|
Global positioning devices receive
radio signals from satellites to tell users where on earth they are.
Coupled with software and mapping
programs, the devices pinpoint locations by altitude, longitude and
latitude to within a meter of accuracy.
"It's stunning," Enge said. "In the
beginning, the expected marketplace was 40,000 receivers -- total --
for military use. Today, we build 100,000 receivers a month, and
most of it isn't for the military."
Wherify Wireless Inc. just
introduced a GPS car-tracking device and a GPS-enabled battery pack
that can turn a cell phone into a personal locator. In June, the
company plans to start selling a wristwatch-like device that can
help parents find their children or track down a lost Alzheimer's
patient.
Soon, Pulse Data HumanWare will
sell a portable GPS navigation system that tells sight-impaired
users how to get to more than 15 million "points of interest," such
as museums and amusement parks.
Numerous applications
Blind since birth, Carrie Schieu,
24, of Los Angeles, can't wait to use it. "I stick to routes I know
because I don't have to rely on others for help. This will help me
be a little adventurous and go other places I haven't been."
The GPS market in the United States
accounted for $4.2 billion in revenue and 5.3 million units shipped
last year, according to Allied Business Intelligence Inc., a market
research firm.
Already, golf courses are
outfitting carts with GPS systems to help players measure distances
between shots. Automakers are offering in-dash navigation, allowing
drivers to get directions or find the nearest restaurant.
Farmers are using GPS for precision
mapping of crop yields and to keep their rows straight. Wilderness
firefighters are starting to use handheld computers with GPS to
enhance tactical plans.
Even veteran GPS companies such as
Trimble Navigation, Garmin Ltd. and Magellan Corp., now owned by
Thales Navigation, are expanding beyond their traditional marine,
aviation and outdoor enthusiast markets.
Garmin will soon introduce two-way
radios with built-in GPS, allowing groups of users to know where
their buddies are. A new Magellan GPS module will hook onto a Palm
handheld.
Applied Digital, which makes
microchip skin implants that contain medical information for
hospital scanners, is developing a GPS implant that would allow
satellite tracking of an individual's every movement.
Lucrative market?
Technology advancements as well as
the explosion in cell phones and handheld devices are helping to
turbocharge a GPS market that analysts say has been growing slowly,
at best, over the years.
Five years ago, SiRF Technology
Inc., the leading GPS chip supplier, produced a chipset the size of
a playing card. Today, it's as small as a thumbnail.
Recreational handheld GPS devices,
which first sold for $3,000, now sell for as little as $100, though
they are not as precise as the $10,000 advanced systems for
professional surveyors.
GPS devices have also become more
accurate.
Several years ago, navigation
systems would take a while to cue up a location. Drivers could be
traveling five minutes in the wrong direction before the system
would alert them to the mistake. Some would even tell motorists to
make a U-turn on the highway if they missed an exit.
Another factor for GPS growth is
the government "E911" mandate requiring wireless carriers to
pinpoint locations of 911 cellular phone calls.
Companies such as Enuvis Inc. are
working to improve GPS so receivers could work indoors and in
so-called urban canyons -- downtown areas with tall buildings that
have long acted as barriers for GPS signals.
"We imagine a world one day where
you'll never lose anything and nothing will ever be lost," said
Michael Kim, president of Enuvis.
Not everyone is as optimistic.
"There are a lot of novel uses for
GPS and everyone wants to put them on every Alzheimer's patient,"
said Will Strauss, a principal analyst with Forward Concepts. "But
whether it'll be a lucrative market remains an open question. Will
people pay for a device and service to find Aunt Wilma?"
Copyright 2002 The
Associated
Press. All rights reserved.
|
