Location-Based Services in NZ

New blog

2011-06-27T17:37:00.000-12:00

Well, as you can see by the date of the last update (May 2006), this blog largely concluded with the end of my thesis. I am now blogging at http://clararar.blogspot.com, which may at times cover LBS - so head over there!

More online mapping tools than ever for NZ

2006-05-28T20:38:00.000-12:00

Vianet.travel

vianet.travel is a new community of tourism operators, tourism retailers and travellers. vianet.travel is unique in that we work with both sides of the tourism equation with the single-minded goal of making it easier for travellers to find what they are looking for. To achieve this we provide the latest technology to retailers and operators. vianet.travel was imagined, designed and created by Vianet International.

ZoomIn.co.nz

You can find a map for any street address in New Zealand. ZoomIn also lets you find all sorts of places. Large and small. Malls and theaters. Churches and skate parks. Burger joints and gourmet restaurants. Simply type what you're trying to find into the search bar and click Find.

Vianet is probably the most applicable seeing as it's especially geared towards tourism - I especially like this article on Stuff.co.nz which talks about how it quickly morphed into a more collaborative project with the participation of community groups and smaller businesses.

Of course there's the news (see article here) that Google Maps has finally included detailed street information for New Zealand, but it's disappointing to see that they still haven't included any additional layers of information and thus renders it a lot less useful than the local alternatives - e.g. a search for 'pizza' in Auckland still yields zero results...

And, as I mentioned earlier, there's AA SmartMap (also more tourism-oriented). It's great to see so many new services, but here's the problem - how many of them can be accessed via a truly mobile device (i.e. not including laptops)? I know at least one of these service providers are working on translating these to the small screen - but even after true mobility of the mapping service is achieved, how are we going to get it into the hands of the tourists? Will their current devices be able to handle this sort of map-based LBS? If not (and the majority of them still carry models such as the Nokia 3310), who's going to rent them the device which allows them to use the service in the first place? Somebody has to do it... otherwise they won't even be able to access the service properly, which sort of defeats the whole purpose! We shall see...

Industry Report!

2006-05-17T16:34:00.000-12:00

Sorry about the lack of updates lately, but since I handed my thesis in at the end of last year I've mostly been overseas... Anyway, I have uploaded a copy of an industry report version of my thesis results here for your reading pleasure. Enjoy!

Location-Based Services & Tourism Thesis Industry Report

If you are interested in obtaining a full version of my thesis, let me know via email - clararar@gmail.com. =)

AA Smartmaps

2005-11-16T16:13:00.000-12:00

Online service allows travellers to customise maps

"The Automobile Association was today launching its AA SmartMap to allow travellers to customise travel maps around the country with any of thousands of pieces of data.

The online mapping system will include the quickest route between two points and make the location of toilets, cafes and restaurants, accommodation, boat ramps and points of interest easier to find.
(...)
The site can be accessed through aamaps.co.nz."

More and more location-based tourism applications are surfacing in New Zealand! =)

Google Local for mobile

2005-11-15T12:44:00.000-12:00

It's all starting to fall into place... too bad I can't even try it out because I'm not in the US, but for those who are, check out Google Local for mobile:

"Combining directions, maps, and satellite imagery, Google Local for mobile is a free download that lets you find local hangouts and businesses across town or across the country — right from your phone.

Detailed directions: Whether you plan to walk or drive, your route is displayed on the map itself, together with step-by-step directions.
Integrated search results: Local business locations and contact information appear all in one place, integrated on your map.
Easily movable maps: Interactive, draggable maps let you zoom in or out, and move in all directions so you can orient yourself visually.
Satellite imagery: Get a bird's eye view of your desired location."

Check out Oliver Starr's (of The Mobile Tech Blog) commentary here & here.

Wireless & tourism

2005-11-11T09:32:00.000-12:00

In today's NBR: Wireless a key tourism feature

"According to chipmaker Intel, tourists are increasingly likely to pack notebooks as they head off to exotic locations, a development that's fuelled in part by the proliferation of digital cameras, email and instant messaging.

A new poll run by the company to ferret out the top 10 Asian wireless hotspots showed creative integration of wireless connectivity in some of the region's most attractive and/or busy locations - but it also demonstrated the increasing importance of public area wireless access for tourism."

Well, we already knew that internet service provision in NZ needed improvement, here's yet another reason why...

The NYT on Online Travel

2005-11-07T18:43:00.000-12:00

The Online Travel Landscape Is Getting Crowded

"TRAVEL sites like Expedia, Travelocity and Orbitz already have their hands full with airlines and hoteliers - their "valued partners" - luring consumers away with sites that look more like full-service travel agencies every day. Now, here come Yahoo and AOL, and maybe even Google.
(...)
Among other things, travelers may post articles, hotel and restaurant picks and reviews - from Yahoo or outside Web sites - and photos from their own files or from those on Yahoo's online picture-sharing service, Flickr.
(...)
"Customers are demanding the travel industry do what great merchants do, which is find out what'll help them be comfortable purchasing a product or service," Mr. McArthur said. "In some cases it'll be rich streaming video. In some cases, it'll be more basic stuff." "

Google has a slew of advantages on their side - the most recognisable brand, and the capability to integrate any travel services with Google Earth, Google Maps/Local Search, and put it all on the mobile, perhaps via SMS? Let's see how this turns out...

Sharing travel experiences: WAYN, TravelBlog & TravelPod

2005-11-07T17:00:00.000-12:00

If a traveller wants to write about their travel experiences during their time abroad, while services like Blogger & Flickr have much wider recognition among internet users, there are also specialised sites designed specifically for this purpose, e.g. WAYN, TravelBlog & TravelPod. WAYN (Where Are You Now) looks especially interesting because of its focus on the user's current location. I'm assuming you have to update your location status manually, but I'm sure there would be a way to integrate the information from your mobile device to do this automatically.

However, I have doubts about these types of services being adopted by the mass market - perhaps that is not what they are trying to do in any case, but for the majority of people who only travel a few weeks a year (as opposed to constantly), it may make more sense to stick to general sites in order to share their travel experiences, as they may already have an established reader base and a familiar URL. For example, if I wanted to keep friends and family informed while I was overseas, I would just post entries to my LiveJournal instead of starting a new blog on a specialised service. Then again, just like Wikitravel & World66 (see my previous entry), there is probably more than enough room for both types of services to coexist happily while serving different markets!

KRUSE & Wikitravel

2005-11-06T21:19:00.000-12:00

Spotted in an issue of the Tourism NZ newsletter focusing on IT & tourism, this is exactly what I've been looking for - an affordable and (by the looks of it) fully-functional mobile travel guide in New Zealand! The blurb from the site describes it pretty well:

KRUSE

"To create the ultimate New Zealand experience for the self-drive traveller, Jonathan Kruse, President of KRUSE commissioned the development of KRUSE®, an innovative portable GPS technology that would automatically inform and entertain travellers on key points of interest as they journeyed throughout New Zealand.

Simultaneously over four years, Jonathan single-handedly created a tourist commentary network of over 1200 points of interest, covering New Zealand's history, people, native birds, plants and animals, geographical landmarks and scenic attractions. Information was meticulously researched and then recorded with appropriate music and sound effects to ensure an audio experience that is informative and entertaining.

As well as acting as your personal tour guide, KRUSE® also becomes your personal radio station. Once a commentary point has completed playing, you will then be entertained by music until you reach the next point of interest. Once you reach the next point of interest, the music currently playing will automatically fade out to allow you to hear the new commentary point."

Exciting stuff! I downloaded some of the sample audio tracks and found them both informative and amusing - did you know that 'Mangere' means 'laziness' in Maori? =) Anyway, I guess the only downside is that it's not a pedestrian guide as well, but I teel that the relatively low cost (only $10 per day) and the wide coverage will make it quite attractive for people going on a road trip around the country.

Something I spotted only today (even though I'm sure it's been around for a while) was Wikitravel - basically it's a collaborative database of travel information just like World66, except that it probably has higher credibility due to the fact it's attached to the Wikipedia brand. One of the downsides of having more than one wiki database serving the same need is that it causes unnecessary redundancies and splits the user base, which would be much better off joining together and sharing their knowledge; however, competition drives innovation, and neither of these wiki travel guides are in the mainstream yet - this is still dominated by companies such as Lonely Planet. Personally, I think that there's more than enough space in the world for both consumer-created and firm-created content. They serve different needs, and people are likely to use a combination of both, rather than solely relying on one or the other.

Only just over a month left before my thesis is due! Let me know if you'd be interested in obtaining a copy. The final product will be over 200 pages long, but I'll also be making a condensed report containing managerial implications, so that's probably going to be more interesting and relevant! =)

Here I Am - NZ GPS vehicle tracking

2005-10-19T07:56:00.000-12:00

Long time no post! I guess the thought of there being less than 2 months before I have to hand in my thesis is a bit of a dampener on trying to keep up with all the LBS news that's out there and blogging about it... However, saw this in the Herald today and thought I should probably post it cause it's local. =)

GPS tracker helps keep drivers honest

"Wedd and his wife Kath Jones established Here I Am this year after identifying what they saw as a gap in the market for GPS tracking technology that could be easily accessed by customers over the internet.

Location details and travel history from a Here I Am GPS locator device in a vehicle or carried by a person are relayed to the company's server, where they can be accessed by any internet-capable device - computer, PDA or cellphone.

Clients can view a visual image of a vehicle's journey and receive emails or text messages when it speeds or travels outside a designated zone.
(...)
The service is not cheap. The in-vehicle locator units sell for between $948 and $1349, plus a monthly charge of $35 to $60."

So it's not totally accessible to anyone (due to the high cost) but I guess it's slowly getting there! However, once again we should remember the warning points about child tracking... to paraphrase Russell Buckley (I think), technology is no substitute for good parenting!

Placeopedia

2005-09-25T22:33:00.000-12:00

Via business2blog: Placeopedia
Basically, it's Google Maps + Wikipedia, i.e. what we've all been waiting for! Now let's see if it's really as good as it sounds...

Netimperative News

2005-09-25T10:27:00.000-12:00

UK mobile users 'just want the basics'

"Less than one in five (17%) of UK mobile users want their phone to do anything more than make calls or send text messages on a daily basis, according to new research."

Pay-as-you-go SatNav launched for mobiles

"Mapping site GetMeThere.co.uk has launched a free to install, pay-as-you-go satellite navigation solution for mobile and smart phone users in the UK."

LB Icon lands Tourism Ireland contract

"Tourism Ireland has awarded a EU2.6m web development contract to agency LB Icon, following a competitive pitch."

Visa & Tourism News

2005-09-25T10:02:00.000-12:00

Tourists spending less in real terms

"Visa International said today that while tourists appear to be spending more, when they are viewed over five years and inflation and the appreciation of the New Zealand dollar is taken into account, the average spending by tourists to New Zealand has actually declined."

Interesting...

GPS Tourism in Madrid

2005-09-12T21:56:00.000-12:00

I know I've been rather quiet here lately, been rather focused on the transcription and analysis of my focus groups, as well as writing more thesis chapters... However, I stumbled across this on Engadget today and found it too relevant for me to ignore!

Spanish City Gets High-Tech Buggies

MADRID, Spain - Attention, tourists: Forget about stumbling on cobblestone and fumbling through guide books in stifling heat. Entrepreneurs in the Spanish city of Cordoba have devised battery-powered sightseeing cars with computers that talk.

The vehicles boast Global Positioning Satellite technology that provides passengers with their location and explains attractions with its tactile screen or audio recordings.
(...)

The project joins GPS tourism efforts in places like Montgomery, Ala., where IntelliTours LLC offers audio tours of Civil War and civil-rights sites using similar technology.

So far, Romeo's firm touts a fleet of ten cars, which plod quietly at either 15 or 25 miles per hour and can seat two or four people apiece, depending on the model.

Renting a two-seater for three hours costs $50.
(...)
"Cordoba is not on the cutting edge, so to speak, economically or technologically speaking. But the society we live in is the information society, which offers free technologies," Romeo said. "You can create whatever is inside your head."

Boost Mobile's LBS Games

2005-08-20T10:38:00.000-12:00

Boost Mobile Introduces Location-based GPS Mobile Games

"Boost customers are now able to download and play location-based GPS (Global Positioning System) games on their cellular phones.

Boost Mobile has partnered with Blister Entertainment to introduce Swordfish and Torpedo Bay, two GPS-enabled Java games, in the USA. Boost customers can play both games by downloading the applications directly from their Java-enabled Boost phone or from Boost LIVE."

Unfortunately this isn't New Zealand's Boost Mobile, but still, very interesting news indeed! =)

All about innovation

2005-08-15T23:55:00.000-12:00

Well I'm off to Sydney tomorrow night, just for 2 days to visit Visa and some other people who are also interested in my research, so here's a few things to read while I'm gone! =)

Did you know that BusinessWeek's Innovation section is filled with really insightful articles? I especially like the slide show about 'How to Learn Creativity and Innovation' - it sums everything up so well in such a succinct, graphical way. I especially like this diagram showing how coffee progresses from being a $0.01 commodity to a $5 experience.

And I haven't had a chance to read this properly yet, but it looks very promising:

Mapping Emotions
"Consumers crave "personal meaning" in products and services. To innovate, new methods are being developed to help designers understand the emotions that drive consumer decisions.
We are at a point in time where companies can no longer compete simply on technology. Technology has become relatively inexpensive -- and rampant. Many companies face competitors that are equal in technical expertise. The competition has simply caught up."

Finally, on a somewhat unrelated note, textually has a nice post about mobile phones specifically designed for a certain age group, namely older people.

In Mobile Phones, Older Users Say, More Is Less
"At a time when cellphones are letting users do more tricks, from video calling to downloading digital music, one of the latest models from Vodafone has no camera, no browser and hardly any icons, reports the WSJ Instead of being sleeker and cooler than ever, the phone is large and ordinary-looking."

It also has a really good list of links to other 'elder phones', which may be useful later on. But yeah, there's definitely a market for these beyond just older people - there are plenty of late adopters and laggards for which these kinds of bare-essentials handsets would be ideal. And of course, ease of use will benefit everyone - even (or especially) tech-savvy innovators and geeks will appreciate it. =)

Geominder

2005-08-12T15:41:00.000-12:00

I actually thought I'd already blogged about this, but maybe I've just seen it in lots of other sites, that's all! Also, there are so many similar applications now (which is good) that it's hard to keep track (which is bad)... This one is called Geominder:

"Geominder allows you to create location-based reminders that stay attached to physical locations. When arriving at a marked location, Geominder can play an alarm and display a stored text note or a voice note previously associated to the location."

Hmm, not sure how this could be relevant to tourists, as they don't really have a daily routine within certain areas (as opposed to locals who live and work in a particular city), but perhaps if the reminders could be shared between different devices, they could alert their friends to particular points of interest? That's just going back to the whole digital post-it note idea though, anyway...

I guess one possible situation would be if they saw something they wanted to buy, but wanted to wander around and compare prices first, then they could set a geominder at that particular shop, so when they walk past, it'll say 'hey, remember to buy this sheepskin rug here' or something like that? Otherwise, this doesn't seem particularly suited for travellers. =\

Navizon & RFID Tourism in Kyoto

2005-08-12T15:27:00.000-12:00

Navizon’s P2P positioning system: "a GPS, WiFi, and cellular peer-to-peer based mobile positioning system for Pocket PC devices."
I particularly like this illustrative diagram of the system.

Perhaps more relevant is the following article:
Tourism goes RFID in Kyoto and Shiga

"Uji and Hikone (in Kyoto and Shiga, Japan, respectively) are launching a pilot RFID-based sightseeing program as early as October, wherein interested parties (i.e. tourists) can use phones, PDAs, or other connected devices with RFID readers to get information on their surrounds (not too different sounding than the Town Pocket RFID program, if you ask us)."

Neat idea, but how many phones have RFID readers? Would it be better to just stick to cameraphones which can scan semacodes or QR codes? Or not have to require any sort of special hardware at all? I guess that's just wishful thinking, though...

Finally, Company Launch SMS Service That Understands English and Provides Movies Information. I'm linking to this because a few of my focus group participants mentioned movie listings and so forth, and this could also be easily adapted to other things, such as tourism information enquiries.

"The same technology can be easily deployed to book movie tickets, take pizza orders, make payments and take call-centre enquiries. For example, users can simply text in 'Book two tickets at 2pm' or 'Call me about my account'. The possibilities are limitless," said Mak.

It's definitely a lot better than having to learn a particular SMS method, anyway!

A near-comprehensive list of mobile LBS apps

2005-08-10T23:50:00.000-12:00

via The Mobile Weblog: A really fantastic list of links for most of the mobile location-based services that are currently out there, by SamC. I'm going to copy Oliver Starr and also repost this in its entirety, just to make sure that I can find it again later - it's going to be really useful in my literature review! =)

---

"Meetro is a new location-based community building software. Using WiFi signals, it is able to discover the general location of a user without GPS.

City residents are then visually shown exactly who's in their vicinity and the general interests they share. The software itself is a free download from www.meetro.com. A desktop-compatible version has been recently released so people without WiFi can also get in on the fun.

Other related projects include Skyhook Wireless, a software-only positioning system (see DailyWireless: Next Generation 911?). They use a nationwide database of known Wi-Fi access points to calculate the precise location of any Wi-Fi device.

The location of any Wi-Fi device can be determined without new hardware. Skyhook says they created a reference database of over 1.5 million private and public access points along with their locations. The WPS client software utilizes this reference database to calculate a device’s location to within 20-40 meters. The Wi-Fi Positioning System (WPS) initially is being rolled out in 25 metropolitan areas.

Herecast provides location-based services on a WiFi device. At its simplest level, it can tell you where you are. More advanced services can use your location to enhance information lookups, publish presence information, and create unique games -- all while preserving privacy.

Herecast uses a symbolic naming system -- instead of using coordinates such as "42.9875, -81.2915", it expresses your location in terms an ordinary person would use -- for example, the name of the building. Every wireless access point broadcasts a unique identifier, which can be used to tell it apart from other access points. That identifier can also be used as a "landmark" to identify a particular location.

Quarterscope's Wi-Fi positioning technology, is a similar GPS replacer. Wi-Fi Planet has the scoop on Quarterscope and their Wi-Fi Positioning System (WPS). It calculates the position of a client in a manner similar to other Wi-Fi positioning developers such as PanGo Networks, Newbury Networks, Bluesoft and Ekahau.

Location Based Services might also develop around some of these (free) software packages:

Blogmapper (links blog entries to clickable locations on a map)
Mates, a location-based social networking system developed at the University of Michigan
GeoURL ICBM Address Server (add Lat/Long to webpages)
GeoNotes, (a free JAVA app that automatically detects your position for location-tagged messages), as used in Annotate Space
Trepia (a location-based list of other nearby Instant Messaging users)
LocalFeeds (finds nearby RSS News feeds)
WWMX Travelogue (GPS tagged maps, photographs and text)

Directions Magazine has a series of articles on mobile location-based services and content. Other magazines include Geospatial-Online, Geo World, GPS World and Wireless DevNet. Here's a great list of innovative mobile projects. Hacking Google Maps has become a professional endeavor. "

BeepTaxi

2005-08-10T23:40:00.000-12:00

Just spotted this over at textually: SMS will tell you where to find nearest cabbie

"Using a mix of satellite tracking and mobile technology, BeepTaxi links taxi drivers with customers so they don’t have to go through a radio operator.

Clients only have to text their name and destination: the tracking system will find them and the closest cab driver will ring them back to arrange a pick-up."

This reminds me a lot of Zingo - in fact, it seems pretty much exactly the same, really! So while I still think it's a really good application, it's not a totally new idea... Couple something like this with MCom's mobile payment system, and you've got a totally efficient and convenient taxi service, all thanks to your mobile! Great for both travellers and locals alike...

Vodafone + 3G + New Zealand

2005-08-10T20:09:00.000-12:00

I suppose it'd be pretty common knowledge by now, especially for everyone in the mobile industry, but Vodafone launched 3G in New Zealand today! First off, here's the official press release from Vodafone. I won't get into the technical aspects too much because it's not really my specialty, but I will comment on a few things from a marketing perspective...

Re: The Vodafone live! MusicStore
Will this kill the iPod & iTunes? That's pretty much a moot point in New Zealand, where there is no iTunes, but it certainly pushes the whole 'cellphone-as-your-mobile-music-device' concept a lot further! I think it's fantastic to give users an opportunity to download tracks straight to their mobile - the fact that you can play it immediately on the same device is something that the iPod simply cannot beat. Sure, there's iTunes phone rumours, and the iTunes brand is very widely recognised and would be hugely valuable in that respect, but when your device is not an iPod, it just doesn't make sense to use iTunes at all. Also, the operators won't get nearly as much out of an iTunes-tied solution - which is why the Vodafone live! MusicStore is so logical; it's sort of like Progressive (i.e. Foodtown Woolworths) pushing Signature Range, or Dick Smith pushing their DSE-branded consumer electronics. So this mobile music store is certainly a step in the right direction! However. I have one major problem with this whole concept:

"Note: Full Music Tracks can only be downloaded to your 3G Mobile and cannot be transferred to other Music devices. This is to protect the music industry & our customers from illegally sharing music."

Right... Say if I really like the latest Pluto single (wicked band, by the way) and I wanted to listen to it on my mobile, I could download it from the V live! MusicStore for $3.50, but then if I also want to listen to it on my computer or my Creative MuVo2, I have to go and buy it again from digiRAMA for $1.69? Okay, maybe Pluto is a bad example because I can't even find them on digiRAMA, but basically, DRM and other such restrictions on digital content is just not the way to go. Please go and read Umair's insightful post about why DRM is flawed, as well as his articles on The New Economics of Music (part 2).

I just don't see how, as a consumer, I need to be 'protected' from 'illegally' sharing music... People have always freely shared music, whether it be taping songs off the radio, making mix tapes for your friends, or lending friends your CDs. A friend once sent me an MP3 of Muscle Museum, by Muse, and I loved it so much that I went out and bought all their albums from the CD store, ended up going to their concert, and generally spent a lot of money on them - all because of that MP3 that my friend 'illegally' shared with me. I'm not saying that piracy is totally okay, but I'm just saying that the music industry needs to wake up and realise that, whether they like it or not, people are going to share music, and they should at least try to understand it and work with their customers to make everyone's lives easier, instead of blindly suing them... But! I should really save that spiel for another day... (not that I haven't already talked about it heaps!)

Anyway, going back to my original example, at the moment it seems that the only way I can be sure I don't have to double pay for songs is to go and buy the actual Pluto CD, rip the tracks onto my computer, and then upload the mp3s onto my MuVo and my mobile. I guess it takes away from the immediacy of being able to get that song immediately on your mobile, but I'm certainly not going to pay $3.50 for a song that's only going to work on my phone... Why not just sell non-DRMed songs? I guess operators and music labels just haven't really 'seen the light' yet - do go and read Umair's articles, he puts it much better than I ever could. =)

Re: The Vodafone 3G Mobile TV
It's really good to see that they understand the sorts of clips that people will want to see on their phones - music videos, short clips from shows like South Park, sports highlights, news, etc... I guess I can't really comment too much here, except to just wait and see what the uptake is like for those services!

Re: Video calling
I got an SMS from Vodafone today saying:

"We wanted u 2 be first 2 know Vodafone has launched Video Calling. Visit Vodafone.co.nz/win & b in 2 WIN a pair of Video Calling handsets! Call 255 for info"

I like the fact that Vodafone don't txt me very often, and when they do, it's usually because there's something in it for me, like with the prepay double up deal or free weekend txting... Anyway, it's great to see that this is priced the same as voice calling - obviously they've done their homework and realised that cost is a huge issue for most mobile end-users (particularly in the younger market segments). However, it's going to take a long time before video calls on mobiles are a common occurrence, probably mainly due to the fact that most people don't have handsets with that capability right now, and they can't really afford to upgrade immediately... The prices of 3G phones will have to drop quite a lot before everyone latches onto the idea, but then again I think the operators already know that... From personal experience amongst my friends, I'd say that the 'sweet spot' for people my age (I'm 21, so late teens/early twenties) is usually around the $199 mark - most people won't hesitate to buy a phone under $200 - of course everyone wouldn't mind having a really nice, flashy handset, but it becomes harder and harder to justify spending that much money on a phone.

Anyway, I guess I have written a pretty long entry, and it's not even a review of the services or anything! Personally, I am definitely going to wait a little while before I invest in a 3G handset; I've only had my MPx220 for half a year, and none of the 3G applications are compelling enough to get me to upgrade prematurely, for the reasons I discussed above. Now, if they brought out some proper LBS apps on the other hand... =P

[LATER: The Herald has a review of Vodafone's 3G service up, and they don't seem too impressed with it, expressing similar concerns as those I raised above, such as the problems with the song download feature. Looks like they have a lot of work ahead of them...]

Mobile Search & Magellan

2005-08-09T19:52:00.000-12:00

Engadget currently has a good roundup of all the major mobile-specific search engines that are out there, including the offerings from Google & Yahoo. Meanwhile, Geekzone has an article about mobile search, including a bit which really caught my eye:

Nokia introduces mobile search to its smartphones

"(...) The local search engines enable searching for local services or businesses - anything from restaurants and hotels to taxi numbers or flower shops. Results of local searches display the relevant contact data, and the user can instantly, with the push of a button, call the given telephone number or save it to contacts.

With an integrated mapping solutions from ABmaps.com portal by AtlasCT and digital map data from NAVTEQ, the results can be shown on a map. Users can also save and, for example, send the map as MMS to a friend.

When traveling between countries, the search application automatically offers to change to available local search engines. Users can also change the location setting manually, enabling a user to find the contact details, for example, of a hotel in another country in order to make a reservation for a future visit."

The last paragraph sounds really promising for travellers! It's also nice that it's being done by Nokia, as it has a very wide brand recognition, and most people are already familiar with their user interface.

Also saw an Engadget interview with Christian Bubenheim (general manager, Magellan Consumer Products) which may also be of interest, as they talk about GPS devices - it's good to see that people are really using these in real situations where it could mean the difference between life and death! It's going to be especially important in New Zealand, where mobile network coverage is somewhat sporadic; when all mobiles also have an inbuilt GPS chip (as mentioned in that Channel 9 Windows Mobile 5.0 video), that will probably be the best of all!

A9's enhanced Yellow Pages

2005-08-08T23:19:00.000-12:00

I heard about A9's 'block view' technology back in January when it was initially launched, but I can't remember whether I've blogged about it yet. In any case, this recent Wired article has rekindled my interest. One of my favourite quotes from it is:

"We're familiarizing people with their surroundings before they inhabit them," says Dorfman. "It's about traveling there before you go."

Sounds exactly like something which would really add some value for travellers!

Now, with cheaper roaming...

2005-08-07T11:55:00.000-12:00

Vodafone New Zealand reduces prices for data roaming

"Vodafone New Zealand will reducing its pricing structure for international data roaming from Monday 8 August 2005. The new rate is available for users when utilising data roam on Vodafone's global data network and will be reduced by two-thirds to NZ$10 per megabyte - the same amount it costs casual users to access the data network in New Zealand."

The travellers in my focus groups mentioned the hassle of having to buy a new simcard in every new country they came to, so cheaper roaming charges will certainly help, in that regard! It still doesn't solve the problem of phones not working in certain different networks, but it's a start!

Windows Mobile 5.0

2005-08-07T11:38:00.000-12:00

If you're interested in mobiles, especially smartphones, then this Channel 9 video about Windows Mobile 5.0 is essential stuff! Even though they never use the specific term, they do talk about location-based services, e.g. the usual 'where am I' and people-tracking applications; they also mention some travel/tourism uses. It's very nice to see how excited they are about all these developments in the mobile space - however, 'normal' people's reactions to this kind of technology is an entirely different matter!

The 'early/late majority' are hugely concerned about privacy, and many of them don't really see the value in LBS apart from in emergency situations - the rest of the time, they're not going to buy into it unless: 1) their privacy/security concerns are fully addressed, 2) there is no cheaper, easier alternative, i.e. asking people on the street for directions, and 3) it is easy to use and very reliable - if it messes up the first few times they try it, they'll be put off for a long time. This is especially important for applications such as people-tracking, where a very real paranoia exists, and this won't be able to be glossed over just by sheer coolness. Lots of them see existing ways of communication (such as email, IM, voice calls and SMS) to be sufficient for their day-to-day needs.

Of course, it's still really important for the technology to keep advancing, but Moore's Chasm is becoming increasingly evident in the LBS industry. I think that marketing will play a key role in crossing this gap between the innovators and the rest of the target market - and hopefully my thesis will make a good contribution in that direction! =)

Cellphones as sensors & Sony Ericsson's location-aware phones

2005-08-04T22:17:00.000-12:00

Two items which caught my eye today:

via Smartmobs: Cell phone as sensor by David Pescovitz

"By their sheer numbers, cell phones provide an opportunity to gather geospatial data with much higher granularity and more penetration than previously possible," says Honicky, who is developing such a system with College of Engineering dean Richard Newton. "This is especially true in the developing world, where there's often a lack of funds for scientific research."

If tourists gave their consent, then this could be a really valuable way of gathering traveller behaviour data! Though given their paranoia over people-tracking technology (as seen in my focus groups), a sizeable incentive will probably have to be offered, if any of them are actually going to sign up...

Also, some New Scientist breaking news about Sony Ericsson's 'Chameleon-phone'

"The cellphone industry is always looking for new must-have features to encourage people to junk their existing phones and buy new ones. Sony Ericsson’s latest idea is to sell phones which automatically change the way they behave, depending on the time, date and place.

For example, the wallpaper display on the screen shows pumpkins when the phone’s calendar sees the date is Halloween, and Christmas puddings on December 25th. Network roaming, or GPS, can tell a phone what country it is in, so the ring-tone might change to a reggae tune as the plane touches down in Jamaica, for example.

A restaurant could use short-range Bluetooth signals to deliver the specials menu direct to the phone's screen, and a cinema or church could use Bluetooth to switch it to silent mode. Stockbrokers could enable an option to display the latest share prices every 10 minutes and golfers could use continually updated weather forecasts for wallpaper.

Priority coding lets some automated controls override user settings. So if you are a golfing stockbroker praying in church for sunshine during a wet Christmas in Jamaica, the phone won’t interrupt the sermon with a burst of Bob Marley.

Read the location-aware cellphone patent here."

I must try and see if the local Ericsson folks can give me any more detail about this! =)

Mobile Business Literature

2005-08-03T15:53:00.000-12:00

http://www.m-lit.org

"M-lit is the first online bibliographical database dedicated to mobile business literature. It aims to provide a hub where the Information Systems academic community can share references, abstracts and keywords from international academic journals and conference proceedings."

I can see that this database should come in very handy - thanks for the link, Minna! =)

An onslaught of LBS news

2005-08-02T19:29:00.000-12:00

The power to follow your every move (New Scientist subscription required)

"Later this year the first four satellites of a rival system called Galileo will be launched. Galileo is a European project set up by the European Commission and the European Space Agency, and is designed to be more accurate, powerful and reliable than GPS, with more satellites - 30 in total - stronger signals and a range of commercial services for different needs. Galileo will also incorporate GPS signals, almost doubling the size of the system. The most significant difference, however, is that Galileo will be a purely commercial enterprise.

The imminent availability of a reliable, fast and accurate satellite positioning system dedicated to commercial users brings the scenario outlined above much closer to reality. This week specialists from areas as diverse as academia, security, surveying and government will meet at the UK's National Physical Laboratory in south-west London to discuss the social implications of Galileo once it goes live in 2008. And while it's impossible to know what the "killer application" will be, the consensus is that Galileo will finally allow satellite positioning to fulfil its potential. It could, some say, have as big an impact on the world as cellphones, PCs or the internet."

Unfortunately you do have to have a proper New Scientist subscription and login to read the full article, but basically it talks about Galileo's possible applications, and how it could really spur location-based services forward. If you would like to read the full article, drop me a line and I'd be happy to email it to you! =)

Discrete Wireless' GPS Teen Tracking Device

"One teen who wished to remain anonymous said, "At first I didn't like it, but I soon realized that it gives me a way out of doing things that I really don't want to do. It eliminates peer pressure. I tell my friends that my parents can see everything we do, and everywhere we go in my car, and my friends don't ask anymore."

Is it just me, or does this quote (and indeed the entire story) seem a bit dodgy? Sorry, but I still don't buy into the child/teen-tracking thing at all. Like Russell Buckley has said before, you can't push the responsibility of parenting onto technology in this way. Teenagers will always find a way to get around such 'controls', and it totally defeats the purpose of what good parenting should be about - trust. Yet more and more firms seem to be trying to make money off paranoid people. To prevent teens from drinking & driving or speeding, it's up to the parents to educate them properly and build a relationship of mutual trust - spying with technology won't work, because if they really want to act out, they'll just use their friend's unbugged car, or disable the device in their own vehicle! Hopefully parents will actually realise this too...

Node Explorer upgrades GPS tourism with WiFi, Linux (also see the detailed Telegraph article)

"The unit, a prototype Node Explorer from Bath-based Node, is billed as a location-aware media player. Using GPS to get location data, the Linux-based, ruggedized unit communicates over WiFi with a nearby Node Server to present info on a location in realtime. Currently envisioned as being a tool for tourists, the Node Explorer could be a more versatile solution than current GPS tourism devices, which typically use off-the-shelf components like Pocket PCs, and keep their data onboard, limiting their utility to a narrow, pre-defined geographical area."

This is much more exciting! A definite must-read, especially the detailed Telegraph article which describes the user experience in detail. The more location-based tourism applications there are, the better, really!

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa testing Pocket PC guide

"The Mobile Exhibition Guide (MEG) provides visitors with in-depth information corresponding to the exhibits they are viewing. It compliments Te Papa’s existing interpretative media, and takes the visitors deeper into the exhibition narrative and collection histories by presenting a range of audio and visual media such as moving and still images, with narration throughout the experience and interviews with curators."

Something closer to home! I wonder if I could interview someone who was working on MEG... I hope it's a success! But with companies like Microsoft and HP behind it, I'm sure it will be. =)

UK-based mobile phone location service launched

"Rock Seven Mobile Services Limited launched a new mobile location service called 'Closer'. The service allows their website users to locate individuals anywhere in the UK using a mobile phone signal.
(...)
The accuracy of the system varies, depending on the location in the UK. In cities and built-up areas the accuracy is usually between 100m and 1000m. In rural areas, where mobile transmitters are less dense, accuracy ranges from about 1km to 5km. Some mobile networks perform better than others."

Hmm, they probably need to work on the accuracy a bit, but other than that it sounds like they're on the right track! What with the emphasis on being permission-based and everything...

Okay, now I've got to go and finish transcribing my third focus group... Hopefully I will be able to write a brief report on my own research results soon, instead of just blogging about everyone else's!

WiFi at Auckland International Airport

2005-08-01T22:19:00.000-12:00

Telecom unwires Auckland International Airport

"Auckland International Airport (AIA) said today it is rolling out a Telecom wireless network that will make the terminal one of New Zealand's largest wireless zones.
(...)
"Unlike many other facilities, the wireless network at Auckland Airport can be used for everything from aircraft operational requirements, wireless telecommunications, remote access to information airport-wide and also the retail side, with passengers eventually being able to use specific wi-fi 'hotspots' to surf the internet and check email," Mr Wickstead said."

This is definitely something that could help travellers link up with digital tourism information in New Zealand! And if you want to go down the WiFi-enabled LBS path, this is definitely a step in the right direction. =)

UpMyStreet

2005-08-01T09:13:00.000-12:00

There are so many LBS apps popping up at the moment all over the blogosphere that sometimes I'm not sure whether I've already blogged about it or not! I don't think I've come across this one before though: UpMyStreet starts geo-targeted ad campaigns

"Local information site Upmystreet has begun two new geographically targeted campaigns in a bid, offering clients ad space that is only visible to users in specific regions in the UK.
(...)
UpMyStreet provides visitors with local neighbourhood information and services based on their postcode."

The UK seems to be catching onto location-based tourism pretty quickly! I wonder if any of the British travellers who were in my focus groups will notice this more when they get back home..? =) Speaking of which, I still have two focus groups to finish transcribing before Wednesday! Better get back to work...

Mobile news roundup

2005-07-25T22:51:00.000-12:00

Been quite busy doing my traveller focus groups lately, so haven't really had much time to keep up with my feeds, nor write many posts here, but will try to rectify that soon! Here are some interesting articles I came across just now anyway:

MY|Blog for Pocket PC
Basically it's a program which automatically uploads a photo taken on a Pocket PC phone to an internet web server; the really exciting part is how it also automatically tags location information with the photo as well! This would be perfect for travellers...

MSN Virtual Earth now available in beta
I was already quite impressed by that Channel 9 video, but how will the actual user experience compare to Google Earth? In the end though, it's not a matter of who 'wins' or not, if there's competition, then the products will get better faster, and the consumers will have more choices! So everybody wins...

Wired: When Cell Phones Become Oracles
A story about an MIT Media Lab project, which tracks participants' phones to then develop an algorithm to predict their behaviour... potentially huge for mobile marketers! But really interesting social implications as well, of course... Must try to get hold of the related academic papers, if I can!

Location-based tourism, BBC-style

2005-07-20T22:46:00.000-12:00

Here's another example of a digital graffiti type location-based tourism application. More and more of these are popping up now, it appears that despite all the reservations and problems associated with the deployment of true LBS, people are trying anyway - and good on them!

BBC's 'Coast' project, offering "39 new interactive walks exploring the past, present and future of the UK's coast - including 12 you can follow using your mobile phone." (Also see related articles from digital-lifestyles.info, textually, & mobhappy.)

I can already see a huge opportunity for something similar to be done along New Zealand's beaches, given how much of it we have! Of course, our nation's history is not as extensive as the UK, but I'm sure there would still be many fascinating Maori or colonial stories for interested visitors.

However, from the focus group that I've conducted so far, I've learnt that travellers are rather wary of mobile services such as digital post-it notes, as they are perceived to detract from the face-to-face, human interaction side of travelling (which is apparently the whole point of travelling in the first place). Basically, a location-based tourism application must be implemented in a way that still encourages active discussion between travellers, instead of creating an environment where users become shut in their own virtual cocoons...

Relevant news update

2005-07-19T14:47:00.000-12:00

I've been too busy to regularly keep up with my Bloglines feeds lately, and now I'm being totally swamped! This is an attempt to list some of the more relevant items from my backlog of news...

Airbus calling

"Airbus aircraft will be outfitted for mobile calling from next year, a move that puts the European manufacturer on the same track as rival American manufacturer Boeing."

I think I've already discussed the ramifications of allowing mobile calls during flights in an earlier post... But basically the airlines will have to be veeery careful when implementing this because of the whole annoyance factor on other passengers, but SMS is the ideal mobile option here, coupled with another silent activity - surfing the net on your laptop's broadband connection.

Mobile tracking service goes on sale in UK

"Mobile phone location service KidsOK has gone on sale in the UK today, allowing parents to locate their child using a mobile phone."

Again, it all comes down to trust between the parent and the child - if it's a younger child then it's not a bad idea, but teenagers will easily find a way to get around this if they are trying to escape their parents' prying eyes. What I like about KidsOK is that they're contributing to charity as well. =)

Marrying Maps to Data for a New Web Service

"David Gelernter, a computer scientist at Yale, proposed using software to create a computer simulation of the physical world, making it possible to map everything from traffic flow and building layouts to sales and currency data on a computer screen."

Just another interesting story on the continuing battle for online mapping supremacy between Google, Yahoo and Microsoft, and how they're trying to ensure enough support for developers to build compelling applications. Which all makes perfect sense, of course!

Right, now it's time to go through the mobile blogs to see what I've been missing these last few days...

Mobile Interactive Visitor Information Service

2005-07-06T13:50:00.000-12:00

MIVIS: Mobile Interactive Visitor Information Service

Delivering the right information to the right place at the right time

MIVIS will create 'points of relevance' based on:

Heritage & Culture
Recreation, Leisure and Adventure
Food and Wine
Natural Environment - Flora/Fauna
Industry – wine makers, craftsman, artist
Aids – maps – weather – track information

MIVIS is truly interactive where it

Creates a platform where people can tell their story consistent to the viewer's geographic location.

Enables us all to bring our stories alive in an environment where the story teller may be a child, grandparent, authority or an observer to an event.

Develops and grows a digital resource that can be accessed on request in 'real time'.

MIVIS content is developed along strands

Regional Tourism Initiatives & Visitor Information Centres.
Tourism Trails. E.g. Classic Wine Trial, Heritage.

DOC Sites

Conservation Educational Centres (as illustrative of LEOTC (learning outside of the classroom strategy)

Local commercial groups. E.g. Food HB (Related to main regional initiatives).

Archivist's custodians of content. E.g. Libraries and Museums

Tourism Operators.

Site Operators. E.g. A winery

Community Groups.

While not automatically location-sensitive (in terms of using A-GPS or WiFi hotspots to triangulate a user's location), MIVIS uses cameraphones & semacodes to deliver added content about a particular POI (point of interest) to a traveller, in their native language if required. I don't think semacodes are mentioned in the website itself, but was included in a powerpoint presentation of the project which was forwarded to me (thanks, Ross!).

Since it's based in a nature reserve, it reminds me a lot of the WebPark Project, but the use of semacodes is more reminiscent of a near near future post from April about eRuv, 'a street history in semacode' (also refer back to Russell Buckley's related post).

From the MIVIS project blurb, it sounds like they understand the major issues for location-based tourism applications (need to be easy to use, instant, collaborative, etc), but this is the sort of thing that really needs a critical mass of users to really take off... I wonder how it'll go?

Personal World Map

2005-07-06T00:28:00.000-12:00

Another extremely cool thing that I couldn't not blog about, found via near near future, which is definitely one of my favourite blogs (if not my absolute favourite blog) of all time.

Personal World Map
Here's the first paragraph from the about section, though it's definitely worth it to read the whole thing:

"At this moment, in which information flows through our planet in intervals of time that human beings are not even able to imagine, time seems to be playing a more important role than distance. The supremacy of time over distance is not only real for the flow of information but also for our movements across the earth. Places which are more accessible seem to get “closer” to each other while less accessible places become isolated. This fact clearly affects our perception of the earth."

Obviously this is all quite new, and I can't fault them for not having Auckland or Wellington in as a potential starting point, but isn't that the problem with most new local tech apps? Both Google & MSN's local searches are completely useless if you live in Auckland. That aside, it's amazing how intuitive the PWM interface is, and really shows the usefulness of differentiating between travel time space, money space and geographical space.

Again, this is absolutely perfect for tourists, especially the 'new media traveller'! I will keep an eye out, and hopefully they will eventually add some Australiasian destinations to the map... =)

'The Flying Carpet' (more like 'Map Carpet')

2005-07-06T00:20:00.000-12:00

This is somewhat related to both mapping and tourism, but mainly I just thought it was really cool, which is why I'm blogging it! =)

via Engadget: The Flying Carpet

"Digital imaging offers the ability to create fantastic images and use them in new ways by creating spaces to transform perceptions and indeed create whole new environments.
(...)
Alavi’s latest project is indeed likely to inspire a myriad of ideas from creatives all over the world when they see how he had an aerial view of the Sacramento River woven into a carpet for the floor of a pedestrian bridge connecting the Sacramento International Airport terminal to the parking garage. It is indeed, a “flying carpet” "

It's not enough to just read the description, you've really got to see the photos for yourself to get just how amazing this looks! Imagine stepping off the plane at Auckland International Airport and then seeing all of Auckland laid out like this under your feet... If you want to tie in the technology element, you could have RFID tags embedded within certain attractions shown in the carpet, and allow devices to fetch more information about them. Better yet, you could just use a cameraphone to take a photo of the bit of the carpet that looks interesting, and it will automatically detect what the POIs are, maybe admission prices if that's applicable, driving directions, everything...

Getting a bit more advanced and going into the augmented reality field, you could use a cameraphone or something to pan over the carpet, and the device will be able to overlay street names and tags on the digital screen. How cool would that be? The total seamless integration of tangible and intangible - technical issues aside, this could really create an incredibly immersive, fun, and most importantly value-adding experience for the traveller!

This is something that would definitely appeal not just to the techies but the mass market as well - actually, it would probably make more sense for the non-geeks, as long as the digital media part is easy-to-use, because it has a tangible element that they are in control of. I can see it being a great learning tool too - imagine a geography classroom carpeted with this sort of aerial map, and how that could be used as a teaching tool! The other option of course is to just have a normal vector map carpet (like in the Channel 9 MSN Virtual Earth video) which would be easier for our brains to comprehend spatially.

In general though, the idea is just really cool, it would definitely be great to see something similar here in New Zealand! =D

APC: Access Point Compass

2005-07-05T16:49:00.000-12:00

It seems like I'm trying to make up for not blogging for a whole week by having three posts within one day...

via near near future: Access Point Compass
An interesting university project about... well, the following blurb puts it best!

"APCompass is the prototype application of the gpsMiddleware platform. It uses GPS technologies integrated with a community maintained database to allow people to explore their local wireless networks. There is an emphasis on pioneering and exploration as users seek out new nodes to extend the database. The project considers issues of privacy, by ensuring every action performed by the user is broadcasted to a central server for anyone to see. Drawing on David Brin's idea of a ‘Transparent Society' APCompass encourages collaboration and accountability as users appreciate the fact that their actions are being constantly monitored."

If there are so many bright university students launching into the user-collaborative sphere, there must be a logical reason for that! And I'm really looking forward to the day that it's truly embraced by the commercial world... I also like this bit from the 'theory' section of the APC site:

"Wireless networking is an affordable way of exchanging information over large distances. When linked together, these individual ‘nodes' produce a larger ad-hoc network that has no centralised control. There are numerous projects that are looking to develop these ‘free networks' all over the globe as sources of free information."

It has a really Smartmobs ring to it... =) I'm actually still going through that book because the first time I started, I got somewhat interrupted. But I think that I will definitely have to add another whole section in my literature review about collaborative user-to-user technologies! The more that firms learn how to interact intelligently with their empowered consumers, the better it'll be for everyone!

MSN Virtual Earth

2005-07-05T16:28:00.000-12:00

Virtual Earth: MSN's answer to Google Maps

If you haven't already watched the video, go have a look right now! It gave a very good intro to the new app, but was also informative in other ways, in terms of learning that Microsoft has actually been in the mapping business for a very long time (apparently their first consumer mapping products came out in 1995). Definitely worth watching!

In terms of tourism, this would be invaluable for travellers to check out their destination before they get there, which would go a long way to decreasing the perceived risk of the whole experience; it really facilitates the trip-planning/time management process. The video mentioned an example, e.g. you may be booked into a 'seaside hotel', but with Virtual Earth you can actually check it out in advance to see if that claim is legitimate! Most people I've talked to which fit into the 'new media traveller' category usually travel independently or in very small groups, and they usually express a desire to find out as much as they can about a place prior to the trip, so that they can be really prepared. And if you pile on the user-annotations on top of the map (like in Urban Tapestries), you start to get some really individualised, value-added, rich content which is pretty impossible to get out of a traditional paper map or tourist guidebook. It all fits together!

Of course, it's going to be pretty difficult (if not impossible) to use Virtual Earth on a cellphone/PDA and still get a good experience (combination of data transfer speeds/prices and small screen size), but you could use the rich web app when you're at the netcafe or in the hotel, then have a complementary simplified version on the mobile device?

MSN + Vodafone = seamless PC/mobile IM

2005-07-05T16:07:00.000-12:00

MSN and Vodafone to Launch PC-to-Mobile Instant Messaging

"REDMOND, Wash., and NEWBURY, U.K. — June 29, 2005 — MSN and Vodafone today announced plans to launch a first-of-its-kind seamless instant messaging (IM) service between PCs and mobile phones. Customers will be able to see the “presence” of their contacts and exchange instant messages between MSN® Messenger on a PC and Vodafone Messenger on mobile phones and vice versa. By offering customers a seamless PC-to-mobile messaging option with instant messaging, MSN and Vodafone will expand communication choices, delivering an enhanced messaging offering for MSN and Vodafone customers who want to stay in touch with friends, family and colleagues."

What was I saying before about Microsoft's potential for controlling social networking on the mobile platform? This is definitely a very strong alliance, given both Microsoft & Vodafone's huge customer bases and brand recognition. A good move all around! Let's see if they actually implement the location element later on...

Muddle Over Mapping

2005-06-28T20:27:00.000-12:00

I was reading this CNet article and noticed that location-based services got a mention:

A question on location-based services saw Ballmer plug Microsoft's "heavy investment" in mapping. But when a participant asked why MapPoint had not expanded to Southeast Asia so such services could be built, Ballmer was stumped.

"I didn't know we weren't doing well there," he said. "I'll address that with the team vigorously."

That doesn't sound hugely encouraging... And then I saw this NYT article (login required) about how users are becoming disillusioned about online maps:

ONLINE mapping services were supposed to be a godsend for business travelers when they were introduced a few years ago. But for motorists like Diane Taub, the devil was in the turn-by-turn directions.
...
Roughly 1 in 50 computer-generated directions is a dud, according to Doug Richardson, the executive director for the Association of American Geographers. He blames inaccurate road information for most of the failures.

"You have to have the latest data about road characteristics - things like one-way streets, turns and exits in your system in order for it to generate accurate directions," he said.

Even if the streets remained static, online mapping would be an inexact science. Most of the major Web sites draw their data from a small group of competing suppliers and update their maps quarterly. They use a process called geocoding, which assigns a latitude-longitude coordinate to an address, to find a destination. Then their systems calculate the most efficient route. Each site handles the data in a slightly different way, which is why search results vary from mapping site to mapping site.

Online maps are free, of course. And to get something that hits the mark most of the time and doesn't cost anything, well, where's the catch?
If you're out for a Sunday drive, there is none. But business travelers know that the errors can be costly, especially when a deal hangs in the balance. The more business travelers lean on the Web-generated instructions, the greater the chance they will eventually drive away with a printout that leads them down the wrong road.
...
Online mapping specialists say the directions will probably never be completely dependable, at least for business travelers on important road trips.
"Maps are generalized, graphic devices that help us understand the world," said Michael Peterson, the chairman of the International Cartographic Association Commission on Maps and the Internet and a professor of geography at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. "But they are not accurate depictions of reality."

So are online maps as good as they can get? Unless the world stops changing, the answer may be yes.

That doesn't mean you have to get lost. To improve your chances of making your next business meeting, consider buying a navigational computer that uses G.P.S. technology. Those systems constantly monitor your position and calculate the most efficient course. An old-fashioned atlas would help, too.

If people are becoming increasingly distrustful of online mapping/directional services, does this mean that they will be more likely to pay for a navigational device like those offered by Navman, or will they give up on digital mapping altogether and stick with a paper atlas? Probably a combination of both...

Virgin's city guide podcasts

2005-06-28T19:07:00.000-12:00

Netimperative: Virgin Atlantic podcasts city guides

"Virgin Atlantic has launched a new service that enables New York travellers to download audio guides to their portable MP3 players.
(...)

The first podcast is a series of four audio guides to New York. They begin with a guide to the ten coolest restaurants, the second is an insider's guide to shopping.

The third is all about 'off-the-beaten-track' New York while the fourth is a guide to the ten things you just have to do, if you're on your first trip to the Big Apple.
(...)
Breda Bubear, head of advertising and communication at Virgin Atlantic said: "We believe that providing travellers with relevant destination content will help them plan their trip, and giving it to them in a portable format will enable them to make the most of their time away."

The podcasts are to be followed by guides to other destinations as well as more in-depth broadcasts on the airline’s destinations, from live radio shows to what’s on guides and personal experiences."

I like how the Virgin offering is somewhat personalised, depending on what type of travel experience you're looking for - obviously the 'new media travellers' will be interested in more of the 'off the beaten track' type of guide. And seeing as the portable digital audio function is converging into the mobile phone anyway, it makes perfect sense for these podcasts to be available on your mobile. Combine the cityguide podcast with mapping, throw in some context-awareness, and you have a really value-added, immersive travel experience!

It seems that there are so many different ways to approach location-based tourism, but all of them seem to be arriving at a similar point - after all the literature reviewing and expert interviewing I've done thus far, it seems a lot more important to concentrate on the affective, consumer side of things, rather than the structural, industry/technology side of things, because that's already been well established... Hopefully I can find some really interesting results from my focus groups, and make a real contribution to the whole area of location-based services research!

Cellphedia & FoundCity

2005-06-23T00:18:00.000-12:00

TheFeature has a nice article out called 'Phone App Writers: The Next Generation', which discusses a few of the projects presented at New York University's annual Interactive Telecommunications Program event. As usual, people have already put into action some really cool-looking ideas, including Cellphedia and FoundCity, both of which look extremely relevant for LBS.

Cellphedia is "a cell phone application that promotes the sharing of knowledge. It allows to send and receive encyclopedia-type inquiries between specific, pre-defined groups of users, through Text messaging. Users can register here on this site and start building the quick-reference Cellphedia-type encyclopedia entries, by asking other users and answering other users' questions where-ever cell phone service is available."

& FoundCity is "a social mapping tool for creating a personalized map of your life on-the-fly. Using your mobile phone, you "tag" or capture photos throughout the day, label them with any words you want, and send them to your map. At home, you access and customize your map, which you can share with friends, keep private, or publish openly."

Sounds interesting! Again, slim to no hope of those services being available in New Zealand... ah well.

In-flight mobile usage

2005-06-21T23:45:00.000-12:00

After I read this article at The Register, I thought I might as well contribute my $0.02 to the issue - well, actually, the following excerpt sums it up pretty well:

"While the majority of respondents would not approve of passengers making voice calls during flights, some 64 percent of respondents indicated their approval of using mobile phones for data services such as SMS. Of the 11 specified wireless activities, in-flight messaging emerged as the most popular choice among respondents."

I think this is how you could keep everyone happy - unlimited SMSing (which will suit the teenagers well, and is still a perfectly acceptable method of communciation), but if you want to make a voice call, you must retreat to a small soundproof booth at the back by the toilets, or something like that. Another silent way to use the mobile is data services - perhaps a traveller could be checking information about their destination, planning their itinerary and booking their hotels etc, all while still sitting on the plane?

But there's definitely no way you could make the allowance of in-flight mobile phone calls workable - how annoying would it be to constantly hear phones ringing when you're trying to get to sleep, or your neighbour chatting loudly away for half an hour? I guess people have always talked to each other on the plane anyway, but when you're on a call you tend to be less aware of your physical surroundings and forget to lower your voice, so... The airlines will have to be careful about this, otherwise it could result in a disastrously horrible experience for the majority of the passengers...

Rixome

2005-06-21T23:39:00.000-12:00

Looks like there's another location-based digital graffiti project - Rixome. Here's the blurb from near near future:

"rixome is a network and a tool that turns mobile screens into windows that show the virtual and public dimensions of our point of view.

A walker (a rixome user) can see on his/her mobile phone/PDA/laptop screen the virtual interventions that have been added to the location where s/he now stands. For example, a spoken message can be left on a given location for other "walkers" to hear through headphones whenever they pass by. The message can also be written, or it can be a 3D animation or image, a photography, a drawing, a video."

What I'd really love to know is, when will there be something like this available in New Zealand, and will it be just a short-term research project, or will it be ongoing? Hopefully the latter!

MSN local search & more WiFi positioning

2005-06-21T23:09:00.000-12:00

Via CNet: MSN to offer local-search service

"Microsoft's MSN plans to launch on Tuesday a test version of a local-search function that integrates mapping and satellite image technology to help consumers pinpoint nearby stores and other locales.

(...)

Local search is particularly convenient for mobile phone users, many of whom are in their car or otherwise in transit and are looking for directions and other information on the fly.

The launch of MSN Virtual Earth follows on the heels of new local search and mapping tools from rivals. Google has integrated satellite mapping into local search through its acquisition of Keyhole. It also began testing a service last week to let mobile phone users search for Web sites optimized for mobile phones. In addition, the company has partnered with BellSouth, SME Global and Leads.com to fine-tune its local search. "

Well, it seems more and more like Microsoft do have some sort of a plan for LBS! As I've said, it would be very easy for them to link this with the Windows Mobile platform to make it a really seamless user experience... Unfortunately local search on MSN doesn't seem to work very well at the moment if you're in New Zealand - I typed in 'pizza' and the initial results displayed assumed that I was in New South Wales, Australia! After I specified my location as Auckland, the results remained unchanged and not one of them directed me to a local pizza place... Oh well, I guess it's still in beta, after all!

Also from CNet: Wi-Fi used for location services

"A Boston, Mass.-based start-up says it has developed software that uses Wi-Fi signals to pinpoint locations better than satellite-based global positioning systems can.

(...)

Morgan adds that GPS typically only locates things within a few hundred meters, whereas the Wi-Fi location system can get within 20 to 40 meters of an object. And because Wi-Fi routers are often deployed closer together in cities than cell towers are, it can also be more accurate than cellular-based location systems, he added."

Well, this would be great for a place like the Mauritius (the first country to have nationwide WiFi), but probably not so much New Zealand... Maybe just the Auckland CBD? It would certainly be a good way to trial some LBS tourism apps to begin with, anyway - kind of like how they are trialling GPS technology with the Link and the low-emission buses with the City Circuit - one day, I envisage Auckland being serviced by a fleet of timely, GPS-linked, low-emission buses. One day...

Nokia's answer to location-based services

2005-06-20T20:46:00.000-12:00

Via Geekzone: Nokia introduces the Nokia 6630 Navigation Pack
(I'm just going to paste the whole thing because it's all completely relevant)

Nokia and Wayfinder Systems are introducing a smartphone-based package that enables people to find their way and explore locations while on the move. The Nokia 6630 Navigation Pack consists of a Nokia 6630 smartphone, a Nokia Wireless GPS Module and the Wayfinder Navigator application.

"Location based services are among the top consumer choices for new mobile applications," said Kirsi Kokko, Director, Smartphone and Business Solutions, Multimedia, Nokia. "With the Nokia 6630 Navigation Pack, we wanted to address this demand with a highly advanced, portable package combining the benefits of a smartphone and navigation. When not using navigation based services, people can enjoy the same device for productivity purposes, taking pictures or video, surfing the Internet or listening to music."

When connected to the Nokia Wireless GPS Module, users can directly from the Nokia 6630 smartphone see their position and the easiest route to their destination on a digital map, provided by Tele Atlas. Wayfinder's map selection currently covers Western Europe, the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, and Greece.

The application also guides users with turn-by-turn voice instructions, and allows searching for street addresses, restaurants and other points of interest. Furthermore, locations or points of interest can be shared by forwarding maps via MMS or email. The Nokia 6630 Navigation Pack does not require fixed installations, making it possible for people to use it whenever and wherever they like.

The Wayfinder Navigator application on the Nokia 6630 smartphone's Reduced Size MultiMediaCard (MMC) offers a 6-month period of navigation including automatic map updates. After the free period, users can extend the service directly from the Nokia 6630 smartphone. In order to access the Internet and download routes, maps and information from the Wayfinder server, users need a GPRS subscription.

In some markets, the navigation pack will also be available with the Nokia 6670 smartphone. The Nokia 6630 and 6670 Navigation Packs are available in Western Europe, with more areas to follow later on this year.

This article is great because in just a few paragraphs it manages to mention digital convergence, the importance of usability and the ability to share POIs with your friends, and the use of a free trial offer to encourage adoption (which has been found to be so important for new mobile services). In fact, the only downside to this whole news item is that I doubt New Zealand is one of those 'areas to follow later on this year'! Maybe later on this decade...

Insights from the Communities Dominate Brands blog

2005-06-20T16:29:00.000-12:00

I was just catching up on the RSS feed for the Communities Dominate Brands blog, and saw some interesting posts which I think relate well to LBS:

Living in an experience economy

"Experience culture
Today's world is a world of experience of content, of culture and of content rich brands… a world where knowledge is profit and interconnectivity is power – where enabling and personal empowerment are keys to all B2C transactions.

The implications for business are clear. People will want more 'experiences' and to be able to define themselves by those experiences. They will want advice on how to start to build and then maintain expertise in certain activities.

(...)

Solutions enabling memorable experiences
'Value added' comes from the quality of experience provided.

An experience is holistic, total, encompassing, transforming... and emotional.

A 'service' is a transaction, an experience is an 'event' that leaves an indelible memory
Creating meaning through context
Meaning is treated here not as an attribute of information, but as a crucial part of human experience, a component of belonging, sharing, understanding, perceiving, associating, finding relevance, feeling included, seeing value, engagement, attitude, belief, acceptance, receptiveness, expectation and often attraction and desire.

Context is something that already exists in peoples lives. Combining the brand to the context gives the experience new, deeper meaning."

I thought it was important to repost most of the entry here because it perfectly describes what the location-based tourism offering should be about - creating interactive, memorable, value-added experiences for the travellers. Also, LBS is all about context (both spatial & temporal), so it really is up to the firm (say, Lonely Planet) to combine their brand with the travel context over the mobile device to give a deeper, more involving experience...

Also, I found the following article via that blog - 3G content will turn phone users into salespeople. In particular, check out the following quote:

"Currently, it's the operators that are making the money from content services. In future, Informa Media and Telecoms predicts, it will be the content providers holding the reins. The content owners will seek to shed controlling partnerships with the operators by focusing on selling their content through their own portals."

I wonder if this can be applied to LBS as well?

‘George Square’ collaborative tourism system

2005-06-19T11:20:00.000-12:00

Via pasta and vinegar: Sharing the square: collaborative leisure in the city streets by Barry Brown, Matthew Chalmers, Marek Bell, Ian MacColl, Malcolm Hall, Paul Rudman, To appear in Proc. Euro. Conf. Computer Supported Collaborative Work (ECSCW) 2005, Paris.

[Abstract] Sharing events with others is an important part of many enjoyable experiences. While most existing co-presence systems focus on work tasks, in this paper we describe a lightweight mobile system designed for sharing leisure. This system allows city visitors to share their experiences with others both far and near, through tablet computers that share photographs, voice and location. A collaborative filtering algorithm uses historical data of previous visits to recommend photos, web pages and places to visitors, bringing together online media with the city’s streets. In an extensive user trial we explored how these resources were used to collaborate around physical places. The trial demonstrates the value of technological support for sociability - enjoyable shared social experiences. We also discuss support for collaborative photography and the role history can play in collaborative systems.

This is going straight into my literature review chapter! It's great how it stresses the importance of user collaboration for these types of location-based tourism systems - also see Russell Buckley's related post, 'A Manifesto for Taking Wikipedia into the Physical World' (another way to implement location-based POI info).

Instead of having several competing companies spend millions on building up proprietary spatial information databases, if someone set up a way for everyone to add location information to a database which is relatively easy to access on mobile devices, it would be infinitely cheaper and quicker to assemble the content. Metadata, tagging and search is definitely the way of the future in terms of making sense of the massive deluge of data we are inundated with daily; hopefully this will come through in the next-generation operating systems for both PCs and mobiles. It's 'the power of the mobile many' in action, and fits in well with the 'connected & empowered consumer' concept, too. Is an 'open-source' type of model the key to mass-market adoption of LBS? Perhaps...

Homegrown LBS & Locative Gaming

2005-06-15T14:37:00.000-12:00

Looking through my 'location-based services' technorati watchlist today, I found some interesting articles:

Location-based services confronts the 'empty room' problem
"Now that more and more handsets can make use of location-based data, someone needs to populate those services with data. Some are taking unique approaches to filling databases with data."

A The Feature article about the catch-22 of attracting enough users & content for LBS, illustrating how small, niche players are building their own apps and how these will become the building blocks for the future mass-adoption of LBS. This reminds me of a post I did last month about a homegrown ski field social GPS application. There's definitely demand from users, it just needs to be marketed really, really well...

Gamers Turn Cities Into A Battleground
"There's an evolution using the mobility of the phone to create completely new gaming experiences," says Tom Söderlund, who worked as a games producer for Swedish games company It's Alive, based in Stockholm. "I think we are going to see more and more games that blend with our real lives."

A nice summary of the location-based games that are out there, including Uncle Roy Is All Around You, Geocaching, Digital Street Game, GPS::Tron, Pac-Manhattan, BotFighters, Semacode hunting, Can You See Me Now?, Gizmondo's Colors. Though I'm sure that a quick Googling of 'location based games' or a browse through pasta & vinegar will yield many more examples, anyway. That's definitely a whole other thesis topic that I'm not even going to try to get into! But very interesting to read about, nonetheless.

Wireless Week: Carriers Find Their Way To LBS
"Wireless carriers have started getting more serious about adding location-based services to their portfolios for both enterprises and consumers.
...
In-Stat, a sister company of Wireless Week, found in a survey of consumers last fall that 85.6 percent of wireless subscribers are interested in at least one LBS application. The applications drawing the most interest were driving directions, maps on phones, local traffic updates, mobile city guides and local weather information. Less-popular applications included child tracking, 411 directory assistance, friend finder and location-based games."

This article is a month old now, but still a really good one to read if you haven't already seen it. It goes through the major US players, the types of applications users are interested in (both consumer & business), and gives a really good general overview of where LBS is at currently.

Finally, remember to register for the NZ Wireless Forum LBS Event next month if you haven't done so already! =)

Location-based vs. Context-based

2005-06-13T15:56:00.000-12:00

While this paper is actually from 2004 and you may have come across it before, I only just discovered it and thought it was definitely worth posting:

Mathew, J., Sarker, S., & Varshney, U. (2004). M-COMMERCE SERVICES: PROMISES AND CHALLENGES. Communications of AIS, 2004(14), 1-11.
"This paper provides a brief description of two distinct approaches for designing and implementing M-Commerce services, the dominant location-based approach, and the gradually emerging context-based approach. The authors argue that the context-based approach, while more complex, holds greater potential for the future, given its inherent capability to reflect/support natural human social structures and behaviors."

A really interesting comparsion between 'location-based services' and 'context-based services'. I particularly like the tables contrasting their differences, as well as the illustrative scenarios given. There is absolutely no doubt that mobile devices are becoming increasingly pervasive worldwide, in both developed and developing countries; thus, it makes sense for these devices to intelligently communciate with each other autonomously.

Personally, I think that the seamless integration of both these approaches will provide the greatest value to the end-user. Holistically, it may be better to just take the 'context-based approach' and sweep it under the LBS umbrella in the long run - in fact, I think a lot of LBS developers already understand the concept, they just don't call it that. It's always good to see things from a different perspective, though!

AlwaysOnGPS

2005-06-13T14:53:00.000-12:00

It seems like whenever I say something like 'I wish/what if somebody did this', I later find that it is actually being done, especially for mobile technologies. I guess this is because the people in the industry are even more creative than me, and have obviously had the same thoughts!

For example, in some earlier entries I mused on how we should combine the vastly differing ways of positioning into a holistic process that, overall, facilitates the accuracy and ease of LBS apps. Then, very quickly afterwards, I got an email from Jim Parsons of AlwaysOnGPS - here's the blurb from the website:

"AlwaysOnGPS enables standard GPS users with WiFi enabled PocketPC/PDA devices to determine their precise location (GPS coordinates) in situations WHERE and WHEN GPS SIGNALS ARE NOT AVAILABLE!

Using the power of our advanced (patent pending) WiFi Positioning System, GPS users with WiFi enabled devices can still access extremely accurate GPS Data while located or situated:

- within office buildings, warehouses, campus interiors, clubs, restaurants, museums, galleries, conference facilities, newly discovered venues, between tall buildings, within "urban canyons", inside multi-level car parking decks and even underground!"

That sounds pretty good to me! Not sure if it would work in New Zealand though - maybe it says on the website but I haven't seen anything talking about geographical restrictions, so... Yeah.

The problem with a lot of LBS or mapping apps is that it's all well and good if you live in the US or Europe, but otherwise, you can run into a few problems. Technical problems aside, for social networking apps especially it would be really difficult to get that local critical mass. How would you get around that? Form an alliance with a brand well-recognised within this country. This is where big firms like Vodafone, Nokia, Microsoft or Google would really have the upper hand in leveraging their international brand and high level of resources.

Vodafone Simply marketing at its finest

2005-06-13T11:21:00.000-12:00

Yes, the title was supposed to be a pun. =P A short while ago, I noticed that the Vodafone Simply handset had been released in New Zealand, and I was going to write about it. However, I just read this The Feature article: Segmentation, Simply and it conveys exactly how I feel about the matter, so I will refer you onto that instead!

Basically, I think that a handset like this has been long overdue, and I know that other firms have tried (and are still trying) to specifically target mobile phones toward young children and older age groups. However, Vodafone is the company that actually has the brand awareness, global reach & resources, and general marketing 'clout' to drive the mass-market penetration of these devices. I know so many people for whom the 'Simply' phone would be perfect, but already have a perfectly functioning mobile - what if Vodafone offered a discounted trade-in scheme to encourage switching? Not only would it make the users' lives easier, it may also help convert Telecom users...

Speaking of Vodafone, their 'free txt weekends' campaign was a much-needed counter to Telecom's $10 txt - you could even say that it's overdue. The 'thumb tribe' demographic (which I guess I'm actually part of) is fickle and purely driven by cost/value; a whole wave of my friends switched to Telecom for $10 txt. Now, I know that at least one of these people have switched back to Vodafone for free txt weekends. I wonder what will be next in the 'txt wars'?

LBS articles from the O'Reilly Network

2005-06-13T11:00:00.000-12:00

Via pasta & vinegar: A Design Approach for the Geospatial Web by Julian Bleecker

"This coupling of the physical world with the data world represents an exciting and challenging new frontier. Just as no one could have anticipated how radically everyday experiences would change with the proliferation of the Web, it is difficult to say precisely what the Geospatial Web will bring to our daily lives. By tagging content and data with geographic metadata--effectively giving content a location in the real world--it is possible to imagine new metaphors to describe experiences in geographic space. We'll stumble across lost pet notices on our way to work; freeway exit ramps will have indicators for a quicker route to the beach on city streets during a busy weekend; standing in front of a local theater will enable you to find movie reviews left by previous patrons. It's incredibly exciting to think of the possibilities. Perhaps our metaphors for managing content will change as the Geospatial Web grows in consequence. It may be that someday in the near future, we'll be talking about leaving our files, rather than saving them."

This is a really good article about LBS which gives a nice, up-to-date listing of LBS apps that are already out there and has a really good understanding of how to enhance the value of LBS in general. I especially like how Bleecker talks about Craigslist as a LBS and stresses the importance of collaborative mapping. Everyone who is interested in LBS should read this at least once and explore some of the links from it! =)

(Also see The Geospatial Web: A Call to Action by Mike Liebhold)

Telecom Song ID

2005-06-11T20:00:00.000-12:00

This has evidently been available for a little while now, but I have been a bit behind on my Bloglines feeds... but better late than never, right?

Via Geekzone: Telecom New Zealand launches song identification via mobile phone

"Telecom New Zealand users have now a new service that helps identifying songs through a mobile phone. User can call *7664 (SONG) from any Telecom mobile phone and hold it in the direction of the music for 30 seconds. The Song Id service will automatically end the call, then send the SMS with the name of the track and the artist."

When I saw this, I thought, 'that sounds awfully familiar! In fact, isn't it exactly the same as Shazam in the UK?' I don't mean that in a bad way though, it's always good to see new mobile applications in New Zealand. Well, as long as they're useful. Song ID is perfect for targeting the youth market, whereas push-to-talk is completely... er... superfluous to that segment.

I hope that Telecom will take some cues from Shazam, and go one step further to let people keep track of all the songs they've tagged online, and then buy the CDs of the ones they like. Of course, the even more logical extension is linking it to the Motorola iTunes phone. Or, if you use a subscription service, automatically fetching that song to your playlist. I mean, all of this is so obvious that I don't think I even need to say it, really!

You know what would be really innovative? Is if they could somehow connect the Song ID service to your brain, so that when you get a song annoyingly stuck in your head and you don't know what it is, they will be able to ID it for you... Maybe in 20 or 30 years? =P

Rosum TV-GPS

2005-06-10T16:43:00.000-12:00

Via Shane's Place: Rosum TV-GPS - the website has a fairly good description of how they use TV signals for LBS, plus a pretty diagram, too. =)

Is it a good thing that there are so many ways of positioning, or is it just confusing? If they can't all work together, then will one of them will have to win out over the others in the end? Kind of like how there's GSM and CDMA... In the end though, the more people who work at LBS applications, the better!

Herecast

2005-06-06T21:14:00.000-12:00

Herecast: an open infrastructure for location-based services using WiFi

"Herecast provides location-based services on a WiFi device. At its simplest level, it can tell you where you are. More advanced services can use your location to enhance information lookups, publish presence information, and create unique games - all while preserving privacy.
...
Services
Once your mobile device knows where it is, it can provide all sorts of interesting location-aware services. For example, you could:

Bring up a map of your location with a single click.
Access a web site relevant to your location.
Publish your location to your friends.
Leave messages at a point in space, for other people to discover.
Chat with anyone else who happens to be in the area -- meet people you wouldn't have gotten to know otherwise.
Play new types of games where you progress as you hunt around the city.

Only a few of these have been implemented on Herecast so far, but anyone with an imagination can create their own services that work with Herecast. Location-aware services are a relatively new area of innovation. It simply hasn't been possible to do this sort of thing until recently, so I'm sure the best ideas haven't even been thought of yet!"

Sometimes it seems like my blog is just a series of ads for all the LBS apps that I keep discovering! But I must record them somewhere because it's so easy to lose track... I like Herecast particularly because of its open infrastructure, very much in the spirit of a wiki (i.e. user co-creation of value). Also, while using WiFi as the basis for the services is somewhat geographically limiting, it also seems to be somewhat cheaper and more efficient than using other types of location technologies. Especially in New Zealand, where our hilly terrain makes for very difficult positioning, and the technical infrastructure for LBS isn't really here yet... Probably the only way we will really get LBS is by utilising ALL the possible means of locating a user - GPS, Cell-ID, EOTD, WiFi, etc... Of course, getting them to all link together is another matter entirely!

Hotel check-in kiosks

2005-06-02T23:30:00.000-12:00

Is the Check-In Kiosk in the Lobby for Real? (NYTimes login required)

"DUST collectors. That is what employees at the Sheraton New York Hotel and Towers call their new automated check-in kiosks, as one guest who has repeatedly tried to use them found.
...

The problem is that the automated check-in kiosks are unreliable. Mr. Harteveldt estimates that more than one in 10 hotel kiosk transactions fail, either because they are incapable of making contact with the hotel's reservation system, or, if they are able to make a link, because they generate a key to the wrong room.

Experienced business travelers often avoid the machines because their performance is so unpredictable.
...
Guests will just have to get used to them. Besides, any gadget that can get you to your room more quickly is probably a good thing. But some business travelers, all too aware of the reputation the hotel industry has for generating extra fees, are already wondering whether the industry will yet again figure out a way to wring a little extra cash out of unsuspecting customers."

A nice example of why technology has to work properly the first time 'round, otherwise users will forever avoid them in future, and even worse, spread negative word of mouth to all their friends! Of course, if you can just automate the self check-in via a mobile device (that's linked with LBS & m-payment), and it actually works, then that's a lot better than the hotels installing and maintaining expensive kiosks in the lobby. Of course, you're always still going to need staff, but it would make things a lot easier for everyone involved...

M-Com & my thesis progress

2005-06-02T22:47:00.000-12:00

I'm always discovering mobile commerce/marketing/LBS companies, even though some of them have apparently been around for quite a while!

M-Com
"M-Com’s application mTopup, enables consumers with a Telecom pre-paid mobile phone and an ASB Bank account to top-up their airtime credit from their bank account via SMS text message, providing them with a further alternative to topping up their phone. The service, generically termed Mobile Payment or mPayment, is the first collaboration of its kind between a major Telco and a bank in New Zealand."

Sounds interesting & relevant! Whenever I come across these locally-based companies working on m-commerce, I get very excited and hopeful for m-commerce in New Zealand (and thus, LBS). In particular, if you're interested in m-payments, then check out their white paper on MCredit. I may try to contact someone from there for my thesis research... It's strange though, whenever I hear or see that word, I immediately think 'Master of Commerce', as that's the degree I'm studying - I had never thought about it as a short way of saying mobile commerce!

Also, some very nice people have been emailing me over the past few weeks - sorry I haven't gotten back to you yet! Things have been a bit crazy lately, and I am having real trouble finding real tourists to recruit for my focus groups... I just have to work a bit harder on that since it's my first priority...

Anyway, one of the emails was from Sam Critchley of A2B.cc, a location-based search engine which looks quite interesting. I also see a lot popping up on the LBS technorati search, but it's so difficult to keep up with everything going on in the LBS area lately, especially with my own research coming in thick and fast... I think I have a much better understanding of what the critical issues are for LBS though - when I've fully analysed my expert interviews, I will definitely write a summary of my findings here.

Remember, if you are or will be around the Auckland region sometime within the next few months, give me an email and we can have a chat about LBS! Since it's so rare to find people around here who actually know what it is, it's always a nice when you have an excuse to talk about it... =)

Crunkie

2005-05-25T15:45:00.000-12:00

Via mobilewatch: Crunkie

'Crunkie™ is a new, free service for your mobile phone and the Web that combines social networking, mobile blogging, and geographic location. With Crunkie™, you can browse interactive maps on your mobile phone or online. Crunkie™ will enable you to see where it's at:

Find your friend's location on your mobile phone and meet up
Create and swap location-tagged photos and messages
Discover and broadcast your new favorite places'

It's great that there's actually lots of LBS apps popping up now for people to download & try out, but I wonder what Crunkie's business model is? Given that they're offering the software for free... That aside, there's also the fact that you actually have to set your own location - i.e. it is not really automatically location-sensitive:

'To set your location, simply move the cross-hair to the location you'd like to identify yourself with, press the fire button and select Set My Location. This will mark your position on the map for you and your friends to see. You will also be given the chance to send a text message with your location update to your friends.'

Then again, this is probably because it's the only feasible way to implement such a service at the moment. However, it won't be incredibly useful if you're moving around, is it? Or if you actually want to coordinate activities with friends in a given location such as a shopping centre - does the location info get any more specific than the building level? Though I'm not sure that anyone can offer that level of specificity at the moment... It also assumes that you already know where you are on a map (so no 'where am I?' services), which may not always be the case.

Crunkie is only supported by a limited range of mobiles (Nokia 3620, Nokia 3650, Nokia 6600, Nokia 6620, Motorola V505, Motorola V600, Audiovox SMT5600), but this is a problem that most LBS application providers will probably face - at least you still have a choice of different manufacturers, with a good selection from Nokia.

Finally, as with most other mobile social networking apps, this will probably require some sort of critical mass to really take off. Since I haven't really heard about it till now, not even in the mobile/tech-related blogosphere, I'll assume that this hasn't occured yet... All the best of luck to them though!

hp & LBS

2005-05-23T21:27:00.000-12:00

I'm not sure why I missed out on this earlier, but I guess it's good that I found it in the end: hp has quite a good section on their website about LBS, including some interesting-looking pdfs:

I look forward to reading them in more detail soon! At the moment I've been completely swamped with tutoring work... So far I've conducted two expert interviews for my thesis, both of which were very interesting - they confirmed what I've picked up so far as the key issues for LBS from my lit review and the blogosphere (e.g. permission-based, timely, personalised, relevant), as well as pointing out some other things I hadn't ever considered before! =) Now I should really try to get my hands on some tourism experts...

Nokia Sensor

2005-05-18T18:12:00.000-12:00

Nokia Sensor Application: See and Be Seen

Spontaneous social circles
Your portable personality
Instant communities and networks
Free to download, free to use
Free file sharing

The flash demo on that page is definitely worth a look! The good thing about this is that it's free, and it works with Bluetooth, which is pretty standard with most new phones these days. However, it seems more applicable to individuals who like meeting new people, as opposed to those who stay within their own contact list - that's the impression I got from the demo, anyway.

Something like Dodgeball seems to offer a fuller mobile social network experience, but if Nokia bundles a social networking app on their phones, then of course they will have the upper hand. The file sharing thing is also an exciting area, especially in terms of sharing MP3s and so forth. I wonder if this will really take off?

A cellphone could help save your life

2005-05-18T17:55:00.000-12:00

Cellphone used as tracking device to rescue man
Now, before you get all excited about LBS applications for emergencies being available in NZ (like E911 in the US), it turns out that this is how they used the phone to locate the injured man:

"One of the officers used his local knowledge and guessed he was in Mills Lane.

"Then we sent an ambulance up and down Mills Lane while we listened to the siren through the man's cellphone."

When the siren, heard through the phone, was at its loudest, ambulance officers jumped out and found the man.

Very primitive indeed - wouldn't it have been much easier if we had something like E911? I hope that governments in most countries will be moving towards this, not only because it could mean the difference between life and death, but also because it would really spur the development of other LBS applications in that country. I don't see that happening anytime soon in NZ though... =

IntelliTours

2005-05-17T20:58:00.000-12:00

Found this via Engadget, although apparently it has actually been around for a long time:

IntelliTours creates audio and multimedia tours that are guided and triggered by GPS navigation. The tours work outdoors anywhere in the world. The tours are packaged for handheld walking tours, auto and RV trips, and fixed-route tourist trolleys, buses and trains.

It seems that there are already lots of existing location-based tourism applications on offer all around the world - there just isn't much academic research/theory on the matter, nor is there an aggregated account of their successes/failures. I guess this is where my thesis can come in! =)

Location-based toilets in China

2005-05-16T14:25:00.000-12:00

Dial-a-toilet launched in China

The world's first telephone toilet location system is to be launched in Shanghai next month.

The move was announced at the First World Toilet Forum held in the Chinese city, reports City Express.

Users dial a special number and the system tells them the location of the nearest public toilet.

In the future, it will also give them information such as whether or not the conveniences are free of charge.

Sun Guizhi, director of the Shanghai city cleaning office, said: "The system is mainly for tourists who come to the city for the first time."

This is actually not a bad idea! And a great example of a location-based tourism application... However, I'm not sure about the profitability of this sort of service, as people have survived fine so far without it (i.e. by finding toilets themselves through other means). Still, the story shows that LBS is catching on... =)

Dodgeball & other things

2005-05-12T23:39:00.000-12:00

Dodgeball: mobile social software

A really good example of a location-based 'buddy tracking' application, but social software is really a much better term for it! There are so many nifty mobile services out there (many of which are location-based), but they don't really appear on my radar unless someone blogs about it - in this case, it was because Dodgeball was acquired by Google, who definitely look to be trying to dominate the mobile space...

I finally got my own copy of Smart Mobs: The Next Social Revolution by Howard Rheingold as an early birthday present, and so far it's been very enjoyable and inspiring - very, very highly recommended! Then again, if you're interested enough in mobile tech to be reading this blog, it's likely that you've read it already...

By the way, I'm just getting into the 'data collection' part of my thesis research - if you consider yourself to be an expert in the LBS/mobile commerce/tourism field, and will be in Auckland anytime within the next month or so, I would love to hear from you to arrange an interview time! Thanks. =)

Freetext for an enrolment pack

2005-05-03T18:11:00.000-12:00

I saw this on my way home today:

It's not the first (or only) example of a marketing message having an integrated SMS element, but I thought I'd write about it because it's a very good example of one, since:
1) it's free,
2) it's clear what you have to do to use it, i.e. txt your name & address to 3676 and they will send you an enrolment pack (as opposed to the Rideline SMS service), &
3) it's perfectly targeted toward younger people who've just turned 18 and have yet to register to vote, since most of them would be more comfortable with the SMS medium than with the 0800 number

Their marketing campaign could still do with some improvements, though - the other day, everyone in my family got a letter from Elections New Zealand saying 'if your details are the same, you don't need to do anything - if not, please send this back with your updated details'. Since everyone's details were still the same, it basically meant a complete waste of paper for both them and us. So, if there was some way to confirm your details electronically before they sent these unnecessary letters, it would be really good... Maybe in another few years.

[18/05/05 UPDATE: Text messaging to enrol brings huge response - a really nice confirmation of the effectiveness of mobile marketing campaigns, when done correctly!]

Bill Gates has LBS all sorted out?

2005-05-03T17:31:00.000-12:00

Was just reading Engadget's interview with Bill Gates (part 1), and while I agree with what Russell Beattie said about how Bill should've responded to the "Is the goal to have a Windows Mobile phone in every pocket just like the goal is to have a Windows PC on every desk?" question, I'm glad Bill briefly mentioned buddy tracking or social network LBS apps, even if he didn't use the word 'location-based' or 'context aware'

"What comes after Windows Mobile 2005? Is it just further refinement and evolution of the platform?

When you get visual recognition in there is that an evolution? When you get speech recognition in there is that an evolution? When you get the kind of mapping GPS stuff that’s so powerful? When you get the “Are my friends near me, then notify me” type of stuff? There’s so much happening in that mobile phone space that we’ve had to get super reliability, super testing stuff, get the foundation, get the credibility. I’d say in some ways the mobile phone space is a little bit like Xbox, where it took many years to get the foundation and get the credibility where you’ve got hardware relationships, where you’ve got higher ARPU on your device and you can show you’re connecting up to different things, and so we’re poised now with the phone thing to have more of an impact."

Then again, it doesn't look like there'll be anything like that in Windows Mobile 2005... Oh well, it's good that they are trying to concentrate on the core need of reliability though! The current version of Windows Mobile I have on my phone definitely makes me optimistic for the future.

Like I said in my last post, it would be easy for Microsoft to dominate socially-oriented LBS due to people's existing familiarity with MSN & Windows Messenger. I don't know if there are any concrete figures out there measuring Microsoft's share in the worldwide instant messenger market, but from personal experience, I know a lot of people now stick with MSN as opposed to ICQ, AIM, etc, just because it's bundled with Windows XP. So the next logical place would be to extend the MSN Messenger brand to LBS on mobiles! Right?

Meetro

2005-05-02T21:05:00.000-12:00

This is nothing new, but I thought I'd better at least have a link in this blog so I wouldn't keep forgetting about what exactly its name is!

Meetro, a location-based social software, and a great example of a buddy-tracking mobile app.

However, this would easily be superceded by anything similar launched by mobile operators, e.g. Vodafone. An even bigger threat is Microsoft - in a B2B sense, they've already got the context-awareness thing planned for the next rollout of Windows Mobile. All they'd need to do is figure in some sort of context-awareness for versions of MSN Messenger on Windows Mobile-run phones, and there's a good chance of widespread adoption by consumers. I really think Microsoft has one of the best shots at the mobile social software pie - if Vodafone doesn't beat them to it.

Jamming mobiles in NZ cinemas

2005-05-02T16:49:00.000-12:00

I thought I'd comment on the recent news items about New Zealand cinemas considering the installation of cellphone jammers. I wasn't surprised by the first story, and was particularly amused by the following passage:

"He said the most antagonistic cellphone users he saw were middle aged women who answered their cellphones in cinemas and continued conversations.

They would get "incredibly aggro" if asked to turn their cellphones off or leave.

Mr Mackenzie said "cellphone rage" between patrons could get nasty.

He had to defuse an incident in Blenheim last year when a man threatened to hit two exchange students sitting on opposite sides of the cinema who were texting each other."

First of all, it's funny that they used the word 'aggro' in a newspaper article, though I guess they did put it in parentheses! Secondly, 'cellphone rage' is a problem not restricted to cinemas - it occurs on public transport, during university lectures, in waiting rooms, etc... Far from the majority of the population are well-versed in cellphone etiquette. Finally, the last example of people texting each other on opposites side of the cinema, while idiotic, is fully believable.

The reaction from mobile carriers is not surprising:

Vodafone public policy manager Roger Ellis said the company certainly didn't condone rude or offensive behaviour, but there were other ways of dealing with the problem -- by using the on-off switch, putting the phone onto silent mode, and turning on voice mail.

"We want people to respect the right to go to a movie, but that's not a reason to attack technology rather than the behaviour of the person."
...
"If a customer has bought a phone and can't use it in a part of the country because someone's installed a jammer, who is liable for that situation, particularly if someone's life is lost?"

From the cinema and the cinema's patrons' point of view, of course they have tried all those 'other ways of dealing with the problem' - there is an ad at the beginning of every movie reminding you to turn your phone off. However, it's clear that people who are obnoxious enough to have voice conversations or text message intrusively during a movie aren't going to pay attention to that!

It's like how stealing things from a store is illegal - there are signs all over the shop telling you that shoplifters will be prosecuted, yet there will still be individuals who disregard them and steal anyway. I bet that if there was some sort of shoplifting-jammer device, every retailer in the country (and the world) would install it in a heartbeat. Obviously, merely telling people not to do something won't work, so if there's a way to force them not to do it, it's the most surefire way of actually preventing that behaviour from occuring. Of course, anything like this would be highly illegal because of the mind controlling/behavioural modification factor, but it's a good analogy for what's happening with the cellphone jammers.

Re: these jammers being installed in cinemas, I'd say that it's a bad idea, because of uncertainties as to whether it would also disrupt signals outside of the cinema, and the possibility of emergency situations occuring. If someone sitting next to you in the cinema has a heart attack and collapses, instead of being able to call 111 immediately, you'd have to run to an area where you can receive a signal. I guess you could install a landline in every cinema for this purpose, but still, precious seconds could be lost and mean the difference between life and death.

Mainly, I think the best thing would be for all the parties involved (the cinema and the mobile carriers) to join forces, and try to better educate the NZ public on cellphone etiquette, kind of like the drink-driving and speeding ads. Maybe the cinema could give staff the right to remove any patrons found holding voice conversations or text messaging on ther mobile during a movie? The key is more communication, instead of trying to throw money at it (by installing expensive jamming devices) - funny how often that turns out to be the best way to solve a problem!

In the end, people talking in theatres isn't exactly a new phenomenon - it's just that you can now talk to people outside of them, too! Getting disrupted by mobile phones while watching movies in cinemas is just one of the sacrifices we have to make in our always-on, ubiquitously connected society.

Social GPS on ski fields

2005-05-02T11:36:00.000-12:00

I spotted this at near near future and thought: it just goes to show the high demand for & usefulness of buddy-tracking LBS - because they're not actually commercially available, people are going out and making their own!

"Social GPS

When Rebecca Anema goes snowboarding with her friends she sometimes loses sight of them. So she decided to make a social GPS to see where she is and where friends are in relation to the mountains.

The system combines a GPS map (altitude, longitude) with an x,y map (trail map, street address) and a social map (where friends are).

The J2ME application runs on GPS enabled phones. It communicates with the GPS to find out your location and sends the data to the database. It also checks who your buddies are and displays their location on your phone screen.

The system is useful anywhere people travel in a group.
The work will be presented at the ITP Spring show on May 10-11, in New York."

For some reason this reminds me of MountMaps, another really cool ski map-related product. =)

Vodafone Future

2005-05-01T17:28:00.000-12:00

I was initially sent this link by a friend last year, but since I haven't posted it here yet and I think it's still quite relevant, here it is:

Vodafone Future

The future certainly looks very exciting, especially in terms of LBS! I can't wait for Vodafone to start implementing some real LBS here in New Zealand...

Thoughts on 'The Location-Based Services Renaissance'

2005-04-30T11:47:00.000-12:00

Having now thoroughly read 'The Location-Based Services Renaissance' white paper I mentioned in the last post, I felt impelled to respond to some of the points raised...

"One operator recently said, “No one appears to want to pay for [LBS] services, and for current services, demand is greatest among young people, who can least afford to pay for them.” " (p5)

Actually, many young people have little regard for how much money they spend on their mobile. This is especially true in New Zealand, as illustrated by this NZ Herald story about a 17 year old who sends about 8,000 text messages (i.e. $280 on Telecom) every month. Also, in mid to high socioeconomic classes, teenagers can have a lot of spending power, both in terms of the money given to them and the influence they have over their parents' purchase decisions. Finally, when they grow older and initially enter the workforce, they will be both tech-savvy and have a relatively high disposable income, since they may not need to support a family yet (some of them probably still live with their parents to save money).

"If the user’s experience is poor, they will abandon the service when the promotion is over." (p7)

This is consistent with services marketing theory, whereby the actual service experience has the greatest impact on customer value, satisfaction, etc. It's common sense!

"In Japan, carriers distribute Cell ID location data freely, encouraging application developers to post applications on their portals, which drives user traffic." (p8)

It's kinda like open-source software development - the more users you can get to actually collaborate and co-create the product/service with you, the more innovations you're going to get! Firefox is a great example, with a neverending myriad of plugins you can download to personalise and enhance the web browsing experience. (Yes, I'm a Firefox evangelist too...)

In the end, it's really the conclusions of the paper that I wanted to address:

"In the future, parents will be able to locate their children with the touch of a button." (p10)

I'm paraphrasing Russell Buckley here - basically, the above sentence should say 'parents will be able to locate their children's phone with the touch of a button'. Here's more reasons why child tracking is misguided. While it's very tempting (easy, even) to sell child tracking LBS to paranoid parents, unless the GPS/RFID chip is directly embedded in someone's body (in a difficult-to-remove place), people-tracking really equates to device-tracking, and it doesn't take a genius to work out how to get around that!

"Parole violators will be readily caught." (p10)

Don't they already have ankle-bracelets for that? And see my point above about the embedded-in-a-hard-to-remove-place thing.

"Mobile users will sign up to receive coupons for lattes on their handsets as they pass Starbucks." (p10)

Russell's ZagMe White Paper put it best when he did some simple calculations to conclude that a sale with at least a 5 pound profit margin would be needed just to break-even on this sort of mobile marketing (hope you don't mind me quoting just one paragraph!):

"This simple analysis explodes the popular Starbucks myth - for low cost items, mobile marketing used in this way is simply unaffordable. It can only be justified for higher priced and higher margin products." (p27)

Perhaps a better example would be to use a CD store selling CDs or even concert tickets (actually, I think they do that already, though not in a location-based way).

Overall though, still a very good paper - I'm always happy to find white papers because they're generally quite practical, not to mention easy to read (compared to some academic journals)...

Some really good LBS white papers

2005-04-30T10:43:00.000-12:00

I should have noticed this earlier, but better late than never, I guess! TruePosition has a great Location Resource Center, which contains some recently-written white papers on why LBS uptake has been disappointing, from both operators' & consumers' points of view. You have to provide some information (name, email, etc) before you can download them, but it's quite worthwhile. =) The following were especially useful:

Wireless Location on Target?: a research study by BWCS Research, London (May 2004)

"The most common barrier to the growth of location services cited by the operators was the lack of a proven business case for them. This was followed by inadequate performance of the currently-installed technology (for the most part Cell-ID and Enhanced Cell-ID), and lack of attractive applications. However, consumers said the main reason they did not use location services more was that they were unaware that they existed. Only 3% of our respondents claimed to have used a location based service, and around half of this very small number were dissatisfied with the services they used."

It just goes to show that even if you think something's gone wrong for one reason or another, your customers will still have a completely different point of view! The low consumer awareness of LBS (thus leading to its subsequent flop) illustrates the need for one thing: better marketing!

The Location-Based Services Renaissance: A New Formula for Success (February 2005)

"In 2000, analysts predicted that location based services (LBS) would generate $81 billion USD in revenues by the end of 2004. But as operators know too well, reality has fallen far short of these original predictions. How can operators turn hype into bottomline impact? To succeed in LBS, operators need to close the gap between current applications and customer needs."

In the 'Formula for LBS success' diagram, at first glance I thought one of the circles said 'interactive marketing', but then I realised it was actually 'instructive marketing'. I guess I'm just a big interactive marketing buff. =) In addition to what's already there, I thought perhaps they should also have included 'Permission marketing' as one of the key factors for success? Overall, it's more descriptive than prescriptive, but I guess they're trying to sell you their services after all, not give it away for free!

smart2go

2005-04-28T13:52:00.000-12:00

From gate5 - can this be classed as a location-based tourism application like Timespots?

smart2go™ turns your mobile phone (Symbian Series 60, Series 80 and Microsoft Windows Mobile Smartphone), PocketPC or Palm into a full scale navigation system. Navigate easily with clear voice commands in 5 languages. Enjoy the added value of premium guides providing restaurants, cafés, W-LAN hotspots or hotels, all detailed in your map data.

Not sure if this has a P2P/collaborative component though... For some reason, hearing about the more social-network-esque services seem more exciting, in an 'empowered consumer' & 'co-creation of value' kind of way. =)

World66 vs. Lonely Planet

2005-04-28T12:32:00.000-12:00

Well, this just goes to show that I really should really explore a site properly before I post about it!

World66 on your phone
"And for those of you who have a phone with GPRS and know how to roam, please use or XHTML-guide. You can access it at world66.com/alt/xhtml. It automatically starts with the homepage of the country you're in. So if you access it from Marrakesh, it starts with the Morocco page.
It's still in Beta, so please let us know if you have any problems. We also like to hear positive feedback, by the way!
If you have a phone that allows you to read PDF files, you can of course also download the PDf guides. It's up to you."

I guess the value that LBS can add is much more specific information, down to the street-level perhaps? Now that I'm having a wee exploration of mobile travel guides, I notice that Lonely Planet actually does offer mobile services. On one hand, Lonely Planet has huge brand awareness & value (ranked 5th in the Asia Pacific region). On the other hand, World66 is free, contains collaborative user-created content, and has the potential to spread like a virus through the blogosphere. Which one would you go for? Please email me your comments! =)

World66

2005-04-25T12:00:00.000-12:00

Just stumbled across World66, "the travel guide you write". Basically it's like Wikipedia, but for travel destinations - I haven't done a thorough exploration yet, but what I've seen so far looks very promising. There's even a Mapsonomy section which is reminiscent of Mappr, but it links to the actual article about the location, not just photos from it. A powerful & logical next step would be to link World66 with Mappr. The thing I really like about World66 is its global nature, whereas Mappr is still only US-focused at the moment.

Where I'm getting at, of course, is location-based tourism! It doesn't even need to be 'location-based', per se. Basically, if you have a mobile device that can link up with a WAP version of World66 (kinda like the Flickr mobile site), then you can access all that wiki-travel advice. If you factor in the device's context-awareness, then I guess it could just automatically retrieve the most relevant entries & display them when the page loads? A bit like how Google.com automatically redirects to your country of origin.

Going one step further, you could easily link these caches of user-created travel/tourism data from World66 into some sort of digital graffiti system, like YellowArrow or Grafedia. Or adapt the info to be able to be sent over SMS. The opportunities are endless.

It makes sense that location-based services will have much greater value and be able to encourage quicker/more widespread adoption if it has a P2P/C2C collaborative content-building element. It helps that much of the collaborative 'infrastructure', if you like, already exists in the form of sites like World66 & Flickr. Why start from scratch when you can build alliances and tap into already-established communities of users and content relevant for your service?

HotLink: m-payments with Vodafone

2005-04-16T11:17:00.000-12:00

This is a bit old actually, but here it is anyway:
Vodafone New Zealand introduces new top up system for mobile credit

"Vodafone is launching an exclusive new service called HotLink, that allows New Zealand users to top up their Prepay or On Account balance directly from a nominated bank account using their mobile phones.
...
Vodafone says that 80% of its customers rely on Prepay mobiles. It is estimated that it takes each customer an average of 10 minutes once a month to buy a Prepay recharge card. TheHotLink service will give customers the option to choose to top up their credit anywhere and at any time directly from their mobile, even overseas in Australia, UK and Spain.

Vodafone Head of mCommerce, Hamish Sansom says these statistics confirm the need for an innovative solution which will help save time and provide greater convenience for mobile users everywhere."

As soon as The National Bank signs up, I'll give it a go... Meanwhile, I'm off for the week! Going to do the Central Otago Rail Trail, won't be back in Auckland till the 24th of April, so in the meantime, explore the extensive lists of blogs to your right! I especially recommend The Mobile Technology Weblog, Pasta & Vinegar, The Pondering Primate & Near Near Future. =)

[P.S. Another article about the same story at the National Business Review - Vodafone: Top up with a click]

NZ Wireless Data Forum

2005-04-12T15:10:00.000-12:00

Remember how I said I wished there was something like Mobile Monday in New Zealand? Well, turns out there is an equivalent, run by the New Zealand Wireless Data Forum. Of particular note is Convergence 2005, "Australasia's largest wireless and mobility conference and exhibition". I would love to go, but this one is in Wellington, and I would've just come back from my week-long break in the South Island, so... hopefully the next Convergence will be in Auckland! But I'm definitely going to Minna's LBS presentation in July. =)

ThereArePlaces & Re:call

2005-04-12T14:32:00.000-12:00

There have been a lot of exciting developments in location-based tourism lately! For example:

New Online London City Guide

"TeleMapics LLC, a privately held business focused on travel, tourism and location based services, announced today the launch of its London City Guide, one of a new series of online city guides featured on its travel web site http://www.ThereArePlaces.com. The new City Guide is available in the Destination Guide section of ThereArePlaces under the United Kingdom listing. The Guide reviews the top thirty tourist destinations in London, which are highlighted on well-designed, detailed, street level maps. In addition, the symbols identifying the locations of attractions on the maps are “clickable” and linked to descriptions of the attractions in the detail section of the guide."

Also: New mobile application to amplify experience for Granville Island visitors

"Visitors to Vancouver’s popular Granville Island can now virtually explore everything available on the Island, all by using their handheld PDA. As part of a trial this spring, Granville Island will offer a richer, amplified experience to visitors, thanks to a new wireless application developed in Vancouver by Mobile MUSE."

Will we see services like this launched in Auckland and other parts of New Zealand soon? Definitely (and I know this for a fact). But will they be successful? In terms of the innovators & early adopters (i.e. niche market), probably - given it's all done properly in terms of technical reliability and marketing.

What about the early/late majority (i.e. mass market)? Time will tell... Sticking to the aforementioned rules of mobile marketing and providing real value to users would certainly help!

BBDO & Mobile Marketing

2005-04-11T18:01:00.000-12:00

Been trying to catch up on my Bloglines feeds, and noticed quite a bit of press around the blogosphere about BBDO's findings re: mobile marketing - see Russell Buckley and Vangorilla's posts.

Basically it all revolves around three things that I've known for a while, and are a bit Blindingly Obvious, but good to reiterate all the same:
1) mobile phones are becoming increasingly pervasive & essential to people's everyday lives
2) mobile marketing must be permission-based
& 3) the mobile channel enables firms & consumers to interactively engage in a two-way dialogue, encouraging things such as brand loyalty

Where does location-based tourism fit in? Well, LBT is just another form of mobile marketing, only it's traveller-specific, but all the mobile marketing rules still apply. If anything, users will be even more receptive to mobile marketing messages because it's an essential part of their tourism experience!

If I have time later, will try to blog about the latest LBS-related lit I've found - it seems to be a pretty hot topic for academics this year! =)

Technorati tags: location based, mobile, mobile marketing, permission marketing

Even more location-related blogs/sites

2005-04-06T12:54:00.000-12:00

Location! Location! Location!

"a location-aware technology blog by Harry Chen"

However the front page is blank for some reason, and the last time it was updated was in February this year. Still - looking forward to going through the posts... I haven't even really had a chance to do that for it is all about yet!

Another interesting find - The MUSE Intranet (not the British band, who I'm actually a big fan of). Especially pertinent is the Locative Links section, which includes a link to the Siemens Digital Graffito project. Worth a look!

Technorati tags: location based

Loughborough LBS Research + MoMos

2005-04-05T19:37:00.000-12:00

LBS Research at Loughborough University, UK:

"The Valued LBS project is a joint academic/commercial research venture, running from June 2003 to December 2005. The partners are ESRI (UK), Ordnance Survey (UK), Yeoman Navigation (UK) and VTT Industrial Systems (Finland).

Between them, the partners have expertise in:

The human factors of mobile telephony and the adoption of new technology

Geographical information systems

Design of travel and traffic services

The design of mobile devices

Valued LBS is an applied research project – the main focus is on providing answers to research questions that are relevant within a commercial market.

The specific aims of the project are to conduct original work to:

Identify the customer requirements for a set of target LBS users and scenarios.

Assess the gap between the needs of consumers and current ways of satisfying those needs.

Develop and test new concepts/prototypes for services and interaction methods that will support enhanced LBS.

Develop new, multidisciplinary approaches to using concepts of ‘value’ to inform the design of new or enhanced services."

Very interesting - especially their 'Our Research' section, which will be somewhat mirrored by my thesis. While you're there, don't forget to fill out their fun LBS questionnaire: "to understand the relevance of LBS to young professionals". =)

Thanks to Minna Pura of CODE for sending me the link - she also pointed me to Nordic Wireless Watch, another useful site for mobile news - too bad there's no RSS feed! (Yes, I've been reading too much Scobleizer...) I didn't know this, but it seems that the Finns have their own Mobile Monday - I'd only come across Russell Beattie's Mobile Monday before. It would be neat if there was an Auckland-based MoMo...

Technorati tags: location based, mobile monday

IFITT.org

2005-04-05T16:58:00.000-12:00

International Federation for IT and Travel & Tourism

"The International Federation for IT and Travel & Tourism (IFITT) aims at the promotion of the international discussion about information technologies in the field of tourism.

Information and communication systems forming a global network are having a profound influence on the tourism and leisure industry. Reservation systems, distributed multi-media systems, mobile working places and electronics markets are notable results of this development.

Advances in the use and development of tools, technologies and methodologies that have facilitated the efficient networking of information systems in the tourism industry and their economic and organisational impacts are to be discussed within the federation. Members of IFITT are either persons working in this area or organisations, companies and research institutes (institutional members)."

They also publish Information Technology and Tourism, a journal I'm trying to get a hold of at the moment because of this article, but it's proving difficult because my university doesn't have a subcription to it at all... In any case, I'm going to try to contact the local IFITT person for my thesis research. =)

Technorati tags: tourism

Location-based tourism literature

2005-04-05T14:47:00.000-12:00

As promised, here are the LBT papers I've come across, mostly found via the ever-helpful Google Scholar.

CRUMPET is an EU funded project which specifically applies LBS to a tourism perspective
[EDIT: Here is the official website of the CRUMPET project]

"Mobile users such as tourists require mobile services. Handheld devices promise access to a range of travel-related services while on tour. A number of usability issues, however, still ask for intelligent new solutions. Issues are, for example, the limited capacity of handheld devices, user interaction via small screens, mediation of heterogeneous services, as well as other issues of wireless access to internet-based services. Key features of the CRUMPET system are personalisation, location awareness, interaction facilitation and service mediation. Its realisation as a multi-agent architecture opens up additional prospects."

And here are the articles relating to this research...

CRUMPET: Creation of user-friendly mobile services personalised for tourism by Poslad, Laamanen, Malaka, Nick, Buckle & Zipf (2001)
Personalized and location-based mobile tourism services by Schmidt-Belz, Nick, Poslad & Zipf (2002)
User-adaptive maps for LBS for tourism by Zipf (2002)
Developing Location Based Services for tourism - the service providers view by Zipf & Malaka (2002)
Location-based mobile tourist services - first user experiences by Schmidt-Belz, Laamanen, Poslad & Zipf (2003)

ArcIMS

"The application allows users to quickly enter location information based on street maps displayed in ArcIMS. The location point information entered is then linked to uploaded text, images, hyperlinks, and video. The application is designed to help communities build their own location-based data that can be fed to multiple location-aware devices as part of a mobile, electronic tourism effort. The overall program is designed to create layers of location-specific historical, cultural, scientific, and environmental information."

GIS and Enlightened Location-Based Tourism: An Innovation Whose Time Has Come by O'Looney (2004)

The Lancaster Guide Project

"Our system provides an electronic handheld guide that visitors to Lancaster can use to access information about the city, create tailored tours of the city, and access interactive services."

Using and determining location in a context-sensitive tour guide by Davies, Cheverst, Mitchell & Efrat (2001)

Tourist Guide (Australia)

"Our focus for this project is on software support for location based applications; we are not just interested in the location but also other elements of the users context, such as buildings in view, attractions and equipment near by, such as public telephones and toilets.
...
We have been investigating location based tourist applications targeted at off-the-shelf hand held devices, such as the Compaq Aero."

Developing a location based tourist guide application by Simcock, Hillenbran & Thomas (2003)

Other papers included:

Location based destination information for the mobile tourist by Eriksson (2002)
Designing and implementing an open infrastructure for location-based, tourism-related content delivery by Kakaletris, Varoutas, Katsianis, Sphicopoulos & Kouvas (2004)

Enjoy!

Technorati tags: location based, tourism, crumpet

That's why it's called permission-based marketing...

2005-04-04T22:42:00.000-12:00

Via textually: College students space out cellphone ads

[EDIT: Unfortunately, the article is now only available to registered readers, so I decided to reproduce the whole thing here]

College students space out cellphone ads
Published April 3, 2005

MUNCIE, Ind. -- College students are being bombarded with cellphone advertisements through instant and text messaging, but few remember much about the product or company, says a new study from Ball State University's Center for Media Design.

The study of 1,171 students at Ball State in February found one in four students reported receiving advertisements on their cellphones. Only 5 percent of those getting ads were able to recall the business and only 1 percent of all students responded to any ad offers. Nearly 90 percent of the ads remembered were from pornographic Web sites.

"The use of cellphones and instant and text messaging has become ubiquitous on college campuses, overtaking e-mail as the main form of communication," said Michael Hanley, the study's author and an advertising professor.

"This surge in wireless communications is opening a Pandora's Box for advertisers to target the elusive college student. Many advertisers see the cellphone as the best way to reach a segment of the market that traditionally has been hard to reach."

In addition to being unable to recall a particular product, 92 percent of students found unsolicited ad messages annoying and 67 percent were less likely to purchase a product from a business sending instant message cellphone ads.

"It's no wonder students don't like to receive unsolicited ad messages because they often have to pay for the text message or call received," Hanley said. "Even though it's illegal to send unsolicited ads to cellphones, the number of ads continues to grow.

"If an advertiser is sending a message but the receiver isn't paying attention--or worse, is annoyed to get the ad--it's a wasted effort," he said.

Advertising to cellphones is a recent phenomenon, having grown from modest activity in 2000 to today, when 43 percent of text messages sent are "spim," a term used to describe spam on cellphones and messaging services, Hanley said.

The online study of college students also found:
- 97 percent had a cellphone.
- 68 percent sent text messages with their cellphones.
- 14 percent sent instant messages with their cellphones.
- 50 percent listed instant messaging as their top choice in communicating.
- 44 percent said they couldn't live at college without instant messaging.

Kind of Blindingly Obvious, but it's always nice to see studies confirming what we already know - that mobile marketing must be permission-based. Of course, spammers don't really care about legalities or ethical behaviour - but there are authorities who deal with those sorts of people. Our job as responsible marketers (not an oxymoron!) is to offer easily-customisable opt-in mobile marketing that creates a conversation between the firm and the customer. It probably all sounds very familiar because it's frequently repeated throughout the blogosphere and beyond, but that's because it's a good mantra to have.

On the other hand, people respond quite positively to mobile marketing when they're in control - they may even thank you for advertising to them (as seen in Russell Buckley's ZagMe white paper)! All this is really nothing new, yet I still hear stories about people being spammed on their mobiles. So I'll keep repeating the importance of obtaining permission in the hope that more will jump on the permission-bandwagon.

The best kind of marketing strategy is grounded in common sense. In this case, spam = bad for both you and your customers, especially mobile spam. Let's not forget that!

Technorati tags: permission marketing, mobile, SMS

ColonDot & RedBlog

2005-04-04T21:22:00.000-12:00

Fantastic! Another LBS blog joins the blogosphere:

ColonDot

An attempt to track the interesting web pages i come across relating to media delivery to mobile devices and location-based services.

Speaking of new mobile-oriented blogs, make sure you check out RedBlog, by Jon Beverley of RunTheRed. =)

Finally, I should really remember to keep up with what's going on at iStart, 'New Zealand's e-business & e-commerce solutions, research, case studies.' Unfortunately, they have no RSS feed, so that makes things slightly more difficult! I still subscribe to their email newsletter though. One of their newest stories is about PTT (push-to-talk), and while they did explain the current situation in NZ with regard to PTT quite nicely, I found their intro paragraph,

'Believe the hype! Set to rival texting as mobility’s next ‘killer application’, Push To Talk has finally arrived'

...a bit difficult to swallow. They even say it themselves in the last paragraph:

"Who is most likely to embrace PTT technology?
As PTT requires a defined user group to commit to a unified purchase simultaneously (a construction company, a taxi fleet etc) it’s likely that both Telecom and Vodafone will be going after the business market first. While there is nothing stopping anybody from buying a PTT phone, it requires an active user group to be of much use in PTT terms, so widespread consumer uptake will be slower."

I think PTT is kind of like MMS, but even less consumer-oriented. Hope Vodafone & Telecom aren't banking on it too much, or maybe they know exactly what they're doing? I don't know anyone who's ever used PTT here in NZ - I'm slightly biased, but why not invest in more LBS instead?

Technorati tags: location based, mobile, PTT

It is all about

2005-03-31T21:45:00.000-12:00

I'm so excited! Just discovered a blog which is the most directly relevant to my thesis that I've come across so far:

It is all about

"Trying to keep tabs on our new geo annoted world being created where the world will be the way to search all information and knowledge. From geo notations, georeferenced photos, geoparsed documents, location based services, geospatial search and virtual tourism to how to find out if a friend is nearby."

Too bad it hasn't been updated since December 2004, though. Have added the feed to my Bloglines, of course - I hope the author's going to start writing again sometime this year, if not, I guess I will just have to pick up where they left off... This is exactly why I love the blogosphere - just when you think you've got everything covered, you'll find something fresh and insightful. =) Note to self: try to find more geography/GIS-oriented blogs.

On a side note, I just came across this rather old article on Siemens & SMS graffiti - just thought I'd note it down in case I forget about it later.

Technorati tags: location based, tourism, graffiti

Melodious Walkabout

2005-03-30T12:44:00.000-12:00

Via near near future: Melodious Walkabout
A Diploma Thesis on 'Implicit Navigation with Contextualized Audio Contents'

"Melodious Walkabout is a PDA-based auditory navigation system. It provides a mobile user with awareness where the destination is located by contextualizing audio contents the user is listening to. The mobile user wears headphones and hears audio contents that reach him from a certain direction. The direction of the virtual sound source unobtrusively tells him in which direction to go."

Very interesting, and the first example of an audio-based LBS I have come across. However, I think that for practical reasons, it'll probably be better if used in conjunction with map-based GUIs. While some people may prefer auditory stimuli, others may prefer to visualise things graphically - it really depends on the individual. I'd be interested to read the actual paper, if it's been published... Though I'm already swamped with papers for my lit review as it is! I will post the links to all the location-based tourism papers I've found via Google Scholar and various databases later.

By the way, unfortunately I've had to disable the comments for this blog - however, if you'd still like to comment on or discuss any topics I cover here, please email me at clararar at gmail.com or clara.leung at auckland.ac.nz. Thanks! =)

Technorati tags: location based, auditory, melodious walkabout

The latest on LBS via Technorati

2005-03-28T12:03:00.000-12:00

Sorry for the lack of posts lately! I've got to re-defend my thesis soon and it's getting a bit hectic... but just thought I'd better note down the following articles:

To BREW or not to BREW (in NZ) from An Enterprise Architect in NZ

"BREW (Binary Runtime Environment for Wireless), allows mobile developers to put code directly into a user's handset and execute it without worrying about network-level events, such as breaks for SMS messages. The resulting consumer goodies (such as location-based services, games, and specialized ring tones) are delivered directly to the user's handset by the cell network, usually by subscription, with profits shared by the developer, the carrier, and Qualcomm itself."

[UPDATE: To BREW or not to BREW - Part Two. I tried to use the TrackBack URLs at first but for some reason they never work for me...]

Via pasta & vinegar: Lampposts to provide location-based services?
I like Nicolas Nova's take on the article

"Apart from that other interesting and RELEVANT uses?"

Your cellphone is a homing device
Especially start reading from:

"THE WIRELESS INDUSTRY HAS A NAME FOR SUCH CUSTOM-TAILORED HAWKING: "location-based services," or LBS. The idea is that GPS chips can be used to locate friends, find the nearest pizzeria, or ensure that Junior is really at the library rather than a keg party. One estimate expects LBS to be a $15 billion market by 2007, a much-needed boost for the flagging telecom sector."

A list of some interesting LBS startups

- Telcontar: software and platform for location based services
- uLocate Communication: location-based services (LBS) focused on the consumer and small-business markets
- Wavemarket: location based blogging and alerts
- InfoMove: safely deliver personalized information to consumers while in the vehicle

Technorati tags: location based, BREW, mobile

Permission-based Marketing

2005-03-20T20:47:00.000-12:00

A nice, concise Harvard Business School case study on permission-based mobile marketing:
Cell Phone Ads That Consumers Love

Some local examples of permission-based (I hope!) mobile marketing:
The Hyperfactory
FirstRate
a&e communications
Touchpoint

There was another one that I remember seeing at the Direct Marketing Expo last year but I can't remember what they were called...

[EDIT: Here's another one - Run The Red. I only found out about this because Jon Beverley, the CEO, sent me an email =) Thanks! Still not the one I forgot the name of, though...]

[ANOTHER EDIT: I think this is the other one I was looking for - Touchpoint. While mobile marketing is a component of their services, they don't appear to specialise in it. Still, there's some good case studies on their website...]

The paradoxes of mobile commerce

2005-03-15T21:27:00.000-12:00

Re-reading my two previous posts, I realised that they may be a bit confusing because I've been mixing methods without explanation - first I said that tourists could book and pay for their hotels at the same time; then I said that the anonymous nature of Octopus cards as a form of contactless payment may appeal to many.

Basically I'm talking about two entirely different uses of mobile payment. Also, hotels are not a good example because you usually don't pay until afterwards, seeing as they need to check whether you raided the mini-bar or not. So here's a different example - say you want to buy tickets for the Skytower (a popular Auckland tourist attraction).

1) You can remotely pre-purchase a ticket via your Timespot-like device from anywhere in Auckland (or even New Zealand), whereby the ticket price will be added from your credit card account. When you arrive at the Skytower, just show them the electronic ticket or receipt on your device, and you're good to go.

or 2) With an Octopus card chip embedded in the device, instead of paying cash or credit card when you get to the counter, just flash the Timespot in the appropriate place and you're issued a ticket.

While both do away with cash, the first is really more applicable to adding value to a Timespot device and tourism in general. The second option is just another form of payment aimed at enhancing speed and convenience, hence why it was first implemented in public transport in Hong Kong. You could conceivably have both in the same device, but that may confuse the issue here. In fact, I'm getting a little confused myself...

Basically, while I think it would be fantastic to embed Octopus card chips in mobiles to enable that type of contactless payment (which is much more user-friendly than the SMS type), it's a whole different kettle of fish, and will probably be a lot more difficult to implement because of the hardware and retailer-adoption requirements. Even in Hong Kong, Octopus cards are still mainly used for public transport and other small purchases such as from vending machines - people still use cash or debit/credit cards to buy clothes, and this is unlikely to change in the meantime.

While it does mean additional fees for going through the mobile carrier, as well as reduced user-friendliness, Timespot-wannabes will be better off concentrating on the (1) form of payment for practical implementation reasons. Also, the fact that the carrier profits is not necessarily a bad thing - at least then they will have the motivation to cooperate in these types of ventures!

In the end, it's impossible to have anonymity and mobile marketing simultaneously, because as a marketer, first you have to obtain their permission (therefore they lose anonymity) . If you haven't got permission, then you're (surprise, surprise) spamming! Fortunately, most people will happily give you permission if they think you have something relevant and valuable to offer them - for tourists, I'd imagine that a user-friendly, reasonably-priced Timespot device will be very difficult to resist indeed...

Technorati tags: contactless payment, new zealand, mobile, permission marketing

More about contactless payment

2005-03-15T19:50:00.000-12:00

I just scrolled down here a little bit and saw another post about contactless payments, fun! I have something to add to that, too.

The Octopus Card has been in use in Hong Kong for some time now, and it's something no traveller to the city should be without. Here is a useful blurb - I've picked out the more important bits below:

Octopus cards were developed as an automatic fare collection (AFC) scheme for Hong Kong’s transit system. This contactless smart card ticketing system currently includes over 100 service providers, including all of the major transport operators. The use of the card has shortened queues at ticket barriers, because the card doesn't have to be taken out of a bag or wallet — customers can just wave it past a scanner at a distance of several centimeters.
...
Nokia has launched a cover for one of their mobile phones that includes an embedded Octopus chip and antenna, enabling commuters to use their phone to make Octopus payments.

While Octopus cards are anonymous by default, over 500,000 personalized cards have been issued and are used for the Octopus Automatic Add-Value Service. Twelve Hong Kong banks and one credit card company support the automatic add-value service. Because each personalized card has a unique identification number, up to 40,000 cards are also being used as security passes at housing estates, for staff identification cards, and as loyalty cards.
...
Travelers have found that the card provides increased convenience, allowing them to pass through fare collection points 15 to 20% faster, according to Octopus card statistics. The scheme has succeeded because it offers real convenience to cardholders.

Dear Nokia (and Motorola, etc): why not go one step further and actually embed the Octopus chip & antenna into the phone itself, not just the cover? I think that the way of the future in terms of mobile-payments is not via SMS but Octopus card-like contactless technologies. Carriers will hate the idea because they don't profit from it (since it bypasses their network, rather like Bluetooth), meaning that consumers will love it for the very same reason.

For example, take the new 'txt to park' Auckland parking meters. Not only do you have to pay 50c when you SMS Vodafone or insert your credit card to pay for parking, a One News story illustrated just how bewildering the machines were to most of the public, with most just staring blankly at the machine for an extended period of time.

Now imagine you're in Hong Kong - just wave your Octopus card over the parking meter, and your ticket pops out. No extra fees because it doesn't go through your mobile carrier or your credit card company. Which solution sounds better?

I think the annonymous, pre-paid nature of Octopus cards will also appeal to many - it's inherently more user-friendly because you're not required to have a credit card or even a bank account, making it a lot more accessible to the wider population. It'll also pacify consumers who are paranoid about being tracked by 'the corporations'.

As with all of these things, the hard part is getting everyone to install the Octopus card readers in the first place - for the skeptics, at least there's the shining example of Hong Kong to look towards...

Technorati tags: contactless payment, octopus, new zealand, mobile

Contactless Payments & Visa

2005-03-15T19:12:00.000-12:00

Read this post about contactless payment technology and how it relates to credit card companies (Visa in particular) and thought I should make a note, since Visa is contributing to my scholarship and I may get a chance to directly ask them about this, which will be very interesting. This technology is highly relevant to travellers for obvious reasons - it saves them from having to wear a moneybelt bulging with local cash while trying to figure out which note is which. Judging by the widespread adoption of EFTPOS in NZ, I'd say that a move to contactless payments here may not be so far-fetched...

In terms of a Timespot-like device, imagine if you could book, pay for and get personally location-specific directions to your hotel, all in one go! After having read other travellers' reviews of the place, of course. Then again, after putting all your eggs in one basket like that (so to speak), you really wouldn't want to lose it or have it stolen. The upside is that all the devices should be easily trackable by a central operating server or the mobile service provider, so as soon as one has been reported as stolen, the police can be directed to where the thief is, provided the device is still turned-on and in one piece.

Sounds great, doesn't it? Now we just need to make it really user-friendly, get a really fantastic marketing team, and find out who's going to fund it all...

Technorati tags: contactless payment, mobile

In others' words

2005-03-15T09:40:00.000-12:00

Via the excellently insightful Pondering Primate: Local mobile search? Hold the phone
This post pretty much echos my sentiments about the issue, so I won't repeat the same thing here. =)

I also saw a Herald article about how hype kills mobile services, which is oh-so-true! At the moment there is a huge onslaught of marketing communications from both Telecom & Vodafone regarding PTT (push-to-talk); however, I would be interested to see the real uptake numbers. Due to the issue of cost, probably only businesses can afford to adopt it, and even then they may benefit more from Vodafone's TalkZoneZero or Telecom's business capped rates plans... Let's come back to this in six month's time and see if PTT is another dead duck in NZ's mobile waters...

Technorati tags: location based, new zealand, mobile, PTT

Adding value to Timespots

2005-03-13T14:34:00.000-12:00

I was going to blog this last week, but my home connection was having some problems and I gave up - here it is now anyway!

I noticed that Engadget finally picked up on that Timespot location-based tourism service in Amsterdam. I say 'finally' because Russell over at The Mobile Technology Weblog mentioned it two weeks prior, and in the blogosphere, two weeks seems more like two months. Still! Good to see LBT (location-based tourism) highlighted in such a highly-trafficked blog.

I wonder if the Timespot offering could be directly adapted for any city, e.g. Auckland? One of their development partners is Vodafone, so it is quite conceivable that Vodafone NZ would be interested in this type of thing. In fact, being such a global brand, Vodafone is in a prime position to ensure that it is the mobile service provider of choice when it comes to LBT using the Timespot model. Other developmental partners included the city council, the tourism board, and a publisher of tourism guides.

In terms of NZ, I know for a fact that the Ministry of Tourism is highly interested in LBS/LBT (hence me receiving this scholarship), and the local city councils are usually quite happy to jump at the chance of promoting their areas (as long as it doesn't disturb the residents too much, i.e. in the form of a V8 supercar race) , so... if someone offered them a sensible-sounding business proposition for LBT, they should (in theory) take it. Who wants to offer it to them? We need a company like Nika (the 'initiator of the Timespots initiative'). What with all the ambitious Kiwi entrepreneurs out there, maybe a Nika-like firm already exists, but they just haven't met the right venture capitalists yet? Anyway, just some more thoughts to throw into the m-commerce cauldron...

I also watched the (somewhat cheesey) promotional video and the 'call other Timespotters for free' proposition definitely caught my eye - it's the beginnings of a social network, rather reminiscent of the Geocaching community. At first I thought it would be pointless building up a social network for tourists, seeing as they're only in the city for a short amount of time, and are always moving around. But then I realised that social networking for tourists would be highly beneficial to the tourists involved.

When you're at a tourist attraction like a lookout point, you might need to ask someone else to take a photo for you or just start chatting spontaneously because you have something in common (travelling). Why not incorporate the natural comraderie of travelling into a Timespot service to add some real value? Kind of like the Yellow Arrow project, but with a Tourism slant - travellers can leave caches (like Geocaching!) of reviews, tips and random messages for other travellers. We know from Wikipedia that the user-created content model is an easy and cheap way of amassing data while giving users a sense of power and community. I will probably try and develop this idea a bit further later, but I think it's definitely something that would make the service even 'stickier' for the users involved.

Technorati tags: location based, tourism, new zealand, mobile, folksonomies, timespot

You mean NZ isn't a dead wasteland for LBS apps?

2005-03-07T15:52:00.000-12:00

You know, it's not like New Zealand is a gigantic black hole when it comes to LBS. Successful locative technology firms such as Navman and Electronic Navigation Limited have both originated from this country. Being an island nation, both firms seem to have started out by focusing on marine navigation, but they are branching out into other applications - still mainly b2b (business to business), which is understandable given the cost of these sorts of systems. It's slowly seeping into the consumer electronics realm - Navman personal devices are being sold at Dick Smith Electronics, and more and more people hopping on the telematics bandwagon.

But what about the consumer mobile phone market? How about offering some useful LBS apps to your average mobile phone user without requiring them to fork over a thousand-odd dollars? Well, apparently Vodafone has the answer. Almost everyone on Vodafone NZ (whether prepay or plan) should be able to access some highly rudimentary LBS from their Vodafone menu. But there's a problem, which will soon become apparent via a real, personal demonstration of this service:

1) I take out my Motorola MPx220 (I love this phone) running Windows Mobile 2003, and I press 'Start'.
2) I have to press 'More' three times before I reach the 'Vodafone' menu. I click into it.
3) Here I have five options; I guess that the LBS will be under 'Be Informed', though quite plausibly it could fall under 'Entertain Me'. I stick with 'Be Informed'. Click.
4) Now I have eight options, but the top one is 'Close2U', which seems to be the best bet.
5) Whoa, now I'm presented with ten options, which I'll actually list just to show what kind of services you can look for: ATMs, Fast Food, Petrol Stations, Liquor Outlets, Vending Machines, Car Parks, Taxi Stands, Urgent Pharmacies, Supermarkets, and last but not least, Vdfn (Vodafone) Outlets. It's nearly dinnertime, so I go for 'Fast Food'.
6) Now I get to choose from Burger King, KFC, McDonald's, Pizza Haven, Pizza Hut, Wendy's and Other Fast Foods. I'm curious about 'Other Fast Foods' so I click that.
7a) A long pause. Then I get an SMS from Vodafone: 'Free from Vdfn: Sorry! Close2U is unable to currently find a listing for Other Fast Foods services. Please try again later.' No worries, I wasn't expecting much anyway... let's try another one.
7b) I go back to the Close2U menu and pick 'Petrol Stations'. This time, after a long pause and another 'this info will be sent to you in a text message', I get two SMSes from Vodafone, giving me some information about my nearest petrol stations, including their addresses, phone numbers, opening hours, and even the types of petrol they offer and whether there is a carwash or not.

My verdict? When it finally worked, it had a cool novelty factor, contained potentially quite useful information, and was more or less accurate (I already knew where my closest petrol stations were and they were duly pointed out by the service). However, the types of services accessible were quite limited, and it took a while to really get any results. Furthermore, I'm not really sure whether this service is freely provided by the Vodafone network, or whether they zapped 50c off my prepay credit for each SMS. I'm assuming it's free, otherwise they would've (I hope) put some sort of disclaimer or warning...

An easy way around the breaking of the 3-click rule problem would be to employ some sort of searching interface (à la Google) and link it with Yellowpages.co.nz to make it both quick and comprehensive. As for augmenting this via direction-giving and mapping, it's quite out of the question for many on the network who are still using Nokia 3310s or ye olde 'brick' Alcatels, phones which are simply not capable of displaying such information. You'd think they'd be completely obsolete by now, but I still have many friends who are using monochromatic, GPRS-less and camera-less mobiles.

Despite the hype about the txting culture surrounding today's youth, money is more likely to be spent on the core services themselves (voice calls, SMS) than on flashy phones, which is probably exactly what Vodafone and Telecom want! New Zealand is no Hong Kong or South Korea; many native Kiwis (i.e. New Zealanders) replace their phone out of necessity, e.g. from theft, loss or having them damaged-beyond-repair, than whim. This is especially applicable for younger students who are often strapped-for-cash. Then again, when these same students enter the workforce and the dough starts piling up, they may come into the market for more expensive, information-rich LBS apps requiring more advanced devices such as PDA/smartphones.

In the context of interactive travellers, who we assume to be rich enough and tech-savvy enough to afford the more information-rich services, there still comes the question of - who's going to build these services? Vodafone NZ? Unlikely, given that tourists, by definition, cannot be a long-term source of income for the carrier. Maybe someone can write a tourism-specific app for Navman's PiN (personal interactive navigation) devices, with the cooperation of tourism service providers such as hotels, tourist attractions, retailers, etc. I read somewhere that it's easier to use off-the-shelf technology than try to reinvent the wheel. There are already a ton of personal navigation/GPS devices available locally - what's stopping us from improving the user interfaces enough to make it both easy-to use and useful?

Anyway. At least I can finally give a New Zealand example of LBS, next time someone asks...

Technorati tags: location based, tourism, new zealand, mobile, vodafone

Geocaching

2005-03-07T10:49:00.000-12:00

http://www.geocaching.com

This is a fantastic example of a well-established form of location-based gaming/community/interaction, with caches all over the world and a huge following. It was this NZ Herald article which pointed me to the site, so it looks like it's definitely catching on here, too. Could this turn into a fun way of conducting tourism for interactive travellers? I'm sure that the foreign geocachers who visit NZ would naturally carry their GPS devices with them to look for local geocaches. Also, what type of business model would be needed to turn this into a revenue-generating, economy-boosting type of thing? Of course, the geocachers themselves will generate tourism dollars through core services like accomodation and travel, but what else is there?

I really should have done a conjoint degree with Geography or something! I wonder if I could somehow get some NZ geocachers as interviewees... If you're a geocacher and you're interested, let me know!

Technorati tags: location based, geocaching

Another one-line definition for LBS

2005-03-06T18:19:00.000-12:00

Eduardo from Brazil sent me this email with some great insights, I thought I'd share it in its entirety here - hope you don't mind, Eduardo! =)

"Hi Clara,

My name is Eduardo and I live in São Paulo, Brazil.

I have been working in LBS for the last 4 years and for the most part it seemed like my sister likes to say “a useless passion”

Anyways, I came across your blogging site and, as you, I used to struggle to come up with a short concise definition of LBS.

But here is my preferred one : “Location is an invisible enhancer of existing services” therefore “location based services are the existing services you are familiar with but enhanced”.

Just think about the fact that 80% of the knowledge about things has a spatial component!!

Good luck with your thesis about LBS tourism. I really like the subject and you are right on the money about it since LBS makes primarily sense for roamers, people who are out of their own towns...like tourists!!

The exception would be if you live in a city like the one I live in (São Paulo). It is so big that I definitely could make use of LBS provided they were implemented in a cost effective way and with emphasis on the UI (User Interfase). 3 clicks max to get what you want. And perhaps even LBS push services would be even more compelling.

Cheers
Eduardo"

Technorati tags: location based

Greedy Carriers

2005-03-06T18:01:00.000-12:00

I just joined up with Technorati and here's one of the first LBS-related blog entries I found:
Yes, Your Phone Has GPS - But You Can't Use It
Sad but true - and this isn't the first example of firms closing off innovation in the name of self-interest, either.

Thing is, LBS requires cooperation from so many different parties (yellow/white pages, the retailers themselves, the carriers, the mobile phone manufacturers, marketers, and most importantly the consumer) that it's simply too much of a hassle for someone to go 'right, let's provide this LBS app' and expect it to be a success.

Therefore, who's going to complain to the carriers that they're standing in the way of progress when they're imposing these sorts of restrictions on their phones? The consumers? Nobody even knows what LBS is!

If only the big guns at the carriers had blogs. With comments enabled.

Technorati tags: location based, mobile

Interactive Traveller Research

2005-03-06T13:24:00.000-12:00

Well, I definitely need to file this away for future reference!
Interactive Traveller® Research

Technorati tags: tourism, new zealand