Sales of smart glasses, smart watches and wearable fitness trackers reached 8.3 million units worldwide in 2012, up from 3.1 million devices in the previous year, according to researchers at Berg Insight. Growing at a compound annual growth rate of 50.6 percent, total shipments of wearable technology devices are expected to reach 64.0 million units in 2017.
According to the announcement, today wearable fitness and activity trackers constitute the vast majority of the shipments. By the end of the forecast period, smart watches are predicted to incorporate much of the functionality of these and will then be the largest wearable device segment. “A perfect storm of innovation within low power wireless connectivity, sensor technology, big data, cloud services, voice user interfaces and mobile computing power is coming together and paves the way for connected wearable technology,” said Johan Svanberg, senior analyst, Berg Insight.
The first generation of products appeal to specific markets and certain use cases, but refinement in design, technology and connectivity will broaden application areas and speed up market adoption. Initially, the wrist is the most attractive location for wearable devices, which is shown by the success of the Pebble smart watch and the popularity of wristband activity trackers such as the Nike Fuelband and the Fitbit Flex.
“However, today’s devices need to evolve into something more than single purpose fitness trackers or external smartphone notification centers in order to be truly successful,” continues Svanberg.
Berg Insight predicts that wearable technology will shift from being smartphone accessories into becoming proper stand-alone computing devices. Furthermore, closeness to the body and always aware capabilities will enable them to be more than merely miniaturized smartphones. Google, Sony and Samsung have already launched products and other major players such as Apple and LG are expected to soon enter the market. Wide market availability of wearable devices also raises privacy concerns. “It is still uncertain where lines should be drawn, but as in the case with most new technology, individual users and solution providers have the responsibility not to misuse the capabilities enabled by wearable tech,” concludes Svanberg.
Avenza’ PDF Maps app is now available at the Google Play Store.
Avenza Systems Inc., producers of MAPublisher cartographic software for Adobe Illustrator and Geographic Imager geospatial tools for Adobe Photoshop, announce that PDF Maps app is now available on the Google Play Store. The first and only geospatial PDF and GeoTIFF reader for Android devices, Avenza said, the PDF Maps app is unique to the space due to its extensive collection of more than 100,000 detailed maps sourced from well-established publishers, cartographers, government agencies and aficionados of outdoor recreational activities, all of which are downloadable directly from within the app.
PDF Maps take advantage of geospatial technology that allows consumers to view maps and measure real world distances and areas. Paired together with mobile devices that use GPS such as Androids, the PDF Maps app provides constant access to geographic locations and even points of interest without the risk of losing reception due to cell tower proximity.
Designed with its audience of travelers and outdoor enthusiasts in mind, Avenza’s PDF Maps app has already garnered accolades from the International Map Industry Association (IMIA) and Geospatial World for its innovative use of technology on the iOS platform in 2011 and 2012. Since then, its versatility for recreational or business purposes out in the field has been recognized across several industries and it’s gaining momentum.
“The market is currently saturated with map apps that are limited in map data, or too simplified to be functional for offline navigating. We wanted to address those issues by providing a free navigational app that catered to a segment of users who needed something more substantial than the average turn-by-turn digital maps offered today, while providing map-publishers with an iTunes-like environment for distributing their maps direct to devices” said Ted Florence, President of Avenza Systems Inc.
“With Avenza’s PDF Maps app Android users can do more than just view their location. PDF Maps provides a meaningful interface to measure distances, drop placemarks and share personal recorded data in various formats. It’s more than just a viewing tool, but will provide the Android market the best of both worlds — access to maps from well-known paper map publishers that work in tandem with the functionality of GPS devices. We’re thrilled to finally make it available to a new market.”
Unlike other map apps that provide one view of a location using GPS coordinates as most maps do, Avenza’s PDF Maps app expands a traveler’s choices, allowing them to access detailed geography or points of interest created by specific map publishers for use on land, sea or air. PDF Maps app for Android allows consumers to access information while at a destination, providing users an opportunity to make the most of their time experiencing their environment rather than searching for cell reception to access directions.
Currently, Avenza’s vast PDF Maps app library covers maps for domestic and international travel organized by state and area. Android users will appreciate the breadth of tool management features available. All maps — free and purchased — are accessible through the in-app map store and offer the following capabilities:
Add maps from the file system, Dropbox, a URL, email, or Map Store
Browse, purchase, and download maps from the Avenza Map Store (existing iOS PDF Maps accounts are compatible)”
Show GPS position on maps
Add Placemarks
Import and export KML
Find Coordinates
Measure Distance or Area
Open current view in Google Maps
Avenza’s PDF Maps in-app Map Store features a variety of publishers that focus on recreational activities as well as all segments of the map-use market. Below is a small sampling of maps available:
Camping and hiking including National Park Service maps and other regions of the world
Nautical and marine navigation including NOAA and FAA charts for North America and other regions of the world
Topographic use including USGS and Canadian Topographic maps and other regions of the world
Maps for tourists, transit, travel, special events, historic and much more
PDF Maps is available now in the Google Play Store free of charge. For more information about PDF Maps, visit the Avenza website at www.avenza.com/pdf-maps. Pricing of each map is set by the publisher and free maps remain free to users through the PDF Maps app in-app store.
Millennial Media has announced the launch of Omni Measurement Solutions, a suite of measurement products designed to evaluate and demonstrate the effectiveness of mobile campaigns. The new solutions will combine Millennial Media’s extensive first-party data with best-in-class third-party data sources to show the impact on key advertiser metrics driven by a campaign.
“Measurement is one of the most important issues in mobile advertising today,” said Mollie Spilman of Millennial Media. “Brands need to feel confident that the dollars they are spending in mobile advertising are truly moving the needle, and our Omni Measurement Solutions represent the most comprehensive, data rich solution at this scale in mobile advertising.”
Omni Measurement Solutions currently consists of the following products:
Door Open Rate – Measures the impact on foot traffic to a given retail location generated by a mobile campaign.
Register Ring Rate –Measures the impact in total credit card spend at a retail location due to a mobile campaign, including number of transactions per purchaser and total basket size.
Brand Lift Rate – Measures the impact on high funnel activities such as awareness, intent, consideration, and recall.
For every measurement product in the Omni Measurement Solutions suite, Millennial Media partners with a third party, and matches mobile IDs against exposed and control groups to judge the effectiveness of marketing campaigns with target audiences. Data analytics company Neustar and location analytics firm Placed are among the launch partners. Millennial Media will offer end-of-campaign reports that will accurately show the impact on advertiser KPIs, and give advertisers credible and qualified insights to use for future marketing efforts.
To power Door Open Rate, Millennial Media selected Placed. “The product we’re working on with Millennial Media allows advertisers to track conversions beyond the mobile device itself, and extend measurement into the physical world,” said David Shim of Placed. “By combining Placed Attribution with Millennial Media’s industry leading scale, we’re able to measure the impact on in-store visits in a way that was simply not possible before.”
Additional products will be added to the suite in the coming weeks, including a product in collaboration with comScore that measures online consumer behavior after mobile ad exposure.
Rx Networks, Inc., a mobile location technology and services company, today announced a new z-axis determination capability called Zed. This new solution, comprised of a client software library and associated cloud-based data services, is targeted at chipset vendors, device OEMs and application developers seeking to integrate reliable floor-level detection. The announcement came at ION GNSS 2013 in Nashville, Tennessee.
Whether for emergency or consumer applications, the determination of a mobile device’s vertical position while indoors presents unique challenges. Given the environment, even when a GNSS receiver attains a fix, a mobile device cannot reliably use the reported altitude. Beacon-based techniques, such as those derived from Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, remain challenging as they often rely on GNSS-based crowd sourcing or costly venue characterization. The built-in barometric pressure sensors in recent smartphones bring a new ability to estimate altitude, but they have unique and variable characteristics that prevent floor-level accuracy without further assistance.
Rx Networks’ new Zed solution combines accurate geo-reference barometric pressure data (from Custom Weather, a global provider of real-time weather information), automatic device characterization, and pressure crowdsourcing along with existing location services to determine a device’s altitude within 1 to 3 meters.
The Zed solution will be commercially available at the start of 2014 and will be available either on its own, or as an optional feature alongside Rx Networks’ GPStream Assisted-GNSS and XYBRID hybrid location solutions.
For more information a demonstration of Zed, visit Rx Networks booth at ION GNSS+ 2013.
Garmin International Inc., a unit of Garmin Ltd., today announced the Edge Touring and Edge Touring Plus GPS navigators designed for touring cyclists, commuters, mountain bikers and those seeking navigation on their handle bars. Edge Touring and Edge Touring Plus work like a GPS navigator for a car, yet with bike-specific features, preloaded maps and points of interest to help cyclists to find their way. They provide both on-road and off-road navigation and can provide round-trip ride options based on a set distance.
The Edge Touring and Edge Touring Plus will debut at the Eurobike exhibition August 28-31 in Friedrichshafen, Germany (Hall A5, booth 201) and at Interbike in Las Vegas, Nevada (booth 11058), September 18-20, where they will be prominently displayed.
“The new Edge Touring and Edge Touring Plus are perfect for those whose bikes mean adventure, freedom, exploration and a way of life,” said Dan Bartel, Garmin vice president of worldwide sales. “Easy to set up, easy to use and preloaded with bike-specific maps, they will let riders navigate safely and securely to their destinations.”
Edge Touring comes preloaded with bike-specific maps that make it easy for cyclists to stay on the route and find their way back again. Whether cyclists are riding from A to B, asking Edge Touring to provide a round trip route, or following a ride that they have planned or downloaded from Garmin Connector Garmin Adventures, Edge Touring will guide them on their ride with clear turn-by-turn visual instructions. Cyclists can choose between Cycling, Tour Cycling and Mountain Bike modes to calculate the most appropriate route. Edge Touring will then guide cyclists on suitable roads or bike-paths to their destination. With the new round trip routing feature, cyclists need only to input the distance they want to ride and Edge Touring will do the rest. It will calculate up to three routes to choose from, including their distance and elevation profiles. Cyclists can compare the routes, choose the one to follow and are one tap of the screen away from turn-by-turn directions the entire way.
This Garmin video shows Edge Touring and Touring Plus in action:
Edge Touring is robust and water resistant and has a 2.6’-inch touchscreen that works in the wet and with gloves. It weighs less than 100g and fits on the stem or on the bars. The rechargeable battery will last up to 17 hours, and it is also compatible with optional solar external battery pack, which will give an additional 20 hours of ride time. Edge Touring displays key ride data such as time, speed, average speed, max speed, distance and much more. Cyclists can view from 1 to 10 fields on a clear customizable screen. Edge Touring comes with a quarter-turn bike mount and can be easily transferred between bikes.
Edge Touring records how far, how fast and where cyclists ride so users can replay, relive and share each ride in detail once it has been uploaded to Garmin Connect. Cyclists can share their own rides or search for ones others have completed in Garmin Connect or look for Adventures in Garmin’s free Basecampsoftware. Cyclists can also create custom courses within Garmin Connect and send them directly to their Edge Touring.
Edge Touring Plus provides all bike-specific features of Edge Touring, in addition to compatibility with ANT+heart rate monitors to help cyclists know how hard they are working, and will even display key data such as range or remaining charge from ANT+ compatible eBikes. It also includes a barometric altimeter for accurate elevation, gradient, ascent and descent data.
Edge Touring and Touring Plus are expected to ship fall 2013 and have a suggested retail price of $249.99 and $299.99 respectively.
Garmin International Inc. has announced HUD, the company’s first portable head-up display for smartphone navigation apps. With the HUD display, drivers can view navigation directions projected onto a transparent film on the windshield or an attached reflector lens. Garmin said by providing comprehensive road guidance at a glance and right within the driver’s line of sight, HUD can help increase safety and reduce driver distraction.
HUD receives navigation information from a Bluetooth-enabled smartphone running a Garmin StreetPilot or NAVIGON app.
“Head-up displays currently have their place in select high-end cars, but HUD makes this technology available as an aftermarket accessory for any vehicle, at an affordable price,” said Dan Bartel, Garmin vice president of worldwide sales. HUD has an MSRP of $129.99. Garmin StreetPilot and NAVIGON apps, starting at $29.99 for a regional map (NAVIGON U.S. Central, East or West), provide premium turn-by-turn navigation for smartphones, including onboard maps, lane guidance, speed limit warnings, real-time traffic, and other features.
HUD offers more navigation details than other portable head-up displays, yet presents them in a simplified way that doesn’t divert the driver’s attention from the road, Garmin said. The directions are easy to follow and allow drivers to navigate even the most challenging interchanges and traffic situations with ease. HUD displays turn arrows, distance to the next turn, current speed and speed limit, as well as estimated time of arrival. It even lets drivers know what lane to be in for the next maneuver and alerts them when they exceed the speed limit, the company said. HUD also warns users of potential traffic delays and upcoming safety camera locations. The crisp display automatically adjusts the brightness level so projections are clearly visible in direct sunlight or at night.
Complementing the visual display, spoken turn-by-turn directions are provided simultaneously by a compatible Garmin or Navigon app, either through the smartphone speaker or a Bluetooth-connected car stereo. Music streamed to the car stereo from the smartphone will automatically fade out for turn-by-turn voice prompts. HUD also continues to display navigation information while taking incoming calls.
Users can choose between displaying HUD navigation information on their windshield, with the included, transparent film, or on to the included reflector lens that attaches directly to HUD. The device pairs wirelessly with a compatible Bluetooth-enabled iPhone, Android phone or Windows Phone 8. An integrated USB port on the vehicle power/adapter cable makes it easy to charge the smartphone while driving, Garmin said.
Not so long ago, paper maps were a necessity in many walks of life. Today, they are increasingly a nostalgic novelty, to coin a term.
It’s not difficult to understand why digital maps replaced their paper brethren. Digital maps are more accurate, more adaptable, and most importantly, in an increasingly real-time environment, much faster at making the appropriate updates and amends.
Now, however, digital mapping finds itself at a crossroads. Crowdsourced navigation platforms like OpenStreetMap — affectionately referred to as the “Wikipedia of maps” — are forcing digital maps and the map-building process to evolve significantly. As a result, the future of mapping is now in the hands of location enthusiasts and everyday map users. These people are redefining what a map is, how data is sourced and utilized, and how much it can cost to harness that information both efficiently and effectively. Those of us who have been in this space for years can see the writing on the wall.
Some, however, are eager to write off crowdsourced mapping. Corporate digital map providers, for instance, often refer dismissively to these mapping platforms as “hobby maps.” Nevertheless, they recognize the potential for change such innovation brings and are vulnerable to it.
What potential? Consider the benefits attainable through a crowdsourced approach, in the following sections.
Scalability
As with any process, cost is critical. It is particularly core to building a digital map. Truth be told, the fewer dollars ultimately spent on a map’s construction, the more its long-term operational preservation and, through that, scalability can be ensured. Despite massive innovation in our field, collecting data and creating a usable international digital map is far from cost-effective or efficient today. Candidly, it is one of the clunkier processes in technology, perhaps because it appears compulsory.
Look no further than Google, which spends billions of dollars a year to maintain its platform, yet we marvel at the huge scope of its operation. In truth, it is an effort in dire need of real streamlining. Google, via its recent acquisition of Waze, along with Navteq, TeleAtlas, and the like, leverage laser-enabled cars and high-tech backpacks that are astoundingly inefficient from a pricing standpoint, costing hundreds of thousands of dollars. Nokia’s Map Mobiles, for example, are each outfitted with more than $25,000 of computing equipment.
To think this is sustainable in the long term, on an international level, is wrong. It will inevitably cripple a map’s quality and viability, with corporate providers choosing to limit global detail and upkeep to balance costs.
For crowdsourced map platforms, this problem does not exist. They can and are scaling rapidly, without the exorbitant costs corporate players are used to — and tired of. These costs secondarily manifest in mapping service usage fees for third parties, as well as subscription costs for consumer navigaton products. For either use case (business-to-business or business-to-consumer) crowdsourcing delivers cost benefits traditional players cannot match. Again, this leads directly to scalability, with crowdsourcing the most enduring maps option.
Same time, same place — different look. Crowdsourced OpenStreetMap (left) and Nokia map (right) of central Berlin, Germany. Photo: Oliver Kühn
Detail
Crowdsourced mapping services and platforms like OpenStreetMap are more than just cost-efficienct tools to coax scale. As a crowdsourced dataset built using more than a million dedicated mappers, OpenStreetMap inherently delivers benefits above and beyond those obtained from corporate map providers like TeleAtlas and Navteq.
The most visible benefit is the unrivaled map quality. With an army of contributors, the data dynamically and constantly evolves — just as places do. Locations are rarely fixed or stable. They change and progress over time. No other service or platform can immediately provide developers with the real-time, on-the-ground granularity of a crowdsourced map. Google and the others are trying, but the costs they incur will ultimately be too taxing to maintain detail.
Firsthand influence carries equal weight. Mappers who edit an open-source map have often had personal interactions with a place or locale. They know places intimately, and this makes their contributions detailed, rich, and hyperlocal. More companies and developers are looking to OpenStreetMap for this reason: they want to future-proof their services and products, making sure that they always have the best and most up-to-date data. Only a platform like OpenStreetMap can do this. Corporate map providers are painfully aware of it, too.
Flexibility
Google owns Google Maps, and TeleAtlas owns its TomTom platform. Not surprisingly, this affects what a third party, whether an automotive company or a travel brand, can and cannot do with the service. It is essentially a copyrighted product like an MP3, an audio digital file. So, Google can limit the way you visually render and showcase its platform. Needless to say, this can be suffocating for those interested in building their own unique services. This is what makes crowdsourced mapping such a significant development for those interested in integrating additional data with a digital map. Do with OpenStreetMap what you will, visually or design-wise; there are absolutely no limitations. Every map can be made unique and rendered differently. This also speaks to the flexibility of crowdsourcing more generally.
Beyond design, crowdsourced maps can harness the data to build completely new maps that cater to a specific concept, creating thematic maps for different uses, such as walking, hiking, bicycling, routes for those with disabilities, and more. More traditional digital maps lack this flexibility; it affords possibilities to source non-traditional location data to build even more accurate maps.
The Future — Through Cars
Despite the fact that crowdsourced maps are forcing digital mapping to adopt a more scalable, cost-efficient, detailed, flexible andaltogether long-term approach, digital mapping definitely has room to grow.
One of the most exciting opportunities for crowdsourced maps specifically, and digital maps generally, lies in car user data, which is just coming into its own. Cars are obviously one of the largest travel tools utilized by individuals on a daily basis, and, with the advent of the connected car, the data that they collect via internal/external sensors has grown more nuanced, granular, and specific over the years.
Cars are simply getting smarter, with sensors capable of providing everything from weather conditions to speed-zone information.
Making this information available in the cloud and combining it with data available via crowdsourced mapping platforms produces remarkable possibilities for innovation.
Imagine adding road-condition data, as just one example, to crowdsourced mapping services. By marrying a crowdsourced map with crowdsourced car-sensor data, the map’s overall utility multiplies immeasurably.
To avoid missteps that have positioned companies like Google to spend billions on building a digital mapping service — unsustainable long-term figures — we must always look to embrace that which is cutting-edge. We find that today in crowdsourced mapping platforms, as they enable us to maintain, update, and enrich maps as never before. We must also consider the limitations of the cutting edge and understand how to improve the latest innovation (car-sensor data, and more) before the once cutting edge becomes the next paper map, so to speak. This is key to evolving maps for the better and for the future.
Oliver Kühn has an MBA from the University of Cologne, Germany. He has 10 years of location-based service experience and was Head of Product Management Special Projects at navigation systems specialist Navigon AG (acquired by Garmin). In late 2008, he co-founded skobbler GmbH, being responsible for business development and legal matters. He is also a board member of the OpenStreetMap Foundation.
Precise Location Moves with the Demands of Business
Organizations across business and public sectors, and including the military, now expect a high degree and broad range of functionality in the palms of workers’ hands, wherever those workers may go, in any kind of hazardous, chaotic, demanding environment. Requirements for location accuracy rise consistently across the board. In the future — in other words, now — developers will be asked to write mobile software applications first, and desktop applications second.
By Lee Ann Fleming
It seems so long ago. In 1972, Hewlett-Packard engineers developed the HP-35, a scientific calculator that many claim was the world’s first handheld computer. Today, a calculator represents only a tiny fraction of the functionality the business world expects from any one of dozens of models of powerful handheld computers that travel in the billions to job sites around the globe.
In 1989, Frito-Lay introduced a brick-sized handheld computer for real-time inventory management on its factory floors. The initiative helped make the company the most profitable segment of its parent Pepsico’s empire. By 1999 the company was also supplying handheld computers to its sales staff and claiming a $4 million annual return-on-investment from improved billing efficiencies alone.
So, the idea of businesses using handheld computers in the field is not new by any means.
What is new this decade is “a massive shift in the way we use the technology,” according to David Krebs, president of VDC Research. “Six years ago, the introduction of the Apple iPhone was a defining moment for the mobile computing industry. It introduced a more intuitive user interface and a multi-touch capacitive interface that was a complete revelation.”
Capacitive or Touchscreen gloves made with conductive material enable the wearer’s natural electric capacitance to operate capacitive touchscreens without removing protective work gloves. Photo: Lee Ann Fleming
The iPhone changed forever the level of expectation of performance and usability for such devices. Widespread consumer adoption of smartphones and tablets has led workers to expect more from their work equipment, and if they don’t find it, they bring their own devices into the mix — and dare their employers to say no. Whether they are Apple users or Android or Microsoft Windows, the original innovation introduced by Steve Jobs has so altered the landscape of what is acceptable in a handheld computer in terms of ease of use that the world will never look back.
Today experts estimate that a full third of the global workplace is “mobile” — that’s more than a billion people daily using small handheld computers, whether tablets or notebooks or smartphones, for work.
Data shows that the average smartphone user reaches for his or her device 150 times per day — and only 22 of those occasions are to make or take a phone call. We now rely on smartphones as multi-function devices to manage our calendars, create memos, check email, find addresses, take and share photographs, monitor children, even store electronic boarding passes for airplane flights. Tablet computers allow us to stream videos, fill in forms, write documents, and view dashboards of information. The handheld form factors’ only limitations seem to be the lack of sufficient miniaturization to fit everything in, and the delicacy of many models that can be destroyed by a single drop onto a hard surface.
As the cost of ownership has plummeted and the quality of features and functionality has improved, mobile computing has become the inevitable rule, no longer the notable exception. Businesses need mobile computers to remain competitive, just as they needed the new telephone device 100 years ago.
BYOD Forces Enterprise’s Hand
The phenomenon of “bring your own device” (BYOD) finds individual workers integrating their personal handhelds, both smartphones and tablets, into their daily workflow. Businesses recognize that employees are more connected, more efficient, and more invested in their work when they are allowed to use their own equipment. Consequently, the problem of data security in an environment where workers walk around 24/7 with mobile devices containing sensitive intellectual property has grown exponentially. The trade-off of higher productivity means companies are looking for security solutions. Meanwhile, developers rush to provide new applications for business, feeding more deployment by enterprise organizations in an ever-widening circle of inevitability.
Broadband and voice carriers likewise hasten to bundle their services in handheld form factors with 3G or better data capability, setting up whole divisions to package, upgrade, manage, and monitor enterprise mobile deployments. Third-party device management has also increased acceptance in the wider enterprise world, where IT departments have been unwilling to take on the security risks internally.
Ice Cube Project at the South Pole records the interactions of a nearly massless sub-atomic particle called the neutrino (photo courtesy University of Wisconsin).
GPS Data Acquisition
Some handheld configurations now include high-accuracy GPS data acquisition and other specialized functions, either as integrated features or through add-on accessories. Functionality is also being added through apps such as bar-code scanning imagery programs that can bring a crucial business process into a single device. Geotagged high-resolution photographs that formerly might have been considered out of reach because of the cost of a special device can now routinely be added to workflows via handhelds’ built-in features.
Mobile computing has barely tapped the springs of creativity when it comes to add-ons and new integrated features that will arrive over the next few years.
Manufacturers recognize that accessories make a big difference to enterprise customers and are bringing out more ways to ease adoption:
Smart office docks that allow for connections to larger monitors for presentations to co-workers,
capacitive gloves that protect workers’ hands while still enabling manipulation of a display screen outdoors,
mounts and connective docks for in-vehicle use.
These have all aided workers’ efficiency and productivity and increased the likelihood of mobile computing adoption.
Not all is roses. For enterprise, connective office and vehicle docks provide tremendous benefit and can make the difference to successful deployment, but they can also present problems for full integration and customer service.
The direct monitoring of environmental conditions or the condition of key components (pipes, pumps, valves and so on), often in relatively inaccessible locations, is commonplace now. Ruggedized handheld devices grant technicians access to the full repository of historical and technical information when they conduct manual inspections or perform repairs. As the workforce demographic shifts from baby-boomer employees who have years of institutional (and location) memory in their heads to younger employees who are comfortable with handheld technology providing background knowledge and tutorials in the field, ruggedized computers with large memory and Internet connectivity become more and more valuable.
Gaps and Third-Party Enablers
While third-party device management, along with increased availability of specialized functionality, more accessories for ease of use, and choices in operating systems are clearly moving enterprise equipment into the mobile realm, major functionality and application gaps remain. Innovative companies are studying the business-to-business marketplace looking for ways to make adoption of mobile even more business-friendly.
Most of the large third-party organizations such as carriers do not have the intimate market knowledge of other industry verticals to ensure they provide truly best-in-class service. Often the equipment they push into their enterprise clients’ hands is an OEM partner’s that may or may not be ideal for the actual vertical.
Meanwhile, deployments designed around a specialized software solution or by a contract system integrator might be so specific as to be non-upgradable as operating systems (OS) and equipment innovate. Enterprise still feels itself groping in the dark in many areas when it comes to outsourcing mobile computing needs.
Operating Systems
One of the biggest concerns in linking mobile workers to the enterprise’s universe of data and communications is today’s plethora of operating systems that allow developers and IT leadership to connect legacy and proprietary programs into their mobile deployments. The most common OS options in the handheld world are Apple iOS, Android, and Microsoft Embedded Handheld. While a few others jockey for position, most major manufacturers’ field products use at least one, and often two, of the top three. Software development kits (SDKs) and customer service are provided so internal IT departments can easily implement applications.
Thirty years ago, the Microsoft platform owned the enterprise market and Apple was fervently embraced by so-called anti-corporate creative types. Those days might live on in some branding memory, but the reality is that Apple has entered mainstream business in the hands of its iPhone and iPad devotees. In contrast, enterprise IT and developers are justifiably upset at Microsoft’s lack of a clear mobile platform strategy. Meanwhile, rushing from behind to take top spot in mobile computing OS deployment, Google’s Android made a smart decision to employ open-source Linux-based programming as its base, giving it a decided advantage in the mobile ecosystem. The first Android cellular phone was sold in 2008; more than 750 million new Android activations were recorded by the end of 2012.
It’s the rare end-user who will argue over which OS platform powers the software on their company-provided mobile device, except when they want to use a specific consumer-oriented app. But they do care, and care deeply, about how intuitive they find the user interface on their computer equipment, mobile or not.
Do their applications run smoothly? They’d better, or enterprise faces the problem of expensive deployments with workers refusing to use the solution. Over the past couple of decades, so many enterprise IT investments have failed for just this reason that business is gun-shy of any product that doesn’t provide proof that its applications are bug-free and user-friendly. Because mobile computing includes the added complexity of workers being physically removed from company IT support, this issue becomes even more important.
Today, according to VDC Research, 63 percent of software developers (enterprise and consumer) develop their mobile-oriented applications on the Android platform, while 73 percent create apps for Apple iOS. All other operating systems have significantly lower developers’ mindshare. Some observers see Android eventually winning the tussle to become the go-to OS for mission-critical enterprise deployments.
Android still has to wrestle with the impression by enterprise that it won’t sit still long enough. Its constant upgrades for consumer devices constitute a liability for business, as enterprise developers must tweak their applications to work on the next upgrade, and the next, and the next. Enterprise would like to see a stable platform for at least a year at a time.
Regardless of which platform dominates, in the future — in other words, now — developers will be asked to write mobile software applications first, and desktop applications second.
Business Concerns
Handheld computers are moving inexorably from consumer use into full-time, ubiquitous business operation. This is the opposite direction of the desktop computer, which moved from offices into homes during the 1980s. While businesses and governments at all levels accept the reality of BYOD and profit from the increased productivity of workers on mobile devices, they continue to worry about major limitations for enterprise-centric use found in the current leading platforms, including:
Privacy Compliance. Companies operating under Sarbanes Oxley (SOX), the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), and other privacy regulations have a nightmare built in to the current reality of employees walking around with data that should be secure.
Wi-Fi and VPN. The mobile computer is built for travel, but connections are interrupted, can be unsecure, and virtual private network (VPN) firewalls can only do so much in a handheld environment.
Legacy Systems and Support. Small and mid-size businesses don’t have the IT support to truly connect the mobile universe with their PC networks. Also, solution providers selling mobile to enterprise are spotty at best with customer service, SDK support, and help-desk offerings. Considering the common problems of file transfers, managing OS version control, and cloud-based file sharing across a universe of different form-factor devices (tablets, smartphones, specialized handhelds for different industries), it’s no wonder IT departments feel hard-pressed.
Maintenance and Warranties. The mobile computing universe, with its retail consumer market-base willing to discard old versions of hardware (cell phones, PDAs, tablets) in a few short months, has not developed a quality set of warranties or maintenance plans designed to assure enterprise customers that their equipment investment will provide stability and return on investment.
Connectivity / I/O. Consumer handhelds are not constructed to interact with the many other machines that business mobile computers must drive: printers, monitors, desktops, and so on. Some require serial connections as well as USB.
Lee Ann Fleming is a communications manager for Trimble Mobile Computing Solutions.
CenturyLink in Eugene, Oregon, aided with photography for this article, using the Trimble Juno T1 and Yuma 2 rugged tablet computers.
Photo: Lee Ann Fleming
In the Field
Mobile GPS acquisition is growing all over the map.
Land Management. Many agencies and organizations now find wetlands management among their responsibilities. Municipalities encompassing marshlands must look at changes over time. They don’t always need survey-grade maps of these areas but they do need to know “What are the variations in these 100 points that we’re viewing?” They want map information, photographs, data on animal life, and more.
Forestry management includes the same elements, plus it has a particular problem with fire changing the landscape. In heavily forested parts of the world, handhelds with GPS capability are tremendously helpful in lessening the “pack-in” weight and safety potential for staff assessing damage after destructive fires that may fundamentally alter hundreds, or even thousands, of acres.
Seismic Instrumentation. Precise scientific data is logged with sensitive equipment housed in small form factors. Annual or more frequent data collection must re-find the collection boxes in overgrown, remote locations. Similar scientific work in many fields requires finding machinery placed in out-of-the-way sites, often by different people than the ones who placed them.
Ocean Buoys. Placement and monitoring is all done with GPS now, because the buoys are always shifting, and yet their location must be exact because of sonar connectibility requirements. Rugged handhelds are best for marine work because they can withstand the salt water spray and, at sufficiently high ingress protection levels, even a dunk in salt water. Smaller boats can be used for buoy work because today’s handhelds measure accuracy to a level that 10 years ago was impossible. In large rivers this is also becoming more common, as channels requiring dredging or measuring move regularly.
Insurance. Adjusters use GPS after such disasters as the Oklahoma tornado to determine debris fields and get claims filed. This year’s Colorado wildfire destroyed 509 homes and reduced more than 22 square miles of forested acreage to ash. Mobile GPS will play a key role in assessment, re-mapping, replanting and rebuilding.
Evacuation Planning. When hazardous materials go airborne — as in a plant explosion — public safety personnel must accurately predict where the cloud will travel: height, width, direction. HazMat-suited personnel equipped with rugged handhelds monitor the plume and use their GIS solution to make accurate predictions.
Incident Command. Software enabling interoperability, staff positioning, and navigation in volatile circumstances, and communication across departments and agencies to share floorplans, organization charts, and photographs, arrives on the scene aboard rugged handhelds that can take a pounding in uncertain conditions.Civilian police and firefighting organizations increasingly turn to military-designed solutions on handhelds to enforce security.
Mobile Inventory Management. Companies with large fleets equip delivery trucks with handhelds, so drivers report in real time exactly where they are, what’s been delivered, and when. Changes can be made on the fly.
Photo: Lee Ann Fleming
GPS Product Design Challenges
Small, low-cost GPS devices have proliferated in the marketplace, and the drivers and applications that support them at a consumer level are available to make GPS acquisition seem cheap and easy. Where it starts crossing over into an area of challenge is how to put a more accurate, professional-grade GPS into a device while meeting demands to keep it less expensive, sleeker, and smaller for the user.
According to Trimble Mobile Computing Solutions director of engineering Cary Keist, “If you want to improve performance better than 2–4 meters, not just in open sky but especially under multi-path, you have to invest in a good antenna — an antenna larger than anything that’s going to fit into a sleek, thin phone. And it will have to be pointed to the sky, and it will have to have a good ground plane. That all takes up room. There’s no way around that fact.”
“We’re seeing competitor products that are rugged and claim GPS capability and are thin, but they only offer 10-meter capability, which isn’t good enough, or 2–4 meters in open sky, but as soon as you walk up to a building your accuracy is destroyed.”
Alternatively, Keist explained, you end up with products that have a big snout. “Some have gone the opposite direction with a big antenna that makes it bulky. We’ve tried to split the difference. We’re introducing a Juno T41 handheld with a small extended snout for more advanced, 1–2 meter performance even in multi-path environments. Not the same accuracy as the GeoExplorer 6000, but way better than many others.”
Tablets. The tablet form factor has a double problem in housing professional-level accuracy antennas: an antenna has to point to the sky, in addition to being of sufficient size.
Sky-pointing requires a tablet to be vertical, but many applications designed for the tablet require it to be flat for work. So far, this has meant that tablets have been fitted with appendages that can rise at an angle. New technologies are under investigation, but none has appeared on the market yet.
Eventually antennas will shrink, along with every other technology that prizes miniaturization, but it comes down to physics. GPS signals are weak to begin with.
“Given the satellite system and the current signals, the larger the area of the antenna, the more reliable your signal is going to be. There’s no easy path right now to have an antenna be very tiny and very accurate. Innovation over the next few years will try to find clever ways to put as much antenna as you can in as small a form factor as is possible,” Keist said.
Fragility. GPS receivers and antennas are not especially delicate; they can be made to handle temperature extremes, shock, and vibration. Where it does get a difficult for the makers of rugged handhelds is that as products become larger and weigh more, greater countermeasures are required to keep them rugged. The heavier the object is, the more damage it will sustain when dropped onto concrete.
Manufacturers add plastic casings around the handheld form to cushion the shock of the landing. That in turn adds more weight. It’s like rocket science: for every added pound of weight on the rocket you have to add a half pound of rocket fuel, then you have to add more rocket fuel to boost the half pound of rocket fuel weight that was added to push the rocket, and so on.
In building rugged handhelds that are dropped, manufacturers calculate this in reverse.
“GPS receivers are going to be relatively heavy in comparison to any consumer device. Antennas are large, with an awkward shape, so to have them survive the drop and vibration tests, you have to do a good job of packaging within a rugged device housing to keep it as small as you can without adding mass or building a shape that would be susceptible to breaking.” Keist said. “You have to invest in clever design and modeling and trying to keep the cost low. So it’s not technically impossible, but if you do it right, the design process is expensive and requires rigorous modeling and testing.”
Figure 1. Annual failure rate by form factor.
Mobile = Vulnerable
According to 2012 data from VDC Research, the average annual failure rate during the first year of deployment of rugged devices ranged from 4 to 7 percent, while average failure rates of non-rugged devices ranged from 10 to 23 percent. Past the first year of deployment, the fail rate for rugged devices drops while that of non-ruggeds rises, in some cases past 50 percent.
Protective plastic casing over consumer-grade devices aids to some degree of protection against drops and a little against dust and grit; however, conditions such as temperature and altitude extremes, vibration, falls into water, or use in the rain require more than protection — they need rugged construction from the baseboard up.
Several years ago, rugged handheld computers lagged considerably behind consumer devices in terms of processing power, memory, storage, connectivity, and other features, limiting the enterprise in what it could do with a rugged handheld. However, technology advances and more aggressive product development by rugged computer manufacturers now enable businesses to obtain cutting-edge speed, communications, and integrated features with all the protection that a rugged handheld offers.
IP and MIL-STD-810G
Two basic standards, Ingress Protection (IP) ratings and MIL-STD-810G, determine the ruggedness of handheld computers. The IP rating uses two numbers to describe how well the unit is protected against incursion by dust and water. The first number (1 to 6) measures dust protection; the second number (1 to 8) describes water protection.
MIL-STD-810G consists of a series of U.S. military testing criteria that have gained acceptance in industries beyond the military for their methods of objectively determining whether a device can withstand potentially destructive elements such as drops, dust, water immersion, vibration, and altitude or temperature extremes. Initiated in 1961, MIL-STD-810 has seen seven revisions over the past 50 years.
Semi-Rugged
These computers can handle rougher treatment than a consumer-grade handheld, but they are not fully waterproof or dustproof, generally have a narrower temperature range, and do not meet all MIL-STD-810G specs. Most semi-rugged handhelds come with an IP rating of IP54. That means the unit is protected, though not sealed, against dust. It is resistant only to light splashing, but it cannot withstand jet sprays or immersion.
Rugged
These hardy warriors come with an IP65+ rating, which means they are sealed against dust. Dust cannot get inside the sealed form factor, even through the USB and serial ports. Plus, they can survive temporary immersion. They have passed a full battery of MIL-STD-810G tests, including drops, vibration, immersion, and temperature extremes. The higher the IP rating, the tougher the device. An IP68 device, for example, can survive salt-water immersion.
Trusted Positioning has released the Trusted Portable Navigator (T-PN) indoor location software. Available for any operating system, this mobile embedded software allows mobile users to navigate shopping centers, airports, and subway stations. No additional hardware or infrastructure required.
The T-PN combines the use of existing smartphone motion sensors with wireless updates (such as Wi-Fi and GNSS) for a complete solution with no extra hardware or infrastructure needed.
T-PN needs no additional infrastructure: This enables a consumer to navigate through an environment with no existing navigation technology. T-PN integrates with existing sensors such as Wi-Fi and GPS when available and utilizes significantly less power than either GPS or Wi-Fi positioning. The company reports that accurate positioning can be maintained while the phone is swinging in a hand, a call is answered, the phone is in a pocket or purse, or the consumer is texting.
skobbler brings together hybrid online and offline worldwide maps and full turn-by-turn navigation in a low-priced app with the launch of GPS Navigation & Maps for Android.
skobbler is looking to exploit the weaknesses of established Android navigation alternatives with the fully featured GPS Navigation & Maps, which offers an improved experience compared to both Google Maps and high-priced third-party alternatives, skobbler said. GPS Navigation & Maps is effectively two apps in one, with both online and offline turn-by-turn navigation and digital mapping for smartphones.
Using open-source digital map OpenStreetMap and powered by the skobbler NGx map engine, GPS Navigation and Maps has full online and offline capability. The £1 price includes worldwide online functionality as well as an installable map of one country of choice for offline use. From here, users have the option to in-app purchase individual cities, states, countries and continents to use offline, and worldwide maps are available as standard for online use. Existing users of ForeverMap 2 will receive a free upgrade to GPS Navigation & Maps. New users can either purchase the full app or try GPS Navigation & Maps’ free app with unlimited online functionality and a 14-day navigation trial.
While Google Maps is free to download and use, its offline functionality is restricted. Users cannot perform any searching or routing tasks without an Internet connection, which means that when abroad or in low signal areas they either have to pay expensive roaming costs or spend a significant time without map coverage, limiting its usability while traveling, skobbler said. Expensive alternatives such as Co-Pilot Live or TomTom UK & Ireland/Europe do offer premium features and offline navigation, yet none of them give users a choice of which areas they want to use online and which offline. Most premium sat nav apps generally cannot be used as travel apps at all, as their pure map functionalities are limited at best. GPS Navigation & Maps is the perfect blend. Offering the best of both worlds for a fraction of the price, it can be relied upon to deliver any place, at any time, and being two great apps in one offers a fantastic cost-to-benefit ratio and unbeatable flexibility for consumers, skobbler said. Individuals can build their own navigation and maps app depending on what resources they use the most, and more effectively manage the limited storage space on their devices, skobbler said.
GPS Navigation and Maps has full turn-by-turn navigation, worldwide mapping and all features of the software accessible both online or offline. This unique move, and market first, is made possible thanks to skobbler’s NGx map engine, which delivers a seamless browsing experience with ultrafast real-time rendering and stunning map visuals, skobbler said. NGx also offers a range of unique map styles to, for example, accentuate color density for outdoor use to improve clarity. Maps are highly customizable with control over features such as online/offline functionality, map display (style and zoom), routing, map matching and more.
“We’re very proud to launch the first navigation product utilising our powerful NGx mapping engine,” said skobbler CTO Philipp Kandal. “Being the first and only company on the Android platform to offer full online and offline capability for both mapping and navigation, we hope both new users and our existing customers will be won over by the high performance and flexibility GPS Navigation & Maps offers. We’re already working on future updates and have a few powerful additions lined up to improve the app’s functionality and flexibility even further in the coming months.”
Additional maps beyond the free map provided will be available via in-app purchases for offline use. In keeping with the low price for the initial app purchase, add-ons are similary competitive and are priced at £0.77 for cities, £1.11 for states, £2.22 for a whole country, £4.44 for a continent and just £7.77 for the entire planet, so users can quickly and easily supplement their map coverage as they see fit.
skobbler is committed to providing regular updates to users to keep maps fresh and accurate, and promises a range of new premium features in future updates. GPS Navigation & Maps is now available from the Google Play Store, with existing ForeverMap 2 users able to upgrade for free.
The full version of GPS Navigation & Maps, including one free offline country map, can be downloaded.
deCarta, Inc., an independent LBS technology company, has introduced its Xplorer V8 navigation platform, combining deCarta’s cloud-based navigation service with customizable client-side libraries. This combination gives application developers the ability to quickly add vector mapping and turn-by-turn navigation to any mobile application, from local search to fleet management, providing users with fast, accurate driving directions to a destination or search result.
Xplorer V8 is available as a white label application or as client-side libraries depending on the degree of customization required. deCarta’s L2 advanced local search technology is fully integrated into the platform to help users find destination addresses or local points of interest (POI).
deCarta navigation technology powers products such as GM OnStar, Ford Sync, INRIX, Appello, TCS and MotionX GPS Drive. With Xplorer V8, deCarta lets developers tightly integrate that functionality into their own applications or to build custom navigation applications. Examples of the use of Xplorer V8 include:
Local search applications that offer route guidance to the search destination from a mobile phone or tablet.
Branded navigation applications for global automotive companies.
Mobile applications that display places of interest in a vector map display with smooth panning, rotation and zooming.
Fleet management solutions that offer route guidance and tracking to ensure that drivers are directed efficiently to their destinations.
deCarta has already engaged with customers in each of these areas and expects to be announcing new partners for Xplorer V8 in the coming months.
The Xplorer V8 platform consists of a cloud-based service and a set of core client-side libraries that work together to provide a high-quality navigation experience.
The Xplorer V8 Navigation Cloud Services provide local search and navigation response based on deCarta’s geospatial technologies. deCarta hosts these services in global data centers in Santa Clara, London, Seoul, Beijing and Sydney.
The Xplorer V8 CoreLibraries are integrated into client side applications. They support three critical functions that can be used together as a group or individually as needed by the customer.
Local Search: Single line search and geocoding based on deCarta’s L2 technology.
Guidance and Routing: Voice guided navigation, displayable as an overview, a list of directions or in turn-by-turn sequence.
Map Display: Vector-based maps that support turn-by-turn navigation, voice guidance, 3D display, immediate off route determination and rerouting.
Xplorer V8 libraries are compatible with all Android-based platforms for mobile devices, tablets and automotive embedded systems. Apple iOS versions will be available at the end of June.
For companies interested in a turn-key navigation solution, Xplorer V8 is also available as a white-label navigation application that can be branded to match the customer’s needs.
“Industrial-grade navigation engines are extremely hard to develop. To meet the demanding consumer expectations, they have to perform well, with speed and accuracy across a wide range of circumstances,” said J. Kim Fennell, CEO of deCarta. “Xplorer V8 packages all of deCarta’s navigation experience and makes it available for application developers to integrate directly into their apps.”
Xplorer V8 is available immediately for deployment in North America and Australia, with Western Europe coverage coming in June. Other countries will be included in the following months.
This summer, TomTom will make available a new range of GPS watches to deliver at-a-glance performance information for runners, cyclists and swimmers. The ultra-slim TomTom Runner and TomTom Multi-Sport GPS sport watches feature an extra-large display, full-screen graphical training tools, and one-button control to make it easier for users to access the information needed to stay motivated and achieve their goals.
“We know that most GPS watches on the market are too bulky and complicated to use while training,” said Corinne Vigreux, managing director, TomTom Consumer. “Just as we developed easy-to-use navigation products that changed the way that people move from A to B, we have developed a range of ultra-slim GPS sport watches that are far more comfortable to wear and far easier to use. Runners and multi-sport athletes can now view their performance information at-a-glance, making it easier to achieve their fitness goals.”
The new TomTom watches feature an extra-large, high-resolution and high-contrast display that makes it easy for runners and multi-sport enthusiasts to quickly see their distance, time and pace while they workout even in bright sunshine, TomTom said.
The new watches feature TomTom’s Graphical Training Partner. Easy-to-read full-screen graphics help users get the most out of their workouts. They can view their real-time performance at-a-glance with three graphical training modes:
Race: Race against a personal best or most recent run. Quickly track performance with real-time graphics, to continue to improve run-after-run. Goal: Set a distance, time or calorie goal and see progress toward that goal with simple, full-screen graphics and alerts. Zone: Set a target for pace or heart-rate (with optional heart-rate monitor) and track progress in a simple full-screen graph throughout a workout.
The new TomTom range includes an intuitive one-button control that enables users to easily navigate up-down-left-right through menus to access key stats and watch features, the company said. Unlike the majority of existing GPS watches on the market that feature multiple small and hard-to-operate buttons, the one-button control is easy to operate while moving and can be easily controlled in all weather conditions and while wearing gloves.
In addition to their ability to deliver at-a-glance performance information, the TomTom Runner and TomTom Multi-Sport include advanced features designed to address the needs of runners and multi-sport enthusiasts alike:
Ultra-slim design: At just 11.5mm, the slim design of the watch module comfortably fits men and women, and all wrist sizes. Indoor tracker: Accurately track indoor runsusing built-in sensors to count strides, so that users can monitor pace and distance even while running on a treadmill. QuickGPSFix: Get started faster by using the latest in GPS and GLONASS satellite technology to quickly find their precise location. Multi-platform compatibility: Sync, analyze and share stats on popular running sites and community platforms, including the TomTom MySports website, MapMyFitness, RunKeeper, TrainingPeaks and MyFitnessPal. Super-tough display: Scratch- and impact-resistant glass stays easy-to-read, workout after workout. Weather- and waterproof: Waterproof up to 50 meters/5ATM. Long-lasting battery: Up to 10-hour battery life (GPS mode). Bluetooth smart: Connect to sensors using the latest wireless technology. Heart rate monitor: Use the Bluetooth Smart Heart Rate Monitor to track training zone for weight control, performance or speed.
TomTom Multi-Sport includes all the features included in TomTom Runner, and also allows multi-sport athletes to track their distance, time, speed and other key metrics when they cycle or swim. The TomTom Multi-Sport is also enhanced with the following features and options:
Dedicated bike mount: Easily see key stats at-a-glance with the specially designed bike mount. Cadence sensor: Track cadence, speed and distance, indoors and out. Built-in altimeter: Accurately track elevation, ascent, descent and grade with the built-in barometric altimeter. Swimming motion sensor: Check detailed swim metrics such as laps, strokes, time and speed, and calculate a SWOLF score to show swim efficiency.
The TomTom Runner and TomTom Multi-Sport will be available in Summer 2013.
