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What is GPS?

Future Developments with GPS

A biologist in Brazil uses a hand-held GPS receiver in wildlife research projects.

Few emerging technologies can match the broad range of applications and potential of the Global Positioning System. The revolution in navigation created by GPS has laid the foundation for the development of products that add a new dimension of accuracy and convenience to a host of transportation, recreational, and survey industries such as:

· Fleet Management--by knowing the location of their trucks, transport companies can reduce costs by planning more efficient routes for pickup and delivery.

· Public Transportation Management – GPS will enable public transit systems to track their bus fleets accurately, know how to redirect them when traffic accidents cause traffic delays, and enable systems to efficiently manage their fleets and avoid such issues as two buses on the same route pulling up to the same bus stop only a minute apart.

· Farming – allow farmers to accurately control and manage their land. GPS can be tied into remotely controlled farm equipment to improve the efficiency of farming equipment.

· Recreational Boating – GPS navigation systems are beginning to replace existing navigation systems and are considered safer and more accurate.

· Localized Information – provide information such as locations of the nearest gas stations, hotels or four-star restaurants direct to a cellular phone.

· Emergency Services – allow emergency responders to accurately know the location of a victim to help speed response to incidents.

· Network Management Location - based billing and more efficient network planning for carriers.

Key market segments are emerging, with many applications in each segment.

Hand-held Mapping Devices – A prime example of a new emerging GPS product

A partnership between Avalon Travel Publishing and GeoDiscovery, a high-tech, location-based service business, hopes to change the face of portable travel information access by introducing a new series to be called Foghorn Outdoor E-Guides. The new e-guides will combine the Global Positioning System (GPS) with travel guidebook content on a palm device. The interface is made possible by GeoDiscovery's Geode, a Handspring Visor Springboard module that allows the user to integrate GPS location info with relevant maps and site descriptions drawn from Foghorn's Outdoor Guides. Users can add their own directions and notes in the field to customize the unit for future trips.

E-guides focusing on wilderness and outdoor areas in California and the Pacific Northwest will be the first titles available. The "geo-encoded" system will initially be available as a download to retail customers via Barnesandnoble.com and other e-booksellers and will sell for $14.95. To access the CPS interface, customers need to install Geode on their handheld. By next year, GeoDiscovery/Avalon hope to make available a disk, containing several e-books per unit, for sale in bookstores.