With the impending release of the first phone to feature Google’s Android platfrom, we’re beginning to see a few of the first apps that will be available through Google’s Android Market. Among these is SugarTrip, an application that takes an innovative approach to measuring street traffic by taking advantage of the GPS units that will be integrated into most Android phones.
As users drive their cars, SugarTrip will measure how quickly they’re traveling and report their speeds back to a central server. The company says that while the traffic updates available on sites like Google Maps do an acceptable job, they are only useful on interstate highways and rely on computer models based on only a few datapoints. Conversely SugarTrip will be able to provide data on far more streets with many more data points (assuming the application can establish a significant user base).
Users will be able to monitor their trips online, where they can see when they hit traffic and can plan better routes for future trips accordingly. The app will also allow users to view routes taken by others, and to pinpoint their car on a map when they park so that they can find it later (there’s a similar application available on the iPhone that does this).
The company is promoting SugarTrip as a “green” app, as it should help cut back on pollution if it keeps cars from sitting in traffic. The application will be free, with plans to monetize eventually using geo-targeted advertising. SugarTrip is hoping to have the application ready for the G1’s launch on October 22, but will be available soon thereafter if it doesn’t make the cut.
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This sounds neat, as I always check Gmaps on my phone for traffic on the freeways before leaving the house.
It sounds like it works very similar to the way the Dash Express checks traffic.
This is awesome! My only concern is the effect it has on the battery.
Great use of the GPS. I’m sure an iPhone app is not far behind… how do they know if the user is walking or in a car, though? Also, in a car, the GPS probably doesn’t work.
The field units reporting traffic speed to the central server is one of Dash’s core features, too. Dash always has a signal (in theory), though, because it is mounted to the dash or windshield.
“I’m sure an iPhone app is not far behind”
I know I’m going to get sick of seeing this comment once Android gets a foothold in the market. Android is to iPhone what PC is to Mac.
That’s not a G1! Looks better, though!
Sick! Can’t wait to see what other features SugarTrip adds to make my life easier.
sweet a useful smart app
I always thought this would be cool. In my implementation, the geo-targeting would deduce the lane you are in and make suggestions of when to merge. If you coupled this with a strong PR campaign you could cut down immensely on traffic by eliminating the bottlenecks caused by people slamming on their brakes to merge at inopportune times.
Resolution almost certainly wouldn’t be good enough to reliably figure out what lane you’re in.
Very cool, but why isn’t this just built into Google Maps for Mobile across all devices?
Kinda seem a little like a super big brother. It would help in automating freeways but at the same time you could track your kids or just about anyone with the app on their phone.
This is one of the coolest uses of GPS on NextGen phones I’ve seen! I think this is a very ambitious “green project” and I hope it gets a ton of adoption. If it keeps getting this kind of coverage, and it does get enough adoption its amazing how much carbon emissions could be reduced. Good luck guys!
@Manuel: I’m hoping they were smart enough to bake in some kind of anonymization. After all, they don’t need to know who you are for the information to be meaningful.
The design of this application looks very similar to http://www.runkeeper.com.
Runkeeper provides a similar feature and is available today in the AppStore. I’m surprised it wasn’t mentioned.
Great, now the government can know exactly where i am at all times. Why dont we just give away the constitution while were at it.
For all of you who say “the data will be anonymous there is no threat to personal liberty” and other statements. The microchip in your car thats sole purpose was to tell car manufactures data about airbags is now being used against people in court. Cell phones are being used to triangulate positions of people close to where crimes took place.
You may be thinking ,.. well those are used to insure freedom by using technology to catch criminals. That is all fine and good until you start a political protest. All of a sudden uncle sam (in this case George Bush et al) all have a record of every single person protesting. If Nixon were still around he would be foaming at the mouth.
Interesting. I reckon a lot of frustrated drivers will gladly give up a bit of location information for a quicker route to work. I mean, how difficult would it be to ascertain where a worker is located during rush hour? Obviously somewhere along the route from home to the office or wherever… and you can turn it off when you like.
‘Green App’ - a markerting term we will probably see a lot of in the future..
On another note: If mobile phones are becoming the future of personal computing, then Android could the future of operating systems. And it’s open source. Which is totally awesome.
Oh please, the internet is so god damn concerned about their privacy. I wonder why. As long as one can turn the gps tracker off, I see no harm in having such an app. If you are planning a protest, just TURN YOUR GODDAMN PHONES OFF..
Plus, why is this any different than the location based services Verizon/ATT/Every other goddamn wireless provider offers (turned on automatically)?
Quit your whining. Don’t use this product if you don’t want to.
As long as the information is anonymous meaning they only log data points and not routes. If they keep data of routes, then it would be easy to trace back to specific house holds. They have to break up the routes into many parts (for direction of traffice + speed measurment purposes). Routes can be keep on the phone but not their server.
Data must be logged with ip, provider, mac address, and/or tel number excluded out.
There are other ways to do this but I dont want to rack my brain too much.
Hmmm, I still think IPhone kicks Andriod to teh curb!
Jiff
http://www.privacy-center.be.tc
How is this news? Check out the Dash GPS.
Pretty neat.
as mentioned before this is how the Dash Express works already.
I’d love to see this app running on any GPS equipped phone (Windows Mobile, iPhone, Nokia as well as the G1) reporting movement/traffic speed back and a common shared analysis combinging SugarTrip, Dash and other existing traffic services to really provide some value…
“innovative approach”?
Wake up. Dash has been doing this for a year now.
Cool! Now I can’t even take a dump without big Bro knowing where I am and how long it took. Wake up! your being watched 24/7 is that really worth 5 less minutes in traffic?