the gps software company . for the communication device see teletype corporation . teletype co inc. industry technology founded 1981 headquarters 44 school street boston massachusetts 02108 area served worldwide key people ed friedman president and co founder ; marleen winer vice president and co founder products gps navigation software and devices website http www.teletype.com teletype co. inc. is a privately held company in the united states specialized in developing software for gps devices . it was founded in 1981 under the name teletypesetting company and it is based in boston massachusetts . the company s product line includes automotive and commercial gps navigation systems and other products including gps receivers and tracking units . it develops and sells the worldnav software for pc and windows ce tools for converting third party maps into worldnav maps an sdk and an api that allow the customization of the worldnav application . teletype co. also offers consultancy services for those interested in acquiring and adapting the source code of their software products . contents 1 history 1.1 the early years 1.2 furthering innovation 1.3 global positioning system integration 2 product line 2.1 gps navigation systems and mobile apps for commercial vehicles 2.2 gps devices for land air and water navigation 2.3 special gps systems 3 developer tools 4 awards and recognitions 5 external links 6 references history edit the early years edit the company was founded in 1981 in ann arbor michigan under the name teletypesetting company inc. by edward friedman a licensed professional engineer and marleen winer an alumnus of the university of maryland holding a b.s. in geography and a masters in urban planning from the university of michigan . ed friedman was born in odessa ukraine and graduated from the moscow institute of steel and alloys currently the national university of science and technology with a b.s. in transportation engineering . he completed his studies in the u.s. with a master of science in engineering at the michigan state university and a m.s. in financial management at the polytechnic institute . currently new york university completed requirements for ph.d. in civil engineering at university of michigan 1 sensing that the electronics industry was in its infancy and poised to expand the two founders established the company in 1981 initially operating in the phototypesetting industry . teletypesetting was one of the first companies to produce a hardware and software interface between personal computers such as the apple ii and ibm ps 2 and numerous models of phototypesetting machines such as the compugraphic compuwriter and compedit and varityper epics comp set and comp edit . 2 3 4 teletypesetting co. created a package called microsetter composed of a desk accessory cables conversion software and connectivity software which provided computers equipped with it the capability to connect to phototypesetting machines . microsetter was compatible with numerous desktop publishing applications such as ready set go page maker microsoft word macwrite and macdraw . 5 use of personal computers took advantage of functions such as spell checking and printing on plain paper prior to printing on expensive phototypesetting paper which could not easily be corrected after the photographic process was completed thereby saving time and expense while providing more accurate results . from the microsetter product line evolved the t script postscript interpreter also referred to in the industry as a raster image processor which converted output from popular postscript based wysiwyg what you see is what you get programs such as pagemaker microsoft word and macwrite to non postscript printers which were much more economical at the time . this provided the user the ability to see the document on the screen as it would appear on the printer . 6 furthering innovation edit expanding on its expertise of system integration the company applied its knowledge to a new industry producing books that remember . taking advantage of the emerging personal digital assistant pda capabilities the company pushed the envelope of development to produce a series of digital books that could be used in interactive ways based on the computing power of the devices . it published applications designed for apple s series of pdas the newton . this included digital gourmet a cooking book application aimed at professional chefs built on the hypercard programming environment . the application made use of hypercard s capabilities in an innovative way calculating the nutritional values of the prepared foods based on the used ingredients . 7 since 2003 the application has been released to the community as a freeware . global positioning system integration edit the company recognized the simplicity and convenience of using pdas for navigation purposes and used its experience in this domain to create its first gps navigation software which later evolved into a line of portable gps devices . seeking to combine the computing power of pdas such as the newton with the advanced capabilities of the gps technology teletype created an application which served as an aid to navigation for aircraft pilots . this software gave the pilots the ability to create flight plans and avoid restricted areas using the large touch screen newton rather than the complicated button oriented small screen handheld systems offered at that time . 8 9 10 later the company expanded its aviation product to include street maps so that pilots could use the same device for flying and driving by easily switching from aviation mode to street mode . in 1998 teletype co. began marketing its gps navigation software targeting handheld devices running on the windows ce operating system . the software was compatible with many types of devices including pdas and pocket pcs . the software could also be installed on pcs running windows 95 nt . in 1999 a software product addressed to airplane pilots was launched that added specific functionalities such as runway details and radio frequencies . in the late 1990 and early 2000 the company partnered with geographic data technologies gdt which was later acquired by teleatlas one of the market leaders for digitized maps an agreement which made street level maps of u.s. canada and 14 european countries available to telettype co. the company implemented these maps in its navigation solutions for the apple newton and windows and windows ce based systems . 11 currently the company parters with navteq for u.s. canada and mexico mapping . teletype continued its development efforts offering the first solution to combine land air and water navigation in one integrated program . the company expanded to create a vehicle tracking solution called pockettracker combining gps tracking and navigation in a windows ce based pda . the solution was launched in 2001 . the software took advantage of the cdpd technology one of the first wireless data technologies allowing users to track in real time the positions of devices running teletype s software and hardware . 12 from 2000 to 2007 the company introduced a series of portable navigation devices for street navigation . in 2008 teletype launches one of the first gps solutions aimed specifically at commercial drivers . the worldnav truck gps product line began with a 3.5 touch screen gps with the unique feature of interactively showing restricted roads in a bright pink color based on the size and weight of the vehicle in use . the company then expanded the line to include 5 and 7 screens . this product line takes into account commercial restrictions and low bridge heights among other features when calculating routes . product line edit gps navigation systems and mobile apps for commercial vehicles edit teletype manufactures a series of gps devices aimed at professional drivers such as truckers and bus drivers . the devices operate on the windows ce operating system and are powered by a sirfstariii gps chipset . 13 when calculating routes the worldnav software installed on the devices takes into account commercial truck restrictions such bridge heights load limits one way roads and hazmat restrictions . the systems also allow custom routing based on the vehicle s dimensions . teletype co. holds a pending patent us 2010 0057358 for this custom routing technology 14 15 16 the worldnav software is preloaded with over 12 million points of interest which teletype claims to be the highest number in the industry . 17 the selection of the points of interest is oriented towards professional drivers and it includes gas stations truck stops and weigh stations . the worldnav offers the unique feature of searching for points of interest by the business telephone number . in 2012 teletype developed and introduced the smarttruckroute app to provide navigation for commercial drivers seeking up to date mapping and truck specific routing for android and ios smartphones . smarttruckroute gps devices for land air and water navigation edit teletype also offers a line of gps navigation devices aimed at the consumer market . the non commercial line of portable gps devices include over 12 million points of interest with the unique feature of searching for points of interest by the business telephone number . restaurants hotels airports and other basic points of interest are included . these devices have received generally favorable reviews being praised for the gps reception text to speech functions and large database of points of interest . 18 19 20 a specialized device targeting motorcyclists and bicyclists is outfitted with a custom version of the navigation software which allows users to create their own off road routes and has a specialized electronic keyboard making it easy to use while wearing gloves . in addition to gps navigation devices for land vehicles teletype offers versions of its worldnav software customized for air and marine navigation . special gps systems edit other specialized gps devices offered by teletype include gps receivers vehicle mountable gps trackers and other specialty items . 21 developer tools edit teletype offers software development kits for its worldnav navigation software allowing developers full control over the integration of their specialized software solutions with navigation . the tools support windows and windows ce embedded devices . developers have access to functions of the worldnav navigation software allowing routes to be created analyzed and pushed directly to the device of choice . teletype s solutions have been used for projects such as creating an automated taxi dispatch service . the company also offers map development tools allowing clients to convert their own digital mapping information into the teletype proprietary map format ttm for use in teletype navigation software . 22 awards and recognitions edit teletype co. s product worldnavigator has received cnet s editor s choice in 2003 and 2004 . 21 external links edit official website references edit tele type about us . teletype inc. retrieved 16 september 2010 . pagemaker facts and features pdf . aldus corporation . retrieved 18 september 2010 . compugraphic to macintosh solutions . apple corporation . retrieved 18 september 2010 . driver to let macs run non postscript machines . infoworld magazine . september 12 1983 . p. 35 . retrieved 18 september 2010 . macintosh teletypesetting with teletypesetting s microsetter . apple corporation . retrieved 18 september 2010 . an introduction to postscript . retrieved 18 september 2010 . digital gourmet on line reference guide pdf . teletype co. retrieved 19 september 2010 . teletype gps aviation features . teletype co. retrieved 21 september 2010 . teletype gps wireless color touch screen gps . retrieved 21 september 2010 . bailey peter 28 october 2003 . teletype world navigator aeronautical review . pocketgpsworld.com . retrieved 18 september 2010 . tele atlas teletype deal puts european navigation in your pocket . press release . teletype company . 28 august 2000 . retrieved 18 september 2010 . teletype gps pockettracker system user manual pdf . teletype company . retrieved 18 september 2010 . teletype worldnav 7100 portable gps review . retrieved 16 september 16 2010 . check date values in access date help us application publication . uspto . retrieved 27 september 2010 . portable gps map