Traffic.com Gets Patent for New Traffic Display on GPS
Traffic.com announced that it has been issued a patent for animated display of real-time traffic flow on maps. The patent applies to a graphical representation of a roadway system which depicts animated traffic flow. This will be interesting to see how far "Animated" goes; does it mean moving and alive, or does it mean changing in real-time. If it means the latter, then some current systems on GPS units might be covered by this patent. The third claim on the patent actually covers color coding of roadways, which is exactly what the current systems do.
From their press release:
"This patented technology is integrated across Traffic.com's proprietary traffic data platforms including NeXgen™, an integrated, real-time television graphics system; Jam Cast™, an automatically-updating, digitally-managed traffic content solution for wireless devices and the broadcast digital tier; Traffic.com Data Services, specialized traffic feeds designed for flexible application development for in-vehicle navigation systems, mobile devices, and voice applications; and its Web Content solutions."
In a statement that is loaded and targeted at Inrix's release that they have superior "data" and coverage vs. Traffic.com's. It seems that Traffic.com is firing back a salvo in the traffic wars:
"Traffic.com is a pioneer in the visual interpretation and delivery of dynamic traffic data," said Joseph Reed, chief information officer, Traffic.com. "We have set the standard by which others compare themselves. Traffic.com proves that the key to a total traffic solution is not only having superior data, but also the advanced processes for quality assurance and the ability to deliver the information in valuable and compelling ways."
To me, it seems that having superior data is a good start to a superior product. But I agree, you have to wrap that superior data in an experience that is compelling and easy to use in order to make it useful. Should be interesting to see if the implementations of animated traffic are useful and superior or if it's eye candy that gobs down the interface and doesn't do much past color coding of roadways which for the time being seems pretty understandable.
Read More in: GPS News | Traffic News
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Posted by Scott Martin at October 4, 2006 12:15 PM
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