Palm Introduces New Treo Traffic Application

Palm today announced Traffic for Treo Smartphones. The wireless traffic application helps users make commute decisions quickly with interactive maps and incident information located conveniently on their Palm Treo 600 or Treo 650 smartphones. Traffic for Treo Smartphones débuts in 10 of the most traffic-congested markets in the United States: Atlanta, Baltimore/DC, Chicago, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, San Diego, San Francisco and Seattle.

According to the 2005 Urban Mobility Report, traffic congestion occurs for longer portions of the day and delays more travelers than ever before in 2003, 51 urban areas experienced more than 20 hours of delay per rush-hour traveler. Informing drivers about their options can contribute to more efficient travel. Unlike most traffic information sources, Traffic for Treo Smartphones gives users both visual and textual information when they want it, on the routes that matter to them and updated as often as every five minutes.

The data for Traffic for Treo comes from Metrocommute, which develops advanced travel information systems to deliver enhanced traffic information. Metrocommute begins with sensor and incident information from local Departments of Transportation and complements it with information collected by its operations staff, and extra cameras and speed detectors at major "choke points," such as bridges and tolls. Traffic for Treo Smartphones let users do the following:

  • See primary, secondary and tertiary roads for specific metro areas to make decisions on different commute options;
  • Customize the application with a bookmark to quickly jump to a particular location;
  • Move the map in any direction to see the geographic area that is most important to them, and zoom in on a particular area;
  • Tap on a blinking traffic alert to get a dialog box with more information -- traffic speed and incident details, if available, such as accidents, construction and stalled cars;
  • Quickly understand the severity of an incident with red (most severe), orange (medium) or yellow (moderate) flashing alerts; and
  • Subscribe to multiple cities for access to convenient, up-to-date traffic information on business and vacation travel.

Traffic for Treo Smartphones is available immediately for download. A 14-day free trial is available, after which users will be prompted to go to the Traffic for Treo Smartphone web page to sign up for a subscription plan. Plans start at $4.99 per month for one city. Customers can choose two cities for $7.99/month, or all cities for $14.99/month.

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A little limiting.

jamesgood72 @ 7/27/2005 2:31:33 PM # Q
The pricing plan seems limiting to me. I would probably pay for it if it included my city, and I could access any of the other cities, for $5 a month.

Seemed a little slow on my T650 too.

Other than that - nice idea, just looks like it needs a little work.

-James.

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No one is going to pay $$$ for this!

The_Voice_of_Reason @ 7/27/2005 10:08:44 PM # Q
Get serious. Subscription software doesn't sell. People are spoiled by freeware and almost-freeware on Palms and will be too cheap to pay for traffic updates. Especially when they could just point their smartphone's browser here:

http://www.sigalert.com/map.asp?Region=Bay+Area


Solly Cholly.


------------------------
Sony CLIE UX100: 128 MB real RAM, OLED screen. All the PDA anyone really ever wanted.
------------------------

The Palm Economy = Communism™
The Great Palm Swindle: http://www.palminfocenter.com/comment_view.asp?ID=7864#108038

RE: No one is going to pay $$$ for this!
lemketron @ 7/27/2005 11:06:32 PM # Q
Have you actually _tried_ loading (let alone interacting with) that URL on a Treo?

I'm willing to believe there are people who would pay $5/month to be able to have an app that makes this information faster to obtain, and thus usable at all, on their mobile device.

Haven't you heard? Millions of people pay $2.95 for a 15-second ringtone, when they could instead buy the whole song for $.99. ;-)

RE: No one is going to pay $$$ for this!
The_Voice_of_Reason @ 7/27/2005 11:39:16 PM # Q
I use a UX50 + Bluetooth phone. (Returned my Handspring Treo 600 a LOOOOONG time ago.) The rollovers showing traffic speed don't work with NetFront (the best PalmOS browser available) 3.1 - probably because it's choking on JavaScript - but the details on accidents, etc are available. These usability problems could easily be fixed if the site admins want to or if PalmOS got a better browser (Opera?).


------------------------
Sony CLIE UX100: 128 MB real RAM, OLED screen. All the PDA anyone really ever wanted.
------------------------

The Palm Economy = Communism™
The Great Palm Swindle: http://www.palminfocenter.com/comment_view.asp?ID=7864#108038

RE: No one is going to pay $$$ for this!
hkklife @ 7/28/2005 12:59:29 AM # Q
But Voice.....remember what the Mighty Kirvin said---and, I think, Ed @ Brighthand---Opera/FireFox et al will never come to Palm OS because it's not "worth it"!?!



RE: No one is going to pay $$$ for this!
jamesgood72 @ 7/28/2005 5:11:04 PM # Q
Subscription software can definitely work - just ask your cell phone company (would you like the unlimted traffic report plan with that sir?).

That website you posted is very nice, but it's no good for the Treo! One thing I've learned over the past few weeks, after my girlfriend has got a Treo - we techies spend an inordinate amount of effort getting our Palms to do the cool things they can do. It needs to be easy. If that Palm app, with a single click from the launcher could do what that website does, optimised for Treo control, on a Treo sized screen - it could be a winner. As it stands, I don't think it is.

-James.

RE: No one is going to pay $$$ for this!
The_Voice_of_Reason @ 7/29/2005 3:51:41 AM # Q
Nope. Users are spoiled and will balk at subscription fees. Just ask Vindigo. At this stage PDA browsers should be capable of rendering almost everything that desktop browsers can, so there's no excuse for not being able to access all the features of the site I mentioned. In fact, I'll bet Opera and NetFront for Windows Mobile will allow JavaScript to operate...


------------------------
Sony CLIE UX100: 128 MB real RAM, OLED screen. All the PDA anyone really ever wanted.
------------------------

The Palm Economy = Communism™
The Great Palm Swindle: http://www.palminfocenter.com/comment_view.asp?ID=7864#108038

RE: No one is going to pay $$$ for this!
lemketron @ 7/29/2005 3:27:42 PM # Q
>Nope. Users are spoiled and will balk at
>subscription fees. Just ask Vindigo.

Actually, you're not comparing apples and apples: I think Vindigo is useful for a certain set of people (like people who travel, perhaps), and real-time traffic information is useful for anyone (in one of the supported geographies) who has to deal with (or better yet, try to avoid) traffic on a daily basis.

Actually, I wonder if you even live (and drive) in an area where traffic is an issue. If not, then I totally understand your position thinking there's no value here, but please at least consider that others may not agree.

>At this stage PDA browsers should be capable of rendering
>almost everything that desktop browsers can, so there's
>no excuse for not being able to access all the features
>of the site I mentioned.

How about this: The site you mentioned is designed for a much bigger screen, and a computer with a mouse where rollover popups make sense. Not so on a small-screen handheld.

>In fact, I'll bet Opera and NetFront for Windows Mobile
>will allow JavaScript to operate...

Perhaps, but if you're trying to make that all work while driving, then you could well end up being the traffic accident I'm trying to avoid. :-/

RE: No one is going to pay $$$ for this!
joad @ 7/30/2005 7:19:50 PM # Q
I've been with Vindigo from the beginning (when it was free), even buying the subscription with little resistance because of it's extremely useful 'directions' locater, the simple and quick interface for movies and reviews, , plus occasionally useful restaurant and bathroom finder. $25 is a little stiff to me, but doable. Complaints: RAM hog and FAR too many ads.

Now here is Palm asking $60 bucks a year for a one-trick-pony that gives me traffic conditions. Whoopie.

I guess it's useful to SOME people, but my RAM is so valuable in the 650 that I should charge THEM to install their software. If Palm had MUCH more content in there, or even better integrated this into Vindigo 3 or something THEN I'd look at it. But for now, why bother.

I spent that $60 bucks a couple months ago on the cradle that should have been included with my $600 phone in the first place.....

Vindigo Schmindigo
The_Voice_of_Reason @ 7/30/2005 10:00:51 PM # Q
I've been with Vindigo from the beginning (when it was free), even buying the subscription with little resistance because of it's extremely useful 'directions' locater, the simple and quick interface for movies and reviews, , plus occasionally useful restaurant and bathroom finder. $25 is a little stiff to me, but doable. Complaints: RAM hog and FAR too many ads.

Vindigo was one of my favorite apps when it first came out (as freeware). Great content (Zagat restaurant reviews, movies, directions, etc). It was quite impressive having all that on my Palm IIIx. Then they started losing some of the better content + at the same time charging for the service and increasing the ads. I went back to using Showtimes and the standalone version of Zagat. Now that wirelessly connected PDAs are here, Vindigo would need to sweeten the deal by dropping the subscription model before I ever went back.


------------------------
Sony CLIE UX100: 128 MB real RAM, OLED screen. All the PDA anyone really ever wanted.
------------------------

The Palm Economy = Communism™
The Great Palm Swindle: http://www.palminfocenter.com/comment_view.asp?ID=7864#108038

Reply to this comment

Great!

jamesgood72 @ 7/28/2005 5:32:47 PM # Q
Way to go Palm! My already excellent Treo now feels a little faster, has more memory available. The update went smoothly. Couldn't ask for more.

Verichat, Chatteremail, Blazer, Tealauto, Planetarium (my main apps) are all working with no problems.

-James.

RE: Great!
joad @ 7/30/2005 7:29:52 PM # Q
Adding this program gave you MORE RAM...? Surely you jest!

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