Smart & Wired: Public Display of Affection

Karen J. Bannan

03/01/2005

The u.s. department of defense (DoD) developed technology for a Global Positioning System—or GPS—as a way for the military to track and locate objects or people. Using radio signals, ground stations and 24 satellites, GPS was designed to coordinate an exact location on Earth in an infinite number of scenarios, whether for rescue missions or for tracking troops, in the thickest jungle or the most windswept desert.

In the 1980s, GPS technology opened up to civilian use. Companies such as LoJack Corp. of Los Angeles—which offers a GPS-based stolen car retrieval service—and Detroit’s OnStar Corp.—which uses GPS to locate drivers in crisis—were quick to take advantage of the technology. Still, it is safe to say that few GPS developers could have foreseen how many civilians would eventually use GPS technology on a daily basis.

Today, thanks to improved software, cheaper GPS hardware and the introduction of wireless Internet access, everyone from fishermen to golfers to businesspeople uses GPS in conjunction with handheld devices such as cellular phones and PDAs. And since you can buy GPS add-ons for your existing PDA, there is a GPS option out there for anyone. “GPS can be used at the office and during personal recreational activities,” explains David Linsalata, associate analyst for mobile devices at Framingham, Mass.-based research firm IDC. “The handheld market has been very flat over the past few years, but GPS is causing excitement in this market again. GPS opens up a lot of possibilities.”Handheld GPS technology has four main uses for civilians: street routing, marine navigation, topographical mapping and aviation navigation. GPS receivers determine your position by calculating how long it takes to send and receive radio signals from three or more satellites. Only the software and the graphical user interface for each application are different.

Street routing helps you navigate roads, either on foot or by car. “Street routing software plots your position on a street map and will give you directions to and from a destination,” explains Robin Martel, business development manager for Toronto-based software manufacturer Fugawi. “The software can tell you exactly when to turn right and how far away from your destination you are.” It can also help you find the closest four-star hotel, park or tourist locale. “We’ve done a few road trips,” says Stephen Waybright, manager, Global Product Marketing, iPAQ Accessories for Hewlett-Packard. “We were able to use the Points of Interest feature and find the closest park or restaurant.” Most street-routing software features moving maps—you see your car as a tiny, moving blip on a map that details street names, direction and mileage. Although it is a feature built into many of today’s new cars—for example, the OnStar service is factory-installed on more than 50 General Motors models—you can’t carry it with you when you travel or switch vehicles. The onboard modules don’t synchronize with your calendar and contact lists, either. Handheld PDAs, Internet access and software make it possible to do both, says Jim Balsillie, chairman and co-CEO of Research in Motion, the developer of the BlackBerry wireless platform. “If you have a meeting at my office, I can click on my address, create a map and directions, and e-mail them directly to you,” he says. “Anyone using a PDA is mobile. Anyone who is mobile has location issues. GPS is the natural answer to those issues.” GPS has also made its mark outside of the business world. Marine navigation was first introduced in most larger boats and yachts as built-in consoles that include major navigation markers, coastal topographical maps, tide and current charts—everything that would help a captain pilot the boat. Navigation software on handhelds does all of the same except you can take your PDA or dedicated GPS device (such as Navman’s Tracker products or Garmin International’s GPSMAP or iQue products) with you on a launch or a Jet Ski. And the handheld versions are often designed specifically for hobbyists. For example, you can download charts for specific lakes that include topographical and contour maps of each body of water’s floor as well as its types of fish—and which bait they like.

Hikers and sportsmen are also benefiting from GPS integration with topographical software. This software, such as Maptech Inc.’s Terrain Navigator, gives off-road directions and locations in both 2-D and 3-D renderings. Hunters and hikers can use the programs to track where they are and where they’ve been so they can find their way home. They can also input their own markers and notations—a scenic overlook, for example—that can be saved for future use. But it’s not just hikers who are using topographical programs, say experts. Links-lovers are also getting their own GPS-enabled handhelds. Over the last few years, an increasing number of golf courses have installed GPS on golf carts. The only problem: If your ball goes into the rough, there is no way to use the cart’s GPS to find your way out. Handhelds change that. You can take them off the main green and use them to figure out the distance from tee to green or obstacle to green. (IntelliGolf, one of the most popular programs, has more than 20,000 courses already programmed into it.) The software also keeps score for you and provides statistics—your percentage of birdies, for example.Some of the most interesting GPS uses are not yet on the market but should hit within the next few years, says Waybright, adding that future applications will merge digital photos and GPS. “Right now HP software lets you manually identify locations. The logical progression is having your handheld automatically tag an image with latitude/longitude information,” he says. “That will let you sort photos by place—so you can pull up all your Hawaii photos in a flash. In the future you’ll be able to show me on a map, ‘This photo was taken near so-and-so.’ ” Research in Motion’s Balsillie says GPS will also enable more day-to-day practical applications. “If your PDA knows your mom’s birthday is next week, it can remind you of that fact when you’re close to a store,” he says. Adds IDC’s Linsalata: “We’ve got all these people out there with PDAs. GPS lets them use their devices in another way. It expands what they can do with what they already have.

Garmin International, 913.397.8200, www.garmin.com
Hewlett-Packard Co., 650.857.1501, www.hp.com
IDC, 508.872.8200, www.idc.com
LoJack Corp., 800.456.5225, www.lojack.com
MapTech Inc., 888.839.5551, www.maptech.com
Navman, 866.962.8626, www.navman.com
Northport Systems, 416.920.9300, www.fugawi.com
OnStar Corp., 888.466.7827, www.onstar.com
Research in Motion, 519.888.7465, www.rim.net