A new business area for Google
There has been coverage recently of Google’s provision of software for mobile phones, and particularly for China Mobile. This is a very interesting step for Google and it will be extremely interesting to see if it increases the demand for mobile internet, something that has been slow to take off due to the cost of using it and the limited appeal of the content available. The lack of choice has also been considered to be a factor in delaying uptake in this area – something that Google will need to think about as this may have an impact on perceptions of its brand.
Nonetheless, this paves the way for something that I would like to see Google try out: satellite navigation using Google Maps (and possibly Google Earth). As far as I can see, Apple’s iPhone goes part of the way towards this by giving Google Maps functionality on its phone, but as far as I am aware the iPhone does not give sat nav functionality. Other phones do have sat nav included in them.
This has been tried before – finding places and being guided to them was part of the original 3G mobile phone offering in Japan and usage of it was not high. Now, we are at or approaching the tipping point in sat nav uptake. People are far more likely to be using it than they were before, and the way in which they are using it is changing. My TomTom contains some useful information about places of interest, but the information on it is very sparse. Imagine the power of having Google Maps on there instead – so that anyone could advertise their business on it. We could use Google search functionality to find the place we were looking for by name (or by category and getting recommendations) and then check the opening hours and contact details – all from our sat nav unit. Google seems to have made a strategic decision not to enter into hardware provision, and this is understandable. But it could make this happen in two ways – either by partnering with mobile phone networks and manufacturers, or by partnering with sat nav makers. It could even partner with telematics firms – insurers are increasingly trying to find ways to put black boxes in cars, Google could work with them to make those units into sat nav units which could double as internet access points. In all of these cases, the map advertisements could pay the cost of the search, making it free. Then search could proliferate.
So, Google, if you’re reading this, why not give it a try?
November 19th, 2007 at 02:50
No sat nav on the iPhone but as I just showed you they have an ingenious way of doing routing that gives you 90% of the functionaoity at no cost. The triumph of ingenuity over technology. Loving it…
If you must have a google-powered sat-nat, I recommend Maemo Mapper (http://gnuite.com:8080/nokia770/maemo-mapper/) on a Nokia 770 Linux tablet (or the more recent 800 and 880). I have got the 770 and have successfully set up Maemo Mapper to use Google maps as the source. The app works like a charm and, should it not require an external GPS receiver and Phone, it would have replaced my TomTom-enabled Nokia 9500 as my main SatNav in the car by now.
Google-enabled satnav is quite ready for prime time yet. Expect it to be by the time Andriod phones hit store shelves…
November 21st, 2007 at 10:19
Thanks Roberto - and well done on not missing an opportunity to remind the world that you have an iPhone. Very nice it is too…
Having looked at it, the missing 10% is pretty critical: you have to follow the map yourself rather than it tracking your location as you drive. Pretty difficult to do when you are driving and approaching a busy junction and removing the main reason to use sat nav rather than a conventional map.
Android phones, huh? My mind is awash with the possibilities of such things - talk about taking voice commands to a new level…
December 6th, 2007 at 10:50
Hi Peter,
an interesting post, and I do think this is something of a possibility. As mobile devices become more capable at delivering faster bandwidth, the applications and data will be created to utilize that bandwidth.
At the moment I’m using a Blackberry 8310 which has a built-in GPS receiver. It has as standard mapping software from TeleAtlas installed, and this uses portions of data from Georoute, DeAgostini, Ordnance Survey, and Google. It does allow live navigation like the TomTom devices, but has no voice prompting that I can find.
I’ve also installed Google Maps, but this doesn’t recognise the built-in GPS receiver, and is therefore somewhat limited in what it can deliver. IT will connect to external bluetooth GPS devices.
While this technology is a great leap forward, I think it is the value-add services that make satellite navigation a potential cash cow. You can get traffic updates for TomTom through a bluetooth connected mobile phone, but the maps are static and quickly become out of date. On the Blackberry, the maps are dynamic, but the traffic updates aren’t there.
The value-add for me will come with road-tolls, and eventual road pricing. The Economist reported this week that the government is letting the national road pricing scheme die quietly after an online petition gained 1.8m signatures. This basically means that the roads deteoriate with greater congestion, and therefore a greater need for realtime traffic awareness, and possible dynamic route planning depending on congeston status along the route.
I see this as a place where money can be made, either through subscriptions, or eating into pay-as-you-go top-up allowances. As long as the phone-wielding public see that the benefits of using the technology outweigh the costs, there could be huge profits to be made.
Meanwhile, I’m looking forward to receiving the 2008 Ordnance Survey Road Map of Great Britain for Christmas!
April 30th, 2008 at 10:26
Hi, just got the N95 8GB from http://www.allukphonedeals.co.uk/ and I want to use my copy of tomtom on it. Currently it’s on sd card for my XDA exec. Anyone know how to get it installed and working for my N95? I’ve read that it won’t work with the built in gps but i do have the bluetooth jobbie I used on the XDA.
August 20th, 2008 at 09:17
Well the latest iPhone does come with its own built in GPS unit and its cheaper than the original as well. Almost makes me want to switch my iPod touch for one. And I believe the GPS works quite well, just like in the Nokia N95, but obviously better cos it Apple.