Last week we told you about a new iPhone application from the Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI) that brought its popular ArcGIS software to iOS devices. The app leveraged the organization’s massive collection of mapping data – as well as that of other groups – to bring unique maps to the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. This week the geographic information systems (GIS) software makers are bringing another popular utility – the Business Analyst Online (BAO) – to these same devices.
BAO is mainly a Web-based tool that provides localized demographic data, including income levels, ages, neighborhood styles and other data. Users of the service have been able to map and chart various sets of data using the tool, and now with this latest application, they can do some of that on their handheld devices. Below is a video demonstrating the basic functions of the app.
When the app opens it pinpoints the user’s location and shows key demographic data about that area. According to the application, within a mile of my house are just over 15,000 people, with an average age of 35 and an average income of over $100,000. The app also tells me what percent have a college education, are homeless, are home owners, and how much is spent on retail shopping in my area.
Using the comparison tool, I can see that people in my area make well over the national average income, and they spend their money more too. The tool also allows me to compare my neighborhood to any other location within the U.S. by either dropping a pin on the map or searching for an address.
If you have lots of addresses in your contacts (which oddly I do not), the application can also randomly compare any location to that of your friends and family with a shake of the phone. Using the “Smart Map” feature, you can provide search criteria, such as population, income and media age ranges. The app will then color code results as you search for them or drop pins on the map.
While this free application is fun for an everyday user like myself, it is actually aimed at people who already make use of the BAO on the Web. This includes realtors, who can get instant demographic data about neighborhoods in which they are trying to sell a house. Anyone looking to understand more about their neighborhood or any other neighborhood would certainly benefit from having some basic BAO functionality on their iOS device.
