Nokia buys location-based German startup Plazes.com

Reuters report this morning that Plazes, one of the earliest location-based startup, has been bought by cell phone giant Nokia for an undisclosed amount.

I've been following Plazes for a long time (in Internet speak: so close to 3 years now), and they where one of the first company with a location-based service. They originally put out Plazer for the Nokia S60 which used cell-tower id to try to pinpoint your location and show shops and stores nearby. However, from the feedback I got, this was too complex. So they relaunch to try simplify the functionality and added, at the same time, Twitter-like status updates. You could then send your position and your status at the same time. However it seems they were never getting enough traction.

Even the newcomer BrightKite, is being showed ahead of Plazes.

I think Plazes reached a saturation point on their brand and people were more eager in trying newer services in search of better functionality then staying with them. This echoes my comments in a BBC interview I did a while back:


Social networking is a very volatile environment. People are going to one place and if they don't like the feature set, they are ready to jump to the next one...


What will happen now to Plazes? Folded into the Nokia giant, it will surely be rebranded as part of Nokia's push into new Internet services. Perhaps that's another pioneer of location-based services which we won't see anymore as an independent service.

Hopefully they won't end up like Dodgeball or Jaiku and Nokia will be able to extract the best of it.

Happy location reporting - Martin

The Location-based revolution is coming according to GigaOm

Om Malik, founder and senior writer of GigaOm, has a nice perspective on why the commoditization of GPS and the associated emergence of Location-Based services is poised to change the market. Here's the interesting excerpt:

But lately I’ve been feeling like I may have been too conservative with my outlook for the location-based services revolution.
The main reason is the ubiquitousness of mobile phones; the sheer number of them that get shipped each year guarantees LBS a huge audience. Of course, in order for LBS to be on mobile phones, we need applications, which is where I believe the iPhone plays a vital role. Its large screen and built-in GPS (and now its 3G speeds) enable and encourage truly interesting LBS applications.

I think the introduction of an embedded GPS chip within the iPhone is what the LBS industry needs to move itself forward. Sure, we had a number of different cell phones in the past with embedded GPS chips. And this is the core of the problem: they were different cell phones with very different characteristics. So why is the iPhone different? It relies mostly with developers and their ability to create truly rich mobile applications. No more of those crappy Java-based apps. With that richness, comes very immersive applications.

If you add into the mix location-based services, then you got the perfect recipe for the best location-based device. And this was echoed by the Loopt CEO at the WWDC keynote: "This is the best version of Loopt we've ever made, and by far the best device we've had the opportunity to work with. We've developed for every mobile platform out there, this one is the best and the most powerful" [WWDC Keynote @ 0:28:32]

Although this comment was made in the context of the WWDC, so you should remove some adjectives, I'm convinced that this platform will push forward LBS services further than anything that has been attempted so far.

Happy location reporting - Martin

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The 3G iPhone - My predictions for the WWDC keynote

The Apple World Wide Developer Conference (WWDC) will be held next week starting with the keynote address by Steve Jobs on Monday June 9th @ 10:00 am PDT.

It is widely expected that Steve will announce a new 3G iPhone that will support the HSDPA standard for higher data exchange throughput.

There has been a huge number of predictions within the industry about what this phone will do and not do. So I decided to jump in the game and provide a list of my own :

Form Factor

The iPhone form factor will be reduced, current rumors is that it will be 22% thinner. Apple always strive for minimizing the form factor of new devices (new MacBook Pro, MacBook Air). I'm not sure if it will be 22% thinner but it will be thinner for sure. So this one is strong on the list.

Probability: 9/10

GPS

With recent updates to the Google Maps application and the strong push by Apple for location-based services, it is almost certain this new iPhone will have an embedded GPS chip. This will further acknowledge the recent market push for Location-based services (Loopt, BrightKite, FireEagle) and will help propagate them to higher levels of acceptance.

This one is really a no-brainer. If it is not included, the market will not be happy.

Probability: 10/10

On a side note: Expect a huge announcement storm of iPhone-specific LBS at the WWDC conference.

Camera

The current iPhone camera is good. According to sources, the new phone will be powered by the Broadcom chip which can easily handle a 5 Megapixel camera. I expect Apple will go all out on this and provide a 5Mpx camera to be on par with the Nokia N95.

Probability: 7/10

Since the 3G iPhone can handle higher data throughputs, video conference calls are now possible. To properly support this, a front side camera is needed (like in the Nokia N95). Will Apple follow this trend, I'm really not sure here because it really changes the design of the phone.

Probability: 4/10

Memory Size

We have seen the introduction of the 32Gb iPod Touch recently. So I expect Apple to announce the availability of a 32Gb 3G iPhone along with the current 16Gb version we also have today.

Probability: 8/10

Versions

From my understanding, and the reading I've been doing, it looks like Apple will be providing a white colored iPhone. However I still think the more upscale Black version will still be provided. In the same line as the MacBook line (where black is the upscale line), the white version will be used in subsidized markets and will basically be a 3G iPhone but with less memory and not front-side camera.

The Black version will be a fully featured 3G version with the front side camera.
Apple really needs to offer more than one version to reduce supply chain issues it has been experimenting over the past few months.

Probability: 6/10

In the end

Consumers are again going to rush to get this new device. I will, for sure, update mine as well. With the iPhone officially coming to Canada, thanks to the Rogers partnership, and other new countries, Apple is really disrupting the mobile market.

I really applaud them for their efforts.

We will see how I score on Monday. Feel free to provide your own predictions or comment on mine in the comments.

Happy location reporting - Martin

Location is everywhere

A very nice post by Chris Messina about the increase in awareness and popularity of location and location-based services applied to web and iPhone applications.

Here's an excerpt:

... I think we’re on the brink of seeing the kind of the ubiquity (in the consumer space) that we need in order to start taking the availability of location information for granted, and, that, like standards-compliant browsers, it could (or should) really inform the way that we build out the social fabric of web applications from thence forward.

I think this is a very good article but Chris forgot to mention FireEagle which is starting to provide some of the layers we need to truly built innovative location-based applications.

Happy location reporting - Martin

Reportage en cours...

Coming soon for the iPhone...

Happy location reporting - Martin

Mobile Location-Based services: The Ins and Outs of the latest crop

I've noticed that there is a lot of activity around Mobile Location-based services lately. My Google reader starred items is showing a higher number of articles on that subject that I need to research.

Let's review some of the early announcements and provide some insights starting with the new Apple iPhone Firmware 1.1.3 announced at MacWorld in early January.

Apple iPhone/iPod Touch firmware 1.1.3

This announcement has been covered in numerous blogs and brings the "MyLocation" feature of Google Maps to the iPhone which I have covered earlier. However Apple has added the Wifi-sensing technology from SkyHook Wireless to the mix. This is very interesting as this technology is also available in the latest firmware upgrade for the iPod Touch as well. SkyHook Wireless is really the leading provider of Wifi-sensing positioning technology today. The inclusion of this technology within the new firmware is also a huge setback for it's competitor: Navizon. I've been following both companies for a long time now and I'm now surprised to see SkyHook being selected as the chosen winner by Apple.

SkyHook was financed early on by Intel Capital and is based on derivative work from the PlaceLab projet originated at Intel Labs. Given Apple very close relationship with Intel, it was natural fit that they would be selected. Navizon is surely not gaining any strengths with this announcement and will likely go underwater unless they can strike a deal with a competing company. Which one ? I'm still searching.

I've tried to use the Navizon software on my iPhone and the experience was really painful. The web site would not register me correctly and the software failed every time.

SkyHook: in, Navizon: out

Loopt partnership with CBS Mobile

On February 6th, GigaOM and a number of bloggers announced that Loopt has signed a partnership with CBS Mobile to help them push location-based ads to their customers. CBS will be using Loopt GPS technology to enable location-specific ads to be overlaid of top of web sites browsed by CBS mobile customers. I'm not really sure what is the added value of Loopt in this equation. Loopt, which was covered earlier as well, started out as a mobile personal-locator service and is financed by Sequoia Capital. However, there has been some shakeup within Loopt as the executive vice president of corporate development and marketing left the company to become the EIR at Charles River Ventures. Was that a sign of the new orientation for the company? Also given all the VC money going into Mobile Ads company (AdMob is a prime example), it seems that Loopt is moving sideways from it's early direction.

Also, compared to SkyHook or Navizon, Loopt does not have a lot of investments into locating technologies. It mainly relies on the embedded GPS chips within the cellphone or uses the AutoDesk positioning framework to pinpoint the location of the user. And currently, it's offering can only be used by Sprint / Boost Mobile customers. I think this is a too narrow market to actually be successful and something I still argue needs to be addressed. We will see where this is going but I doubt very much that Loopt will be successful in the Location-Based Advertisements (LBA) market.

Loopt: fading

Happy location reporting - Martin

Google Maps for Mobile: No GPS needed !!!

Google released today a new version of Google Maps for Mobile devices. Apart from some cosmetic changes and menu cleanup, the big splash is the My Location feature which enables the software to derive your location using cell tower calculation also known as trilateration.

Here's the explanation of such technology from Wikipedia :

Trilateration is a method of determining the relative positions of objects using the geometry of triangles in a similar fashion as triangulation. Unlike triangulation, which uses angle measurements (together with at least one known distance) to calculate the subject's location, trilateration uses the known locations of two or more reference points, and the measured distance between the subject and each reference point. To accurately and uniquely determine the relative location of a point on a 2D plane using trilateration alone, generally at least 3 reference points are needed.

I've seen some web references that says this is now possible due to the earlier purchase of Jaiku. However I do not think this is the case. The Jaiku mobile software
was only recording the current cell id and associating a name to it and relaying that information to the server.  This information is readily available in a Nokia S60 phone.
You can witness it yourself by downloading the very good Symbian S60 CellTrack application available here.

In order to get a valid location reading, you need the cell information from three adjacent towers (3 reference points). This information is only available from the mobile provider. And the accuracy depends on the size of the cells (larger cells in farm land = less accurate, smaller cells (or pico cells) in urban areas = much more accurate).

Google could be using a third-party provider to get that information like KnowledgeWhere in Calgary, Alberta.  But I'm pretty sure they build that infrastructure internally to ensure compatibility with the Android platform and it's integrated Location API.

However I latched onto something very interesting while listening to the demonstration video : "the service gets better the more you use it" @ 1:51.
Why is this of importance ? Why would it get better ? The towers are not moving, the cell ids are very static. Perhaps their database of cells gets better.

So I'm venturing that Google is (perhaps) sending cell id information to their servers when users are enabling their cell-phone GPS chips to augment their cell location information. That is very feasible and was demonstrated early on by the PlaceLab project which folded into Skyhook Wireless somehow.

This way, as more people are using GPSs, they would provide more location information about cells and in return would augment the accuracy of the "My Location" service.

Location-Based Services are being push forward again and thanks to Google for doing it so.

Happy location reporting - Martin

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