There has been lots of news lately about GPS-enabled applications, data, and devices, some tied to the Where 2.0 2008 conference last week. ABI Research said that by 2012 more than 550 million GPS-enabled handsets would ship. Navteq announced updates to its North American traffic database, adding Puerto Rico and Canada as well as […]

Today in frigid Washington D.C., the 2008 ESRI Federal User Conference started. I attended and share here some observations on the opening presentation by ESRI’s President, Jack Dangermond.
This is the 20th version of the federal user conference. ESRI officials told me that 2,500 pre-registered, an increase of 600 from 2007. Incredible growth for a technology […]

The U.S. primary election yesterday took place in 24 states on what is called Super Tuesday. Of course the day is super important for those trying to become the next president. The event begs for maps to show us what’s going on before, during, and after. Unfortunately, the popular news Web sites as a group […]

Verizon Wireless said it would open its network to outside devices and applications. As has been widely reported, Google and others have been pushing to break through what some see as the market expansion logjam resulting from carrier policies and practices that close their networks to outsiders.
For location-based applications this is a win. The LBS […]

On Monday, Nokia said it is buying NAVTEQ, the provider of data for digital maps. Like the July announcement in which TomTom offered TeleAtlas for $2.5, a device maker is grabbing a provider of map data. Reportedly, some analysts are saying Nokia is overpaying for NAVTEQ. Perhaps, but these same analysts likely lack the understanding […]