ABI Research, Gopher Protocol (OTCQB:
GOPH) and Iridium
(NASDAQ:
IRDM) Discuss the Future
and Evolution of GPS and Personal Tracking Devices – “The market is undergoing
a significant transition period” says ABI Research
New Tracking Technologies
can Work with or without GPS
PERRIS, California, Point Roberts WA, - May 26, 2016 - Investorideas.com, a global
news source covering tech stocks interviews Patrick Connolly of ABI Research, Danny
Rittman, CTO of Gopher
Protocol Inc. (OTCQB:GOPH) and Scott Scheimreif, Vice President of Government
programs at Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:
IRDM) to
discuss the future of GPS and tracking technology.
GPS technology was introduced to the U.S. market in
the early 70’s and since then there have been advances in technology that are
leading the evolution of GPS and its tracking capabilities.
According to Patrick Connolly of ABI Research, “We have
just released the latest edition of our personal tracking device report and the
latest numbers put the GPS device market in traditional verticals at
approximately $2 Billion by 2021. The market is undergoing a significant
transition period as traditional markets struggle to find mass-market adoption,
yet new technologies and markets will create a lot of upside potential for
those that move quickly.“
He went on to say, “Despite the huge available
market, the traditional verticals of people and pet tracking have failed to
find the correct distribution and pricing necessary for widespread adoption.
The lone worker vertical continues to grow with a lot of acquisition activity
recently, but we have yet to see the legislation necessary to take this market
into high volumes. It remains low volume-high margin, with the new threat of
companies looking to lower costs to drive market share. Despite this, there is
still a lot of opportunity in this space.”
Guardian
Patch, Gopher Protocol Inc.’s (OTCQB:GOPH) first
exclusively licensed product to bring to the consumer markets, is a unique
location technology that works with or without GPS. Guardian Patch's proprietary technology will track
objects anywhere on Earth. Guardian Patch (http://www.guardianpatch.com/) works via its own private,
secured communication channel/protocol.
The Company just released its product info and FAQ
(http://www.guardianpatch.com/f-a-q/) to consumers stating it will be available in 2017
with an estimated retail price of $39.99.
When asked about their tracking technology and how
it compared to others, the Company’s CTO Danny Rittman said “We are working via
a different concept; a Radio based, secured, private channel. It seems as
the world is going towards IPS (Internal Position System) which is
substantially different from GPS and way more secure. The Guardian Patch may be
considered a pioneer in this IPS technology.”
According
to some experts, IPS technology is on its way and it will be revolutionary. As
referenced in an article in *ExtremeTech, the headline says it all - ‘Think GPS
is cool? IPS will blow your mind’.
Another Company’s technology can also work when GPS
is not available. Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:
IRDM) just
announced the launch of its breakthrough alternative Global Positioning System
(GPS). The Company said the Satellite
Time and Location (STL) is ready for use. Iridium is working with
Satelles, a division of iKare Corporation as its primary technology
partner. The Company’s press release
explains that STL can protect, toughen and augment traditional GPS technology
by providing a position or timing source when GPS signals are degraded or
unavailable.
Scott Scheimreif, Vice President of Government
programs at Iridium told Investorideas.com, “Satelles uses the Iridium® LEO
satellite constellation to transmit specially structured signals to provide position,
navigation and timing data that can penetrate many difficult environments including
deep indoors. Compared to GNSS signals like GPS, Iridium signals have much
higher raw signal power (300 –2400x) as seen by a receiver on Earth, making
them attractive for use in location applications where GNSS signals are obstructed,
for example deep indoors.”
He went on to explain, “Unlike GNSS satellites,
Iridium uses spot beams to focus its transmissions on a relatively small
geographic area. Each satellite supports 48 spot beams. The complex overlapping
spot beams of Iridium combined with the randomized STL broadcasts offer a
unique mechanism to provide location based authentication that is extremely
difficult to spoof. Satelles offers a worldwide Position Navigation and Time
solution that provides a unique capability to perform in GPS/GNSS denied
environments. Additionally the STL signal structure and system design (combined
with the unique capabilities of Iridium) is very difficult to spoof and can be
used to not only calculate user location but prove that location in
applications where position and time assurance is critical.”
Patrick Connolly of ABI Research also notes that, “As
well as the markets discussed earlier, the $2 billion number does not include
areas like GPS-based goods asset tracking, which ABI Research has forecast in
an upcoming report to be billions of dollars by 2021, while BLE Beacon device
shipments are expected to break $1 Billion over the same period. The arrival of
LPWAN and low cost indoor location is also opening up the opportunity for true
end-to-end asset tracking across a much broader range of markets. So in many ways,
the opportunities now are even broader but these new technologies will also
take market share from the traditional GPS device market, and it is up to the
OEMs in this space to ensure they are adapting to these changes.”
“Another key area is how far up the value chain
these companies can move. For example location is just one element of the
overall home care/PERS market. If companies in this space can bring location
innovation combined with the primary needs of the market, there is no reason
they can’t achieve far greater success.”
When asked about wearables impacting the sector,
Patrick said, “Wearables today are not as big a threat as you would imagine,
because many of the applications we have discussed require very specific design
and service features to meet emergency scenarios. Certainly over time, wearables
will eat into the available market, as this market evolves. For example,
health-related applications are expected to represent over a quarter of
wearable shipments in 2020 and this is an area, along with corporate, where
wearables can play a major part. In fact, I think there will be some crossover
in these cases, with a big opportunity for companies to leverage consumer
wearables as a part of their indoor location offering.
Another major differentiator in emergency
applications today for a lot of companies in this space is the availability of
their own Automatic Respond Centre (ARC). Putting GPS into a device is not
enough in many cases, and this is something we have not seen the consumer
wearable market support yet.”
Gopher
Protocol Inc.’s (OTCQB: GOPH)
Guardian Patch does act an
Emergency beacon the company says. “It is simple. Peel the Guardian Patch off
and it acts as an Emergency Beacon, sending out a signal and notifying anyone
who registered your Guardian Patch.”
The Company also recently announced that Dr.
Rittman has applied for a patent for the Guardian-LIFE medical patch
technology.
Bottom line, GPS technology has come a long way
from its inception and just like other technology sectors it is undergoing
massive innovation and disruption that may provide untold benefits and security
to end users.
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*Article
source - http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/126843-think-gps-is-cool-ips-will-blow-your-mind
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