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A Winning Global LBS Challenge

April 5, 2005 By: Jim Engelhardt


On March 15 at the CTIA Wireless 2005 Conference in New Orleans, NAVTEQ, a global provider of digital map data for vehicle navigation and location-based solutions (LBS), awarded the winners of the second annual Global LBS Challenge. The contest, which challenged developers to build location-enabled applications for wireless devices, was an expansion on the first contest that was launched in October 2003. This year's challenge drew a contestant base beyond North America to include developers from around the world. In addition, the Global LBS Challenge this year offered developers six solution categories in which to enter applications. The winners from each category then competed for a grand prize that included $50,000 in cash and $100,000 worth of NAVTEQ map licenses for up to one year.

"Two years ago, the Wireless LBS Challenge was an idea. Now, with the cooperation of so many people, it has turned into a successful industry forum that has cast light on a host of really interesting applications," said Winston Guillory, senior vice-president of North American Sales for NAVTEQ.

This year's grand-prize winner and Asset Tracking/Field Services solution category winner was Bones In Motion. Bones In Motion created a solution, BiM Active, that wirelessly monitored, measured, and motivated users toward their fitness goals using a GPS-enabled mobile phone. Key features of this application include the ability to record time, distance, speed, location, and calories burned while engaging in outdoor activities; to view activity summary reports, maps (street/topographical/satellite), and speed/elevation charts on a wireless phone; to upload a personal online journal to view and share with others; and to identify where others run, cycle, or walk.

Bones In Motion uses ESRI ArcWeb Services to display street, topographic, and aerial photo maps on wireless phones and Web browsers for the BiM Active application. ArcWeb Services are hosted Web services that include map data and on-demand geospatial capabilities needed to add addresses, points of interest, dynamic maps, and routing directions to Web and wireless applications. ESRI, a gold sponsor of the contest, offered free access to ArcWeb Services to all official contestants of the Global LBS Challenge.

BiM Active also relied on the BREW solution from QUALCOMM. BREW (Binary Run-time Environment for Wireless) is a J2EE platform on which to develop and run applications on wireless devices, including mobile phones. QUALCOMM noted that winners in four of six Global LBS Challenge categories relied on BREW.

The winners in each of the six categories, other than the Grand Prize Winner, received $10,000 in cash and $75,000 worth of NAVTEQ map licenses.

The winner in the Personal Security category was Clarity Communication Systems, Inc. for its Whereabouts solution. Whereabouts allows parents to monitor and track the location of their children. Users get peace of mind knowing that they can instantly locate and ensure the safety of their family members. Clarity's solution relies on Microsoft MapPoint technology.

In the Peer to Peer/Find Me category LOC-AID Technologies LLC won for LOC-AID People, an LBS tool that helps users locate friends, children, or family members. It also allows users to find the closest restaurant or share their location information with whomever they want. LOC-AID applied ESRI's ArcIMS with NAVTEQ maps for its entry. It also relied on QUALCOMM's BREW and SnapTrack's gpsOne, a wireless-assisted GPS positioning solution.

InfoGation Corporation took the prize for the Navigation/Point of Interest Look Up/Traffic contest based on its Adeona. InfoGation's Adeona is a full-featured navigation system that provides real-time traffic, weather, and gas-price information. It also enables users to find any nearby point of interest on the Internet using keyword searches.

The Commerce/Advertising/Buying/Billing competition showcased Smarter Agent, Inc.'s solution as the winning entry. The Smarter Agent solution acquires a user's location from his or her cell phone and instantly delivers such real estate information as sale prices, comps, property taxes, and more directly to a wireless phone.

Finally, PhotoFinder from Networks In Motion, Inc. secured the prize in the Gaming/Location Based Imaging contest. PhotoFinder manages photos containing location tags, enabling users to view them on a map and send them to other phones or Web sites along with navigation information for locating where a picture was taken.

The Global LBS Challenge was met with extensive interest from developers, carriers, and device manufacturers and further heightened the awareness about the value of LBS to the wireless industry. NAVTEQ received hundreds of entries, and executives from wireless carriers, hardware and device manufacturers, and other influential players in the wireless industry served as the official judges. Alan Cameron, senior editor of GPS World, was among the judges, who based their final decisions on two main criteria: usability and utility.

Other sponsors of the Global LBS Challenge include ESRI, Microsoft Corp., SiRF Technology, Inc., and Telcontar. Telcontar also provided contestants with its Drill Down Server and Rich Map Engine platforms free of charge for developing contest entries.

More information regarding next year's Wireless LBS Challenge will be available in the coming months at www.lbschallenge.com.

NAVTEQ Offering. Meanwhile, in other NAVTEQ news, the company filed a registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on March 28 relating to a proposed $1.3-billion secondary offering of its common stock shares. The shares are being offered by Phillips Consumer Electronics, B.V., and Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated; Deutsche Bank Securities; Lehman Brothers Inc.; and UBS Securities will act as the joint book-running managers of the offering. A preliminary prospectus, when available, can be obtained directly from those firms.

NAVTEQ's revenue for the year ending December 31, 2004 was $392.9 million, represented a 44 percent growth in comparison with 2003. Operating income grew 48 percent to $94.6 million, and net income for 2004 was $54.1 million. Diluted earnings per share for the year were $0.59. For the 2005 fiscal year, NAVTEQ expects revenue in the $475-500 million range and average earnings per share of $0.90-0.95.

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