[nfbcs] Fwd: The Seeing Eye GPS app now for sale in the iTunes Apple Store

Jim Barbour jbar at barcore.com
Thu Jul 4 22:05:18 UTC 2013 

John,

Sendero does not own the maps. They are licensing some maps from NavTech, And also using data from foursquare and the open Street map project.

Also, as far as I know, the kapten GPS was never a mainstream product.

Jim
Sent from my iPhone

On Jul 4, 2013, at 6:52 AM, "John G. Heim" <jheim at math.wisc.edu> wrote:

> Garment and Sendero own the maps. Other companies license the maps from them. For example, Freedom Scientific licensed maps for StreetTalk from Sendero.
> 
> It's kind of annoying for me to have written, what?, maybe 40 lines about the size of the market for a GPS app and for you to then just say, the market isn't big enough. I mean, you can disagree with my reasoning but you shouldn't just dismiss it without giving some reasons of your own.
> 
> My reasoning is that if Leader Dogs can get the manufacturer of the Kaptan to modify it for the blind, maybe they can get Garment or Sendero to put out a modified app for the IPod Touch and use it as a replacement for the Kaptan Plus. Why is that such a reach?
> 
> On 07/04/2013 11:04 AM, Jim Barbour wrote:
>> The primary reason the app is this expensive is not the development costs, it's the map licensing costs. I would be very happy if someone like Garman would modify the Navigon app so it was easier for blind folks to use. However, they probably won't, because there is not  a lot of market For this.
>> 
>> Jim
>> 
>> Sent from my iPhone
>> 
>> On Jul 4, 2013, at 5:36 AM, "John G. Heim" <jheim at math.wisc.edu> wrote:
>> 
>>> Well, they sold many thousands of Katpan Pluses. Leader Dogs bought several thousand themselves. I don't think it's a reach to suggest Sendero can sell a thousand copies of their app. That would be over $100K and it doesn't cost that much to develop an IOS app. I'm just saying I think they are making a marketing mistake. Maybe it's wishful thinking. But Garment could tweak their existing app, keep the price at $40, and sell their app as a replacement for the Kaptan Plus. At least, that's what I hope happens.
>>> 
>>> I've actually been trying to talk Leader Dogs into doing this. They worked with the manufacturer to create the Kaptan Plus. I think an IPod Touch with a GPS attachment would be a great substitute for the Kaptan Plus except the software isn't available. If Leader Dogs could get Garment to tweak Navigon to create a version for blind people, they could sell thousands of copies, not hundreds. This is why I was hoping the name of the Sendero app, "Seeing Eye", was meaningful. I was hoping Seeing Eye was following Leader Dogs' lead and was getting into the GPS thing. Last I heard, Leader Dogs is still getting by on their remaining stock of Kaptan Pluses.
>>> 
>>> On Jul 3, 2013, at 2:32 PM, David Andrews wrote:
>>> 
>>>> This is the bind that many assistive technology developers find themselves in, or will.  Navigan can sell hundreds of thousands of copies spreading their costs out.  An AT vendor will sell hundreds, or maybe thousands of copies, but still must compete in a $1 to $20 market.
>>>> 
>>>> Dave
>>>> 
>>>> At 08:29 AM 7/3/2013, you wrote:
>>>>> The cost of this app seems kind of high to me. Navigon is only $40 for a one time purchase and does not require  a cellular data plan to operate.    I wouldn't say Navigon has accessibility problems as such. I mean, there are no unlabeled  buttons that I know of. But it is written with the assumption that you can see. For example, the street name is displayed and you can hear that if you tap on it. But it just gives the street name, not the address.  There are a lot of little things like that in the Navigon app.  It's pretty usable though.
>>>>> 
>>>>> The other thing is that there already are free or low cost GPS apps for the blind. And, of course, Apple's Map app is free.  But even at $130 for 3 years, I might give Sendero's app a try but   the deal killer for me is that it requires a cellular data plan. I like my IPod touch. It cost only $200 and I don't have a data plan.
>>>>> 
>>>>> I wonder if there is some connection between the Seeing Eye school and this app. Is Seeing Eye endorsing this product? Maybe Seeing Eye has taken a queue from Leader Dogs and is planning on giving each student a GPS. Leader Dogs used to give each student a Kaptan Plus. But those devices cost only $350 and I'd imagine Leader Dogs got a discount for buying in bulk. An IPhone with a data plan costs way more than that. Heck, the 3 year subscription to the Seeing Eye App alone costs almost 40% of the Kaptan Plus.
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> On 07/02/13 16:16, David Andrews wrote:
>>>>>>> The Seeing Eye GPS™ app now for sale in the iTunes Apple Store!
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> July 2, 2013
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> Sendero is proud to release The Seeing Eye GPS™ app for cell-enabled
>>>>>>> iOS devices after more than a year of development. With nearly 100
>>>>>>> beta testers, we are confident that the app meets our standards for a
>>>>>>> version 1 release. We thank everyone for their help testing and users
>>>>>>> for their patience.
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> Our goal with this app was to make it a convenient mobile option to
>>>>>>> compliment other Sendero GPS products. We believe we have achieved
>>>>>>> that and we will begin working immediately on version 1.1. As with
>>>>>>> other Sendero products over the past 13 years, user feedback will
>>>>>>> drive development of future versions. We will be posting a list of
>>>>>>> what we think are high priority features and would like users to vote
>>>>>>> on these plus add other suggestions. We will also work immediately on
>>>>>>> a UK and European version of the app.
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> We hope you enjoy The Seeing Eye GPS™ app and that you join us in
>>>>>>> building the most powerful accessible turn-by-turn GPS mobile app
>>>>>>> possible. For more information about the app go to:
>>>>>>> <http://www.senderogroup.com/products/shopseeingeyegps.htm>http://www.senderogroup.com/products/shopseeingeyegps.htm.
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> The app is available in
>>>>>>> <https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/seeing-eye-gps/id668624446?ls=1&mt=8>iTunes,
>>>>>>> it is free to download, but when you launch for the first time you
>>>>>>> will be prompted to select a subscription plan for either $69 for 1
>>>>>>> year or $129 for 3 years.
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> For support read the User Guide at
>>>>>>> <http://www.senderogroup.com/support/supportseeingeye.htm>http://www.senderogroup.com/support/supportseeingeye.htm.
>>>>>>> If you still have questions after reading the manual email
>>>>>>> iphone at senderogroup.com. Please allow at least 24 hours for a response
>>>>>>> to your inquiry.
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>>>>> --
>>>>> ---
>>>>> John G. Heim, 608-263-4189, jheim at math.wisc.edu
>>>> 
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> Did you actually read what I wrote below? I mean, you don't have to agree with what I'm saying but I already addressed the point you made about the market size. I wrote, what?, maybe 40 lines estimating the market for a tweaked version of Navigon (or whatever) and you just say you don't beleive there is a market.
> 
> Well, anyway, Sendero and Garment don't license maps, they own the maps. Other companies license maps from them.
> 
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