Once again, it looks as if Google is taking a giant leap into location-based services with its recent acquisition of The Dealmap. Is this deal a signal that LBS market viability may be tied to the social shopping market? The market is potentially huge, with two big players and a third, Google, quick...
Read More →This column rarely covers privacy as a critical issue to build location-based services markets. Why? It was our contention that most LBS are opt-in — or opt out — at the discretion of the consumer, making privacy an important issue, but not a market stopper. Frankly, many privacy panels at locat...
Read More →Now that CTIA is over, and without a lot of location-based services news at the Orlando show, the time is ripe to examine the potential blockbuster AT&T acquisition of T-Mobile and how it affects the location industry. In the meantime, is Apple trying to get its mapping initiatives stronger to c...
Read More →The recent Mobile World Congress in Barcelona had a record 60,000 attendees. Many industry companies were either exhibiting or attending to kick tires to see how the international location-based services market is faring. Industry observers are saying the focus of the trade show has gone from Europe...
Read More →Sometimes a market niche appears to be heading toward better things — even if the economy is not. This year’s Transportation Research Board’s Annual Meeting had its highest attendance ever. While intelligent transportation systems meetings have been shunned in the last few years as being too g...
Read More →It appears that the Consumer Electronics Show is back to its pre-2009 doldrums as hotels, restaurants, cab lines, and registration numbers were up. Despite large wireless carrier presence, CES seemed to continue to be a place where aftermarket navigation providers are hawking their new units. Eithe...
Read More →Kevin Dennehy From a distance, the Garmin-Asus partnership to produce GPS-enabled smartphones looked pretty good — particularly during the market erosion for portable navigation devices. However, published reports indicate that the companies will not renew their partnership in January 2011. Switz...
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