[gps-talkusers] Re: Strider in the news

Bill was a co-founder of Arkenstone. I joined them at the  end of 1994 as 
Vice-President of Sales. Bill was in charge of Engineering. This is where 
we began the Strider project.

The original idea came from a student project Charles LaPierre came up with 
at Carlton University in Canada and Arkenstone tried to commercialize it. 
The time wasn't right so they dropped it in 1997 and subsequently the 
Sendero Group was formed to revive the project. We have come a long way in 
10 years, from 12 pounds in a back pack to 1 pound in a BrailleNote PK and 
a Bluetooth receiver.

It is also great to have the state-of-the-art Telcontar Rich Map engine at 
the heart of our software.

Mike


At 11:30 AM 2/18/2005, you wrote:
>Hi,
>Thought this would be of interest, article about beta
>version of Google maps, from  Telcontar where the senior
>vice president Schwegler's ..."early work was on a talking
>map for the blind called  Strider. That work, which formed
>the basis of the current geospatial platform, evolved, and
>the company created from it was named Telcontar". Strider
>also used for the GPS Sendero Group. Interesting how this
>moved around. Had a look at the beta version, very fast and
>neat.
>Regards,
>Lisa
>
>http://www.directionsmag.com/article.php?article_id=760
>    The Technology Behind Google Maps
>
>
>
>    Telcontar Inside
>    Last week Google quietly rolled out Google Maps. There
>was a definite buzz about the technology (DHTML and
>JavaScript
>    are key parts), the look (very pretty) and the speed
>(very fast). While many early users of the application
>simply like to point
>    to Google and say, "They are smart," there are players
>behind the scenes.
>
>    In the case of Google Maps one key player is Telcontar.
>The world, at least the mapping one, was agog when Yahoo!
>"rolled
>    its own" mapping solution, Yahoo! Maps, on the company's
>technology back in 2002. So, perhaps it's no surprise that
>    Google (and Rand McNally and Ask Jeeves) also have it
>tucked into their websites.
>
>    Telcontar's Place in the Value Chain
>    To understand Telcontar, take a giant step away from GIS.
>No, a bigger step. Ok, good. Now, have a look at the value
>    chain for consumer mapping technology. Kim Fennell,
>Telcontar President and CEO, outlined five parts of the
>chain: content
>    (a.k.a. the "data guys" - NAVTEQ, Tele Atlas, etc.),
>platform (the software that "processes" the data, where
>Telcontar fits),
>    application developers (those who make the compelling
>offerings we consumer want to buy, Motorola's VIAMOTO, for
>    example), channel (the delivery mechanism, a portal like
>Yahoo or a wireless carrier) and finally the customer (those
>of us
>    who pay money via our cell phone bills or generate
>revenue-producing advertising via our eyeballs on portals).
>
>
>
>    Telcontar sits in that space between the data providers
>(in fact it often selects and
>    licenses the data from them on behalf of its clients) and
>the application developers (in the
>    case of Google, Google programmers). The real work
>Telcontar technology performs inside
>    the various mapping applications is the same: it
>organizes and retrieves the data; it
>    renders maps; it performs the route calculations and
>presents directions; it geocodes.
>    Fennell compares Telcontar's role to Oracle's in a real
>time transactions application: Every
>    one knows that there's an Oracle database underneath, but
>no one sees it or thinks much
>    about it.
>
>    Distinguishing Technology
>    Now, rendering maps and doing geocoding is not rocket
>science. Hundreds of companies,
>    including the traditional GIS companies, can do it with
>their hands tied behind their
>    server's backs. So why did Google et. al. select this
>small company to power some of the
>    most used mapping portals in the world? One word: speed.
>Telcontar holds 10 patents
>    (and has 21 more applications filed) for technology that
>speeds up these spatial
>    processes. In particular, Telcontar technology compiles
>data in to a single compact,
>    efficiently organized proprietary file format (Rich Map
>Format, RMF) for quick retrieval.
>    NAVTEQ's database for North America in its own format is
>40 GB. It's just 4 GB in RMF.
>    Says Senior Vice President of Strategic Initiatives Bill
>Schwegler, "We can find that needle
>    in a haystack the first time you put your hand in."
>
>    Telcontar is the "Intel Inside" of the portal mapping
>set. And, says Fennell. the question
>    regularly comes up: Why is NAVTEQ or Tele Atlas' name on
>the map and not Telcontar's?
>    The answer is a legal one: NAVTEQ (and the other data
>providers) own a copyright on the
>    data which is shown while Tecontar owns patents on its
>geospatial technology.
>
>    Second Generation Internet Mapping
>    Schwegler is quick to point out that Telcontar is not a
>GIS company. It focuses on
>    providing a geospatial platform that, once customized,
>provides fast answers to large
>    numbers of consumer oriented queries. That's not anything
>like what traditional GIS
>    companies aim to do. As an example, Fennell notes that at
>a telco you are very likely to
>    find traditional GIS managing infrastructure and helping
>to figure out where to place new
>    cell towers or telephone poles. But, when it comes to the
>products offered to consumers
>    for location-based services, an almost completely
>different set of company names appear.
>
>    GIS companies might be considered the "zeroth" generation
>of online mapping. That is,
>    the goal was to print a map. It might be a map that
>requires quite a lot of analysis, but
>    it's essentially a paper map product. "First generation"
>online mapping services, Fennell
>    explains, include the MapQuests and MapPoints of the
>world. Each offers an outsourced
>    service. Companies that don't have the expertise or
>energy or need to "roll their own"
>    mapping solutions are happy users of such offerings.
>That's why when you need to find a
>    Marriott or a Starwood hotel, you'll be using MapPoint or
>MapQuest services, respectively.
>    The mapping is effectively outsourced to Microsoft and
>AOL Time Warner.
>
>    The second generation of online mapping is epitomized by
>Yahoo, which three years ago
>    determined it unwise to tap into competitor AOL Time
>Warner's MapQuest for mapping.
>    With technology from Telcontar (and others) it rolled its
>own solution with its own look
>    and feel, and a quicker response time than the first
>generation offerings. The two
>    companies are not competitors (Telcontar is not a portal
>company and Yahoo! is certainly
>    not a mapping company) which makes for better business
>relations. Moreover, Yahoo and
>    other portals can add on features such as local searches,
>traffic, advertising, as needed.
>
>    The Future and the Past
>    Fennell and Schwegler are most excited about the success
>the company is having in the
>    portal arena. They expect to see more, especially as more
>vertical portals come online for
>    things like travel, automobile navigation, and real
>estate. But they are also looking down
>    the road at mobile offerings. They have the technology
>today, they note, to provide
>    directions via mobile phone faster than in-car solutions.
>Unfortunately, the market is not
>    quite ready for that.
>
>    I had to ask one historical question, one that'd be
>bugging me for a few days. Where did
>    the name of the company come from? Telcontar is the name,
>in Elfin, of (Aragorn) Strider
>    of Lord of the Rings fame. Schwegler's early work was on
>a talking map for the blind called
>    Strider. That work, which formed the basis of the current
>geospatial platform, evolved, and
>    the company created from it was named Telcontar.

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