Garmin Smartphone Link for Android

 

Keeping you connected and on the right track is what today’s announcement of the launch of Smartphone Link, the first Android app to provide live services to personal navigation devices (PNDs) is all about. Smartphone Link creates a seamless navigation experience between any Bluetooth® enabled 2012 Garmin nüvi and an AndroidTM smartphone allowing them to communicate and share data. Among other functionalities, the app lets nüvi users add live services, such as traffic information, traffic camera images, weather and fuel prices to their navigation device, utilizing the smartphone’s mobile data plan. Garmin Smartphone Link is available at no cost in the Android Market and includes several free live services as well as premium content available through subscriptions.

“Garmin Smartphone Link solves the problem of having to pay for an extra data plan to use live services on a PND by utilizing the existing connection of a smartphone,” said Dan Bartel, Garmin’s vice president of worldwide sales. “It is a great example of how smartphone apps can complement navigation devices, which offer key benefits such as bigger screens and better GPS reception.”

Free connected services include live weather information and myGarmin™ messaging, which provides update notifications and special offers from Garmin. Premium Live Services include the following:

Live Traffic ($19.99 per year): Garmin Live Traffic provides the best-in-class real-time information to help users navigate in and around congestion. Live Traffic is updated every two minutes and receives more than 1,000 messages every update cycle, including details of traffic incidents, road conditions and del ays. It covers major highways, interstates and main roads.

photoL ive traffic cameras ($9.99 per year): This functionality is an addition to Garmin’s Live Traffic feature and provides drivers the ability to literally see traffic conditions ahead of time. It lets users easily look up real-time photos from traffic cameras to get a glance at traffic and weather conditions. Included are more than 10,000 traffic cameras across the U.S. and Canada that send images every couple of minutes.

Fuel Prices ($9.99 per year): Users can find the best prices for any grade of fuel in their area by tapping the screen and selecting a station.

Advanced Weather ($4.99 per year): Get current and 5-day forecasts tailored for major cities in the U.S. and Canada. In addition to what the free weather service provides, Advanced Weather also allows users to receive severe weather alerts and view animated radar images on a map. Colors distinguish types of precipitation such as rain, snow and ice, to help you avoid bad driving conditions.

In addition to using Garmin Live Services, Smartphone Link allows the Garmin GPS to share its favorite locations with the phone. And better yet, the app can help users find their way from a parking spot to their destination and back by displaying both on a map.

Garmin Smartphone Link works with all Bluetooth enabled 2012 Garmin PNDs, the nüvi 2475LT, 2495LMT, 2595LMT, 3490LMT and the all-new 3590LMT, the company’s most feature-packed 5” navigator. All of these models require a software update, except the nüvi 3590LMT. Garmin Smartphone Link is available from the Android Market at no cost. To learn more, go to http://sites.garmin.com/smartphonelink.

 

 

Google Adds Plus to Search

Google seems to be adding Plus content just about every place these days and folks are none too happy about it. It seems that they have now added it to the search suggestions as well (this may have been seen perviously but this is the first I had seen it.). Now that’s annoying…and it gets more so the more people you follow on Plus.

Gallery of Inappropriate Bubble Ads

 

This search for “Child Protection Services, NY” provides an obvious example of Google’s inability to target a specific ad against a specific place with their new Info Bubble Ads.

There is some irony that the Archdiocese of New York* is sandwiched between Children’s Rights and the NY Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Child in the Map search results and I suppose the bottom ad for a Child Protection Lawyer is somehow oddly relevant in this context.

But the ad for the Gay Church service shown against the Archdiocese manages to clearly demonstrate Google’s (lack of ) ability to target these ads correctly. It adds fuel to the already inappropriate fire that is the Bubble Ad… I never knew that the Adwords algo had such a twisted  sense of humor.

In attempting to match a single ad to a single Place in Google Maps raises multiple issues…..

1)Certainly business (and churches & political organization for that matter) have a new arena where they need to worry about reputation management. They now have to think about “defending” themselves against ads from competitors or groups that disagree with their position….This drives ad growth and is likely to drive up bid prices for Google. While this occurs for all the wrong reasons I believe that they ones of which Google is likely aware. I had heard rumors in early September of Adword Account Reps instructing large Adword clients to take out ads in Google Maps in anticipation of this rollout.

2)The algo is incapable of correctly understanding which Places should have ads and which shouldn’t. This makes every Place in the virtual universe a target for an ad. Churches which are in theory a sanctuary from commercialism lose that… somber memorials become just another opportunity for a pitch.

3)Content that is abhorent or antithetical to the Place in real life can be associated with the Place virtually. The algo does not posses any ability to distinguish relevancy at a granular enough level to provide truly relevant ads that respect the intentions and aspirations of a given place. But worse, ads that are totally inappropriate by most human standards become acceptable.

4)At the end of the day, many of these ads are disrespectful of the user that made the effort to dive deeply into Google and find out more information about a given place.

There is the argument that the low visibility of the ad location somehow obviates the offense. My experience with Google Maps is that it is a testing ground for the big show. Single ads against single Places will migrate outward and upward if they are successful within Maps.

Like Facebook is pushing the limits of privacy in an effort to have none, Google is pushing the limits of ad display so that there are no societal limits on where or when ads can be displayed. Clearly breaking down societal mores that provide implicit boundaries to advertising is in Google’s best interest. I am not sure that it is the interest of either the general public nor the small business community.

*Note that I have no love lost on the Archdiocese of NY and they certainly have only themselves to blame for any problems that they have. That doesn’t deny my belief that they, and any church for that matter, should not have to worry about how Google uses their info bubble.