Google Steps Into Another Market: GPS for Phones

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — In a move that is likely to be seen as an attack on yet another industry, Google on Wednesday introduced a free navigation system for mobile phones that offers turn-by-turn directions.Analysts said that Google's free service, if successful, could erode the sales of GPS navigation devices made by companies like Garmin and TomTom and of navigation services offered by cellphone carriers.

"There's no doubt that those guys are going to be disrupted," said Greg Sterling, an analyst with Opus Research.

Google has sowed animosity in various business sectors by giving away products and services that others charge for, from digital voice mail to Web analytics tools.

But during a briefing with reporters on Tuesday, Eric E. Schmidt, Google's chief executive, said he didn't think of the new service as disrupting an industry. Instead, he said it is a windfall for consumers that was made possible by the increasing power of smartphones and the growing ubiquity of Internet access.

"Obviously we like the price of free because consumers like that as well," he said.

After the briefing, Mr. Schmidt said he was not concerned that the new service would create new enemies for Google. "As long as you are on the side of consumers, you'll be fine," he said.

The new service will be available as part of the latest version of Google Maps for Mobile, which will be released along the new version of Google's Android operating for mobile phones, called Android 2.0. Separately on Wednesday, Motorola and Verizon Wireless were to unveil Droid, the first smartphone to be powered by Android 2.0.

Google executives said that they hoped that the new Google Maps for Mobile with navigation capabilities would eventually be available on Apple's iPhone and other devices. But they said it was up to the makers of those devices to decide whether to include the application.

Google said that its turn-by-turn navigation system may be supported by ads in the future.

To be sure, Google's new service, which has long been expected, will not change the market overnight. Currently, 21 percent of American adults own a personal navigation device, and that market is expected to continue growing at 33 percent a year for the next five years, according to a recent study by Forrester Research. However, by 2013, phone-based navigation systems, which are more popular with younger users, will dominate the market, the study said.

Google's entry into the market will accelerate the transition, said Charles S. Golvin, an analyst with Forrester, who conducted the study.

"People are going to be moving to the phone-based solutions, but if it is free, they are going to be moving even quicker," he said.

Currently many personal navigation devices cost from $100 t0 $300. Navigation services on mobile phones offered by carriers like Verizon Wireless or AT&T cost about $10 a month, though they are increasingly being bundled in packages that include other features.

Anticipating the move to smartphones, device makers have been creating applications to run on them. TomTom, for instance, recently introduced an iPhone application that costs $100.

The market for Google's new system will be limited, at least initially, to the number of phones running Android 2.0. What's more, Mr. Golvin said, many consumers prefer dedicated devices to phone-based systems, because they want to be able to carry on phone conversations as they drive.

As mobile applications that exploit a user's location become increasingly important, the underlying mapping data has become a valuable strategic asset. Google recently began creating its own digital maps in the United States, ending a contract with map data provider TeleAtlas, which is owned by TomTom. A year earlier, Google had chosen TeleAtlas to replace Navteq, a map data provider that Nokia acquired for $8.1 billion in 2007. Google and Nokia are rivals in mobile phone operating systems.

Google executives said that the company's navigation service is better than some rival systems because it is always connected to the Internet. It can, for example, provide live updates on traffic conditions and conduct searches for restaurants along the route. It also recognizes voice commands. During a demonstration, a Google executive asked for directions to a "San Francisco museum with a King Tut exhibit" and the service correctly offered directions from Google to the de Young Museum in Golden Gate Park, which is currently hosting a show called "Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs."

A Time For Tigers

The bad news is that we're losing them—fast. The good news is if the world recognizes the inherent worth of wild tigers to nature, people and culture, we can save this irreplaceable icon of our living planet

Tiger experts, government officials, scientists and conservationists are gathering in Kathmandu, Nepal this week to start a new global dialogue on how to save wild tigers as the world prepares to celebrate the Year of the Tiger in 2010. The Kathmandu Global Tiger Workshop is the first in a series of high profile political negotiations culminating in a Tiger Summit in 2010.

"What tigers need is the highest level of political commitment from government leaders in tiger range countries ever seen," said Dr. Eric Dinerstein, Chief Scientist at WWF-US. "WWF is here to be part of the game changing solutions, which will be achieved at meetings such as this one."

WWF is participating in the workshop not only as an important partner of the Government of Nepal but also as a member of the Global Tiger Initiative (GTI) and the International Tiger Coalition. Our goal is to do what it takes to double the current number of wild tigers by 2022, the next Year of the Tiger.

Wild tiger populations are estimated to be as low as 3,200, and while many important successes have been gained by the global conservation community, tiger populations are still in decline.

Starting this week, almost all of the governments of 13 tiger range countries (Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Lao, Malaysia, Myanmar (Burma), Nepal, Russia, Thailand and Vietnam) along with the GTI—a coalition of NGOs and institutions supported by a dedicated secretariat in the World Bank—and the tiger conservation community will pinpoint specific actions needed to shift the present trajectory from extinction towards recovery.

"The situation is urgent for wild tigers but there is hope," said Dr. Barney Long, WWF's Asian Species expert. "Given the chance–enough space, enough prey and enough protection—tigers can recover. "

WWF, the global conservation organization, has worked on tiger conservation for over 40 years and has projects in almost all the tiger range countries.

Armenia Turkey Challenge

  At the end, Armenia and Turkey signed the protocol. According to it, Turkey and Armenia will open the border gates after 2 months of effective date.Also there will be a committee in order to check this process; in the meantime, they will compose a committee in order to solve the 'supposed' Armenian genocide. First of all, this is a very good step to prove all the truths, because both the parts will use their historical sources.

I hope everything will be clear as soon as possible. Maybe that problem had to be solved years ago: it is not a good situation to live problems with border neighbor.

  Some parts of Turkey say that Turkey has changed its point of view against Armenia. According to me no! At least some parts changed but this part is Armenia, especially because of Armenian President.Both the parts want peace but after president had changed, Armenian part became more equable. But this is not a bad improvement, on the contrary that shows they are closer to peace.

  There are so many problems about Armenia: One of them is unemployment. So many people are afraid of it, because after Turkey open its border gates, Armenians will start to come to Turkey just for working. Also there is same problem in Turkey too. That could be but I think this is not a reason to live without peace.

After that, we just have to pray and hope in order to live better days with Armenians; for us and for them too, of course!

WWF: Climate deal must include strong deforestation target

Buenos Aires, Argentina – Global leaders must support a clear and effective deforestation target at climate talks in Copenhagen in December, or they risk crippling the world's ability to control climate change.

As the XIIIth World Forestry Congress came to an end on Friday, WWF called for an ambitious and bold climate deal at COP 15 to give clear guidance and incentives for the forestry sector to do its part in stopping catastrophic climate change and adapt to predicted changes.

To this end, WWF during the Congress proposed a global target of zero net deforestation by 2020 to avoid runaway climate change and stop the current catastrophic trend of species loss.

In particular, negotiators must agree to strong financial and emissions reduction commitments to craft a climate deal that enables developing countries to halt forest loss.

"Setting immediate deforestation targets is a key component of any climate change agreement," said Rodney Taylor, Director of WWF International's Forest program. "If the global deal on climate change ignores the dangers of unchecked deforestation, it will set the world on an accelerated path to savage climate change."

Despite conservation efforts, global deforestation continues at an alarming rate – 13 million hectares per year, or 36 football fields a minute. It generates almost 20 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions and halting forest loss has been identified as one of the most cost-effective ways to keep the world out of the danger zone of runaway climate change.

"A zero net deforestation by 2020 target will set the scale and urgency needed to gather the political will to stop forest loss," Taylor said.

WWF will continue to advocate for a strong deforestation target to be included in relevant international treaties and agreements, including in the Convention on Biological Diversity and COP 15.

"WWF received strong feedback at the Congress from various sectors, including governments, other NGOs, and the private sector to support our target on deforestation," said Gerald Steindlegger, WWF International's Forest Manager on Global Policy.

Many developing countries already are adopting major deforestation policies that mirror WWF's call for zero net deforestation by 2020.

On Wednesday, government representatives from Argentina and Paraguay pledged during a special ceremony co-hosted by WWF and its partner organization Fundacion Vida Silvestre at the Congress to work towards zero net deforestation in the Atlantic Forest, and to implement a package of measures that include national legislation to enforce those commitments.

The Atlantic Forest initially spanned 500,000 square kms, shared between Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay. However, only 7.4 percent of the forest is left today – or about 35,000 square kilometers, making it one of the most threatened and fragmented subtropical forests in the world.

Meanwhile, the Brazilian government already has established a zero deforestation target by 2010 for the Atlantic Forest. Brazil also has pledged to establish protected areas covering at least 10 percent of the forest.

This year, the World Forestry Congress brought together more than 4,000 participants in Buenos Aires, Argentina.