| SquareLoop
Works to Make Cell Phones More Useful |
By Sabrina Enayatulla
Observer Staff Writer |
| The Reston Incubator, operated by the Greater Reston Chamber
of Commerce, is helping to introduce what could be the next
big thing in cell phone technology: a system that could provide
you with traffic updates in your area and notify you about
local issues regarding homeland security. |
| The Reston Incubator recently completed its GrowthSpurt6
Business Plan Competition and SquareLoop, a firm specializing
in mobile communication technology, was crowned the winner.
The company develops technology that would offer location-specific
information by sending a text message to your cell phone.
|
| "If I'm driving through Reston and I turn on the radio
to hear a traffic update, they're telling me what's happening
in Baltimore, on the Beltway," said Joe Walsh, head of
operations and business development for SquareLoop. "I
need to know what's going on where I am." |
| This would require SquareLoop to team up with major cell
phone providers in the metropolitan area like Sprint, Verizon,
Nextel, T-Mobile, and Cingular. |
| SquareLoop's technology would not only provide alternate
routes during traffic jams but also alert people with breaking
news updates. In the case of a chemical spill, for example,
a message could be sent to people downwind with special evacuation
instructions, while people upwind would receive information
on the safest and closest place to find shelter. |
| A message on a traffic update, for example, would be sent
to everyone in a phone provider's network. Individual cell
phones would be able to recognize if the message was specific
to their location, then accept the message or not based on
relevance. |
| "It's like if you're in a room with lots of people
and someone yells, ‘Hey Mary,'" Walsh explained. "Everyone's
brain would hear ‘Mary,' but until you heard your name, you
wouldn't respond. It's kind of like that but the name is substituted
with a location." |
| Future ideas and improvements could mean writing applications
for cell phones and partnering up with cell phone manufacturers.
"That's definitely a possibility." Walsh said. |
| Once signed up, you would receive a text message explaining
how to download the program. |
| The cost for the service will depend on the service you
chose. Homeland Security, for example, would be in the mobile
alert network (www.mobilealertnetwork.com)and charges would
apply based on locality. Traffic delivery would be subscription-based.
|
| SquareLoop will present its full concept as a test program
this fall, then plans to launch the software in December. |
| Walsh said the company would not be involved in the construction
of any new cell phone towers. Rather they will use existing
towers. |
| SquareLoop's technology was developed by The MITRE Corporation. |
