2005 Global LBS Challenge recognizes award winning mobile apps
Written by Glenn Letham (GISuser editor)
17 March 2005
On Tuesday March 15 at the CTIA Wireless industry trade show the winners of this years' Navteq Global LBS Challenge were announced. Out of a field of some 180 companies 6 inovative applications were singled out for excellence and recognized as winning apps, meeting the criteria of superior usability and utility. GISuser Editor Glenn Letham was pleased to have been in attendance once again.
With the wireless industry rebounding big time, CTIA wireless 2005 was a fantastic event. This year there was the usual parade of devices, peripherals and as susal a plethora of carriers were in attendance. Unlike previous years though, much attention was on wireless data, applications, and services. In particular, the 2 "E's"... Entertainment and Enterprise were in my mind, at center stage. These are indeed the two sectors that are/will be driving the bus and generating customers and revenues for the wireless industry.
Perhaps the best venue at the show to get a glimpse of some fantastic applications was the Global LBS Challenge, hosted by leading data provider, Navteq. The event recognizes excellence in the application of location-based services. Perhaps even more important though, the event brings headlines and recognition to the concept of spatially enabling mobile applications. To give you an idea how far things have come in just one year, the 2004 LBS Challenge selected it's winner (Networks in Motion) from a field of 40 entries. This year, the 2005 LBS Challenge had a recod 180 appllication entries - kudos to the judges for the efforts to skinny down this pool of talent to a field of 18.
At the award ceremony, a field of 18 applications were recognized as finalists in 6 categories. Winners of each category are given the distinction as an LBS Challenge winner and each received $10,000 and $75k worth of Navteq data licenses. On overall winner was then selected from the 6 category winners. The "Big Kahuna" and Global LBS Challenge Winner received $50,000 and $100k in data licenses.
And so, the 6 categories and winners were as follows:
Personal Security - Clarity Communication Systems for their WhereAbouts application. Enables parents to monitor and track children's location
Find-me Application - Loc-Aid Technologies for Loc-Aid People Service used to locate friends and family.
Navigation/POI/Address lookup - InfoGation Corp provides real-time traffic, weather and gas price information
Commercial Advertising & Billing - Smartner Agent Service enables real estate professionals and home-seekers to locate and manage real estate listings and related information.
Gaming & Location-based imaging - Networks in Motion and PhotoFinder allows users to manage photos containing location tags, view them on a map and send to another phone or website along with navigation to location where the picture was taken
2005 Global www.bimactive.com
The 18 LBS Challenge Finalists
The 2005 LBS Challenge recognized 18 companies for excellence in the development of location-based solutions. The 18 finalists listed by category were as follows:
Networks In Motion Inc. - manage photos with location tags and view on a map, send to another device etc... (www.networksinmotion.com)
uLocate Communications - enables GPS enabled camera users to post, view, and tag phot6os (www.ulocate.com)
Navigation/POI/Traffic
Appello systems - WISEPILOT transforms a mobile device into a navigation system (www.appello.se)
Infogation Corp - Provides real-time traffic, wether, and gas prices (www.infogation.com)
Navstar Technologies Inc. - Voice navigation for hands-free operation (www.navstarinc.com)
Peer to Peer/Find Me
iContact - find what's cool and hapenning around you (www.icontact.com)
LOC-AID Technologies LLC - Loc-Aid People enables you to track and find friends and family (www.loc-aid.net)
Meetroduction LLC - Meetro enables you to wirelessly connect with people that share similar interests (www.meetro.com)
Personal Security
Clarity Communication Systems Inc - Wherabouts allows parents to track and monitor the location of their children (www.claritycsi.com)
Soniya Technology - FamilyLink enables simple access with a cell phone to track and monitor loved onces (www.soniyatech.com)
Teen Arrive Alive LLC - TAA provides a history of phone locations as well as speed and heading displayed on Navteq maps. Useful for safety and emergency situations (www.teenarrivealive.com)
The LBS Challenge is a fantastic forum for promoting location-based solutions and is a great plug to the industry. Navteq is speculating that more than 300 applications will be entered in next year's contest. Winning companies not only receive recognition and cash but the contest is a great spring board to bigger and better things. Case in point, Networks In Motion, last year's winner has since sold thousands of copies of their award winning application from 2004 - AtlasBook. The company has also recently obtained some $6 million in venture capital financing and a new CEO is now at the helm.
If your interested in registering for the 2006 LBS Challenge, registration will begin in July 2005. Applicants can register with Navteq and also receive some free smaple data for their apps if necessary. The 2006 Challenge will kick of at Wireless IT this fall in San Francisco while final judging and the 2006 awards will take place next spring at CTIA in Las Vegas (April, 2006) - Sponsors are encouraged to contact Robin Jackson at Navteq (312-894-7398).
The LBS Challenge is truly a testament that Location-Based services are coming on strong and will be a driving force in wireless technologies and perhaps more important, helping mobile carriers generate increased ARPU. These awards truly are the Academy Awards of LBS!
Top iPhone related GIS and Geo Tech news stories from 2009 - At the end of the year its always interesting for us to look at some of the stats and results to identify trends and more important, to see what our readers think is hot! In the "news" category it seems that iPhone related geo tech items were extremely popular.
10 Awesome GIS and Mapping apps for the iPhone - I recall last year at the ESRI UC when an iPhone was on stage showing a prototype app (think ArcPad on iPhone). It was then that I realized the iPhone platform is going to be BIG in mapping and there's a ton of opportunity for developers.
Nokia Booklet 3G, unboxing video and image gallery... Those of you in the USA who pop in to BestBuy occasionally, you may have seen a stand showing off the Nokia Booklet 3G. A sleek, 3G enabled, SIM slot (AT&T) sporting netbook.
Interesting Tweeple - 10 Geo Technology & Geo-Social Women of Twitter - given the growing love for geospatial and location-aware technologies, I’ve decided to hype 10 women that I feel make a significant contribution to the Geo-Twittersphere. If you’d like to add 10 knowledgeable and useful Twitter contacts to your Geo following list I highly suggest the following: (in no particular order)
10 Geo Social Location-Aware Apps Making Waves... With Twitter's opening of their location API to developers there's going to be a ton of third party apps that will enable Twitter users to share location-aware information via their Twitter accounts.
Signs that indicate you may be a GeoGeek (aka. GeoNerd) and some suggested Geo blogs - Chances are good that if you are a Geo Geek then you already know it and likely refer to yourself as one. However, there’s many of you out there that may be on the fence and wondering… “am I a Geo Geek?" Read on for a comprehensive list of signs you might be a GeoGeek followed up by some suggested Geoblog reading.
Real-time GPS Mapping and GIS Solution Aids Efficient Disaster Management - Saturday, February 7, 2009 will forever be known as Black Saturday in the State of Victoria, Australia. In the midst of a 10-year drought, a record breaking heat wave descended upon the state, with temperatures exceeding 45 degrees C (110-120 deg F), breaking all-time record highs in some cities - Victoria Police Use Trimble Juno SC Handhelds to Speed Assessment of Damage Caused by Bush Fires.
10 Ways Your Tech Business Can Take Advantage of Twitter - Many companies and individuals are still asking themselves how can I use Twitter in my business? The following is a small sampling of some of the ways that your technology business can use Twitter to your advantage.
2010 ESRI Federal User Conference February 17-19, 2010, Washington D.C. Walter E. Washington Convention Center - The FedUC is the largest geospatial conference for federal agencies. Connect with other leaders, decision makers, and GIS professionals.
The International LiDAR Mapping Forum 2010 - Tenth Anniversary Event! ILMF 2010 will be held from March 3 - 5, 2010 at the Hyatt Regency in Denver at Colorado Convention Center.
The NAVTEQ 2010 Global LBS Challenge Awards Ceremony will be held during Ignite at O'Reilly Where 2.0. Be among the first to hear as NAVTEQ announces the winners for the North America region. Participants will be competing for a global prize pool of $10 million and growing by showcasing pre-commercial location-enabled apps using NAVTEQ map data & products. March 30, 2010, during Ignite Where, 7:30pm - 9:00pm, at the Marriott San Jose, CA
WHERE2.0 2010 - Now in its sixth year, the Where 2.0 Conference is where the grassroots and leading edge developers building location-aware technology intersect with the businesses and entrepreneurs seeking out location apps, platforms, and hardware to gain a competitive edge. For 15% use Discount Code: whr10lbs
On Tuesday March 15 at the CTIA Wireless industry trade show the winners of this years' Navteq Global LBS Challenge were announced. Out of a field of some 180 companies 6 inovative applications were singled out for excellence and recognized as winning apps, meeting the criteria of superior usability and utility. GISuser Editor Glenn Letham was pleased to have been in attendance once again.
At the award ceremony, a field of 18 applications were recognized as finalists in 6 categories. Winners of each category are given the distinction as an LBS Challenge winner and each received $10,000 and $75k worth of Navteq data licenses. On overall winner was then selected from the 6 category winners. The "Big Kahuna" and Global LBS Challenge Winner received $50,000 and $100k in data licenses.
See more 
