ForeSite is your team of designers, developers, and computer consultants for technology support, web development and network repair in the Hartford, CT and Worcester, MA areas.
Navizon's VirtualGPS is a popular iPhone add-on, but what will happen to the company if Apple adds a GPS chip to the smartphone?
One of the most popular third-party applications to run on the iPhone is a location positioning system called Navizon. But with Apple reportedly putting a GPS chip in its next-generation iPhone models, Navizon should be shaking in is proverbial boots.
It's not, though. "We think it will be good and bad for us," Navizon CEO Cyril Houri said in an interview Thursday. The bad means that many iPhone users won't think they can benefit from Navizon's cellular triangulation product, VirtualGPS. The good means that more users will understand the widespread benefits offered by positioning systems.
Houri said more than 350,000 iPhone users have signed up for Navizon's peer-to-peer wireless positioning, representing most of the 600,000-plus downloads of VirtualGPS.
"We like the iPhone because it's very powerful and it appeals to early adopters," Houri said. "Many of the same early adopters that use Navizon [are] iPhone early adopters."
The iPhone already contains a location-based feature that can utilize Google Maps' My Location feature. Currently, the iPhone location service is static -- users must constantly hit a button to update locations. While the always-tight-lipped Apple won't discuss its future geolocation plans, the company is expected to unveil improved location features, probably in a GPS chip in the handset, when the company unveils new iPhone models.
Navizon triangulates signals between Wi-Fi and cellular towers, eschewing traditional GPS technology. As a true peer-to-peer community, Navizon users with GPS devices map geographical areas -- often a section of a city or town -- and the coordinates are entered in a database for all Navizon users to utilize.
Navizon users download VirtualGPS for free and then can purchase the company's premium software for $24.99. Houri says users are increasingly upgrading to the premium product; he expects the number of premium users to grow as the company perfects the product and adds features.
Navizon is not officially endorsed or recognized by Apple; a "jailbreak" third-party implementation is required to install the program. Houri says it takes just a minute or two to install VirtualGPS.
"With VirtualGPS, it's possible for users to have their location in real time -- the map moves with you as you move," Houri said. "You can display your buddies on a map. For example, you can verify that your kids got safely to school."
A key differentiating feature of Navizon is that it is cross-carrier capable and can operate across different carriers, for instance between AT&T and Verizon Wireless, even if the iPhone itself is linked to AT&T's network.
Houri said the growth of a community of VirtualGPS users will be important for the location product going forward. "It can alert users when they enter a specific area," he said. "For example, I can configure Navizon to alert me when my parents arrive at JFK Airport so that I don't have to wait hours in the arrival terminal."
"I think the new iPhones will broaden the market," he added. "People are going to come up with all sorts of clever ideas." (Reprinted from InformationWeek.com)