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Technology Stocks : Orbital science (ORB) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: dwight martin who wrote (1753)	5/27/1998 11:31:00 AM
From: Mohan Marette	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 2394

Great article on Magellan in today's IBD. dwight & all Here is an excerpt from the article.[For private use only] Magellan's Latest Expedition: Circle Global Device Markets Date: 5/27/98 Author: Genevieve Wilkinson Scott O'Grady might have dined on caviar instead of cockroaches if he only had the GSC 100, says the device's creator, Magellan Corp. of Sunnyvale, Calif. When the noted Air Force captain's F-16 was shot down over Bosnia in '95, O'Grady relied on a hand-held satellite navigator to guide him to safety. But his global positioning system, or GPS, device couldn't tell the Army where he was - something the GSC 100 claims to accomplish. That would have reduced his six-day ordeal behind enemy lines to a few scant hours. The GSC 100, the latest technology from Magellan, a subsidiary of Orbital Sciences Corp., tells users where they are and how to get where they want to go. It sends and receives electronic mail, but company officials say they are finding a number of new ways to bring GPS technology to the mass market - some more unusual than others. ''In Japan, they are experimenting with having GPS receivers on the elderly so they can track citizens with Alzheimer's,'' said Chuck Boesenberg, Magellan's chief executive. ''Safety will be one of the accelerators to this market.'' Magellan is spearheading the movement to bring GPS to Joe Consumer. No other company is going to the same extent to offer a full range of products that serve consumers, businesses, government and universities. But Magellan has a way to go before it plays in Peoria - the GSC 100 now costs $999. .................................. The demand for GPS products is growing, according to the trade group GPS Industry Council in Washington, D.C. It predicts the industry will take in $8 billion to $10 billion by '04, up from $2 billion in '97. ''GPS will touch our lives constantly as we work and play in the future,'' Boesenberg said. ''The result is a very large and growing commercial marketplace that mirrors the development of the Internet.'' ............................... Boesenberg says GPS technology will have its most useful applications in keeping consumers safe. For instance, GPS receivers can track the distance between cars. If a driver falls asleep at the wheel and comes dangerously close to another car or a telephone pole, a GPS receiver sounds an alarm, jarring the driver out of his nap. ............................ Other companies will have to get on board as well, Boesenberg said. Magellan provides only the enabling platforms. ''It's the start-ups that will create the final technology,'' he said. ''It's the exact parallel with the Internet, where Intel created the microprocessor, Microsoft created the operating system, Dell (made) the PC and then Amazon.com created the capability to order a book.'' Still, the Internet took hold much faster than GPS technology has. Analysts remain in a holding pattern on the industry's promise. ''It hasn't met my expectations,'' said Marc Crossman, analyst at Oppenheimer & Co. in New York. ''Maybe it will with car navigation, but I've got a wait-and-see attitude.'' Thus far, however, customers say they approve. The University of California at Berkeley Seismographic Laboratory uses Magellan GPS systems to study - and perhaps eventually predict - earthquakes in Southern California. GPS receivers monitor crustal deformation, tectonic plate movement and seismic activity to better recognize key patterns that could signal impending quake activity. The Virginia Beach, Va., Public Works Department uses GPS technology to survey highways, development projects and sewers. ''GPS has tremendously improved the quality of our surveys and mapping,'' said Waid Kidd Jr., Virginia Beach's city surveyor. ''It may take a period of time for those unfamiliar with GPS to get over the fear of its use.'' At Oklahoma University's Electric Vehicle Research Institute, an R&D facility dedicated to the development of commercial electric vehicle transportation, scientists and drivers use GPS in race cars to fine-tune the vehicles, says John Fagan, the institute's director. During track runs, GPS receivers gather velocity and acceleration data. After careful analysis, the driver figures out exactly where to accelerate and decelerate around turns to maintain peak performance without breaking loose and skidding. ''By improving and refining our performance just 1% or 2%, we can win the race,'' Fagan said.