ABI Research - Telematics Industry Blog Feed

Apple’s iPad and LBS?

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 07:25:58 EST

The hotly debated iPad tablet features a built-in GPS-receiver. More precisely the 3G version does, the Wi-Fi only version has to do without, similar to the iTouch. This is yet another example of how GPS is spreading to an ever larger number of portable devices following its appearance in digital cameras, netbooks, and MIDs. Equally important, it is based on the same platform as the iPhone allowing it – in theory at least - to run more than 4000 LBS applications available on the App Store. Unfortunately the iPad inherits the same major iPhone shortcoming of not supporting background processing. It remains to be seen though how these applications will cope with the ...

Ford and Kia to Steal Consumer Telematics Headlines at CES 2010

Thu, 31 Dec 2009 11:12:04 EST

Leading up to the CES 2010 show Ford has been in the news repeatedly with a range of planned extensions on its SYNC solution:

In-car Wi-Fi based on a cellular USB modem on SYNC 2.0
Mobile Applications Sync store and open APIs for trusted developer partners
iTunes Music tagging for later purchase on a factory-installed HD radio receiver
SyncMyPhone to synchronize address books and contact lists residing on a home computer

Unconfirmed rumors also hint at a partnership with Pandora for music streaming. All these innovations follow the same successf ...

Outdoor & Fitness Segment Only Bright Spot in Garmin’s Q3 Results

Thu, 5 Nov 2009 08:25:41 EST

Garmin’s third quarter financial results confirm the rising popularity of GPS outdoor and fitness devices as it remains Garmin’s only segment to post quarterly and year-to-date YoY revenue growth:

Q3 YoY growth per segment

- Automotive/Mobile segment revenue decreased 13% to $546 million

- Outdoor/Fitness segment revenue ...

TomTom’s Q3 Results: Focus on Profitability and Non-PND Activities

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 09:28:36 EDT

While TomTom’s revenues are still down YoY (-15%) and QoQ (-1%), the net result has improved, now at 31 million Euro, a 42% increase compared with Q2, but still 48% lower than Q3 2008. This increased profitability is the result of severe cost cutting measures, including redundancies, to reduce operating expenses by €26 million.

With growth prospects for the PND segment remaining dim – full year 2009 PND shipments estimated by TomTom at 15 million in Europe and 17 million in the US and TomTom’s LIVE connected PND range unlikely to turn the tide any time soon - , Tom ...

Microsoft Pulls the Plug on MSN Direct on January 1st 2012

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 12:31:40 EDT

What always seemed like a temporary solution – despite the support of PND market leader Garmin – has now effectively been earmarked for phase out. Based on unlicensed FM spectrum in the US and Canada, MSN Direct was designed to stream navigation content such as traffic, weather, gas prices, events, and even destinations or routes planned on an on-line mapping tools to a range of mobile devices, offering an alternative for RDS-TMC or Satellite connectivity. However, with the expected availability of an increasing number of mobile devices featuring built-in two-way cellular connectivity and/or Wi-Fi – connected PNDs onl ...

Google Maps for Mobile Gets Layers and its own Maps, Turn-by-turn Voice Navigation Next?

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 13:28:15 EDT

Google Maps for Mobile Gets Layers and its own Maps, Turn-by-turn Voice Navigation Next?

The latest 3.2 version of Google Maps, now available for Blackberry, Nokia S60 and Windows Mobile features “Layers”, a function allowing selectively displaying specific content categories such as traffic, Latitude (friend finder), transit information and Wikipedia entries. The My Map layer allows easy synchronization between the desktop and mobile. It makes for a more structured and organized local content discovery experience by switching on or off specific layers, with the “clear map” f ...

Nokia’s “Good Things” Brings Crowdsourced Social Location Content to On-line Ovi Mapping Portal

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 16:25:48 EDT

Nokia continues to enhance its on-line mapping portal maps.ovi.com, the most recent addition being a “Good Things” tab, allowing users to create and share interesting places. While this feature is currently only available on the desktop portal, “good things” can be marked as favorites and synchronized with the Ovi Maps navigation software on a Nokia phone. Obviously, for any crowdsourcing initiative to work, it has to be available from a phone allowing users to create places of interest on the spot as they are discovered. Surely, it can only be a matter of time before this feature finds it way to Ovi Maps. “Good Things” can be shared with friends via a ...

Garmin, Navigon and Medion Connected PND Launches Establish Category

Tue, 8 Sep 2009 05:39:08 EDT

Following the failure of the Dash Express in 2008, connected PNDs had languished into oblivion with TomTom as the only major PND vendor continuing its efforts in this space, next to some initiatives by smaller players in the US such as Telenav and Best Buy. However, this is about to change with a series of connected PND announcements from Garmin, Navigon and Medion at the IFA exhibition in Berlin.

Garmin’s launch of the nüvi 1690 PND with nüLink! Services was the biggest surprise as it represents a 180 degree turn compared to earlier announcements of the company to pursue the different route of navigation- ...

Scania Supplier Deal Boosts Mix Telematics’ Expansion into Europe

Tue, 25 Aug 2009 12:49:40 EDT

South African vehicle tracking and fleet management solutions vendor Mix Telematics recently announced it has been accepted as an approved supplier of telematics products to Sweden-based truck, bus, coach and engine manufacturer Scania. The deal includes MiX Telematics' FM Communicator range designed to increase the operational efficiency of fleets based on the monitoring and analysis of vehicle performance data and driver behavior via the PC or the internet. Visible LEDs inform the driver about revving, idling, braking, acceleration, and speeding violations in real time.

Mix Telematics was created in November 2007 from a ...

BrightKite Adds Layar’s Augmented Reality to Social Networking

Tue, 18 Aug 2009 04:50:57 EDT

Location-based social networking site Brightkite entered into a partnership with Dutch startup SPRXmobile to integrate the Layar augmented reality features into its solution. Layar uses the GPS, camera, and compass phone functions to overlay 3D location-based information on the camera screen in real time. The user can simply discover what’s happening by pointing the phone at any scene while walking around and looking through the camera lens. Additional search criteria allow refining the geolocation-aware entries from friends exposed visually.

The Layar browser is currently only available on Android phones such as th ...