US businesses expected to spend 11 billion dollars on mobile apps by 2012
According to CompassIntelligence.com, businesses in the U.S. will spend roughly $11.6 billion on mobile applications by 2012. This year U.S. businesses are expected to spend an estimated $4.9 billion on mobile applications. This market is poised for double-digit17 growth over the next 5 years, driven by the growth in remote and telecommuting employees, the movement in “open Mobile Devices,” and the explosion of new and emerging free and fee-based mobile applications available for download. This research is part of Compass Intelligence’s Applications and Business Wireless
research. http://www.gpsdaily.com

US PND market doubles in Q2
Shipments of portable navigation devices (PNDs) in the United States almost doubled in the second quarter (Q2) of this year at 3.7 million units, compared to the 2.8 million units in Q2 2007, but
prices are still dropping, according to market research firm Canalys. At this time last year, unit volume shipments were depressed following an inventory buildup resulting from extremely high sales into the channel in the final quarter. While shipments have grown,
Canalys estimates that average selling prices have dropped approximately 40 percent drop year over year.
Canalys estimates that Garmin remained the US market leader with 47% share, up 4% on its Q1 position, but down slightly on the 50% it had a year ago. TomTom, in second, saw year-on-year growth substantially above the market average, almost trebling its shipments, and giving it a share of 25%. Despite this high growth, this was down on the 28% it had in Q1, meaning that Garmin increased its lead by several percentage points sequentially. Magellan retained its third place with a reduced 11% share. These three vendors have consistently taken more than 80% of the market for several quarters. Outside of the top three, several vendors posted high year-onyear
growth, notably Mio Technology, Navigon and Nextar, albeit on much lower volumes. www.canalys.com

SLA and MapKing launch free mobile StreetMap

Singapore Land Authority and MapKing (Singapore) Pte Ltd have jointly launched StreetMap@Singapore. It can be viewed on PDAs, PDA phones, and smart phones. Named as `SLA StreetMap Mobile’ it can be downloaded for free onto any mobile device running on Windows Mobile Operating System.

SLA StreetMap Mobile has similar functions with its online StreetMap@ Singapore at www.map.gov.sg. Anyone with a compatible mobile device can search for location maps using address, road name, postal code, building or development name on the move. Containing about 2,000 buildings, 4,200 named roads, and some 120,000 updated address points, it is driven by the MapKing engine. www.sla.gov.sg

GeoSpatial Experts have introduced an integrated magnetic compass/GPS receiver module for the Ricoh 500SE digital camera It had a sole built-in GPS receiver, which enabled the camera to acquire the location coordinates of each photo and embed them with the photo as an attribute without an external GPS device.

Canalys surveys Taiwanese and Indian consumers about navigation and LBS

Market research firm Canalys highlighted a recent consumer survey in Taiwan for GPS navigation and LBS on mobile phones and PNDs. The survey found more than 80% of Taiwanese being familiar with what satellite navigation could do. With 60%, the idea of searching for directions on the web and printing them out was either the first or second most common method used to plan a route when travelling to a new place for the first time. http://gpsbusinessnews.com

More than 100 million users of mobile LBS in Europe by 2012
According to Berg Insight, more than 100 million mobile subscribers in Europe will use LBS by 2012. Mapping, navigation and search are believed to become the top applications, followed by social networking and tracking. johan.fagerberg@berginsight.com

Nokia launches global Ad campaign for GPS-enabled N82 handset

“The Urbanista Diaries,” is the new global campaign by Nokia to promote the recently launched Nokia N82 that features a 5 megapixel camera and integrated GPS. The campaign engages bloggers, journalists, and everyday people to promote the phone.

2.2 million cars in Europe have a telematics device
According to Berg Insight, 2.2 million passenger cars in Europe had an on-board telematics device at the end of 2007. It forecasts that the major breakthrough for telematics in Europe will come with the introduction of the eCall system proposed by the EC, which holds a high probability of becoming a reality in the early 2010s. berginsight.com

Price war eminent in PND market
The PND (portable navigation device) market in Taiwan is likely to set into a price war due to the planned importation of ultra low-priced GPS devices from China. GPS makers in China plan to establish a ‘Triple Nine’ alliance, aiming to push sales of PNDs at prices below 999 yuan (US$135) in the China market. Vendors of Garmin, TomTom and Mio – stated that they are not concerned about the price competition, and will differentiate from China-made products with improved quality and innovative software. www.digitimes.com

INDUSTRY | LBS | GPS | GIS | REMOTE SENSING | GALILEO UPDATE

MapmyIndia launches Incar GPS navigation
MapmyIndia – India’s navigable map data provider announced the launch of MapmyIndia Navigator, a GPS-based incar navigation device that promises to revolutionize the way we travel in India. Navigator uses satellites to determine current location. Navigator guides, …