Portable Navigation Device sales are apparently weak this holiday season according to the analysts. Are PND devices losing consumer interest faster than expected because of other GPS devices?  Retail strength appeared biased towards mobile phones, tablets, TVs and gaming.  iPhone and Android devices were strong and Blackberry and Nokia (Navteq) remained weak.   PND devices may be losing interest more quickly than analysts expected and the price cuts are deep expecting subscription sales to make up the difference. However, very few of them have any differentiated content strategy to sell the data.

Wedbush analysts were watching retail traffic at Best Buy where the auto/GPS section was relatively desolate looking and it took time and effort to locate store personnel.  Displacement from smartphones and in-dash navigation systems continue: Garmin nüvi 255WT and TomTom XL350TM both 4.3” devices priced at $99.99 (TomTom also includes life time maps update).  The lowest priced PNDs were the Garmin nüvi 205 3.5” for $79 and the TomTom Ease US 3.5” for $59, both at Walmart. Follow up checks showed Garmin’s priced just under $100 with competitive products priced at $79.99. At one big box retailer, we calculated allocated shelf space for PNDs as follows: TomTom 32%, Magellan 32%, Garmin 20%, Insignia 12%, and Mitac 4%. However, they saw some separate standalone displays for Garmin and to a lesser extent, TomTom. While they believe TomTom will once again garner share gains on Black Friday, and believe both Garmin and TomTom will suffer from a declining PND market. Wedbush notes that Garmin did receive additional shelf space in the Outdoor/Fitness section, though they also saw Polar making a bigger push into GPS watches with a more sleek design.  Here are the latest PNDs available on Amazon.com.

       

NAVTEQ, the global provider of maps, traffic and location data enabling navigation, location-based services and mobile advertising around the world, has released results of a new survey that shows 78% of consumers welcome ads on their connected mobile devices when those ads are intelligent enough to know where the end user is and can go on to guide them to nearby retailers and offers, and when the ads offset the cost of other high-value content.  This announcement also supports the business case of rival Google Places which might soon be providing free wireless location based advertising applications and services.

Conducted by Marketing Research Services Inc. (MRSI), the survey showed that 78% of consumers are receptive to receiving location-intelligent LocationPoint ads to offset the cost of value-based content such as NAVTEQ Traffic, a six percent increase over the results of MRSI's first round of research on the subject published in November 2009. The new round of research yielded strong indications that again underscore the power of LocationPoint in converting passers-by to paying customers. Other findings show:

• At least 42% of respondents that were exposed to a brand recalled seeing that brand (aided and unaided)
• Thirty-one percent of respondents who reported seeing an ad on their device clicked on that ad for information to nearby locations
• In a significant measure of impact, up to 31% of consumers seeing a specific ad went on to visit a store location; of those respondents who visited a location after seeing an ad, 53% said they did so directly because of the ad
• Nine percent of respondents who visited a location because of seeing an ad reported it was a first-time visit to that location
• Most desired ads were considered attractions/points of interest that provided a special offer or coupon, e.g. gas/fuel and restaurant offers

The MRSI-commissioned research surveyed 782 respondents 18 and older experienced with using ad-enabled personal navigation devices.

Launched 18 months ago, LocationPoint harnesses NAVTEQ's unrivalled location content and capabilities to pinpoint where consumers are, deliver ads and calls to action within a certain distance of advertised points of purchase, and guide them to the doorstep of an advertised retailer. Built-in calls to action including "click to map" and "click to navigate" bolster consumer engagement with ads, drive traffic to advertised locations and make the service unique.

"The survey indicates consumers are receptive and responsive to ads when those ads are contextually relevant. It shows strong, stable consumer acceptance of LocationPoint -- and even suggests consumer acceptance grows with continued exposure," said Christopher Rothey, vice president, advertising, NAVTEQ. "LocationPoint's unique location intelligence is what drives that level of acceptance and make the ads measurably impactful."

Related Articles:
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Free Ad Supported Wireless Access in the U.S.
Mobile Apps Fear Data Caps
Facebook Mobile Ads vs. Dumb Pipes

Can Wireless Regulate Hazardous Driving?

Written by: J. Gerry Purdy of MobileTrax, 4/28/2010

With a topic like this, I absolutely have to say I believe in speed limits, and I support the hard-working and often not appreciated public safety officers that help deal with accidents and problems that deserve their attention.

However, when you consider the time that highway patrol officers and local police officers spend on the side of the road with a radar gun simply to manage those who are driving above the speed limit, it’s easy to see that this is not a good, efficient way for these public safety officers to deal with the problems of society -- especially when there are so many drug problems and serious crimes that need greater attention.

The nature of a ‘speed limit’ has become accepted in society as a ‘guideline’ – a general indicator of the speed that people should travel. Of course, unless you’ve been a recluse at home for the past few years, drivers on major Interstate highways almost never drive slower than the posted speed limits. Most states have established laws that define ‘speeding’ as a driver and the car exceeding the posted speed limit by 10 mph. Thus, if the posted sign says 65 mph, then most of the time you won’t get pulled over for a speeding ticket when doing 74 mph. Bad weather and driving congestion naturally alter the average speed downward.

When I see these ‘speed traps,’ I get mad -- but not for the reason you might think. I’m not upset that police officers are trying to catch speeders. Rather, I’m upset because these paid guardians of our public safety are wasting so much of their valuable time having to sit on the side of the road just to give out a few tickets to those who are driving too fast.

I believe there’s a much better solution, and there’s already indication that systems are coming into place that may eliminate the need for any highway patrol officer to ever worry about simple vehicle speed enforcement again.

Here’s the way I believe this new solution should work in the long term. All cars will have multiple transmitting radios -- from Wi-Fi to 3G or 4G cellular to mesh networking -- so that cars can network with each other and be connected to the highway patrol. Most cars have a toll sensor in the window as well that isn’t active but does allow the car to be recognized when it passes a toll booth or toll lane.

There are two basic driver issues that need to be addressed: 1) those that speed and 2) those who drive recklessly.

Regarding driving recklessly (or appearing to do that via something wrong with the car) should be dealt with via intervention. First, the local wireless mesh should result in vehicles self-programmed to get out of the way. Second, the local police and highway patrol should have the right to intervene and stop the car. We’ve all seen situations where two cars are racing each other or someone is participating in ‘road rage’ with someone else by trying to get out ahead and then cut them off, using their car as a weapon. These situations can easily be detected. Once that happens, the local police or highway patrol should take over control of the car and pull them safely over to the side of the road.

For those that want to go faster than the posted speed limit, e.g. they want to drive 80 mph in a 65 mph zone, it seems we should change the entire process of scolding violators to automatically generating revenue for the privilege of driving faster and getting to your destination more quickly. Once cars are outfitted with wireless communications, public safety can communicate with each car, and the cars (and trucks) can then also communicate with each other (via mesh networking).

Here’s the core recommendation: each state sets up a ‘speed tax’ that is posted (and available on the displays in the wireless enabled vehicles). Then, cars that speed are simply charged a fee based on how fast they are going. Want to get to grandma’s faster? OK, drive 75 mph instead of 65 mph, but you’ll have to pay a toll (which might be called euphemistically a ‘speed tax’) for doing that. The speed tax schedule could look something like this:

* Less than 40 mph, $1 per mile (yes, charge people for going too slow)
* 40 to 65 mph, $0
* 65-69 mph, $.10 per mile in town, $.05 out of town
* 70-74 mph, $.20 per mile in town, $.10 out of town
* 75-79 mph, $.50 per mile in town, $.15 out of town
* 80-84 mph, $1.00 per mile in town, $.20 out of town
* 85-90 mph, $2.00 per mile in town, $.25 out of town
* Greater than 90, vehicle is slowed down by the highway patrol or permission must be granted by the public safety officials, e.g. an emergency.

Thus, if you need to drive 200 miles to grandma’s house but wanted to drive at 80 mph, you’d get charged 200 miles at $.20/mile or $40 for the privilege to do so.

You can see part of these systems already in place in Florida where coming out of Miami, you can get access to the SunPass extra lanes that are not as crowded. The Florida Turnpike system adjusts the charge to use the extra lanes based on the time of day. Thus, during rush hour the charge is typically $2.75 and off-peak it’s $.35. While they don’t charge for the speed you are driving yet, there’s no reason they couldn’t add that capability in the future. And, its developments like this that lead to lanes that can charge for access and then charge you for the speed you drive in the special lanes.

And perhaps 50 years from now, all cars will have wireless, we’ll be able to eliminate speed traps, and highway patrol officers can utilize more of their available time to truly helping with public safety. Wireless technology will be used to charge for the right to drive faster. Speeding tickets will morph into a speed tax, while having the ability to prevent unsafe conditions that cause a multitude of accidents.

We receive emails everyday from frustrated TomTom users who would like to use our database and yet we can't seem to get any follow through from the company about actually licensing our database. We have met with the TomTom management team over the last few years and like them a lot.  However, it seems that the European office is calling the shots and they seem content building their own database "through their customers".  As long as TomTom's executive and marketing team are satisfied with having a crap database and being behind the curve, that is what their customers will get. TomTom's safety camera database in Europe is notorious for having crappy data because they rely on users who input data on their devices.  Garbage in and garbage out.  

Please retweet and post a comment this post if you would like to see our red light content added to the TomTom platform. I don't think management is going to change their data provider unless consumers protest.

See related story:

Garmin Red Light Camera Database is Crap

Certification of PhotoSafe Locations in Virginia Beach

I appreciate the information that is available on photoenforced.com because it helps us with our public awareness program. The cameras in Virginia Beach were activated in the first two intersections on March 13, 2009. We monitor 20 approaches at 13 intersection locations and, as of this date, we are currently the only jurisdiction with an active automated red light enforcement program in the State of Virginia. A list of our enforced intersection is available online at vbgov.com/photosafe. A list of VDOT approved jurisdictions and intersections can be found at virginiadot.org/info/photored.asp.

Automated enforcement in Virginia is a civil penalty. The automated enforcement fine is $50 and there are no court costs, no negative DMV points, no insurance notifications, and no late fees associated with a violation. There are major differences in the penalty associated with automated enforcement and officer enforcement. An officer issued summons for disregarding a red light is up to a $350 fine; the prepayable offense is $100. Court costs do apply to an officer issued summons. There are -4 points associated with the signal violation and it stays on the driver’s DMV record for 3 years.

There is a lot of disparity with the use of photo enforcement throughout the United States. The State of Virginia has approached the implementation of photo enforcement from three areas: Engineering, Education, and Enforcement. VDOT must approve each intersection for the use of enforcement cameras in the State of Virginia. In other words, if the engineering is not correct, the use of camera enforcement at the intersection will not be approved in Virginia. This process includes a standardization of yellow and all red signal timing.

The primary focuses in our PHOTOSafe program is education and awareness. We have given over 200 presentations to members of our community and established a web site that includes an interactive online presentation that explains the program, enforcement camera locations, and signal timing and coordination information. Virginia requires that photo enforcement warning signs be installed within 500 feet of the enforced intersection. Please visit our web site and give us some feedback on it. The address is vbgov.com/photosafe.

We view enforcement as the last part of our intersection safety equation. The State of Virginia has a .5 second amnesty period that prevents the cameras from activating for enforcement until the light has been red for ½ second. Our police department recognizes the need to use a combination of police officers and cameras to reduce red light running at the high crash locations.

Thanks in advance for updating our photo enforcement information. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions about the use of photo enforcement in the State of Virginia.

PHOTOSafe

Program Coordinator

Virginia Beach Police Department

RED Means Stop!

Office: (757) 385-7235
vbgov.com/photosafe

I have recently started using Google Buzz for Mobile on my Android phone and have become a big fan of its potential.  I  think its quite unique and more useful if you are only interested in regional data. However, there currently isn't a on Google Buzz to hear updates from other drivers or alerts around me without picking up the phone and looking at it.  See the picture above which is a sample Google Buzz layer on Google Maps screen shot.  I think buying Aha Mobile and integrating the technology into their system would further advance the technology and make it safer for drivers.

Palo Alto-based Aha Mobile have created Aha Radio, a free mobile application that transfers a broad range of web-based information into a customizable radio experience. Aha has created a unique backend platform that safely filters, prioritizes, and delivers Web-based information to drivers. Everything from instant personalized traffic reports to an audio translation of your Facebook wall and from up-to-the minute episodes of your favorite podcasts to personalized restaurant finders. They have also created the first driver-to-driver network similar to the old CB Radio. This allows users to listen to everything from real-time traffic reports to Twitter and Facebook updates as well as red light camera location alerts, without the added stress of fumbling with a device while driving.  Aha Mobile is also a licensee of PhotoEnforced.com's database of locations and will soon be using the data to give drivers verbal alerts of cameras locations near them.  I think thes definitely solves the distracted driver problems.  Check out the demonstration video above.

• Company history 2001-2010
• US database coverage
• Total records in database as of January 31, 2010
• Types of locations in database and fines
• Red light cameras 
• Speed cameras
• Illegal right turn cameras
• Combination cameras
• Sample Los Angeles heat map of locations
• Sample Los Angeles pin map
• Screen shot of our subscriber platform
• Why partial crowd sourcing works
• How we get database updates
• News coverage
• Contributor web site form
• Home page screen shot
• Photos of signs and cameras on the street
• Monthly web site visitors chart
• Data syndication formats available
• Our advantages over competition 

The Garmin Nüvi for navigation must be a holiday retail success story because we are getting lots of emails from customers asking for our red light camera database. We do not currently license the database directly to consumers because we do not have the infrastructure necessary to deal with customer service.  We prefer to license our database to vendors like Garmin who can add our database as a feature.  After my brief review it appears based on the product that traffic is an additional service option that can be added on as well as a number of Points of Interest as seen below.  There are many other points of interest like banks, restaurants, shopping, parking, gas, entertainment but nothing to help you driver more safely.  Safe driving is a hot topic this year and we have a database that can help Garmin  customers.

We met with Garmin management and they seemed content sourcing red light camera data from an unamed company in Europe that provides no sources for its database.  As long as Garmin's executive seem is satisfied with being behind the curve and not having a complete dataset that is what their customers will get.  Please retweet and post a comment this post if you would like to see our red light content added to the Garmin platform. I don't think management is going to change their data provider unless consumers protest.

See related story:
TomTom Red Light Camera Database is Crap

One of the most common requests I get everyday is how do I get your red light camera database on to my phone for navigation?  Google users are smart, sophisticated and ahead of the curve when it comes to adoption new features and are demanding a red light camera / speed camera warning feature layer.  Here is an picture of how Photo Enforced Google Maps could be used on the Android phone for navigation:

Based on our test today it is fairly obvious that Google Maps still cannot handle thousands of data points very well and the tiles still need to be clustered or optimized on the server.  This is why it is important for our data to be accessed as a layer published by Google and won't be successful published by individual users at this time.  Here were the steps we took to upload Photo Enforced data to Google Maps unsuccessfully.

1st)  We tried to Create a Google Map on Google by uploading our database / KML file of our 5,000+ US fixed red light camera and speed camera locations.  We followed directions by adding map data from our KML file to the map.  This data seemed to get ingested fine but didn't give us any confirmation on the number of successful points and was limited how to display it.

2nd) I downloaded the My Maps Editor in the Android Market for my Android and it seem to find the file I uploaded to Google Maps successfully.  However, when I tried to load it onto the map it kept loacing for about 30 minutes and I was never able to use it.

3rd) I then tried to access the uploaded data on my Android phone from the Google Maps navigation on My Maps and that was unsuccessful as well.  The current navigation features on my Android phone include: Traffic, Satellite, Latitude & Wikipedia.  It also has a button below these layers for Clear Map and More Layers.   When you click on More Layers it gives you options My Maps, Wikipedia (again) and Transit Lines.  I would love to see a Traffic Cameras, Red Light Cameras and eventually Speed Cameras layer.

If anyone can help correct the problem we would appreciate your assistance.

PhotoEnforced.com is starting to get lots of requests from Google maps customers about using our fixed red light camera and speed camera database as a layer on Google Maps. I personally would like to see this as well being an Android customer myself. We have a database of locations geocoded and would simply like to provide this data to Google similar to Wikipedia. We are currently navigating our way to the appropriate people within Google to explore this relationship through our contacts. However, if anyone has a relationship with a product owner in the space please email us. jeff@photoenforced.com

Please Re-tweet this story on the right if you would like to see a red light camera database displayed on Google Maps, Google Earth and the Android Mobile Maps as a layer!

In reference to: Official Google Mobile Blog: Layers come to Google Maps for BlackBerry (view on Google Sidewiki)

We are also pleased to announce that we have executed an agreement with a major manufacturer of mobile phones and mobile navigation products to include the AURA (TM) database in their North American and European navigation products that will be released early next year." said Jim Bazet, Cobra's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.

"This is a significant step in our plan to make AURA the preeminent provider of photo-enforcement alerts globally and is expected to contribute to revenues and earnings in the second half of 2010. Moreover, PPL generated an increase in sales due to the strength of their new product introductions - mobile navigation products tailored to the needs of the professional driver and the recreational vehicle owner. Cobra has recently launched in the U.S. a mobile navigation product for the professional driver that utilizes this successful PPL platform. We are aggressively pursuing new opportunities and expect a substantial improvement in fourth quarter results."

Cobra Electronics (Ticker: COBR) Reports Third Quarter Results | Reuters: 

How much due diligence did the "licensee" (Navteq owned by Nokia Ticker: NOK) do on where Cobra acquired the AURA database information and how they plan to keep the information fresh?

See related articles:

10 Questions about NAVTEQ's Speed and Red Light Camera Database
Red Light & Speed Cameras POI Database

Google announces turn-by-turn GPS navigation today for the Android. It’s currently in beta testing, and will be available for FREE on phones using Google’s Android 2.0 operating system. The GPS navigation includes a tons of unique features (many of these are part of the features you’d see planning a route using Google Maps through a regular web browser).

Google just forced the traditional GPS navigation companies to rethink their business models releasing what may be a far superior product for free. It is not a standalone navigation app. Rather it taps into a lot of the resources Google makes available on the Web, including Google Maps, Streetview, voice recognition, and sophisticated search. Google is happy to give its navigation app away for free because it leverages many existing technologies it has already built for the Web, and it encourages more people to use Web-capable phones and do local searches on them. Its strategy is to give the software away for free, and make money on the search ads.

GPS navigation apps are among the most expensive, and most lucrative, of all mobile apps. However, these paid navigation apps (Navigon, TomTom, CoPilot, MapQuest, GoKivo and Sygic Mobile) are at an immediate disadvantage.  Maybe the race will become which company starts licensing the most useful third party data to differentiate themselves?  The big question is when does Google Maps start incorporating points of interest features from users?  PhotoEnforced.com is an example of a map data source where the advertising business model is completely aligned with Google Maps.

Google could very well make it available to other phones as well, and that is what has investors worried. The new Google Maps Navigation app will be included on Motorola's upcoming Android phone, the Motorola Droid, and will provide turn-by-turn directions based on up-to-date maps and business listings from Google Maps. The Google Maps Navigation software will also be made available to other Android devices running the newly unveiled Android 2.0 software.

Shares in GPS manufacturers Garmin and TomTom fell today following the annoucement from Google that upcoming Android handsets will include free navigation software.  Following the announcement shares of Garmin fell 17.2% to $31.88 and TomTom shares fell more than 20% to €8.11.

Crowd sourcing has become a hot investment topic lately having seen a number of presentations in the last week at Demo and TechCrunch50. There seems to be a nice ecosystem of mobile applications and data syndication partners building who all have one thing in common, freemium business models. I see a bright future for companies like Aha Mobile who begin to shape next generation navigation driving experience on Smart Phone devices.
in reference to: AHA Mobile Inc. (view on Google Sidewiki)

First Driver-to-Driver Network Answers the Question “What is The Driver Ahead of Me Experiencing?”


News Facts

• Aha Mobile, Inc., the company that keeps drivers informed about the world around them by safely connecting them to each other and to relevant information from the Web, has launched its first consumer experience - the Aha application for iPhone users.

• The company, which soft launched its application two weeks ago in Los Angeles, San Diego and the San Francisco Bay Area, has expanded road and traffic coverage in the following major metropolitan areas: Dallas and San Antonio, TX, Fort Lauderdale, Miami and Miami Beach, FL, Seattle, WA, Washington D.C. The company will continue to add road and traffic coverage in more cities in the coming months.

• The free application is now available for download in the iTunes App Store.

• Aha’s application is the first driver-to-driver network that answers questions such as “What is the driver a mile ahead of me seeing out his window?” and “What is traffic like now on my route to work?”

• Aha’s application is designed for use at 65 MPH and gives you information, either audibly or in an at-a-glance format, about the roads and photo enforced camera locations nearby.

• It also connects drivers to personalized Web data about nearby services and destinations, such as restaurants, coffee shops and bathrooms.

• Aha is not a navigation application but is instead designed for daily use when you already know how to get to your destination.

Unique Product Features

• Get “Nearby” Alerts for Things You Care About: Are you hungry, want to grab a cup of coffee, or need to take a bathroom break? Select “yes” to any of those questions and Aha’s “Nearby” function alerts you to places along the way, like restrooms from SitOrSquat or highly rated restaurants from Yelp. Aha will also alert you to red-light and speed cameras as you approach them, using data from Photoenforced.com. At 65 MPH, less is more, so Aha only gives you the relevant results pre-filtered for your preferences and location.

• Listen to Live, Personalized Traffic Channels: Like a radio station dedicated to the roads you care about, Aha lets you listen to traffic “Shouts” (or voice notes) from other drivers without taking your eyes off the road. Aha also uses best-in-class INRIX traffic data to tell you how traffic is flowing and alert you to congestion or accidents on the major road segments around you, without requiring you to study a map.

• “Shout” Out Your Own Traffic Reports: With Aha, every driver is a virtual traffic reporter. Simply tap the microphone icon to record and share a 15-second traffic report to help the drivers around you. Your Shout automatically feeds into the road and city-specific Shout Rooms based on your current location.

• Be Entertained in the Car! Aha also wants to make driving fun. For example, the “Caraoke” Shout Room lets you send out a 15 second recording of your radio sing along, then get rated by other drivers. In the “#%& Drivers” Shout Room, let off steam by venting about a bad driver or your frustrating commute.
Executive Quotes

“Aha is uniquely delivering information that every driver wants in a new and better way that doesn’t involve studying tiny maps while you drive. Sometimes you want to hear a live traffic report from a driver ahead of you, and other times you want relevant information from the Web, like a nearby coffee shop,” said Robert Acker, President and CEO of Aha Mobile, Inc.

“Regardless of the source, Aha filters and customizes the information you want based on your preferences and location, presenting it in a format that limits driving distractions and helps you make smart choices along your familiar routes.”
User Quotes

“I frequently run into traffic in my patrol car, particularly on event days at the Del Mar fairgrounds,” said Aha beta tester and San Diego Deputy Sheriff Marshall Abbott. “Even with some state-of-the-art tools at my disposal, I turn to Aha for the latest conditions on the roads I drive daily. I use it to know when traffic is backed up a few miles ahead of me so I can decide if I should bail for another route. Aha’s at-a-glance information is a very efficient way to get me the information I need.”

“Every day when I get in the car, I run Aha to check the Los Angeles freeway traffic before I leave my driveway,” said Aha beta tester David Whelan. “It quickly gives me a good idea of which route to take to work - in typical LA fashion, I have many routes to choose from. Then, I flip into "Nearby" mode while I drive to get alerted to coffee shops and other places I want to know about along the way. I have found that Aha is far less distracting and more efficient way to get this information than the in-car navigation system in my BMW.”
Images, Assets and Product Demo Video

• Click here to view Aha’s quick product demo videos

• Click here for product and feature images

Blog: ahamobile.com/blog for more information and product updates
Twitter: @ahamobile
Twitter: @photoenforced
Facebook: Join Aha Mobile Fan group
Facebook: Join PhotoEnforced.com Fan group

About Aha Mobile, Inc.

Aha improves your driving experience by keeping you informed about the world around you while you are on the road. To do this, we built the first driver-to-driver network that connects drivers to each other and to relevant information from the Internet. You can record and share your own personal traffic reports to help those around you, or listen to a customized traffic channel on the roads you travel. Aha also alerts you to the nearby things you need – like a great cup of coffee or a restroom. With Aha, drivers share their experiences with one another and help each other on the road.

Founded in 2008, Aha began by building a connected back-end platform that can power any number of devices – from portable electronics to in-car systems. Through our first application, designed for the iPhone, we created a 65 MPH interface (information is delivered audibly or in at-a-glance visual formats) that gives drivers the answers they need while minimizing driving distractions.

Based in Palo Alto, CA, Aha is backed by Venrock and led by a team of executives with nearly four decades of experience developing automotive and location-based services applications.

We would like to alleviate some of the confusion in the marketplace. Navteq is NOT currently a customer of PhotoEnforced.com and we have no idea where they have acquired their data from.

However, PhotoEnforced.com has been the #1 sole source and pioneer of gathering red light camera and speed locations in a free open database since 2001. There are many databases in the market described above who copy our data and use this data and sell it. If you are considering licensing or using the NAVTEQ speed and red light camera locations database you might want to ask them the following questions first . . .

1) Why are you missing about a 1000+ locations?
2) What sources for acquiring the original 5000 locations?
3) Are your sources for the data stealing content?
4) Sources for updates on new locations and changes?
5) Proprietary research (?) when PhotoEnforced.com is free?
6) Any right turn and red light camera / speed combo cameras?
7) Why did it take you so many years to release a product?
8) Can you deliver updates to the locations in real time?
9) How do you charge for the database?
10) Publishing fines with the location be a copyright violation?

NAVTEQ, the leading global provider of digital map, traffic and location data for in-vehicle, portable, wireless and enterprise solutions, announced today at Telematics Detroit 2009 speed and red light camera locations are now available for the NAVTEQ(R) map of North America. NAVTEQ Camera Alert(TM) includes up-to-date information about the exact location of speed limit cameras, red light cameras, as well as combined speed and red light cameras in 5,000 locations throughout North America.

"Automated cameras are proliferating across North American cities," stated Cindy Paulauskas, vice president Americas map and content products, NAVTEQ. "And our proprietary research indicates that these types of warnings are a highly valued feature in countries where this navigation system functionality is available. Providing our customers with quality North America camera location information helps enable solutions that give drivers better knowledge of maximum speeds and traffic signals - with alerts at the right place and at the right time."

See related posts:
Cobra Electronics Licensing Data to Navteq?
Red Light & Speed Cameras POI Database

You may have heard in the news and in the blogosphere that Arizona was going to give their red light cameras and speed cameras the boot - putting a referendum on an upcoming election to end their photo enforcement program. There is a contingency of loud people lobbying and trying to build interest for the removal of speed and red light cameras in Arizona. Often they resort to graffiti and destructive means to get their points across.

However, A recent poll puts the camera issue dead last in the list of issues that Arizona citizens want tackled by their government. A survey of 800 Arizonans on what issues lawmakers and Gov. Jan Brewer should tackle ranked job creation and improved public education as the top two issues, with 62 percent and 32 percent, respectively. Less than 1% of the people want it addressed right now.

So, it looks like these cameras are here to stay for a while. If your looking for a GPS detector to warn you when you're near them, check out our PhotoEnforced.com guide. If you want something that's really easy to use and the "least expensive", buy the GPS Angel. It's only $99 - less than the cost of one speeding ticket.

GPS warning devices sold in the U.S. are specifically designed to help drivers avoid getting a photo enforced tickets. Drivers receiving photo enforced tickets can expect fines ranging from $50-$450 in the U.S. Having a device that alerts you when a point of interest (POI) such as red light camera or speed camera location is approaching can make you extra cautious of drivers and theoretically reduce your chances of getting a ticket. The GPS navigation market is growing rapidly but is still in the "early adopter" phase. Taking a long term approach when deciding what to purchase as your device is the smartest approach. You might ask yourself what other types of points of interest GPS alerts you might you want in your device such as cheap gas, accidents, traffic, etc.



Please help us update PhotoEnforced.com Comparison of GPS Navigation Warning Devices. The grid is a wiki, so you can add or update missing information, and help me and the community by selecting the item you like best.

We have started to see a few iPhone applications that will remain nameless that are using data from our site without credit or permission. The first thing you should ask when purchasing or using an application that references anything that has been Photo Enforced is where did you obtain the data for your application? I would suspect that we might see some healthy discussion on this issue because of the complexity of the issues. PhotoEnforced.com was the first U.S. database to hit the web back in 2001 when there were only a few hundred cameras in operation. Our open database has grown to 6,000 locations and continues to grow about 30% per year.

If you are going to use the data provided and charge for it we are entitled to a piece of your revenue. If you intend to give it away for free we would ask that you please give PhotoEnforced.com credit as the source of your information. Our business model remains advertising and licensing based to a few select businesses.

I was watching an interview with the TomTom CEO on CNBC World the other night and heard an interesting fact about the safety of GPS navigation systems. Like cell phones, many people tend to get distracted and too dependent on their GPS navigation system while driving. Accident history is starting to show a high correlation with GPS navigation users and drivers who are making sudden driving decisions. I am not someone who blames the device manufacturer for these accidents but I do think the utility of GPS navigation devices will need to improve in order to save publicity nightmares. These devices may be teaching bad driving habits enabling users to get too dependent on turn by turn directions which often leads to confusion when presented with an obstacle in the road that doesn't exist on the map. I think the market and utility of GPS navigation systems will evolve into "GPS warning systems" for traffic accidents ahead, red light cameras, speed cameras, school crossings and routes with lots of bicycle rides.

Red light cameras are not a public safety measure but a guise to raise money for the city of Albuquerque, according to one Republican lawmaker. Sen. Bill Payne, R-Albuquerque, is proposing putting up early warning signs for the yellow warning light on traffic signals with cameras. The bill would require flashing beacons as well as a reminder at all camera-monitored intersections in the state.