This is a great step forward in making Satellite Navigation work harder to please us. Sat-Nav is still in its infancy in terms of integrating it with other systems and gadgets. It needs a lot more "oomph!" before it can take its rightful place as a "must have" device for a lot of non-tech people who aren't simply in love with "tech-toys" for their own sake.

It can tell me when I am near a MacDonald's..... let's have it tell me if I am near one built on top of an historic site of a battle (and not a battle for extra ketchup!)....

( CHECK OUT MY OWN IDEA @ http://www.cambrianh...er/ideas-id/EmAM4rv/ )

Good up to date POI (points of interest) are very important to the navigation industry. There may be buyers of such information in the market.

I real future with this is GPS enabled cell phones. Something is happening and on the fly you track it. ie a traffic accident.

Yup!
The cool thing about this is if kinds used it on a field trip they can learn all kinds of neat stuff about the grounds they walk on. This is a great way for foreigners/travellers to learn a new culture quickly. You may consider the GPS function providing event information in say a 5 mile radius or so.

I like this idea a lot, so much so I started something similar with google maps... more of a "virtual tour" if you like. However I hated listening to the sound of my own voice when refining the recordings and wasn't going to pay an actor/someone else to do it.

If your looking to start up on the project front drop me a line and we can swap notes on what we've learnt so far.

yeah its interesting because its more visual.
As Coda says, in mobile phones it works, ok but its a payment mode and people are not used to yet or doesnt feel conident about it
-at least in Spain-
it would be great to implement it

hey but just one thing
Im afraid the EU (European Union) has WIP about Sat-Nav's and car-safety; the first tests speak of the potential distraction of a voice giving instructions while driving; also about contradictory direction and more
I cant verify the data, havent
any reference yet :/

I had a very similar idea a while back only it just involved podcasting. I called it podcaching (podcasting meets geocaching) http://www.andrewwoo...idea-podcaching.html

Interesting. Agree great idea for sports addicts on the go.

Some of the GoogleEarth popular sites are getting really cluttered as people enthusiastically post their favourite places & notes on them.

I love GoogleEarth, maps, etc., and I like your idea.

I think you could differentiate by coming up with a really good filter so that the guys who are looking for McDonald's don't have to waste time looking at not-McDonald's.

There are many great spinoffs and refinements - suggest you make this into a business and start prioritizing what you want to develop first.

I love geography ;-) so YAY that a geo-idea has made it this far.

I think the voice-over would be key here, especially if you have to make quick updates as the POI's change. You might pitch it to actors wanting to break into the voice over market as a training ground, and a way to get their names out quickly.

I would do voice-overs for that if you were interested. :)

Wow! It looks like we have a lot of community support for this project. Points of Interest (POI) as supplied by members will be huge. I registered a domain name for this: localsynch.com. I hope I win so I can use some of the talented people from this community to build this project. It has mass appeal, the industry is just starting to take off (GPS) and there isn't anyone doing this right now. Thank you for all your support!

This is a great idea. I would use it and as GPS gets more into mainstream (as it's started to do), this is the next big thing. I hope the community agrees because POIs for GPS just aren't that useful right now without the kind of information your site could provide.

Thank you Mills. There a lot of applications and there would be plenty of sponsor opportuntities. This may be the answer to local advertising.

I wish this was avaialbe NOW! I travel regularly and have taken a cross-country road trip and had to rely on the outdated roadside signs for town history, upcoming events, Points Of Interest and most importantly good eats. I say DO IT SQUEEKY!

If my understanding is correct, with this concept, National Parks (and any POI) could have 'self-directed' tours, either on foot or auto, supplying as much detailed or as little information as the explorer desired. GREAT IDEA!

Yes, that is correct. You could have self-guided tours from your favorite content providers. Plus, advertisers would pay to have you listen to their short message.

I think this would be GREAT! I would love to have this while traveling! It would be like having a "local" with you to let you know the best joints to hang out, the places to see, the best places to eat! It would be like having your own little friend in your pocket!!!! You can never beat the advice from some of your fellow travelers.

This would be great. When we travel we are always looking for a resturant to go to, and woundering what they have on there menu and how good it is. Squeaky, you have come up with something everbody will need!

Thank you bug! Please be sure and vote.

Good idea. Great for history buffs. Better than trying to stop to read weathered markers and signs. Get it going soon, I'm planning a Route 66 road trip.

I like the user generated content nature of this idea and the flexibility of creating new stuff. The good and bad about this product is it is as good or bad as the content. Once contributors added good content to it and create a sense of community around it, it may be hard (I am not sure yet) to compete against it.

OK, after thinking about this idea for a minute, I can see some weakness but it is definitely still a good idea. Got my vote for sure.

If you are going to research and download for an area you PLAN to visit you may as well read restaurant reviews etc and bookmark / book those you like.

I like the tour downloads idea, but the reviews make more sense to me as a dynamic service where when hungry / bored / tired etc. you get location specific user generated content when you ping a server with your location.

Or where you download a regional index into your GPS, that automatically displays data avaliability on the GPS so as you approach a location a symbol / symbols would display related to the information avaliable which you could then choos to download by GPRS/3G or via a free wi-fi point (Highlighted on the GPS map of course!).

This could be a killer app for the new generation of mobile phones with GPS (eg Nokia N95). I cannot imagine that Nokia and the mobile networks themselves are not workiing on their own offerinigs so the quicker we can get a prototype up and running,the better.

Although this is a great idea, it's been done. Check out these sites:

http://www.poi-factory.com http://www.gps-waypoints.net/gps http://www.gps-poi-us.com http://www.gps-data-...m/pda-gps-navigation

I just don't see how this idea is any better than what is already available!

I loved this idea for selfish reasons... wine tasting! Having GPS data for a wine region would be fantastic... it could have wine reviews, tasting room reviews, restaurant reviews, and maybe "true" driving times between places...

While it seems like a good idea there are other sites already doing this. IE:

http://www.poi-factory.com/
http://www.gps-waypoints.net/gps
http://www.gps-poi-us.com

Really for my husband and I we likely would not use the GPS so much. There is something to be said about the knowledge that a human tour guide has to be to set the stage for the site. Physical presence is a big part of human experience.

Thank you for your comments. I think that competition is good and shows that the idea has merit. Why didn't Google stop when they learned that Yahoo! and MSN had search engines? Given the adoption trend, I expect an explosion is about to take place with GPS. I think our community could create a more compelling, user friendly and otherwise powerful site than is currently out there. I think it probably near impossible to find an example of any of any of the ideas that have been implemented by this community that doesn't have competition in some form or another. Cheers!

I This is simply the new style of travel guides. Please make sure to keep the paid for content out (I know you want to make money somehow but please keep the independence as long as you can. What safeguards do you have that restaurant and hotel owners won't submit/upload their positive reviews?

A couple of people have pointed out sites that offer a similar service, based strictly on POI files. The idea here seems to be to offer audio and video files linked to GPS locations. I have no idea how you would do video (i.e. - how GPS devices handle or accept video), Googles ad approach seems to be very much audio-based. http://blogs.zdnet.c...micro-markets/?p=131

To answer Matthias's suggestion, I agree, we need to have a "paid" section and a "non-paid" section. We would also hav "professional" content. The appeal to "paid" references is that this affords them the ability to do "local" advertising. But instead of just a POI, perhaps we could have a commercial come up during some of the audio content. But ultimately, POI's from local restraunts as long as they are properly categorized may be something very desirable.

Thanks for your comments.

I like this.

It would go well with my Courier Business idea, which uses real-time GPS data to optimise the delivery network and maximise pricing for my company-to-be (see http://www.cambrianh.../ideas-id/qaBArCq/).

Great Idea - Now can this be added to a cell phone so you can stop - get out of the car and tour the area! I can see this as an idea that could incorporate content from Wikipedia or Google Search - maybe the next big thing!!

Squint: Yes it can. I could put together a prototype for Nokia N95 using existing POI data within a few weeks.

Squeaky, I totally agree with your take on competition. Just b/c other people are doing the same or a similar thing doesn't mean you should give up. Find a way to do it differently, better.

I can't wait to see this come to life. It will take a community and it will take strategic relationships with content providers and manufacturers. What is important here is the potential for return-- there are lots of really big companies that would be willing to buy a company like this.

This would be great. I'd love to be on a road trip and have my nav system point out content I'd be interested in. It would make road trips so much more interesting.

This idea is GOLD and the best I've seen in a long time. I travel quite a bit and when in a new place, would absolutely use your GPS system - Just to know where to find good eateries, typical local specialties restaurant, arts, cultural events... Your idea would take my traveling experience to a whole new level... The applications are endless.

This would be neat. I hate going places and trying to eat at a restaurant other than a fast food chain, then I end up disappointed cuz I paid too much and the food was louzy. Every town has it's little in's and out's. It would be nice to have the knowledge before you find out stuff for yourself, the HARD way!

Wow! This could be so cool. My brother and I recently took a road trip that took us many places in small scary towns (now I know why so many scary movies are filmed in Texas. I did actually like Texas). I would have preferred not to have to ask to toothless lady at the gas station where a good place to eat at was. I am a bit of a history buff, and I think it would be great to get some basic information on a town that I travel thru. I would think having an option to get the long or the short version would be a must have. It would be great if this could include information on speed traps or potential dangerous sections of roads with alternate routes. Maybe the voiceover could be your spouses? voice and you could call it the Nag-i-gator.

What a great concept. I sure would use it. This makes perfect sence.

It is tough to pick between, "GPS location member supplied content/POI" and "U decide 4 me". I like both and kinda expected it will come down to these two.

Congratulations to both for their great ideas.

For the final round, my pick is GPS.

I love the wonderful potentials and possibilities of this idea. At the same time, there are many many challenges (software or system architecture, user interface design, community building, etc. etc.) Missing one or more of these may lead to a failed product. But I love the potentials and some of the ground breaking things that can be accomplished with this idea/product. So it has my final vote.

Best of luck.

Congratulations.

Possibly you could coordinate with local newspapers on this.

Digital Road Entertainmnet

I was involved in a similar project however it failed to take ground due to lack of funding. If you need help or consulting contact me

Kind regards

Mikael

I posted a similar idea called "Crowdsourced Audio Tours" about a year ago, when Cambrian first started and it didn't get very far.

http://www.cambrianh...er/ideas-id/bCr1dTc/

But it seems there is a lot more support for the idea now that technology has improved.

I have moved the idea in a different direction until GPS gains steam. I figure more people have mobile phones with web access. So I started a project/business on Cambrian to build audio comments through a blog. If you like the idea of location-based media, please sign up...

http://www.cambrianh...iness/view/oggtours/

http://oggtours.com

Squeaky, I just spoke to Paul (fish99) and he suggested looking into KnowledgeWhere as they offer (for money) what I think is essentially needed (for free) in terms of location tracking and GPS data consolidation. I'll try talk to someone from there and see if they have any thoughts on offering up public access to tracking data (of willing participants).

Even an SMS delivery mechanism would still depend on a server monitoring mobile movement to see when people are close enough to a given restaurant before firing the pertinent SMS.

They have a GPS club,,,,,california is one place I have heard of it, ,they hide objects in locations then post the co-ordinates, the aim is to see first hand the beautiful scenery,,,,,,,and to show that you made the trip you take a pic of the object, a great way to share natures best places. you use your GPs to find the exact spot. its been popular for years if you can afford a GPs.

this is great! I love it. I do geoaching. So this is good.