Apple is working on a technology that will couple real-time parking availability information with other parameters to offer users an intelligent parking availability information.
In a patent titled “PARKING & LOCATION MANAGEMENT PROCESSES & ALERTS ” filed with the US Patent and Trademark Office, the company talks of a technology that will consolidate information from a variety of sources – like the current location of the different buses in your route, the location of the nearest available taxi, streets where a sweeping schedule is on, parking lot availability, Parking cost at different areas, etc. to deliver information to the user that will help them decide where to park their cars.
This is an “intelligent” technology where the system will deliver the information based on user preferences (like how much they are willing to walk from the parking lot), current weather information (so that a parking space that is more expensive, but closer to office may chosen during bad weather days). The inventors write
“a general profile may indicate a user would be willing to walk 0.5 miles to save $5.00 in parking. However, an inclement weather profile for the user may prioritize avoidance of walking, even if parking was more expensive. A higher security profile may indicate less walking. A profile itself can be selected based on defined user parameters, as well as information retrieved from databases, such as weather-related information from Destination interface, which may access destination weather information stored in destination database.”
It is interesting that a lot of companies are working on GPS-based Parking Information technology. You might remember the patent filed by Yahoo recently where the company had talked of a similar technology.
What do you make of such a system? Exciting? Let us know in the comments.
4 replies on “Apple Developing Own GPS Based Parking Information Service?”
Exciting Technology BUT it will be dependent on Google Map, then google will evolve to Google God…
praise google..
That’s unlikely. Google is now Apple’s sworn enemy and Apple wouldn’t want Google Maps to be part of it. In fact, Apple has already acquired a Maps technology company PlaceBase which will be made use in this technology. Probably.
This would exclude Google as Google is NO WHERE NEAR this level of functionality in their maps services or level of overlay technologies. This patent comes directly from Apples Baseplace acquisition. Baseplace is leagues ahead of Google in the mapping game as well as mapping and overlay technologies. The only reason Google Maps is even a household name is because #1 They were a big name due to their search engine first and #2 Their Maps services are free. Baseplace had far superior technology and implementation but it wasn’t free therefore it was used by many businesses and even the government but most consumers knew nothing of it. Apple purchased them 1 year ago and now BOOM you have very amazing map/GPS based patents… no coincidence.
GPS Systems are becoming significantly better daily – it really is just incredible exactly what tech may reach at this point!