7
Jul
2010
How Mobile Sat Nav on Mobile is Changing the GPS Industry
With Nokia Ovi Maps, Google Maps and the Apple iPhone GPS App Skobbler offering free voice guided sat navigation services to users, is there really room on the industry for today’s dedicated GPS devices?
Onboard navigational tools from Tom Tom and Garmin are taking second priority to smart phones that offer users free sat nav services. And with the offers being delivered the various mobile phone makers, dedicated GPS companies are having trouble keeping up with all the location based services and features that the average smart phone can offer.
But this does not completely rule out the need for GPS tools.
While the average person can completely rely on accessing Google’s Maps and street view on their XPERIA X10 Mini to get around town, a professional firefighter cannot afford to avail of such free services. The same is to be said for government and volunteers that rely on digital navigation. Law enforcement, medical teams and even delivery personnel still rely on devices made by TomTom –despite the fact that smart phones offer a similar feature.
The big difference is in the maps. While there is nothing that will tell you that Google’s maps are in any way less accurate than TomTom’s data, Google is not going to be held accountable for their content either. And that is the assurance that TomTom and Garmin gives to their users.
For a regular user, it is acceptable to do away with having a dedicated car GPS device –if you do not have one yet and simply to rely on your smart phone. The only real concern here is to be careful with the monthly data allowance and to always have a car charger around as having the service running will be a drain on the battery.
Also, it would be a wise decision to invest in a reliable car dock for the handset in order to have the device located at an easy to view location for accessing data and for referencing the map.
3
Dec
2009
Google Street View Comes to Singapore
For those following the recent developments on street view, I have good news for you. Google has undauntedly launched Street View Service in Singapore making that a landmark achievement as the very first country to receive this service in Southern Asia. It is no longer news that people have had generally mixed receptions towards the service as it was welcomed in some quarters whilst some people did not support it (I guess for privacy reasons though). It was reported that Street View had already been released to countries like New Zealand, Japan, Australia and Taiwan. Governments of countries like Japan and Germany did not like the idea although it was embraced by the Singapore government, they believed it will improve their world wide image and improve tourism opportunity.
Mr Ken Low, Assistant Chief Executive of Marketing, with Singaporean board said “STB is very excited by Street View’s marketing potential as it will further raise Singapore’s prominence and reach through the Internet. People unfamiliar with Singapore can now get a first look at our city,”
He also continued by adding “The convenience of Google Maps, and the Street View feature, will give people from anywhere in the world a much better idea and picture of what Singapore looks like, and what it has to offer and we welcome private sector initiatives such as these which help us add value to our visitors’ experiences,”
You can get more information about this new feature live from Google map while it can be viewed locally on http://maps.google.com.sg. Google is worth commending for doing a good work in covering every inch of the cities which pictures to show all parts of the country. Street View in my opinion will be invaluable to the Singaporean Government and its people as it will open Singapore to the world and give an unjaundiced view to those hoping to vist the visit the country in the summer.
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