

Another company, Pomals Inc. of Westport, Conn., is developing a similar tracker built into a child-size backpack, but its first product is aimed at the corporate world. This month, the company introduced a G.P.S.-enabled sleeve for hand-held computers, which allows the unit to know its position. When the device uses its wireless connection to check in with the network, it also reports its location and can ask for various location-specific information, whether the user is looking for the nearest client or sales lead or a good Japanese restaurant in the neighborhood.

Coppy Holzman, president and chief executive of the company, says this type of location-aware device can make ordinary tasks much more efficient. "If you're going to the cleaners, the P.D.A. will know when you're getting close and can send a signal to let them know you'll be pulling up so they can get your shirts," he said. "If you're going home, it can automatically turn on the heat when you're a mile away from the door."

But he acknowledges that this type of convenience comes with a potentially significant trade-off: information about people's everyday movements can be very valuable. "Our company is starting to get noticed, and after people looking for jobs, the greatest number of calls we get are from people who want to buy our data," Mr. Holzman said. "But that's not our business. We don't store the data about where people go, and we don't sell it."

Many people are in the business of collecting and selling data, of course, and Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, a watchdog group, predicts that location-tracking systems will become a more common tool for them. "Marketing people want to know as much about people as they can," he said.

And soon the location-information industry will hit the jackpot. In response to Federal Communications Commission mandates, wireless carriers have begun to incorporate location technology into cellphones, partly because many people use them to report emergencies but do not know exactly where they are calling from, hindering rescue efforts.

A side effect of the so-called Enhanced 911 rules is that every cellphone will soon become a mobile tracking unit, monitoring the location from which every call is placed.

In addition to the data's potential use in marketing, Mr. Rotenberg said, the ability to monitor people's movements could be used by employers, to find out where workers are using company-issued phones; in law enforcement, to determine where people are at a specific time; or in domestic disputes, to log patterns of behavior of, say, a wayward husband who often makes calls from his secretary's home.

Erica Orr, 6, of Chesapeake, Va., wears the Wherify Personal Locator her father bought to keep track of her.

"Real-time location data is the holy grail in the mobile phone industry," Mr. Rotenberg said.

Even more innovative applications are on the horizon, innovations that depend on tracking individual movements. For example, a state task force in Oregon this month proposed a pay-as-you-drive system that uses G.P.S. tracking to determine how far every vehicle travels, as a possible alternative to a gasoline tax. "You can really track anything you want," Mr. Prioleau said.

Analysis:  Double-edged article, which will continue until adequate Privacy infrastructure is in place.

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Man Suspected of Using GPS Device to Stalk Ex-Girlfriend (1-10-03)
A Wisconsin man is on trial for allegedly stalking an ex-girlfriend. Wherever she went, the woman said, he was there. Investigators found a GPS tracking device attached to the woman's car. In a Colorado case, a man allegedly had a GPS device installed in his estranged wife's car after she got a restraining order against him. The use of high-tech devices in stalking cases is becoming a disturbing trend, said Tracy Bahm, director of the Stalking Resource Center of the National Center for Victims of Crime. (Source: Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel) - more info

Analysis: This kind of thing will just kill LBS if not addressed effectively and COMPREHENSIVELY

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Wireless Ranks High on Lists of Technologies to Watch in 2003 (1-7-03)
Wireless and related applications made the lists of top technologies to watch in 2003. Leading the lists in the top slot is Wi-Fi - the 803.11a, b and g versions -- followed by Bluetooth, and a low-power, low-speed technology called Zigbee that is described as a low cost competitor for Bluetooth. Location-based services, telematics services, and games played via mobile phone and e-mail also are expected to blossom in 2003. Prices for faster, more reliable wireless access to the Internet are expected to fall, starting the trend to bring technologies envisioned only in science fiction a bit closer to reality. (Source: ZDNet U.K., PCWorld.com)

Analysis: 2003 could (should) be the breakout year for LBS

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Sybase to acquire AvantGo for $38 million (12-26-02) 

San Francisco, CA (Reuters & CNET News.com) - Business software maker Sybase Inc. agreed to buy mobile software developer AvantGo Inc., last Friday, for about $38 million in a bid to expand its presence in the wireless market, sending AvantGo shares soaring. Sybase Chairman and Chief Executive John Chen said the merger was aimed at the market for "mobile middleware," or software that enables wireless devices to communicate with each other, company servers and content providers and to send and receive e-mail...more

Analysis: Massive database meets LBS middleware = push for large-scale retention of location information

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Bell Mobility introduces MyFinder - Canada's first wireless location based service - (12-18-02)  By simply requesting to be located, Bell Mobility's MyFinder service delivers customers with the relevant and local information they need (See Applications! Section for more details and analysis)

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Japan's NTT DoCoMo Looks to New Uses for Wireless to Stimulate Growth (12-05-02)
In a push to boost uses of wireless devices in a marketplace where adoption of the technology is already high, NTT DoCoMo is considering applications in the health care and pet care industries. In Japan, wireless phones are already used by diabetics to send the results of their blood sugar tests to physicians. NTT DoCoMo sees expanding to blood pressure and heart monitoring services. Location-sensitive wireless devices are being used to keep track of children at Universal Studios Japan. As the devices become smaller, they can be used to find lost pets. (Source: Reuters)

Analysis: Clearly GPS chip set prices are enabling these kinds  of applications

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Video Gaming on Cell Phones Beginning to Boom (12-01-02)
Wireless data has taken off, allowing wireless carriers and mobile phone game developers to offer more advanced and visually appealing video games on cell phones thanks in part to high-speed networks and color screens. These video games are proving especially popular to younger audiences who can find their favorite Nintendo GameBoy and Sony Play Station games available on cell phones. Research firm IDC estimates that U.S. wireless gamers will multiply more than tenfold, from 7 million in 2003 to 71.2 million in 2007. Users can easily download games directly from the Internet to handsets for as little as $2 to $15, depending on monthly subscription fees. (Source: Reuters)

Analysis:  Mobile Gaming is here and here to stay....Where are the LBS games to take advantage of this market?

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Wi-Fi Attracts Enthusiasts and Entrepreneurs (11-18-02)
Both entrepreneurs and enthusiasts envision a day when most of the U.S. will be blanketed with high-speed wireless access to the Internet. The fastest-growing technology for achieving that vision currently appears to be 802.11b or Wi-Fi networks that are being deployed by companies such as T-Mobile and Starbucks, Borders Books, Boingo Wireless, and Surf and Sip. The networks can be found in airport lounges, restaurants and city parks. IBM, Intel and AT&T are exploring ways to connect networks of networks in metropolitan areas across the country. Meanwhile, enthusiasts who believe that the service should be offered free to end-users are building their networks in such places as Midtown Manhattan; Portland, Oregon; Austin, Texas; and Boston. They say they are not out to eliminate for-fee wireless Net service, but to make it available to a broader group of users. "Free wireless about bridging the digital divide," one said. (Source: New York Times, USA TODAY)

Analysis: These kinds of hyped-up articles and mindset of the participants also occurred during the dot-com era.  Will Wi-Fi also become an overhyped "bubble" that will lead the market to over-promise and over-invest?

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Boston Truants Busted by Cell Phones (11-12-02)
Truants in the Boston School District beware! Truant officers are now equipped with web-enabled mobile phones from Nextel with software from AirClic, that allow them to access information on every student that attends one of the 63,000 Boston Public Schools. Officers can now instantly check out a student's photo identity, school record and history as well as notify a parent if their child is found playing hooky. A digital two-way radio enables officers to communicate instantly with their colleagues. Boston School District, the first to use mobile technology for this purpose, hopes that the devices will keep better track of student absences as well as deter truancy among students. (Source: BBC)

Analysis: Adding location to this mix seems like a logical application extension

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Yankee Group Forecasts Growth in Mobile Field Sales Support Products (11-7-02)
A new Yankee Group report forecasts that U.S. sales of hardware, software and other support products for mobile field salespeople will grow from $132 million in 2002 to $825 million in 2006. The report predicts that savvy Customer Relationship Management software vendors, systems integrators (SIs) and mobile middleware providers will focus their selling efforts on early-adopter vertical markets like pharmaceuticals, financial services and high-technology manufacturing. Wireless and other mobile technologies are spurring the market for mobile field sales support products, but that is not the only market driver: field sales is the largest segment of mobile workers (34 percent) among major companies, according to the Yankee Group's 2002 Corporate Wireless Survey; many businesses trying to capitalize on sales-force automation (SFA) are hindered by slow user adoption, but new technologies are providing more options; competition is pushing enterprises to improve sales efficiency and effectiveness; mobile technology is one way to do that; and salespeople are adopting wireless and mobile technology on their own. (Source: Wireless NewsFactor)

Analysis: Supports near-term LBS application focus on eDispatch-type applications targeting field sales and field technician support, particularly for companies that currently cannot afford existing Sales Force Automation technology, or feel that their current technology (e.g. PCs for everbody) is overkill.

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Nokia Kicks Off Multimedia Adventure Game October 21 (11-6-02)
Nokia Game 2002, an interactive adventure, will be played November 11-29 in nine languages across 25 countries in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. During the game, players receive a mission that they must complete within the next 20 days. Those who complete the mission to the fullest (i.e. score the most points) win. Nokia Game uses the Internet, SMS, chat, interactive voice response (IVR) calls and mini-movies distributed over the web to share information and provide clues and instructions to the players. There is no fee to participate in Nokia Game. To play, participants need to have access to the Internet, an e-mail address, and a mobile phone with the capacity to receive short messages. There is no age limit to play the game, but minors need their guardian's permission to participate. At the end of the game, the top 10-100 players in each country will each win a special new Nokia 3650 phone with integrated camera, video player and camcorder. The winners will be among the first in their region to own and use this new phone. Registrations and a press section where journalists can download Nokia Game related material and follow news updates on the game opens at http://www.NokiaGame.com on October 21. (Source: Ananova)

Analysis: While this game does not yet utilize location, it is not hard to see how it could significantly upgrade the game and its attraction to players by adding a "find a (person, place, thing)" dimension to the adventure

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GM's Onstar Forecasts Slower Growth (10-28-02)
GM's in-vehicle information service, Onstar, said it expects continued but slower growth in the number of subscribers this year. Onstar attributes the slowdown to the number of customers who don't renew the service after the end of the first year of use. Onstar equipment and a one-year subscription to the service come as an option on some GM, Toyota and Honda models. Onstar will introduce a revamped advertising campaign featuring testimonials from users who have been helped by using the service. (Source: Wall Street Journal)

Analysis: GM needs to refine its business model/marketing to reduce this form of "churn", and conduct more in-depth analysis of subscriber segments to better understand application needs that are not being met currently.   See Next Article.

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Vehicle Tracking Systems Grow in Popularity (10-28-02) Because of the decline in prices of Global Positioning System, wireless and computer mapping technologies, the popularity of vehicle tracking systems is growing. Used for years by the trucking industry, the technology is entering the consumer market. Tracking services allow parents to monitor the speeds at which their teenagers are driving, or let car dealers who cater to buyers with less than stellar credit keep track of the location of the vehicles they sell. But privacy advocates warn that tracking systems could be used to collect data about drivers' habits, such as what restaurants a driver frequents, for marketing purposes. The technology also could provide data that insurance companies could use to set a driver's rates. (Source: New York Times)

Analysis:  Clearly Telematics adoption is accelerating, despite more pessimistic projections from research houses such as Gartner.

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New Movie to Feature "Cellular"  (10/17/02)
New Line Cinema is in negotiations for a director for the movie "Cellular," which is about a man who gets a random cell phone call from a woman who has been kidnapped. The movie could begin production in March. Other films from New Line Cinema include "The Lord of the Rings," and "Austin Powers in Goldmember." (Source: Variety)

Analysis - LBS/E911 comes (or doesn't) to Hollywood

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ORANGE TO LAUNCH ADVANCED LOCATION BASED SERVICES ACROSS EUROPE - Multi-million Euro deal signed with Webraska (10/7/02)

Orange, one of the world’s leading mobile communications companies, today announced its intention to launch new location based services, which will be available to more than 30 million customers across Europe. Orange customers will have access to a range of “intelligent” direction and finding services, giving them enhanced navigation and visually rich information about their local amenities including restaurants, cash machines and entertainment venues. The advanced suite of Orange location based services is due to be launched early in 2003. At the heart of the launch is a multi-million Euro deal between Orange and Webraska – one of the world’s leading provider of location based services applications and platforms. The new partnership will allow Orange to offer its European customers a wide range of location based services via wap, web, text and advanced messaging. The three-and-a-half year deal will improve the experience of Orange customers using location based services. They will be able to view interactive map displays when requesting directions and access services including the Yellow Pages and “Buddy Finder” - which allows a customer to know where their friends are (so long as they have all signed up to the service). The agreement will also allow Orange to offer a range of new community-based and entertainment services to its customers. Strategic Implications: Starting to open the LBS floodgates in Europe

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OnStar Helps Police Capture Nebraska Bank Robbery Suspects (10/1/02)
GM's OnStar service helped police capture three suspects in a Norfolk, Nebraska bank robbery-murder case. OnStar was able to pinpoint the location of the suspects' stolen white 2003 Subaru, track it and keep police updated. The stolen car was found in O'Neill, Nebraska, where the suspects were arrested. (Source: Denver Post)

Analysis - Boost to OnStar and LBS in general

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Cell Phone Calls Spike During Penn State Games (10/1/02)
At Penn State football games the receivers aren't all on the field. Fans at the games place and receive as many as half a million cell phone calls as they find each other, get to tailgate parties, and report scores to friends. According to Verizon Wireless, demand on its network increases seven-fold when the Nittany Lions are playing at the 107,252-seat Beaver stadium. Text-messages are also being used by fans who want to stay in touch with people inside and outside the stadium. (Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Philadelphia Inquirer)

Analysis - Illustration of "Viral Community" LBS concept

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Mobile asset tracking and wireless data company @Road Inc. announced it will acquire rival wireless enterprise vendor MDSI Mobile Data Solutions Inc. in a deal worth $86 million. The agreement is the latest in the rapidly consolidating wireless data market. @Road said the combined company’s annual revenues total $110 million, and it will count close to $100 million in cash balances, 650 employees, more than 125,000 subscribers and more than 80,000 licensed users worldwide. @Road said it plans to cross sell the companies' products, and that the acquisition of MDSI opens up opportunities in the utilities, telecommunications, and cable and broadband markets. “Our customers and prospects, especially our large customers and prospects, have been asking for an integrated mobile resource management solution that allows them to manage both mobile workers and their work,” said Krish Panu, @Road’s president and chief executive officer. “We believe that the complementary integration of the two companies' products and services will comprehensively address the entire workflow.” Investor reaction to the deal was mixed. @Road’s stock was down more than 10 percent after the deal to $11.85 per share, while MDSI’s stock leapt more than 50 percent to $8.67 per share. Under the terms of the agreement, MDSI shareholders can trade in their stock for either 0.75 shares of @Road common stock or $9 in cash for each MDSI share. If all MDSI shareholders decide to receive @Road common stock, MDSI shareholders will own 10 percent of @Road’s stock. The companies expect the deal will close in the third quarter. The acquisition is the latest in a series of major deals in the space. Sybase Inc. recently purchased wireless enterprise rival XcelleNet Inc. for a blockbuster $95.2 million, and Square Enix recently purchased UIEvolution, M-Qube bought Sharp Robot, and TeleCommunication Systems Inc. bought Aether Systems Inc.’s wireless enterprise division. @Road sells technology to businesses to track drivers and mobile workers, as well as technology to remotely access corporate information. MDSI sells similar technology, including technology for wireless corporate access.