GeoSpot Geo-Context Information Service

GPS Support is Here!

2010-02-14T09:05:00.000-08:00

The new release of GeoSpot service for mobile web can take advantage of position service (GPS) if available. (The mobile browser must support Javascript and W3C GeoLocation specification to reading your current geographical location.) If GeoSpot can read your GPS, it will display the message "Determine Current Location...". You will be prompt to give GeoSpot permission to read the position on your device. After a successful read, GeoSpot's home page will display the message "Current GPS/GeoLocation Acquired!" and now the search result will center around you!

Currently this capability is tested on iPhone 3G/S, but expected to work on newer Blackberry models, and Palm Pre. As we get our hands on other devices and do more testing, we will update results here. If you have one of newer smart phones that can support GPS from web browser, please test it and let us know the your experience by sending an email to "support@geospot.com".

GeoSpot is looking into supporting Geo Location on Netbooks and regular laptops in the near future.

Show More the Better!

2010-02-03T00:37:00.000-08:00

Typical directory lists 10 businesses per page. This is good enough most of the time. But what if you want to see more options, especially all on a map (that meet your criteria rather than from sponsors)? Now you can! See proof below:

After GeoSpot displays the search result, you can change number of "POIs on Map" to a number greater than the default (10). You can also expand the range of the search result greater than the default 10 miles. After refreshing the result list, you can scroll through up to 200 listings on the left, and up to 200 POIs on the map. More may be better!

GeoSpot Places

2009-09-01T14:01:00.000-07:00

GeoSpot now has dedicated home pages for countries, states/provinces, and cities. At the city level, there will be a highlight of major categories that are of interest to users. These include restaurants, beauty services, auto repair, and retail shopping. Right now they are just a list but will be fun to watch the dynamic change when reviews are open to public! Also at the city level is where current weather is displayed, along with link to Wikipedia for information. Nearby cities are also listed. You'll notice that nearby cities are also listed on individual business's information page.

Here's link to USA's Home Page.

And here are some sample links to San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Miami, and Honolulu.

Many countries, states, and cities have nice descriptions courtesy of our most loyal content contributors and GeoSpot employees. We welcome your description writeup! Send them to "support@geospot.com".

infoUSA partners with GeoSpot

2009-04-15T12:00:00.000-07:00

Today infoUSA announces a partnership agreement with GeoSpot. This is great news for existing infoUSA customers to include GeoSpot's enhanced directory content. You can find a copy of infoUSA's press release on GeoSpot's corporate website.

Nice Video Introduction

2009-03-15T09:45:00.000-07:00

Throughout February and March, a mini-documentary on GeoSpot's service is aired throughout United States on public television. If you missed it, you can watch it here.

What's Up with High Definition?

2009-02-04T16:41:00.000-08:00

High Definition TV (HDTV)
According to Nielsen Co. estimates, more than 6.5 million U.S. households still are not ready. Today, Congress has announced the extension of the deadline from February 17 to June 12.

High Definition Local Search™
GeoSpot will offer this new fine-grained, "high-resolution" information service, appropriately called “High Definition Local Search™” (also “HD Local Search™” or HDLS™) or “Local Search in HD™”. Like HD video broadcasts, data used for local search must be "re-mastered" or “up-converted” to high definition so that a HD local search engine can use it to search for and find information that is more granular than what is currently available.

Stay tuned for this exciting release coming in 2010!

Challenges of the Local Search - The Good, The Bad, and The Disconnected

2009-01-31T11:59:00.000-08:00

I have borrowed this sound bite line (with some modifications) from an article I read recently - "Left in the dark: How search fails at mobile local".

The author set out to buy a new headlight bulb for his BMW, and used the mobile local search applications from Google, MSN and Yahoo to find a store to buy it from. Needless to say, his experience was less than great. Stores found were not the closest ones, phones were disconnected, and many stores that he knew carry the product were not listed in search results.

In the post-iPhone (and Android, Blackberry, and soon Palm Pre) world with numerous free location-based applications with cool UI we tend to forget the two key aspects of a great search: rich data and their structure and sophisticated algorithms to find them.

Existing businesses are missing and closed ones are showing up as in operation. This is of course the nature of the beast - small businesses are being started and shut down so fast, especially in this economically challenging period and keeping up with that is not easy.

But even when the base data are up-to-date, there is simply only limited information to start with. Examples of missing data for up-to-date POIs include lists of services and products provided, operating hours for the business and for its specific services (when is the breakfast served?), and other characteristics like whether my kids will be welcome at that particular place.

The second challenge is creating an efficient way to organize all these data so they can be searched and found. Leading local search services may license a lot of data but they are likely in the format that is not searchable by consumers and to zero in on the target information is very laborious.

Until those issues are resolved, local search will remain a haphazard and often frustrating experience. Which is another way of saying that there is an opportunity for those who can solve these challenges.

Peter Braun

GeoSpot Widget

2008-12-21T23:24:00.000-08:00

Do you want to add GeoSpot local search to your Web site or a Blog?
Just include the following html code:

<div id="geospot-widget02"></div>
<script src="http://www.geospot.com/widgets/geospotWidget02.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
That's it!

You can see it in the right column of this page.

Next time you will want to use GeoSpot, you do not need to go to www.GeoSpot.com (not that we think GeoSpot is THAT hard to remember.)

As always, let us know what you think. Enjoy!

Peter Braun

Some Thoughts on the Developments in LBS Value Chain

2008-12-08T17:38:00.000-08:00

LBS value chain includes carriers, device manufacturers, application developers, and data providers. And the whole value chain is in the state of flux.

Carriers: used to control it all - decided mobile phone specs, what carrier data the apps can access (e.g. location), what apps get on the phones and to their customers (consumers). Now they are fighting to prevent becoming just "pipes", as the Internet ISPs did. iPhone and Android broke their control of phone specs and applications. They still have a lot of power if they decide to use it. For example, by controlling what apps get pre-loaded on phones and by making sure the right and the best apps are developed for their phones, they can assure value is provided to their customers. But the time to do it is limited.

Phone manufacturers: freed to determine their own specs, they are wrestling the control over applications from carriers. But they are also dependent on software application developers to develop for their platform and have to court them aggressively. (PND manufacturers are somewhat different.)

Application providers: The challenge changed from getting in bed with carriers to developing software for myriads of platforms/versions of devices and then market it to consumers. May the upcoming browser-based applications resolve this issue? On the desktop, certain applications are still client(PC)-based but most have moved to browser-based UI, even some heavy apps like SAAS.

Consumers: The ultimate value for consumers is in what they can do and that largely depends on applications. Therefore the devices with best applications and carriers with best devices and applications will win. (Of course, quality / coverage of the network and usability / features of the phone are still critical.)

Where do data providers fit in? Some create original data and others are data aggregators or both. Many LBS applications require data, be it maps, traffic, or POIs. An interesting phenomenon is when an app provider that acquires / aggregates data for its own purpose starts reselling this data to others in the ecosystem.

As (almost) everybody seems to compete with everybody, coopetition is the name of the game. This makes for very interesting times with the economy in doldrums, LBS ecosystem in the flux, and companies trying new business models trying to survive and some out stronger.

Peter Braun

Local Search Domination! - Next Week!

2008-11-24T15:07:00.000-08:00

Hear how local search could be crowned the ultimate money spinner in LBS!

GeoSpot offers a workshop on Local Search 3.0 at
Navigation & Location USA 2008 conference on December 2nd 2008, at Crowne Plaza Hotel, San Jose, CA.

How Deep Is Your Map?
2:45 - 3:15 PM
* See examples of the depth of POI content other than pictures and reviews
* What is Web 3.0 local search/POI filtering technology and why it can be a "killer feature?"
* How to incorporate owner-published data in real-time on your map and search results
* Why an advanced location-based data management platform is key to broaden your LBS offerings?

Peter Braun

2008 Texas Wireless Summit

2008-10-23T16:45:00.000-07:00

Last week, Joe was a panelist on Location Aware Applications at 2008 Texas Wireless Summit (10/14-10/16).

"The rise of location aware services promises to bring with it new applications that will uniquely leverage the distinctive "mobile" characteristic of mobile devices. How will PAN, LAN, and WAN networks work together to enable these services? What type of devices will be able to take advantage of these capabilities and how will they be made available to consumers? What new applications will emerge in the areas of mobile commerce, entertainment, and social media and how will these lead to the consumer adoption and revenue generation opportunities for operators, OEMS, and developers?" (from http://www.twsummit.com/, Location Aware Applications Panel)

Peter Braun

What's New?

2008-10-14T07:56:00.000-07:00

Here we are, with a new update on GeoSpot service.
It’s been a while since the last post on new features but we were not hibernating (though hibernating through the current worldwide financial crisis sounds tempting … )

We have been adding “deepness” to the data and not just open hours, so you can search for “exactly” what you want and get “exactly” that. And we were also expanding geographically. More about it soon …

Peter Braun

Showstoppers Media Event during CTIA Wireless

2008-10-13T07:29:00.000-07:00

Joe and I took part in Showstoppers event during CTIA Wireless in San Francisco. You can listen to Joe here:

GeoSpot to introduce a location-based deep local search

Peter Braun

Speaking … “On Deck: What’s Next in LBS?”

2008-08-13T07:11:00.000-07:00

On July 29, Joe was invited to talk about what makes GeoSpot local search stand out from the field in front of the full auditorium of Bay Area wireless professionals at the Wireless Communications Alliance, Location Based Services event.

Other participating companies included Navteq, Nokia, Google and Yahoo.

Some of the comments:
WCA LBS Event by Eric, NAVTEQ Breakes Attendance Record at LBS SIG Event by Jeff Wagner, Location Based Services, the Good the Bad the Ugly by Deldaix (Just for the curious, we ended up among the "Good".)

Here is the actual video of the presentation.

Peter Braun

GeoSpot Local Search and Exploration Goes Mobile

2008-06-27T19:17:00.000-07:00

And now GeoSpot search for "what is open" is available to mobile phone users!

You can search for businesses that are open now or at a time you want, use contextual navigation to find related POIs, see the location on the map, or simply use the one-click phone dial feature to immediately contact the businesses of interest. Just type in http://www.geospot.com/ on your mobile phone and enjoy GeoSpot on your own device.

We support pretty much any mobile phone that has a browser.
GeoSpot servers will provide the version appropriate for your mobile phone's screen size, whether it is iPhone, Blackberry, or any other.

We have received a great response from users and media and will post some of that here soon.

Peter Braun

GeoSpot Service with Searchable Open Hours Now Covers All of California and Nevada

2008-06-18T16:11:00.000-07:00

The service which lets people search for businesses (restaurants, bars, and others) that are open "now" or at a specified time has been covering the whole of California and Nevada for some time. We just did not announce it and it was brought to our attention that we should not be keeping this "secret".

We started with the San Francisco Bay Area early this year but quickly started receiving requests to add other cities. And so we gradually expanded the "what is open" searchable hours to the rest of California including Tahoe, Greater Los Angeles, San Diego, Sacramento, and other cities and to Nevada including Las Vegas and Reno.
Sounds like places where people either work late or party late.
Thank you for your feedback, keep it comming!

Peter Braun

Preview: GeoSpot Deep Local Search and Exploration Goes Mobile

2008-05-14T18:38:00.000-07:00

...We will be launching Mobile Search soon. Check here frequently for more information...

What is Open After 10PM - GeoSpot Upgrades the Public Beta of Its Deep Local Search and Exploration Web Site

2008-03-26T10:43:00.000-07:00

We just got out a press release showing recent improvements of the search here at prnewswire or you can also see it at our site.

Peter Braun

What Is Open After 10PM – GeoSpot Public Beta

2008-03-12T16:22:00.001-07:00

With GeoSpot, you can find places that are open now or at a specific time (e.g. after 10pm).
But GeoSpot search goes beyond simple "open" and "closed" hours. What if the place offers multiple services and they do not open and close at the same time? In fast food outlets, the drive-thru may be still open while the dine-in has already closed. In supermarkets, the store itself may be open but the bakery department has already closed.

It has been over a month since geospot.com opened for the general public. We have been busy acting on your feedback and making the search more user-friendly and better.

So what is GeoSpot about?
There are many local search web sites, but none lets you search by open hours. They give you a list of places and then have you painfully check them, one by one, to find which ones are open. And they may not find any. We decided to solve this pain:

With GeoSpot, you can find places that are open now, at a specific time (e.g. after 10pm), 24 hours/day or search without specifying hours.

And the results are clear:
- the place is open, - the place is closed. But GeoSpot search goes beyond simple open and closed hours. What if the place offers multiple services and they do not open and close at the same time? In fast food outlets, the drive-thru may be still open while the dine-in has already closed. In supermarkets, the store itself may be open but the Bakery department has already closed. We use for places where some services are available while others are not and for places that will be closing soon. In cases where we do not have hours, we leave the place blank. Those may or may not be open. (We are hard at work to minimize the number of such places.)

Let's see how it works:
For example, are there bars open after midnight, midweek in Palo Alto, CA? Not many, and you can find them easily with our service.

In the evening, Starbucks are gradually closing. Which ones are still open?

Many stores have multiple departments and services and their hours vary. Do you want to find a bakery after 8pm? You may want to check Safeway, it closes late, but is the bakery department still open?

So far, we have focused on the San Francisco Bay Area and the food offerings - stores and restaurants and bars (well, bars are more about drinks...). We want to know how everything works for users before we expand to the rest of the US and other products and services. Tell us what you think at this blog or message us directly.

Have fun with it :)

Peter Braun

Starting the GeoSpot blog

2008-02-27T21:38:00.000-08:00

After spending a long time at our computers behind closed doors in central Fremont (in the Bay Area, California) we are excited to have reached the phase where all this effort will now be put to the use.

The prospect of having real people other than us using our location-based services and making a difference in their day-to-day lives is surely exhilarating. Do we have the right answers? Are we focusing on where it matters the most?

We will use this forum to share with you our thoughts and aspirations about GeoSpot, where we are, what we are working on and where we would like to take it in the future. We plan to keep you posted here about all the exciting new features and capabilities as they will be added. And most importantly, we hope to hear back from you regarding your thoughts, shared or divergent experiences, as well as things that we could do to improve your GeoSpot experience.

We want this blog to be a two-way dialog rather than just a place for announcements. Tell us about your needs and experiences and how we can serve you better.

We will be releasing our service in phases and your opinion will help us to adjust priorities and functionality.

So, thanks in advance for your support and participation in this forum!

Peter Braun