Message From The Founder
Another year has flown by. The holidays will mark the close of what has been a very exciting year for ALK. We expanded operations in the European Union by adding offices and staff in London and Paris. We have received confirmation from key business partners such as BMW, Scania, Microsoft, Motorola, T* Mobile and Evesham that Copilot Live is indeed in a class by itself.
In 2005, portable GPS navigation became more mainstream. I believe we are at the precipice of mass adoption of this technology as many people now realize its practical use. We have always prided ourselves on developing market-leading technology that will be useful and have a positive effect on people�s lives. ALK�s �Live� Technology has proven to be such an innovation.
Live uses cellular communication, seamlessly integrated in CoPilot, to track and communicate with others via a simple web browser click. We developed �Live� as a means to �connect� a CoPilot user with a family member, dispatcher, or business associate and the world of real-time information that can enhance the traveling experience.
Recently we launched CoPilot Live | Smartphone, a fully functioning CoPilot Live running on your phone. With a 1GB SD card, you can now have all the streets and points of interest for North America or Western Europe on your phone, all the time! Go anywhere and let friends and family around the world know where you are! Enjoy the easy and affordable 2-way communications with friends and family using your phone and CoPilot's Bluetooth GPS receiver!
Smartphone coupled with Live Technology has created our most elegant implementation of CoPilot yet. In the spirit of �practice what you preach,� I ran the New York City Marathon this year with a GPS antenna woven into my cap and carrying a cell phone with CoPilot Live. Family and friends from around the world tracked my progress and we messaged back & forth as I ran through the five boroughs. I responded to at least 50 messages without stopping or walking and finished in a respectable 4:21 (134th out of 759 in my age group). Although this may not be a typical application, it never the less demonstrates the safety, simplicity and capability of �Live.�
In the past year, we also saw widespread adoption of PC*MILER, the industry standard routing, mileage and mapping solution. We launched ALK|FleetSuite Tolls, the first and only accurate point-to-point toll calculator for Class 8 commercial vehicles. The response to this product has been overwhelming as companies such as Swift Transportation, Werner Enterprises, and JB Hunt Transport quickly utilized its unique capabilities to drive profits by better controlling toll-costs.
The US Department of Defense renewed our longstanding contract for DTOD (Defense Table of Official Distances) powered by PC*MILER. We are proud to be selected again to provide the DoD and its carriers this version of PC*MILER. Also this year, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) selected ALK to create and manage their new online National Hazardous Materials Route Registry. PC*MILER|HazMat serves as the routing, mileage and mapping engine for the Internet-based service sponsored by the agency.
Where to next? We are committed to more innovation each year. We are committed to creating benchmark map data. With your help, and particularly those that send in GPS tracks, we are improving our North American database every day.
The next challenge is �Optimal real-time management and control of mobile assets.� Not just in time, but real-time. We are working on a set of complex algorithms that will predict, with a high degree of accuracy, the travel time of a vehicle. This requires a tremendous amount of data and data crunching. The result will be a real-time tool, which will estimate travel time based on actual observed speeds by time of day on the roads ahead. Sounds challenging? It is, but with your help, we'll be able to make it happen.
I thank all of our loyal customers for your support this past year. Please share your ideas and thoughts with me at .
Regards,
Alain L. Kornhauser, PhD
Founder and Board Chairman
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