Location-based wireless services (LBS) are experiencing a revival. Emergency, weather, tracking children, marketing and advertising, restaurants, recreation, and enterprise services are only the beginning. The wireless market is still deciding for which applications demand is the highest, but the market’s first buds can already be seen.
More and more wireless operators are beginning to stock up on devices with LBS capabilities, and these services are slowly beginning to appear. In late 2003, wireless operator Vodafone South Africa commercially launched its Look4me service, which makes it possible to deliver location-based services, including maps, via short messaging service (SMS) and multimedia messaging service (MMS) messages to wireless telephones. Telecommunications giant Nextel Communications (Nasdaq, XETRA: NXTL), which is making its North American competitors envious of its low churn rate, already provides LBS.
In January, Bell Labs announced it had developed experimental technology to filter information reaching a wireless network about the user’s location. The new technology enables users to control the network’s ability to locate them. Users can decide when they want to be found, and avoid being located at inconvenient times.
Vehicle fleet workers, for example, can limit the ability of their employers to locate them to work hours. Private users can limit their wireless phones, and permit LBS marketing offers to reach them only when they are in a mood for shopping. The Bell Labs technology adds new parameters to LBS services, such as time, the user’s activity, and the identity of the person requesting the location-based service.
Cellular navigation
One of the coming hits in LBS services is probably cellular navigation. ABI Research predicts that the LBS market will reach $584 million in 2004, and grow to $4.35 billion in 2009. ABI also forecasts that personal navigation services will total $110 million in 2004, and $771 million in 2009.
Three recent wireless market trends are contributing to the resurgence of LBS: the appearance of sophisticated wireless devices with high-resolution color screens; the emergence of new technologies, which improve the reliability, stability, and global deployment of wireless infrastructure; and the spread of global positioning system (GPS) satellite navigation technology, which can be included in end-user wireless equipment. This navigation technology makes it possible to find and locate the user anywhere in the world in real time.
In contrast to other wireless applications and value added services, which appeal to a specific market segment (such as games, which appeal to young people), cellular navigation appeals to all users. The variety of cellular navigation applications designed for the business sector is considered especially wide. Applications currently being used by many companies include managing mobile employees, managing vehicles in a fleet, locating taxicabs, and managing technicians and other comparable employees being assigned tasks according to their location.
”The cellular navigation system operates through instructions guided by GPS (satellite navigation) technology, which enable users to navigate from their starting points to their destinations,” explains Oren Nissim, CEO of Telmap, an Israeli company providing cellular navigation solutions.
”Through their wireless devices, users can obtain a variety of information, including addresses; points of interest which they are passing, such as movie theaters, restaurants and ATMs; calculation of distances; and planning of travel routes. The technology takes into account dynamic variables, such as traffic jams. In addition, Telmap’s system includes both voice and text. Drivers can hear exactly where they should turn.
”I believe that cellular navigation will become an integral part of daily life. Within a short time, wireless users will obtain premium content through their devices, including recommended restaurants, hotel ratings, etc. In the future, they will also receive sophisticated combinations enabling them to obtain cross sections of information, such as the nearest theater showing a James Bond movie, and whether its parking lot still has room,” Nissim says.
”Globes”: Where are the data stored?
Nissim: ”The cellular navigation system has two storage methods: information storage on the device, and storage on the server. The on-board method makes it possible to store information in the device’s memory (in a PDA, for example). The off-board method makes it possible to store the information on the server, from where it’s transferred to the device. It’s important to stress that wireless devices can work only by the off-board method, because their memory is of limited size.
”The on-board method, in which users acquire the information, usually on a DVD, and download it to their devices, has several disadvantages. First of all, downloading takes a long time, and the process is sometimes complex. Secondly, in order to utilize this method, users need a memory card and special software. The cost of the software can amount to hundreds of dollars. Another disadvantage is that when users goes from one country to another (within Europe, for example), they must delete part of the information stored on the device, in order to make room in the memory for new information relevant to the country that they are entering.
”This method is usually advantageous when users need to save information on their devices relating to a particular place, such as their home neighborhoods, and retrieve it quickly from their device.”
Telmap’s system is based on off-board technology, and offers a lean solution. “We enable users to obtain information using all the devices currently available on the market,” Nissim says. “We relieve them of the need to download special software, which takes up space in the memory. Under this method, users don’t have to spend money on software.
”Customers pay the wireless operator fixed monthly subscriber fees, and are given access to a huge quantity of information. All the information is located on the wireless operator’s server. At the push of a button, users can obtain a detailed and clear graphic map on their devices’ screens within seconds. The map includes travel and navigation instructions, notes places of interest, and gives information essential to the driver.
”Changes on the ground are very dynamic, and it’s therefore important that drivers get the most up-to-date information in real time. There’s nothing more frustrating for drivers than suddenly finding themselves confronted by a road that was closed the previous day, or being unable to discover where the movie they want to see is being screened. Thanks to the fact that the information is stored on the wireless operator’s server, the data can be constantly updated, without involving the customers in the process.”
What happens in an overseas trip?
”Users can obtain all the information at any time, from anywhere in the world. During their overseas stay, tourists can get all the information they need directly on their wireless phones, such as how to get from the airport to the hotel, tourist attractions, etc. We recently completed development of a system that makes it possible to obtain information in almost all recognized languages.”
Andromeda on the server
Telmap’s platform, called Andromeda, is located on the operator’s server. Andromeda gets information from various external sources, and processes it in real time. The information includes geographic mapping data and other essential data, such as filling stations, restaurants, parking lots, etc. The data are compressed and converted as required for the software. The program makes it possible to transfer the data to users via wireless infrastructure at high speed. The information reaching users includes mapping, navigation, route planning, instructions for traveling to desirable destinations, and points of interest along the way. The information is displayed on a clear digital map, in a selection of languages.
How does the information reach Andromeda?
”We’re working with several companies around the world that develop geographical databases, including Navteq and TeleAtlas. In Israel, we work with Mapa. We get the data from these companies, and constantly update the system.”
What happens if the network crashes, or in regions with no reception?
”There’s no single solution for this problem at the present time. The dependence on the wireless network seems to be a weak point, although this is where cellular navigation technology’s most important advantage comes into play. When users ask for the route to their destination, they must be in a region with wireless coverage. During the journey to the destination, however, the system will provide precise navigation instructions, even if there is no wireless coverage, and even if the user has deviated from the recommended route.
”The navigation file is delivered to the device the moment the route is requested. Since the information is on the device before the journey begins, the drivers receive it even if they enter a region with no reception. These capabilities are made possible by an algorithm for formatting and compressing the data, and for making them suitable for the way they are used in the navigating software.”
How do you make money out of this?
”There are two revenue models. One is purchase of the platform by the wireless operator. In this case, the operator is responsible for operating and updating the system, and for providing the service to the customers. Under the other model, which is more common, the wireless operator purchases hosting services. Telmap is responsible for operating the system, while the wireless operator transfers the payment from the end-customer to the system provider.
”The main target market for the system is wireless operators. We’ve already signed agreements with several leading companies around the world, including Hutchison Whampoa. Other target markets are manufacturers of wireless device and PDAs.”
In addition to Telmap, several more companies are active in off-board cellular navigation, including WayFinder of Sweden, and Webraska. Companies operating in on-board cellular navigation include Siemens VDO, Bosch, and Israeli company Destinator.
Published by Globes [online] - www.globes.co.il - on May 27, 2004