Google Maps sites to share and explore the world!
TurnHere.com shows you the world through video and Google Maps - This is a cool site that marries Google Maps with descriptive video to provide tourists (and locals) with an opportunity to learn about cool neighborhoods. The films are unique in that they give an insider's view of parks, restaurants, bars, art galleries, open air markets, bike routes, and more. TurnHere has even teamed up with Google Earth to provide users of the program to be able to link to TurnHere videos. This new feature flags the locations of TurnHere films and allows users to view short films about the area that they are surveying. Here are some example videos (see Google Maps panel): San Jose & Hamakua Coast.
MyOutdoors.net lets you map your outdoor activities - Here's another DIY Google Maps tool entry with journal integration that lets you detail a walk, hike, run or pretty much anything taking place outdoors. The Google Maps waypoint interface is pretty cool allowing 3 separate options to browse the activity you are viewing. Image uploading and full text search of each journal entries is in the works further making this a great site to just explore as well.
Stickymap lets you create "wiki" style maps- Developed by 3 Yale grads, StickyMap is an interactive "wiki" style map website allowing users to annotate map content by creating graphical points of interest. It allows its members to create markers, edit and remove content, and explore new areas. A handy feature allows you to link directly to a view within the site. The site has just started up so it definitely needs users adding content to make it a useful site for exploration, so get going! To check out heavily described areas see New Haven, New York, Boston and Washington DC, USA.
Monday, July 31, 2006
GPS Leader Navigates Through Tight Market
location based services
AP) -- After starting out by helping pilots get around, navigational device maker Garmin Ltd. is now more likely to aid a motorist in finding the quickest interstate or the nearest pizza parlor. But as drivers have snapped up millions of the satellite-reading devices for their cars, the surge in interest has attracted new and bigger players into what had been a rather isolated market. Now Garmin could need one of its GPS units just to keep from getting lost.
The Global Positioning System relies on 24 orbiting satellites maintained by the Defense Department for public use that allow users to triangulate their precise position.
At one time limited to pilots, boaters and the military, GPS units have become more commonplace as prices have come down and user-friendliness has gone up.
Research firm Strategy Analytics estimates that the number of GPS devices sold worldwide - including personal navigation units and applications built into cell phones and handheld computers - will grow from 18 million last year to 88 million in 2010. Garmin owns the U.S. title for personal navigation devices not built into dashboards, with more than 50 percent of the market.
Sony Corp. introduced its first GPS device this spring and Royal Philips Electronics NV, the biggest consumer electronics firm in Europe, has said it plans to get into the navigational game later this year. After-market auto parts manufacturers like Pioneer Electronics Inc., Kenwood Corp. and JVC Americas Corp. have followed suit.
Executives at Garmin, which is based in the Cayman Islands but headquartered in suburban Kansas City, say that while they respect the financial and brand-name power these companies have, they aren't too worried of being swept aside.
"Are they really focused on the markets we're focused on, or are they just trying to get in on the game because it's a growth business?" said Kevin Rauckman, the company's chief financial officer. He added: "Actually what they do is they do bring credibility."
Garmin plans to defend its position by continuing to roll out scores of new products - an expected 66 standalone models this year, compared to 55 last year, expanding the number and types of features.
"What we've done over time is try to make user interface and application and software as easy to use as possible," Rauckman said. "When the consumer sees what's available, they go, `Oh, this is easy to use and something I can take advantage of in my daily life.'"
When it started selling GPS units in 1991, Garmin was known mostly in the aviation and marine industries. It later made inroads to the outdoor and fitness crowd, selling handheld units that could keep mountain bikers from getting lost and help marathoners track their heart rate and calories burned.
That's what attracted Sean Staggs when he bought a Garmin Forerunner in February, figuring it would act as a training buddy as he jogged and biked around Kansas City.
Later, a friend pointed out that the device, which can track where a user has gone on a map and send the information to a computer, could help Staggs with the charity runs and bike rides he organizes for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.
"That's been amazingly helpful," Staggs said, planning for an upcoming 150-mile ride between Kansas City and Sedalia, Mo. "I'm going to ride the route and when I'm done, the Garmin will have plotted the course and we can send that out to the participants."
But it's the driving segment that has really taken off for Garmin, pushing sales past $1 billion last year for the first time. While Rauckman said all of the company's market segments will see double-digit revenue increases this year, driving-related units now make up half of sales.
Garmin Car Navigation
CHOICE test & compare Garmin car navigation sytems. See the results.
U.S. drivers have embraced the technology as devices have become more sophisticated with color screens, audio turn-by-turn directions and better user interfaces. Newer units now include weather and traffic information and future models could provide ratings of nearby restaurants and hotels or offer satellite radio and MP3 players.
"There's increased room for innovation in the years ahead," said Ross Rubin, director of industry analysis at the NPD Group. As an example, he expects systems to direct drivers by landmarks, not just street names.
It also helps that prices are falling. Rubin noted that the average GPS unit sold for more than $800 last year but is now down to $664. Amazon.com Inc. and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. are selling a stripped-down Garmin for $200. Sony entered the market with a more bare-bones unit that sells for about $440.
Garmin also teamed up last year with Sprint Nextel Corp. to provide subscribers turn-by-turn directions over their cell phones.
Strategy Analytics researchers suggest those kinds of applications could lead to a drop-off in demand for standalone navigation units like Garmin's.
Rubin disagreed, saying there's still plenty of room in the industry. In either case, he said, Garmin appears well-equipped to deal with changes in customer demand.
He noted that when European GPS leader TomTom International BV launched a smaller and easier-to-use product last year, Garmin came out with the StreetPilot c300 series, selling for between $600 and $400, which "has become the most popular GPS unit in the marketplace."
Wall Street has noticed, almost doubling Garmin's stock price in the past year to around $100 a share. Shareholders have approved an August stock split.
"Garmin continues to grow faster than the market and has accelerated for the last two months," analyst Jeff Evanson of Dougherty & Co. wrote in a recent research note.
Looking ahead, Garmin officials see the next big challenge isn't new competitors but breaking more into the European market, where it has a little more than 10 percent share. Rauckman said the market is different from the U.S. because Europeans have had more experience with GPS technology and need it more because of the sometimes chaotic road systems there. In addition, Europe lacks ubiquitous retailers like Best Buy or Wal-Mart, forcing the company to focus on individual outlets in each country.
"We have sold 15 million units over the life of the company," Rauckman said. "We haven't arrived. Garmin still has a lot more market growth opportunities in the future."
By DAVID TWIDDY, AP Business Writer
© 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be
location based services
AP) -- After starting out by helping pilots get around, navigational device maker Garmin Ltd. is now more likely to aid a motorist in finding the quickest interstate or the nearest pizza parlor. But as drivers have snapped up millions of the satellite-reading devices for their cars, the surge in interest has attracted new and bigger players into what had been a rather isolated market. Now Garmin could need one of its GPS units just to keep from getting lost.
The Global Positioning System relies on 24 orbiting satellites maintained by the Defense Department for public use that allow users to triangulate their precise position.
At one time limited to pilots, boaters and the military, GPS units have become more commonplace as prices have come down and user-friendliness has gone up.
Research firm Strategy Analytics estimates that the number of GPS devices sold worldwide - including personal navigation units and applications built into cell phones and handheld computers - will grow from 18 million last year to 88 million in 2010. Garmin owns the U.S. title for personal navigation devices not built into dashboards, with more than 50 percent of the market.
Sony Corp. introduced its first GPS device this spring and Royal Philips Electronics NV, the biggest consumer electronics firm in Europe, has said it plans to get into the navigational game later this year. After-market auto parts manufacturers like Pioneer Electronics Inc., Kenwood Corp. and JVC Americas Corp. have followed suit.
Executives at Garmin, which is based in the Cayman Islands but headquartered in suburban Kansas City, say that while they respect the financial and brand-name power these companies have, they aren't too worried of being swept aside.
"Are they really focused on the markets we're focused on, or are they just trying to get in on the game because it's a growth business?" said Kevin Rauckman, the company's chief financial officer. He added: "Actually what they do is they do bring credibility."
Garmin plans to defend its position by continuing to roll out scores of new products - an expected 66 standalone models this year, compared to 55 last year, expanding the number and types of features.
"What we've done over time is try to make user interface and application and software as easy to use as possible," Rauckman said. "When the consumer sees what's available, they go, `Oh, this is easy to use and something I can take advantage of in my daily life.'"
When it started selling GPS units in 1991, Garmin was known mostly in the aviation and marine industries. It later made inroads to the outdoor and fitness crowd, selling handheld units that could keep mountain bikers from getting lost and help marathoners track their heart rate and calories burned.
That's what attracted Sean Staggs when he bought a Garmin Forerunner in February, figuring it would act as a training buddy as he jogged and biked around Kansas City.
Later, a friend pointed out that the device, which can track where a user has gone on a map and send the information to a computer, could help Staggs with the charity runs and bike rides he organizes for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.
"That's been amazingly helpful," Staggs said, planning for an upcoming 150-mile ride between Kansas City and Sedalia, Mo. "I'm going to ride the route and when I'm done, the Garmin will have plotted the course and we can send that out to the participants."
But it's the driving segment that has really taken off for Garmin, pushing sales past $1 billion last year for the first time. While Rauckman said all of the company's market segments will see double-digit revenue increases this year, driving-related units now make up half of sales.
Garmin Car Navigation
CHOICE test & compare Garmin car navigation sytems. See the results.
U.S. drivers have embraced the technology as devices have become more sophisticated with color screens, audio turn-by-turn directions and better user interfaces. Newer units now include weather and traffic information and future models could provide ratings of nearby restaurants and hotels or offer satellite radio and MP3 players.
"There's increased room for innovation in the years ahead," said Ross Rubin, director of industry analysis at the NPD Group. As an example, he expects systems to direct drivers by landmarks, not just street names.
It also helps that prices are falling. Rubin noted that the average GPS unit sold for more than $800 last year but is now down to $664. Amazon.com Inc. and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. are selling a stripped-down Garmin for $200. Sony entered the market with a more bare-bones unit that sells for about $440.
Garmin also teamed up last year with Sprint Nextel Corp. to provide subscribers turn-by-turn directions over their cell phones.
Strategy Analytics researchers suggest those kinds of applications could lead to a drop-off in demand for standalone navigation units like Garmin's.
Rubin disagreed, saying there's still plenty of room in the industry. In either case, he said, Garmin appears well-equipped to deal with changes in customer demand.
He noted that when European GPS leader TomTom International BV launched a smaller and easier-to-use product last year, Garmin came out with the StreetPilot c300 series, selling for between $600 and $400, which "has become the most popular GPS unit in the marketplace."
Wall Street has noticed, almost doubling Garmin's stock price in the past year to around $100 a share. Shareholders have approved an August stock split.
"Garmin continues to grow faster than the market and has accelerated for the last two months," analyst Jeff Evanson of Dougherty & Co. wrote in a recent research note.
Looking ahead, Garmin officials see the next big challenge isn't new competitors but breaking more into the European market, where it has a little more than 10 percent share. Rauckman said the market is different from the U.S. because Europeans have had more experience with GPS technology and need it more because of the sometimes chaotic road systems there. In addition, Europe lacks ubiquitous retailers like Best Buy or Wal-Mart, forcing the company to focus on individual outlets in each country.
"We have sold 15 million units over the life of the company," Rauckman said. "We haven't arrived. Garmin still has a lot more market growth opportunities in the future."
By DAVID TWIDDY, AP Business Writer
© 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be
Sunday, July 30, 2006
The Nokia N93 Starts Shipping
location based services
The latest addition to Nokia's high performance Nokia Nseries multimedia computer range, the Nokia N93 offers digital camcorder, telephony and internet functionality.
By unfolding and twisting the main display the Nokia N93 is ready to shoot high quality video and photos, with dedicated keys for shutter, zoom and flash. Featuring MPEG-4 VGA video capture at up to 30 frames per second, stereo audio recording and digital stabilization enabling smooth and shake-free movies, the Nokia N93 shoots DVD-like quality videos.
It also boasts a 3.2 megapixel (2048 x 1536 pixels) camera with a Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar lens, 3x optical zoom and up to 20x digital zoom, as well as autofocus and close-up mode for amazing clarity and accuracy.
Consumers can connect the Nokia N93 directly to a compatible TV for a widescreen movie experience, upload images and video directly from the handset to select online albums or blogs, and create high-quality home movies, burning them to DVD with the included Adobe Premiere Elements 2.0 software.
The Nokia N93 features internal memory of up to 50 MB, which can be further expanded with a hot swap miniSD card of up to 2 GB, allowing users to capture up to 90 minutes of DVD-like quality video or up to 2500 high-quality photos.
The new device offers multiple options for sharing videos. Uncompressed photos and video clips can be sent instantly via email, Bluetooth technology or by uploading them directly from the gallery on the device to compatible blogs. Alternatively, users can plug the included TV-out cable to a compatible TV set, or transmit the content wirelessly over integrated WLAN and UPnP (Universal Plug and Play) technology.
The Nokia N93 offers both in-built and in-box editing facilities. The edit function on the device allows users to combine and trim clips and insert images, music and effects. For more advanced editing, the standard Nokia N93 sales pack comes complete with Adobe Premiere Elements 2.0 which allows you to burn your mobile movies to DVD and export formats for web streaming and email.
Like other Nokia Nseries devices, the Nokia N93 is also designed to work on wireless LAN, 3G (WCDMA 2100 MHz), EDGE and GSM (900/1800/1900 MHz) networks, the Nokia N93 provides mobile broadband internet access for browsing, uploading content, and sending and receiving emails, allowing you to stay connected on the move.
The mobile device is based on S60 3rd Edition software on Symbian OS. The Nokia N93 has started shipments to markets worldwide, including Europe, Middle East, Asia-Pacific, China and Americas markets where 3G (WCDMA) or EDGE and GSM networks are available.
location based services
The latest addition to Nokia's high performance Nokia Nseries multimedia computer range, the Nokia N93 offers digital camcorder, telephony and internet functionality.
By unfolding and twisting the main display the Nokia N93 is ready to shoot high quality video and photos, with dedicated keys for shutter, zoom and flash. Featuring MPEG-4 VGA video capture at up to 30 frames per second, stereo audio recording and digital stabilization enabling smooth and shake-free movies, the Nokia N93 shoots DVD-like quality videos.
It also boasts a 3.2 megapixel (2048 x 1536 pixels) camera with a Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar lens, 3x optical zoom and up to 20x digital zoom, as well as autofocus and close-up mode for amazing clarity and accuracy.
Consumers can connect the Nokia N93 directly to a compatible TV for a widescreen movie experience, upload images and video directly from the handset to select online albums or blogs, and create high-quality home movies, burning them to DVD with the included Adobe Premiere Elements 2.0 software.
The Nokia N93 features internal memory of up to 50 MB, which can be further expanded with a hot swap miniSD card of up to 2 GB, allowing users to capture up to 90 minutes of DVD-like quality video or up to 2500 high-quality photos.
The new device offers multiple options for sharing videos. Uncompressed photos and video clips can be sent instantly via email, Bluetooth technology or by uploading them directly from the gallery on the device to compatible blogs. Alternatively, users can plug the included TV-out cable to a compatible TV set, or transmit the content wirelessly over integrated WLAN and UPnP (Universal Plug and Play) technology.
The Nokia N93 offers both in-built and in-box editing facilities. The edit function on the device allows users to combine and trim clips and insert images, music and effects. For more advanced editing, the standard Nokia N93 sales pack comes complete with Adobe Premiere Elements 2.0 which allows you to burn your mobile movies to DVD and export formats for web streaming and email.
Like other Nokia Nseries devices, the Nokia N93 is also designed to work on wireless LAN, 3G (WCDMA 2100 MHz), EDGE and GSM (900/1800/1900 MHz) networks, the Nokia N93 provides mobile broadband internet access for browsing, uploading content, and sending and receiving emails, allowing you to stay connected on the move.
The mobile device is based on S60 3rd Edition software on Symbian OS. The Nokia N93 has started shipments to markets worldwide, including Europe, Middle East, Asia-Pacific, China and Americas markets where 3G (WCDMA) or EDGE and GSM networks are available.
Google Expand Google Maps for Mobile and Adds Customisation to Personalised Pages
location based services
Google has announced an update to Google Maps for mobile that will enable consumers in the U.S. to view comprehensive information on traffic conditions in more than 30 major metropolitan areas and partial information in many others, right from their mobile devices.
After downloading Google Maps for mobile through their mobile phone's web browser, users simply move to the desired location within the application and select "show traffic" in the menu. The most up-to-date traffic information will be sent directly to the users' mobile device, and will highlight the conditions on the covered commuter routes using red, yellow, and green overlays.
In addition, when mobile phone users search for driving directions, they will now see the expected drive time as well as any unexpected traffic delays, making travel planning much easier and more effective. And another new feature - the ability to store their favorite searches and driving directions - will allow users to access frequently used routes and compare traffic conditions on them.
Google has also announced that users now have the ability to customize the content that appears on the mobile version of their Personalized Homepage, making it even easier for mobile phone users to quickly get the information they need when away from their computers.
When users log in to Personalized Home on their desktop and click on the "mobile" link, they will be able to customize the content they see the next time they log on to their Personalized Home on their mobile device. Not only can they customize content, but users can also specify the order in which content on their mobile device appears.
location based services
Google has announced an update to Google Maps for mobile that will enable consumers in the U.S. to view comprehensive information on traffic conditions in more than 30 major metropolitan areas and partial information in many others, right from their mobile devices.
After downloading Google Maps for mobile through their mobile phone's web browser, users simply move to the desired location within the application and select "show traffic" in the menu. The most up-to-date traffic information will be sent directly to the users' mobile device, and will highlight the conditions on the covered commuter routes using red, yellow, and green overlays.
In addition, when mobile phone users search for driving directions, they will now see the expected drive time as well as any unexpected traffic delays, making travel planning much easier and more effective. And another new feature - the ability to store their favorite searches and driving directions - will allow users to access frequently used routes and compare traffic conditions on them.
Google has also announced that users now have the ability to customize the content that appears on the mobile version of their Personalized Homepage, making it even easier for mobile phone users to quickly get the information they need when away from their computers.
When users log in to Personalized Home on their desktop and click on the "mobile" link, they will be able to customize the content they see the next time they log on to their Personalized Home on their mobile device. Not only can they customize content, but users can also specify the order in which content on their mobile device appears.
Smart devices market grows 55% in a year
location based services
Worldwide shipments of smart mobile devices grew 55 percent year-on-year in Q2 2006, reports Canalys. Handheld segment plummets 33 percent while smart phone shipments increase by 75 percent compared to one year ago.
Nokia retained overall market lead; while Motorola leapfrogged RIM, Sharp, Palm to take second place.
Symbian was still the leading operating system, with 67 percent. Its share grew year-on-year bases, but fell sequentially. Microsoft has the second most popular OS at 15 percent, ahead of RIM on 6 percent
Sharp posted the highest growth among the top five vendors, with shipments of more than a million Symbian FOMA smart phones in Japan during the quarter.
“Symbian has performed well in what many find a difficult market to crack,” said Canalys analyst Nick Spencer, “Q2 saw it break the 10 million cumulative shipment barrier there, thanks to significant volumes from not only Sharp, but also vendors such as Fujitsu, Mitsubishi and Sony Ericsson.”
Another vendor reaching a significant milestone in Q2 was second-placed, and second-fastest growing, Motorola, its position achieved primarily from shipments of more than a million Linux-based smart phones in China in the quarter, but helped also by the initial shipments of the long-awaited ‘Q’ Windows Mobile smart phone in the US as well as its continuing sales of Symbian/UIQ devices.
“Motorola set itself some pretty ambitious targets for the Q,” added Spencer, “And it has done a good job on the supply side in its first quarter, especially when you consider the problems it has had bringing such devices to market in the past.”
All these vendors remain some way behind market leader Nokia, which shipped over 9 million Symbian smart phones during the quarter, a year-on-year rise of 35 percent. Canalys estimates that more than 95 percent of these were S60 models, which have recently branched out from their consumer-oriented, keypad-centric designs to include enterprise-focused models such as the keyboard-based E61.
It is evident from these figures that converged devices have taken over from their standalone predecessors. To further illustrate this, Canalys estimates that Palm’s Treo smart phone shipments grew as a proportion of its total units sold to 58 percent, up from 41 percent a year earlier. Palm still leads the handheld segment, ahead of HP, Dell and Mio Technology, and actually increased its share in that category by 4 percent year-on-year, but total market shipments of handhelds fell 33 percent from over 2 million in Q2 2005, to just 1.4 million last quarter - the biggest percentage fall on record.
Global smart mobile device market shares Q2 2006, Q2 2005
Vendor (top 5) 2Q 2006 Shipments Market share Q206, % 2Q 2005 Shipments Market share Q205, % Growth y/y
Nokia 2 951 450 47.70 % 6,695,800 54.90 % 34.90 %
Motorola 1 076 470 8.40 % 556,050 4.60 % 185.40 %
RIM 689 410 6.20 % 897,280 7.40 % 31.90 %
Sharp 610 020 6.10 % 29,840 0.20 % 3795.80 %
Palm 509 210 6.00 % 1,057,420 8.70 % 7.00 %
Others 1 583 480 25.60 % 2,949,210 24.20 % 64.40 %
Total 7 429 040 100.00 % 12,185,600 100.00 % 55.50 %
Source: Canalys; Smart mobile device market: handhelds, wireless handhelds, smart phones
location based services
Worldwide shipments of smart mobile devices grew 55 percent year-on-year in Q2 2006, reports Canalys. Handheld segment plummets 33 percent while smart phone shipments increase by 75 percent compared to one year ago.
Nokia retained overall market lead; while Motorola leapfrogged RIM, Sharp, Palm to take second place.
Symbian was still the leading operating system, with 67 percent. Its share grew year-on-year bases, but fell sequentially. Microsoft has the second most popular OS at 15 percent, ahead of RIM on 6 percent
Sharp posted the highest growth among the top five vendors, with shipments of more than a million Symbian FOMA smart phones in Japan during the quarter.
“Symbian has performed well in what many find a difficult market to crack,” said Canalys analyst Nick Spencer, “Q2 saw it break the 10 million cumulative shipment barrier there, thanks to significant volumes from not only Sharp, but also vendors such as Fujitsu, Mitsubishi and Sony Ericsson.”
Another vendor reaching a significant milestone in Q2 was second-placed, and second-fastest growing, Motorola, its position achieved primarily from shipments of more than a million Linux-based smart phones in China in the quarter, but helped also by the initial shipments of the long-awaited ‘Q’ Windows Mobile smart phone in the US as well as its continuing sales of Symbian/UIQ devices.
“Motorola set itself some pretty ambitious targets for the Q,” added Spencer, “And it has done a good job on the supply side in its first quarter, especially when you consider the problems it has had bringing such devices to market in the past.”
All these vendors remain some way behind market leader Nokia, which shipped over 9 million Symbian smart phones during the quarter, a year-on-year rise of 35 percent. Canalys estimates that more than 95 percent of these were S60 models, which have recently branched out from their consumer-oriented, keypad-centric designs to include enterprise-focused models such as the keyboard-based E61.
It is evident from these figures that converged devices have taken over from their standalone predecessors. To further illustrate this, Canalys estimates that Palm’s Treo smart phone shipments grew as a proportion of its total units sold to 58 percent, up from 41 percent a year earlier. Palm still leads the handheld segment, ahead of HP, Dell and Mio Technology, and actually increased its share in that category by 4 percent year-on-year, but total market shipments of handhelds fell 33 percent from over 2 million in Q2 2005, to just 1.4 million last quarter - the biggest percentage fall on record.
Global smart mobile device market shares Q2 2006, Q2 2005
Vendor (top 5) 2Q 2006 Shipments Market share Q206, % 2Q 2005 Shipments Market share Q205, % Growth y/y
Nokia 2 951 450 47.70 % 6,695,800 54.90 % 34.90 %
Motorola 1 076 470 8.40 % 556,050 4.60 % 185.40 %
RIM 689 410 6.20 % 897,280 7.40 % 31.90 %
Sharp 610 020 6.10 % 29,840 0.20 % 3795.80 %
Palm 509 210 6.00 % 1,057,420 8.70 % 7.00 %
Others 1 583 480 25.60 % 2,949,210 24.20 % 64.40 %
Total 7 429 040 100.00 % 12,185,600 100.00 % 55.50 %
Source: Canalys; Smart mobile device market: handhelds, wireless handhelds, smart phones
google maps mobile
location based services
Combining directions, maps, and satellite imagery, Google Maps is a free download that lets you find local hangouts and businesses across town or across the country — right from your phone.
Detailed directions: Whether you plan to walk or drive, your route is displayed on the map itself, together with step-by-step directions.
Integrated search results: Local business locations and contact information appear all in one place, integrated on your map.
Easily movable maps: Interactive, draggable maps let you zoom in or out, and move in all directions so you can orient yourself visually.
Satellite imagery: Get a bird's eye view of your desired location.
Real-time traffic:New! See where the congestion is, and estimate delays in over 30 major US metropolitan areas.
location based services
Combining directions, maps, and satellite imagery, Google Maps is a free download that lets you find local hangouts and businesses across town or across the country — right from your phone.
Detailed directions: Whether you plan to walk or drive, your route is displayed on the map itself, together with step-by-step directions.
Integrated search results: Local business locations and contact information appear all in one place, integrated on your map.
Easily movable maps: Interactive, draggable maps let you zoom in or out, and move in all directions so you can orient yourself visually.
Satellite imagery: Get a bird's eye view of your desired location.
Real-time traffic:New! See where the congestion is, and estimate delays in over 30 major US metropolitan areas.
In the Race With Google, It’s Consistency vs. ‘Wow’
location based services
When Google introduced its mapping service last year, it did something that made its competitors look antiquated. Users could click on a map and drag it to see an adjacent area, a much faster approach than those offered by rival mapping services.
But today, Google Maps still does not offer some of the pedestrian conveniences of Yahoo Maps and MapQuest from AOL. For example, while it can remember your favorite starting point, it cannot store multiple addresses.
Alan Eustace, a senior vice president for engineering and research at Google, said in an interview last week that the company had made a conscious choice to play down copycat features: “We are trying to come up with something that is new and different, that makes people say ‘Wow.’ ”
Do Internet users prefer services that are consistent and predictable, like those offered by Yahoo, or are they more interested in Google’s wow factor? These two approaches define a pivotal front in the battle for online loyalty between the major players in the Internet search business.
Both companies see e-mail and other services as ways to display more advertising — and, even more important, as a way to keep their brands in front of users so they stick around for more searches.
“The battle is about one thing: getting that search box in front of as many people in as many places as possible,” said Jim Lanzone, the chief executive of Ask.com, the search service owned by IAC/InterActiveCorp.
Yahoo is on the defensive in the broader fight, where Web search advertising is the biggest prize.
Google is continuing to extend its lead in users and revenue from Web search, while Yahoo’s attempt to compete is foundering. Last week, Yahoo reported weak search revenue and said it would delay a critical search advertising system, sending its shares down 22 percent to a two-year low.
With AOL and MSN from Microsoft losing share and plagued by strategic confusion, Yahoo is in a position to further solidify its lead as the Web’s most popular full-service Internet portal, so any incursions by Google into areas like e-mail and maps are a threat.
Yahoo is trying to fend off its rival by emphasizing the wide range and consistent approach of its Swiss army knife of services. And since 200 million of its users have registered Yahoo accounts, it can use information about them, like their addresses and contact information, to save them time and personalize their experience.
“Our philosophy is that being part of the Yahoo network is a huge advantage and a huge competitive differentiator,” said Ash Patel, Yahoo’s chief product officer. “When we build a product that takes advantage of the Yahoo network, it doesn’t feel like an orphan.”
Google has tied some products together — for example, combining its instant messaging and e-mail services on the same Web page. But those links are often created after a product is introduced.
“There is a tradeoff between integration and speed,” Mr. Eustace said. “We are living and dying by being an innovative, fast-moving company.”
Sometimes this penchant for speed and innovation can cause Google to zoom past the basics. When asked about the lack of an address book in Google Maps in an interview last fall, Marissa Mayer, Google’s vice president for search products and user experience, said it was a gap in the product. She said it was much easier to get the company’s engineers to spend time developing pioneering new technology than a much more prosaic address storage system.
There are risks in each approach. Google tends to introduce a lot of new products and then watch to see what works. This has the potential to alienate users if there are too many half-baked ideas or false starts. At the same time, Yahoo risks being seen as irrelevant if it tries to put so many features into each product that it is always months late to market with any good idea.
“Yahoo has lost its appetite for experimentation,” said Toni Schneider, a former product development executive at Yahoo who is now chief executive of Automattic, a blogging software company. “They used to be a lot more like Google, where someone would come up with a cool idea and run with it.”
While Yahoo’s processes have become too bureaucratic, it is still attracting an audience, Mr. Schneider said. “Google’s products may be more innovative, but at the end of the day, Yahoo is pretty good at nailing what the user really wants.”
123Next
location based services
When Google introduced its mapping service last year, it did something that made its competitors look antiquated. Users could click on a map and drag it to see an adjacent area, a much faster approach than those offered by rival mapping services.
But today, Google Maps still does not offer some of the pedestrian conveniences of Yahoo Maps and MapQuest from AOL. For example, while it can remember your favorite starting point, it cannot store multiple addresses.
Alan Eustace, a senior vice president for engineering and research at Google, said in an interview last week that the company had made a conscious choice to play down copycat features: “We are trying to come up with something that is new and different, that makes people say ‘Wow.’ ”
Do Internet users prefer services that are consistent and predictable, like those offered by Yahoo, or are they more interested in Google’s wow factor? These two approaches define a pivotal front in the battle for online loyalty between the major players in the Internet search business.
Both companies see e-mail and other services as ways to display more advertising — and, even more important, as a way to keep their brands in front of users so they stick around for more searches.
“The battle is about one thing: getting that search box in front of as many people in as many places as possible,” said Jim Lanzone, the chief executive of Ask.com, the search service owned by IAC/InterActiveCorp.
Yahoo is on the defensive in the broader fight, where Web search advertising is the biggest prize.
Google is continuing to extend its lead in users and revenue from Web search, while Yahoo’s attempt to compete is foundering. Last week, Yahoo reported weak search revenue and said it would delay a critical search advertising system, sending its shares down 22 percent to a two-year low.
With AOL and MSN from Microsoft losing share and plagued by strategic confusion, Yahoo is in a position to further solidify its lead as the Web’s most popular full-service Internet portal, so any incursions by Google into areas like e-mail and maps are a threat.
Yahoo is trying to fend off its rival by emphasizing the wide range and consistent approach of its Swiss army knife of services. And since 200 million of its users have registered Yahoo accounts, it can use information about them, like their addresses and contact information, to save them time and personalize their experience.
“Our philosophy is that being part of the Yahoo network is a huge advantage and a huge competitive differentiator,” said Ash Patel, Yahoo’s chief product officer. “When we build a product that takes advantage of the Yahoo network, it doesn’t feel like an orphan.”
Google has tied some products together — for example, combining its instant messaging and e-mail services on the same Web page. But those links are often created after a product is introduced.
“There is a tradeoff between integration and speed,” Mr. Eustace said. “We are living and dying by being an innovative, fast-moving company.”
Sometimes this penchant for speed and innovation can cause Google to zoom past the basics. When asked about the lack of an address book in Google Maps in an interview last fall, Marissa Mayer, Google’s vice president for search products and user experience, said it was a gap in the product. She said it was much easier to get the company’s engineers to spend time developing pioneering new technology than a much more prosaic address storage system.
There are risks in each approach. Google tends to introduce a lot of new products and then watch to see what works. This has the potential to alienate users if there are too many half-baked ideas or false starts. At the same time, Yahoo risks being seen as irrelevant if it tries to put so many features into each product that it is always months late to market with any good idea.
“Yahoo has lost its appetite for experimentation,” said Toni Schneider, a former product development executive at Yahoo who is now chief executive of Automattic, a blogging software company. “They used to be a lot more like Google, where someone would come up with a cool idea and run with it.”
While Yahoo’s processes have become too bureaucratic, it is still attracting an audience, Mr. Schneider said. “Google’s products may be more innovative, but at the end of the day, Yahoo is pretty good at nailing what the user really wants.”
123Next
The New York Times Chimes In on Web Mapping Sites
location based services
The NYT leads its Monday Technology article with a comparison of the three major mapping portals -- Google Maps, Yahoo! Maps and MapQuest.
In the Race With Google, It's Consistency vs. 'Wow'
"But today, Google Maps still does not offer some of the pedestrian conveniences of Yahoo Maps and MapQuest from AOL. For example, it does not remember addresses, so users need to tell it where they live every time they want driving directions."
location based services
The NYT leads its Monday Technology article with a comparison of the three major mapping portals -- Google Maps, Yahoo! Maps and MapQuest.
In the Race With Google, It's Consistency vs. 'Wow'
"But today, Google Maps still does not offer some of the pedestrian conveniences of Yahoo Maps and MapQuest from AOL. For example, it does not remember addresses, so users need to tell it where they live every time they want driving directions."
Investors Get the Yips on Location Technology Companies
NAVTEQ (NVT) and Garmin (GRMN) were hammered today by jittery investors when NAVTEQ failed to show income growth for the quarter. I link the two because intrinsically, they are. NAVTEQ supplies the data; Garmin sells to the end user. NAVTEQ missed income numbers because CEO Judson Green said the automotive market was down. And if car sales are down, then Garmin gets punched because of the aftermarket units they sell for in vehicle navigation. NAVTEQ's stock plummeted 21% while Garmin got tagged for a roughly 6% decline. Garmin stockholders just a approved a 2 for 1 stock split for holders as of August 2.
But there was good news for this sector as Trimble (TRMB) reported a 20% rise in revenue. Trimble's president Steve Berglund cited success in the construction and mobile workforce markets. I may be biased but my money is on this sector for the long term (in full disclosure I hold stock in two of these companies). This is a temporary dip and there's no denying the long term potential for location-enabled applications by all of these companies.
Posted by Joe Francica
NAVTEQ (NVT) and Garmin (GRMN) were hammered today by jittery investors when NAVTEQ failed to show income growth for the quarter. I link the two because intrinsically, they are. NAVTEQ supplies the data; Garmin sells to the end user. NAVTEQ missed income numbers because CEO Judson Green said the automotive market was down. And if car sales are down, then Garmin gets punched because of the aftermarket units they sell for in vehicle navigation. NAVTEQ's stock plummeted 21% while Garmin got tagged for a roughly 6% decline. Garmin stockholders just a approved a 2 for 1 stock split for holders as of August 2.
But there was good news for this sector as Trimble (TRMB) reported a 20% rise in revenue. Trimble's president Steve Berglund cited success in the construction and mobile workforce markets. I may be biased but my money is on this sector for the long term (in full disclosure I hold stock in two of these companies). This is a temporary dip and there's no denying the long term potential for location-enabled applications by all of these companies.
Posted by Joe Francica
Forbes Shares Google Earth Preview: 3D
The August 14 issue of Forbes (annoying registration now required) includes an article by Rich Karlgaard who got a preview of a future version of GE. No big surprises, but something of which to be aware.
Recently I got a peek at a future version of Google Earth, which will showcase a much-improved 3-D depiction of terrain and buildings. This cool software could make tons of money--from ads. Imagine using Google (nasdaq: GOOG - news - people ) Earth to zoom low on a city street. Gone is the old pancake-flat look of buildings. They will be depicted in stark relief. And here's the moneymaker: Addresses that have bought ads, such as restaurants, shops or commercial buildings for lease, will stand out as a cut above the rest--in perfect, rich detail and color. Click on one of these buildings and you'll be whisked away to the establishment's Web site.
The August 14 issue of Forbes (annoying registration now required) includes an article by Rich Karlgaard who got a preview of a future version of GE. No big surprises, but something of which to be aware.
Recently I got a peek at a future version of Google Earth, which will showcase a much-improved 3-D depiction of terrain and buildings. This cool software could make tons of money--from ads. Imagine using Google (nasdaq: GOOG - news - people ) Earth to zoom low on a city street. Gone is the old pancake-flat look of buildings. They will be depicted in stark relief. And here's the moneymaker: Addresses that have bought ads, such as restaurants, shops or commercial buildings for lease, will stand out as a cut above the rest--in perfect, rich detail and color. Click on one of these buildings and you'll be whisked away to the establishment's Web site.
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
MAPBUILDER
location based services
Build maps! Share, explore & collaborate. Get source code for your maps.
location based services
Build maps! Share, explore & collaborate. Get source code for your maps.
HOW-TO: Make your own annotated multimedia Google map
location based services
One of the great things about Google maps is it has its roots in XML. To translate for the non-web developers out there, it basically means Google maps are user hackable. This how-to will show you how to make your own annotated Google map from your own GPS data. Plus, you'll be able to tie in images and video to create an interactive multimedia map. We'll walk you through the steps we took to generate an annotated map of a walk we took recently through our hometown, now that it's actually starting to get warm enough to want to walk about!
Background
I saw this post by Jon Udell, in which he does a screencast of an annotated walking tour through Keene, NH. Screencast goodness aside, I wanted to figure out how he made the map and how to simplify the process so that the non-web geek could attempt it without too much trouble. The geekiest bit will be where we edit our XML file, but you can essentially think of it just like editing a plain old text file — it looks like garbledy-gook, but it’s not actually rocket science. If you’re new to web development or new to XML, don’t worry — we’ll walk you through it as best we can. Ready? Let’s dive in!
Materials
GPS device. Though, technically, you can even do without this if you don’t have one — unless you’re travelling off the beaten path, you can use Geocode.com to convert the nearest street address to latitude and longitude data.
Digital camera, if you wish to capture media for your map.
Computer of any flavor that will run Firefox.
A place to store your files online; we’ll talk more about this later. If you have access to a web server, you’re all set. Otherwise, we’ll give some suggestions about free hosting options.
The Firefox browser.
The Greasemonkey Firefox plug-in
The Google maps user annotation script.
Text editor to edit your XML file; plenty of free options across operating systems. We use the free TextWrangler on our Mac, and jEdit on our Windows PC.
Getting started
Before we get in to how it’s done, let’s look at the results. Fire up Firefox and install the Greasemonkey Firefox plug-in that allows you to inject some dynamic behavior into viewed web pages; you’ll have to restart Firefox for it to take effect. Relaunch Firefox, and install the Google maps user annotation script by simply clicking right-clicking on the link (CTRL-click for one-button mouse Mac users) in this sentence and choosing “Install user scripts…” Then, load up the URL of our annotated Ithaca map in a new tab so you can switch back to this how-to easily. Click on the “Display Points” link, and you’ll zoom in to our annotated Ithaca walk.
location based services
One of the great things about Google maps is it has its roots in XML. To translate for the non-web developers out there, it basically means Google maps are user hackable. This how-to will show you how to make your own annotated Google map from your own GPS data. Plus, you'll be able to tie in images and video to create an interactive multimedia map. We'll walk you through the steps we took to generate an annotated map of a walk we took recently through our hometown, now that it's actually starting to get warm enough to want to walk about!
Background
I saw this post by Jon Udell, in which he does a screencast of an annotated walking tour through Keene, NH. Screencast goodness aside, I wanted to figure out how he made the map and how to simplify the process so that the non-web geek could attempt it without too much trouble. The geekiest bit will be where we edit our XML file, but you can essentially think of it just like editing a plain old text file — it looks like garbledy-gook, but it’s not actually rocket science. If you’re new to web development or new to XML, don’t worry — we’ll walk you through it as best we can. Ready? Let’s dive in!
Materials
GPS device. Though, technically, you can even do without this if you don’t have one — unless you’re travelling off the beaten path, you can use Geocode.com to convert the nearest street address to latitude and longitude data.
Digital camera, if you wish to capture media for your map.
Computer of any flavor that will run Firefox.
A place to store your files online; we’ll talk more about this later. If you have access to a web server, you’re all set. Otherwise, we’ll give some suggestions about free hosting options.
The Firefox browser.
The Greasemonkey Firefox plug-in
The Google maps user annotation script.
Text editor to edit your XML file; plenty of free options across operating systems. We use the free TextWrangler on our Mac, and jEdit on our Windows PC.
Getting started
Before we get in to how it’s done, let’s look at the results. Fire up Firefox and install the Greasemonkey Firefox plug-in that allows you to inject some dynamic behavior into viewed web pages; you’ll have to restart Firefox for it to take effect. Relaunch Firefox, and install the Google maps user annotation script by simply clicking right-clicking on the link (CTRL-click for one-button mouse Mac users) in this sentence and choosing “Install user scripts…” Then, load up the URL of our annotated Ithaca map in a new tab so you can switch back to this how-to easily. Click on the “Display Points” link, and you’ll zoom in to our annotated Ithaca walk.
HOW-TO: Make your own annotated multimedia Google map
location based services
One of the great things about Google maps is it has its roots in XML. To translate for the non-web developers out there, it basically means Google maps are user hackable. This how-to will show you how to make your own annotated Google map from your own GPS data. Plus, you'll be able to tie in images and video to create an interactive multimedia map. We'll walk you through the steps we took to generate an annotated map of a walk we took recently through our hometown, now that it's actually starting to get warm enough to want to walk about!
Background
I saw this post by Jon Udell, in which he does a screencast of an annotated walking tour through Keene, NH. Screencast goodness aside, I wanted to figure out how he made the map and how to simplify the process so that the non-web geek could attempt it without too much trouble. The geekiest bit will be where we edit our XML file, but you can essentially think of it just like editing a plain old text file — it looks like garbledy-gook, but it’s not actually rocket science. If you’re new to web development or new to XML, don’t worry — we’ll walk you through it as best we can. Ready? Let’s dive in!
Materials
GPS device. Though, technically, you can even do without this if you don’t have one — unless you’re travelling off the beaten path, you can use Geocode.com to convert the nearest street address to latitude and longitude data.
Digital camera, if you wish to capture media for your map.
Computer of any flavor that will run Firefox.
A place to store your files online; we’ll talk more about this later. If you have access to a web server, you’re all set. Otherwise, we’ll give some suggestions about free hosting options.
The Firefox browser.
The Greasemonkey Firefox plug-in
The Google maps user annotation script.
Text editor to edit your XML file; plenty of free options across operating systems. We use the free TextWrangler on our Mac, and jEdit on our Windows PC.
Getting started
Before we get in to how it’s done, let’s look at the results. Fire up Firefox and install the Greasemonkey Firefox plug-in that allows you to inject some dynamic behavior into viewed web pages; you’ll have to restart Firefox for it to take effect. Relaunch Firefox, and install the Google maps user annotation script by simply clicking right-clicking on the link (CTRL-click for one-button mouse Mac users) in this sentence and choosing “Install user scripts…” Then, load up the URL of our annotated Ithaca map in a new tab so you can switch back to this how-to easily. Click on the “Display Points” link, and you’ll zoom in to our annotated Ithaca walk.
This map works like any other Google map, except for the fact that we’ve created it ourselves and added media to it. You can click on a waypoint to get more information, or generate driving directions to and from points as usual. When you click on one of our points, you’ll notice it will have either a picture or a movie link associated with it:
The best way to follow the map tour is to right-click (CTRL-click Mac) and open the media file in a separate browser tab, because following a link and clicking the back button will break the script and revert the map back to its default state, from which you’ll have to click the “Display Points” link and start all over again. If you right-click the “movie” link in the above example, you’ll see a 30 second 360-degree video we took from the center of the Ithaca Commons. If you right-click on the “1 more” link it will open a tab with a Google query (”Ithaca Commons”) we’ve also linked to — you can add links to any URL on the web, not just your media files. Load up a waypoint with a “picture” link, right-click on it and you’ll see an image we shot at that location.
Now that we’ve seen what we’re about to create, let’s get started.
We’ll leave the finer details of collecting your media files and waypoints up to you — that’s the easy part. Just gather your GPS and camera and have at it, or take your images and geolocate them later using Geocode.com if you prefer that method. Similarly, we’ll let you handle the editing and preparation of your images and video files, and start in at the nitty-gritty stage.
You’ll need a place to host your media files and the XML file we’re going to create that specifies your map data. If you already have a Flickr account, you can host images there, and if you don’t have one, we highly recommend it as a value-added image hosting service. You can host up to 100 images for free, and link to them from elsewhere.
To host video, and to host our XML file, you’ll need access to a web server that allows you to FTP upload files. If you already have a web site or a blog that allows you to upload files, you’re set - you can upload all media and your XML there. Otherwise, there are still free web hosting services out there you can use in a pinch for making a few of these maps. Ye olde Angelfire is still kickin’ it as a free service with 20MB of space. Yes, you have to navigate a minefield of opt-out checkboxes to get there but it takes all of about five minutes to set up a free account and upload your XML file, which you can safely link to from Google maps without incurring the evil spector of the sponsored ads (we tested this to be sure!). You could host some images and video there, as well, if you’re only making one or a few maps. Or, ask around and get recommendations of other free web hosts — most are evil, but if you don’t give them any real metadata about yourself you should be able to emerge unscathed.
Now, you’ve made and uploaded your media files to wherever they may roam. You’ll need to know the fully-qualified URL of any media file you wish to link to, as well as your (coming next) XML file. That’s as good a sequeway as any — let’s dive in to the meat of this project: creating our XML file.
If you’ve seen HTML, XML looks pretty much the same: parameters surrounded by opening and closing tags. We’ll show you an example of how to make two different waypoints, one with an associated image and one with associated video, and show you the minimal rest of the document structure. You can download the following example waypoints file by right-clicking and saving it to disk, then modifying it to make your own map. It includes one waypoint with an associated image and one with an associated video, matching the first two stops on our Ithaca map.
Here’s what the entire XML file looks like with only one waypoint — all the stuff between the tags defines the waypoint. The stuff before and after is just the “shell” of the entire document.
You’ll want to download the sample file and replace the following parameters to match your own map settings:
Enter a title for your map here
Just duplicate the title here
defines the GPS coordinates the map will center in on when you click the “Display Points” link - just choose a central waypoint for the area your map covers.
Next, let’s zero in on what one waypoint looks like, and what changes you’ll need to make for each of your points:
Here’s what you’ll need to edit for each waypoint:
— For ordering and differentiating your waypoints, change id=”A” to correspond alphabetically to the order in which you wish to place your waypoints. The third point would be id=”C” and so on. Note that you can include any number of waypoints on your map, but Google only provides 10 default marker images: A through J.
— Replace this with the latitude and longitude data generated from your GPS. Note that for small projects like this it is simpler to track and add these points manually, but if you’re handy with Perl you can auto-generate a lot of this XML from a list of coordinates. More info here.
— As with the first bullet point, replace “markerA.png” with the approproate letter to correspond with your waypoint’s order in the map: markerB.png, markerC.png, and so on — up to J, past which you’ll have to make your own markers to link to.
Tompkins County Public Library — Replace with your own title for this waypoint.
101 E. Green St., Ithaca, NY — This defines the address displayed underneath the title in the popup balloon that results from clicking your waypoint. It is also the basis for getting driving directions to or from this point, so you can use the nearest real street address if you want to have this functionality in your map.
http;//media.weblogsinc.com/common/videos/barb/googlemaps/1library.jpg — this defines the URL of the image or video file you wish to link to, or any other URL you wish to link to from this waypoint. (note: replaced : with ; to prevent url autolink in this example)
picture — this will be the text that gets linked in the popup balloon; picture, movie, or link will be common terms here.
http;//www.google.com/search?q=tompkins county public library ithaca — You can add more than one URL reference to each waypoint. This second URL is the one that gets linked from the “1 more” link in the popup balloon. Change it to whatever additional link or file you wish to link to.
parked here! — This defines the “sub-head” descriptive text you see under the waypoint title in the right-hand pane of the map.
To add another waypoint to the map, just cut and paste everything starting from the opening tag until after the end of the closing tag from your first waypoint, then modify the same bits of data as detailed in the list above for this new waypoint. The entire collection of waypoints lives sandwiched in between the opening bit of code:
And the closing tiny bit of code:
Still with me? That is the bulk of the magic behind the annotation. When you’ve finished stringing together all your waypoints and have nestled them between the opening and closing bits, save the resulting final file as your_map.xml or similar. Then, upload that XML file to whatever web host you’ve chosen. After this, you should be able to load up the following URL in your Greasemonkey-enabled Firefox browser:
http://maps.google.com/?loc=http://yourhost.com/path/to/your/files/yourmap.xml
Your URL is similar to ours (http://maps.google.com/?loc=http://media.weblogsinc.com/common/videos/barb/googlemaps/ithaca_walk.xml) but replacing the URL after the ”?loc=” with your own XML file. It is the combination of Greasemonkey and the Google maps user annotation script that add this function to Firefox to feed an external XML file to Google maps — although there are other methods of achieving the same goal, this way is very simple.
Click the “Display Points” link and Google maps should zoom in to whatever you listed as your center point, as described above. Then, follow along on your own annotated map tour courtesy of Google maps.
Going further
This is just the tip of the iceberg of what can be done with hacking Google maps. Work up a script to import and convert your GPS data automagically from the output of your GPS. If you’re handy with javascript, you can add all sorts of dynamic actions such as panning and following into your maps. Or, include your custom Google map on your own web page. You can get your custom maps working in other browsers besides Firefox, as well — we just chose the Greasemonkey method as being easy enough to do even if you’ve no experience with XML. For other ideas, try hunting around in the GoogleMapsHacking wiki.
And of course, don’t forget to post a link to your hacked Google map!Update: Since the writing of this post last year, Google has made changes that break some of the scripting above -- but the good news is there are other ways to do the same thing using the Google API. Here are a few resources to point you in the right direction:
Mapbuilder.net
Develop Your Own Applications Using Google
How To Make Your Own Web Mashup
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Comments [162]
location based services
One of the great things about Google maps is it has its roots in XML. To translate for the non-web developers out there, it basically means Google maps are user hackable. This how-to will show you how to make your own annotated Google map from your own GPS data. Plus, you'll be able to tie in images and video to create an interactive multimedia map. We'll walk you through the steps we took to generate an annotated map of a walk we took recently through our hometown, now that it's actually starting to get warm enough to want to walk about!
Background
I saw this post by Jon Udell, in which he does a screencast of an annotated walking tour through Keene, NH. Screencast goodness aside, I wanted to figure out how he made the map and how to simplify the process so that the non-web geek could attempt it without too much trouble. The geekiest bit will be where we edit our XML file, but you can essentially think of it just like editing a plain old text file — it looks like garbledy-gook, but it’s not actually rocket science. If you’re new to web development or new to XML, don’t worry — we’ll walk you through it as best we can. Ready? Let’s dive in!
Materials
GPS device. Though, technically, you can even do without this if you don’t have one — unless you’re travelling off the beaten path, you can use Geocode.com to convert the nearest street address to latitude and longitude data.
Digital camera, if you wish to capture media for your map.
Computer of any flavor that will run Firefox.
A place to store your files online; we’ll talk more about this later. If you have access to a web server, you’re all set. Otherwise, we’ll give some suggestions about free hosting options.
The Firefox browser.
The Greasemonkey Firefox plug-in
The Google maps user annotation script.
Text editor to edit your XML file; plenty of free options across operating systems. We use the free TextWrangler on our Mac, and jEdit on our Windows PC.
Getting started
Before we get in to how it’s done, let’s look at the results. Fire up Firefox and install the Greasemonkey Firefox plug-in that allows you to inject some dynamic behavior into viewed web pages; you’ll have to restart Firefox for it to take effect. Relaunch Firefox, and install the Google maps user annotation script by simply clicking right-clicking on the link (CTRL-click for one-button mouse Mac users) in this sentence and choosing “Install user scripts…” Then, load up the URL of our annotated Ithaca map in a new tab so you can switch back to this how-to easily. Click on the “Display Points” link, and you’ll zoom in to our annotated Ithaca walk.
This map works like any other Google map, except for the fact that we’ve created it ourselves and added media to it. You can click on a waypoint to get more information, or generate driving directions to and from points as usual. When you click on one of our points, you’ll notice it will have either a picture or a movie link associated with it:
The best way to follow the map tour is to right-click (CTRL-click Mac) and open the media file in a separate browser tab, because following a link and clicking the back button will break the script and revert the map back to its default state, from which you’ll have to click the “Display Points” link and start all over again. If you right-click the “movie” link in the above example, you’ll see a 30 second 360-degree video we took from the center of the Ithaca Commons. If you right-click on the “1 more” link it will open a tab with a Google query (”Ithaca Commons”) we’ve also linked to — you can add links to any URL on the web, not just your media files. Load up a waypoint with a “picture” link, right-click on it and you’ll see an image we shot at that location.
Now that we’ve seen what we’re about to create, let’s get started.
We’ll leave the finer details of collecting your media files and waypoints up to you — that’s the easy part. Just gather your GPS and camera and have at it, or take your images and geolocate them later using Geocode.com if you prefer that method. Similarly, we’ll let you handle the editing and preparation of your images and video files, and start in at the nitty-gritty stage.
You’ll need a place to host your media files and the XML file we’re going to create that specifies your map data. If you already have a Flickr account, you can host images there, and if you don’t have one, we highly recommend it as a value-added image hosting service. You can host up to 100 images for free, and link to them from elsewhere.
To host video, and to host our XML file, you’ll need access to a web server that allows you to FTP upload files. If you already have a web site or a blog that allows you to upload files, you’re set - you can upload all media and your XML there. Otherwise, there are still free web hosting services out there you can use in a pinch for making a few of these maps. Ye olde Angelfire is still kickin’ it as a free service with 20MB of space. Yes, you have to navigate a minefield of opt-out checkboxes to get there but it takes all of about five minutes to set up a free account and upload your XML file, which you can safely link to from Google maps without incurring the evil spector of the sponsored ads (we tested this to be sure!). You could host some images and video there, as well, if you’re only making one or a few maps. Or, ask around and get recommendations of other free web hosts — most are evil, but if you don’t give them any real metadata about yourself you should be able to emerge unscathed.
Now, you’ve made and uploaded your media files to wherever they may roam. You’ll need to know the fully-qualified URL of any media file you wish to link to, as well as your (coming next) XML file. That’s as good a sequeway as any — let’s dive in to the meat of this project: creating our XML file.
If you’ve seen HTML, XML looks pretty much the same: parameters surrounded by opening and closing tags. We’ll show you an example of how to make two different waypoints, one with an associated image and one with associated video, and show you the minimal rest of the document structure. You can download the following example waypoints file by right-clicking and saving it to disk, then modifying it to make your own map. It includes one waypoint with an associated image and one with an associated video, matching the first two stops on our Ithaca map.
Here’s what the entire XML file looks like with only one waypoint — all the stuff between the
You’ll want to download the sample file and replace the following parameters to match your own map settings:
Next, let’s zero in on what one waypoint looks like, and what changes you’ll need to make for each of your points:
Here’s what you’ll need to edit for each waypoint:
To add another waypoint to the map, just cut and paste everything starting from the opening
And the closing tiny bit of code:
Still with me? That is the bulk of the magic behind the annotation. When you’ve finished stringing together all your waypoints and have nestled them between the opening and closing bits, save the resulting final file as your_map.xml or similar. Then, upload that XML file to whatever web host you’ve chosen. After this, you should be able to load up the following URL in your Greasemonkey-enabled Firefox browser:
http://maps.google.com/?loc=http://yourhost.com/path/to/your/files/yourmap.xml
Your URL is similar to ours (http://maps.google.com/?loc=http://media.weblogsinc.com/common/videos/barb/googlemaps/ithaca_walk.xml) but replacing the URL after the ”?loc=” with your own XML file. It is the combination of Greasemonkey and the Google maps user annotation script that add this function to Firefox to feed an external XML file to Google maps — although there are other methods of achieving the same goal, this way is very simple.
Click the “Display Points” link and Google maps should zoom in to whatever you listed as your center point, as described above. Then, follow along on your own annotated map tour courtesy of Google maps.
Going further
This is just the tip of the iceberg of what can be done with hacking Google maps. Work up a script to import and convert your GPS data automagically from the output of your GPS. If you’re handy with javascript, you can add all sorts of dynamic actions such as panning and following into your maps. Or, include your custom Google map on your own web page. You can get your custom maps working in other browsers besides Firefox, as well — we just chose the Greasemonkey method as being easy enough to do even if you’ve no experience with XML. For other ideas, try hunting around in the GoogleMapsHacking wiki.
And of course, don’t forget to post a link to your hacked Google map!Update: Since the writing of this post last year, Google has made changes that break some of the scripting above -- but the good news is there are other ways to do the same thing using the Google API. Here are a few resources to point you in the right direction:
Mapbuilder.net
Develop Your Own Applications Using Google
How To Make Your Own Web Mashup
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Google Maps: A Step Towards a WorldWide Atlas?
location based services
There's a very interesting, modestly technical explanation on engadget.com on how to make your own annotated multimedia Google maps. While creating your own google maps is a very cool new hack, It will be interesting to see how Keyhole and Google geonotes, gpstracks, and locative media, can be -combined- and -shared- worldwide; and how we'll share -all- attributes geodata layers and media, for any given place: art, media, cultural, social, historical, infrastructure, physical,etc.So far, with a few major obvious exceptions, a lot of geoweb experimentation still seems to be on discrete, non-interoperable, maps, atlases, location services, and locative media experiences - even where exercising new semantic web techniques using xml/gml/wfs and xml/rdf/, xml/svg. etc. I am very encouraged by Sam Ruby's approach to bridging Soap and raw xml over http: This gives me some hope for a future of blended hypermedia and geodata, Since most of our hardcore mainstream GIS brothers and sisters seem to be buying into soap/uddi web services in a big way, deploying ESRI and Microsoft '.net' Mappoint web services The legacy worldwide web is mostly encyclopedic, let's hope the new semantic geospatial web can, ideally become a worldwide altas of interoperable media and layers and wiki atlas of contextual media.Geo Info PowertoolsFebruary 23, 2005/Mike LiebholdHere's the updated page of starhill blended daily links and a starhill blend RSS feed of my favorite cool geospatial related link feeds, tagged and updated daily by a growing community of contributors on del.icio.us - the public meta tag and link repository created by geourl inventor Joshua Schacter. Japan & GeowankingFebruary 28, 2004/Mike LiebholdIN-duce is an encouraging & cool blog view of parts of the Japanese alternative tech edge by Paul Baron, an expat experimental media designer, lately from London.Here's the heavily geo flavored mobility and location games page: IN-duce:De-duce: mobility Webpark Wildlands GeoservicesFebruary 26, 2004/Mike LiebholdWebPark, a European Union sponsored consortium project, is a research plan and technological implementation program to develop personalized value-added Location Based Services (LBS) for recreation in coastal, rural and mountainous areas. ...involving the integration of expertise in GIS and multimedia content, device-sensitive delivery and adaptive terrain and landscape intelligence, Geographically relevant location-based information services delivered directly to users in protected recreation areas via the mobile Internet. The Swiss National Park is be the first testbed. The link to an interactive map was broken when I last checked. Project Investigator David Mountain, of the City University of London, has a very interesting .ppt here describing project investigations of GKD - geographic knowledge discovery - for location based services. Back on the AirFebruary 20, 2004Please forgive the long silence due to personal projects, and startup in new roles as visiting researcher at Intel Labs, and now also as an affiliate researcher with the Institute for the Future. For a quick update on interesting geospatial news during my hiatus, check out the the geowankers' archive or del.icio.us/geo, Joshua Schacter's new community link repository. For professional GIS, GPS and LBS news, http://spatialnews.geocomm.com/is an excellent resource. Please direct flames, comments, suggestions to mailto:mnl@starhill.usCollaborative Mapping at ETech February 20, 2004Here are excerpt's from Jo Walsh's post to the geowankers list summarizing the geo pyrotechnics of the Collaborative Mapping Workshop at the Oreilly Emerging Technology conference in San Diego:" We started on the monday evening with a 'show-n-tell' type session ... including the wireless geolocation / annotation group at UC San Diego who are working on a successor-to-geonotes type project - Active Campus , the NYU guys with their funky http://dodgeball.com/ , and Damian from http://carbot.org/ , whosein-car system is waiting for the air around it to fill with foaf-filtered geoannotations. good dreams... We had short "here's who and where we are" presentations from the ... hackers who'd precooked software for the workshop [ using a common
location based services
There's a very interesting, modestly technical explanation on engadget.com on how to make your own annotated multimedia Google maps. While creating your own google maps is a very cool new hack, It will be interesting to see how Keyhole and Google geonotes, gpstracks, and locative media, can be -combined- and -shared- worldwide; and how we'll share -all- attributes geodata layers and media, for any given place: art, media, cultural, social, historical, infrastructure, physical,etc.So far, with a few major obvious exceptions, a lot of geoweb experimentation still seems to be on discrete, non-interoperable, maps, atlases, location services, and locative media experiences - even where exercising new semantic web techniques using xml/gml/wfs and xml/rdf/, xml/svg. etc. I am very encouraged by Sam Ruby's approach to bridging Soap and raw xml over http: This gives me some hope for a future of blended hypermedia and geodata, Since most of our hardcore mainstream GIS brothers and sisters seem to be buying into soap/uddi web services in a big way, deploying ESRI and Microsoft '.net' Mappoint web services The legacy worldwide web is mostly encyclopedic, let's hope the new semantic geospatial web can, ideally become a worldwide altas of interoperable media and layers and wiki atlas of contextual media.Geo Info PowertoolsFebruary 23, 2005/Mike LiebholdHere's the updated page of starhill blended daily links and a starhill blend RSS feed of my favorite cool geospatial related link feeds, tagged and updated daily by a growing community of contributors on del.icio.us - the public meta tag and link repository created by geourl inventor Joshua Schacter. Japan & GeowankingFebruary 28, 2004/Mike LiebholdIN-duce is an encouraging & cool blog view of parts of the Japanese alternative tech edge by Paul Baron, an expat experimental media designer, lately from London.Here's the heavily geo flavored mobility and location games page: IN-duce:De-duce: mobility Webpark Wildlands GeoservicesFebruary 26, 2004/Mike LiebholdWebPark, a European Union sponsored consortium project, is a research plan and technological implementation program to develop personalized value-added Location Based Services (LBS) for recreation in coastal, rural and mountainous areas. ...involving the integration of expertise in GIS and multimedia content, device-sensitive delivery and adaptive terrain and landscape intelligence, Geographically relevant location-based information services delivered directly to users in protected recreation areas via the mobile Internet. The Swiss National Park is be the first testbed. The link to an interactive map was broken when I last checked. Project Investigator David Mountain, of the City University of London, has a very interesting .ppt here describing project investigations of GKD - geographic knowledge discovery - for location based services. Back on the AirFebruary 20, 2004Please forgive the long silence due to personal projects, and startup in new roles as visiting researcher at Intel Labs, and now also as an affiliate researcher with the Institute for the Future. For a quick update on interesting geospatial news during my hiatus, check out the the geowankers' archive or del.icio.us/geo, Joshua Schacter's new community link repository. For professional GIS, GPS and LBS news, http://spatialnews.geocomm.com/is an excellent resource. Please direct flames, comments, suggestions to mailto:mnl@starhill.usCollaborative Mapping at ETech February 20, 2004Here are excerpt's from Jo Walsh's post to the geowankers list summarizing the geo pyrotechnics of the Collaborative Mapping Workshop at the Oreilly Emerging Technology conference in San Diego:" We started on the monday evening with a 'show-n-tell' type session ... including the wireless geolocation / annotation group at UC San Diego who are working on a successor-to-geonotes type project - Active Campus , the NYU guys with their funky http://dodgeball.com/ , and Damian from http://carbot.org/ , whosein-car system is waiting for the air around it to fill with foaf-filtered geoannotations. good dreams... We had short "here's who and where we are" presentations from the ... hackers who'd precooked software for the workshop [ using a common
GeoURL
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
location based services
GeoURL is a directory containing a large list of URLs and their mappings to a certain location on Earth. Its main use is for finding websites according to their proximity to a given location. The GeoURL directory is open, and anyone can add an address to it at any time.
The physical location of a page is determined by its meta HTML element, using the name "ICBM" and content of its latitude and longitude in decimal form, with north and east being positive, and south and west being negative (for example, New York, New York would be "40.71416, -74.00638"). The Dublin Core DC.title attribute is used for a page's title.
GeoURL was down for much of 2004 and early 2005 for renovations into version 2.0.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
location based services
GeoURL is a directory containing a large list of URLs and their mappings to a certain location on Earth. Its main use is for finding websites according to their proximity to a given location. The GeoURL directory is open, and anyone can add an address to it at any time.
The physical location of a page is determined by its meta HTML element, using the name "ICBM" and content of its latitude and longitude in decimal form, with north and east being positive, and south and west being negative (for example, New York, New York would be "40.71416, -74.00638"). The Dublin Core DC.title attribute is used for a page's title.
GeoURL was down for much of 2004 and early 2005 for renovations into version 2.0.
GeoURL
location based services
GeoURL is a location-to-URL reverse directory. This will allow you to find URLs by their proximity to a given location. Find your neighbor's blog, perhaps, or the web page of the restaurants near you. GeoURL is listing 225,533 sites.
location based services
GeoURL is a location-to-URL reverse directory. This will allow you to find URLs by their proximity to a given location. Find your neighbor's blog, perhaps, or the web page of the restaurants near you. GeoURL is listing 225,533 sites.
GIS/Geospatial Market Grew 17% in 2005
location based services
According to DaraTech (USA) worldwide GIS/geospatial revenue is forecast to reach US$3.6 billion in 2006, up from US$2.82 billion in 2004. This growth is driven by sales of commercial data products and the emergence of desktop and Internet-based systems.
Core-business revenue includes software, hardware, services and data products. The breakdown for these areas for 2004 is as follows:
Software comprised over one-half of total revenue, with revenues from GIS software vendors reaching $1.5 billion. Leading the market in software revenues were Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc. (ESRI), Bentley Systems, Incorporated and Intergraph Corporation. Together, the three companies accounted for about half of the industry’s total software revenues. Other software leaders included Autodesk, Inc., Leica Geosystems, GE Energy, MapInfo, MacDonald Dettwiler, SICAD Geomatics, and LogicaCMG.
Data was the second largest component of core-business revenues, accounting for a quarter of total revenue, or $677 million. Sales of commercial data sets are skyrocketing and are projected to continue to grow strongly as consumers and businesses become more aware of and purchase geo-enabled devices. Services came in third, with core-business vendors accounting for one fifth of total core-business revenues, or $536 million.
Hardware, a declining component of core-business revenues for many years, dropped again, and accounted for just 4% of total core-business revenues, or $113 million.
Revenues from the public sector—the two major segments being state and local governments, and federal governments—led market growth and now account for over one-third of total revenue. While federal governments were among the early adopters of GIS technology, recent trends toward devolving more responsibilities to states and localities have spurred those entities to become important consumers of GIS.
Industries in the regulated sector—utilities, telecommunications, transportation and education—once again are the largest consumers of GIS/Geospatial solutions. Utilities contributed almost half of total regulated-sector GIS revenues, while telecommunications companies accounted for a third.
Private sector growth continues to lag, as companies explore the business benefits of these technologies. Of the major industry segments within the private sector, earth resources represent the largest opportunity, accounting for over one-quarter of total private-sector revenue. Also notable is the AEC segment, driven by growing acceptance of geo-capable engineering applications.
In-depth analysis of the structure and composition of the GIS/Geospatial market, a detailed description of Daratech’s GIS/Geospatial market model, profiles of major core-business participants and their product lines, and other background information is available online in the just-released publication " GIS/Geospatial Markets and Opportunities ."
Source: DaraTech, Inc
location based services
According to DaraTech (USA) worldwide GIS/geospatial revenue is forecast to reach US$3.6 billion in 2006, up from US$2.82 billion in 2004. This growth is driven by sales of commercial data products and the emergence of desktop and Internet-based systems.
Core-business revenue includes software, hardware, services and data products. The breakdown for these areas for 2004 is as follows:
Software comprised over one-half of total revenue, with revenues from GIS software vendors reaching $1.5 billion. Leading the market in software revenues were Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc. (ESRI), Bentley Systems, Incorporated and Intergraph Corporation. Together, the three companies accounted for about half of the industry’s total software revenues. Other software leaders included Autodesk, Inc., Leica Geosystems, GE Energy, MapInfo, MacDonald Dettwiler, SICAD Geomatics, and LogicaCMG.
Data was the second largest component of core-business revenues, accounting for a quarter of total revenue, or $677 million. Sales of commercial data sets are skyrocketing and are projected to continue to grow strongly as consumers and businesses become more aware of and purchase geo-enabled devices. Services came in third, with core-business vendors accounting for one fifth of total core-business revenues, or $536 million.
Hardware, a declining component of core-business revenues for many years, dropped again, and accounted for just 4% of total core-business revenues, or $113 million.
Revenues from the public sector—the two major segments being state and local governments, and federal governments—led market growth and now account for over one-third of total revenue. While federal governments were among the early adopters of GIS technology, recent trends toward devolving more responsibilities to states and localities have spurred those entities to become important consumers of GIS.
Industries in the regulated sector—utilities, telecommunications, transportation and education—once again are the largest consumers of GIS/Geospatial solutions. Utilities contributed almost half of total regulated-sector GIS revenues, while telecommunications companies accounted for a third.
Private sector growth continues to lag, as companies explore the business benefits of these technologies. Of the major industry segments within the private sector, earth resources represent the largest opportunity, accounting for over one-quarter of total private-sector revenue. Also notable is the AEC segment, driven by growing acceptance of geo-capable engineering applications.
In-depth analysis of the structure and composition of the GIS/Geospatial market, a detailed description of Daratech’s GIS/Geospatial market model, profiles of major core-business participants and their product lines, and other background information is available online in the just-released publication " GIS/Geospatial Markets and Opportunities ."
Source: DaraTech, Inc
Placebase
location based services
Pushpin technology consists of a broad collection of browser-centric, interactive mapping capabilities that has been under continuous refinement since 2001. It was developed by Placebase to support the delivery of rich applications to ordinary browsers. Important components include an optional web services platform and an access-controlled user environment that can be rapidly customized. Pushpin is available in two packages, LE and CX, and also in other forms by request.
Learn more
location based services
Pushpin technology consists of a broad collection of browser-centric, interactive mapping capabilities that has been under continuous refinement since 2001. It was developed by Placebase to support the delivery of rich applications to ordinary browsers. Important components include an optional web services platform and an access-controlled user environment that can be rapidly customized. Pushpin is available in two packages, LE and CX, and also in other forms by request.
Learn more
New Motorola Phones
location based services
Motorola today announced a CDMA SLVR, and made official the two handsets that were previously code-named the Canary and Capri. The clamshell is officially called the KRZR while the slider is now known as the RIZR. All phones feature Bluetooth, a microSD memory card slot, and 176 x 220 displays.
KRZR: The RAZR successor has a narrower profile and new finishes. It features quad-band GSM / EDGE (class 12), a 2 megapixel camera with MPEG-4 video recording, a music player with MP3 and AAC capabilities, stereo Bluetooth, and Motorola’s sync and Screen3 technologies.KRZR K1m: A KRZR for CDMA networks. Features EV-DO high speed data, but downgrades the camera to 1.3 megapixels. Also features a media player with touch-sensitive playback keys hidden beneath the glass of the phone’s cover, as well as support for location-based services such as turn-by-turn directions.RIZR: Shares all of the same features as the GSM KRZR in a slightly wider sliding form factor. The RIZR is more camera-focused than its clamshell cousin - adding a landscape viewfinder mode as well as an LED flash.SLVR L7c: Identical to the original SLVR, including Bluetooth, VGA camera, and microSD card slot, but with CDMA, EV-DO high-speed data, BREW, and support for location-based services.
Motorola also announced the RAZR MAXX and RAZR XX, both with HSDPA for Europe and Asia, and two new bluetooth headsets - the H601 which is designed to complement the KRZR, and the H800 which is meant to complement the RIZR.
location based services
Motorola today announced a CDMA SLVR, and made official the two handsets that were previously code-named the Canary and Capri. The clamshell is officially called the KRZR while the slider is now known as the RIZR. All phones feature Bluetooth, a microSD memory card slot, and 176 x 220 displays.
KRZR: The RAZR successor has a narrower profile and new finishes. It features quad-band GSM / EDGE (class 12), a 2 megapixel camera with MPEG-4 video recording, a music player with MP3 and AAC capabilities, stereo Bluetooth, and Motorola’s sync and Screen3 technologies.KRZR K1m: A KRZR for CDMA networks. Features EV-DO high speed data, but downgrades the camera to 1.3 megapixels. Also features a media player with touch-sensitive playback keys hidden beneath the glass of the phone’s cover, as well as support for location-based services such as turn-by-turn directions.RIZR: Shares all of the same features as the GSM KRZR in a slightly wider sliding form factor. The RIZR is more camera-focused than its clamshell cousin - adding a landscape viewfinder mode as well as an LED flash.SLVR L7c: Identical to the original SLVR, including Bluetooth, VGA camera, and microSD card slot, but with CDMA, EV-DO high-speed data, BREW, and support for location-based services.
Motorola also announced the RAZR MAXX and RAZR XX, both with HSDPA for Europe and Asia, and two new bluetooth headsets - the H601 which is designed to complement the KRZR, and the H800 which is meant to complement the RIZR.
Sunday, July 23, 2006
Adding Location Based Services to Your Application
The OracleAS Wireless Location Based Services (LBS) platform provides a simple, integrated solution to enhance applications with LBS capabilities. Using the OracleAS Wireless LBS capability, you can add maps, driving directions, and information from Yellow Pages to your applications.
The OracleAS Wireless Location Based Services (LBS) platform provides a simple, integrated solution to enhance applications with LBS capabilities. Using the OracleAS Wireless LBS capability, you can add maps, driving directions, and information from Yellow Pages to your applications.
Adding Location Based Services to Your Application
The OracleAS Wireless Location Based Services (LBS) platform provides a simple, integrated solution to enhance applications with LBS capabilities. Using the OracleAS Wireless LBS capability, you can add maps, driving directions, and information from Yellow Pages to your applications.
The OracleAS Wireless Location Based Services (LBS) platform provides a simple, integrated solution to enhance applications with LBS capabilities. Using the OracleAS Wireless LBS capability, you can add maps, driving directions, and information from Yellow Pages to your applications.
Friday, July 21, 2006
Japan to Launch Quasi-Zenith Satellites to Upgrade Its Existing GPS Accuracy
location based services
With a view to develop the accuracy of the US Global Positioning System (GPS) in East Asia and Australia, and to upgrade its existing GPS accuracy, Japan is going to launch Quasi-Zenith satellites that will not be above a set point on the earth’s equator but relative to the earth’s surface, the satellite will likely carry out a figure-of-eight course that loops over Japan in the north and Australia in the south. The satellites orbit at the same speed that the earth rotates, but at an angle to the equator.
The signals from to be launched satellites will be linked with signals from the existing US-based GPS satellites, increasingly upgrading the accuracy of GPS navigation in Japan and countries to its south, and the latest system is also expected to reduce the margin of error in GPS locations to almost 20cm in Japan.
The move has been taken considering the degradation of existing GPS accuracy in Japan where the traditional GPS satellite orbit over the equator and their signals are simply blocked by the effect of urban canyon and mountain terrain in crowded cities. The upcoming GPS receivers are expected to take advantage from to be launched satellites, but it is not clear how much these improves GPS accuracy outside their intended coverage zone while one of the Japanese satellites is in range. Dissimilar to other GPS satellites, which are dedicated to navigation, the Japanese system will also follow vague broadcasting and telecoms functions
Read
Filed Under: Latest News :: Infrastructu
location based services
With a view to develop the accuracy of the US Global Positioning System (GPS) in East Asia and Australia, and to upgrade its existing GPS accuracy, Japan is going to launch Quasi-Zenith satellites that will not be above a set point on the earth’s equator but relative to the earth’s surface, the satellite will likely carry out a figure-of-eight course that loops over Japan in the north and Australia in the south. The satellites orbit at the same speed that the earth rotates, but at an angle to the equator.
The signals from to be launched satellites will be linked with signals from the existing US-based GPS satellites, increasingly upgrading the accuracy of GPS navigation in Japan and countries to its south, and the latest system is also expected to reduce the margin of error in GPS locations to almost 20cm in Japan.
The move has been taken considering the degradation of existing GPS accuracy in Japan where the traditional GPS satellite orbit over the equator and their signals are simply blocked by the effect of urban canyon and mountain terrain in crowded cities. The upcoming GPS receivers are expected to take advantage from to be launched satellites, but it is not clear how much these improves GPS accuracy outside their intended coverage zone while one of the Japanese satellites is in range. Dissimilar to other GPS satellites, which are dedicated to navigation, the Japanese system will also follow vague broadcasting and telecoms functions
Read
Filed Under: Latest News :: Infrastructu
Online map services can't keep up with Big Dig detours
location based services
Finally, the Big Dig was ready to be accurately shown on popular online maps and in-car navigation systems.
Then, ceiling panels fell in the Interstate 90 connector tunnel, killed a Jamaica Plain woman, and forced a host of closings and detours.
So the $14.6 billion project did not appear on the radar of two researchers tooling around Boston yesterday in the orange mobile mapping van owned by Tele Atlas, a Boston-based firm that feeds data to Google Maps, Yahoo! Maps, MapQuest, and in-car navigation systems.
When the van popped out of the Exit 25 detour on the South Boston Waterfront from the Ted Williams Tunnel, they ignored the detour signs and went straight down Congress Street, away from the fray and into downtown.
Erik Cortes and Jeremy Onysko of Tele Atlas, who are updating maps of Massachusetts, were surrounded by computers, a global positioning system, and a personal navigation system. They said that because of the time lag between when they collect the data and when it goes online, temporary detours are difficult to show on online maps.
``I've tried to avoid much of the detour areas because commuters are having a tough enough time getting around," Onysko said.
The company's specialist on the Big Dig also happens to be on vacation. ``I think he left because of this," Onysko joked.
The Big Dig has long been a hassle for the online mapping world, with so many shifts and openings that the mappers can't keep up. Two years after the main Interstate 93 tunnels were fully open, online maps were having a hard time catching up. They still are.
Google Maps directed northbound motorists yesterday to Logan International Airport via the Exit 23 Government Center detour to the Callahan Tunnel. But on the return trip, the service sent motorists through the Ted Williams Tunnel and on to I-93 south, as if nothing had changed since the July 10 accident.
``I believe we will probably not put the most recent data in, because 98 percent of customers will not be consuming it on time," said Al Cooley, senior director of global product marketing at Tele Atlas.
``The detours will be gone, we hope, before we could deliver them," he said.
Mac Daniel can be reached at mdaniel@globe.com.
© Copyright 2006
location based services
Finally, the Big Dig was ready to be accurately shown on popular online maps and in-car navigation systems.
Then, ceiling panels fell in the Interstate 90 connector tunnel, killed a Jamaica Plain woman, and forced a host of closings and detours.
So the $14.6 billion project did not appear on the radar of two researchers tooling around Boston yesterday in the orange mobile mapping van owned by Tele Atlas, a Boston-based firm that feeds data to Google Maps, Yahoo! Maps, MapQuest, and in-car navigation systems.
When the van popped out of the Exit 25 detour on the South Boston Waterfront from the Ted Williams Tunnel, they ignored the detour signs and went straight down Congress Street, away from the fray and into downtown.
Erik Cortes and Jeremy Onysko of Tele Atlas, who are updating maps of Massachusetts, were surrounded by computers, a global positioning system, and a personal navigation system. They said that because of the time lag between when they collect the data and when it goes online, temporary detours are difficult to show on online maps.
``I've tried to avoid much of the detour areas because commuters are having a tough enough time getting around," Onysko said.
The company's specialist on the Big Dig also happens to be on vacation. ``I think he left because of this," Onysko joked.
The Big Dig has long been a hassle for the online mapping world, with so many shifts and openings that the mappers can't keep up. Two years after the main Interstate 93 tunnels were fully open, online maps were having a hard time catching up. They still are.
Google Maps directed northbound motorists yesterday to Logan International Airport via the Exit 23 Government Center detour to the Callahan Tunnel. But on the return trip, the service sent motorists through the Ted Williams Tunnel and on to I-93 south, as if nothing had changed since the July 10 accident.
``I believe we will probably not put the most recent data in, because 98 percent of customers will not be consuming it on time," said Al Cooley, senior director of global product marketing at Tele Atlas.
``The detours will be gone, we hope, before we could deliver them," he said.
Mac Daniel can be reached at mdaniel@globe.com.
© Copyright 2006
Scientigo and Infocall S.p.A. Form Strategic Partnership to Offer Advanced Directory Information Services in Europe
location based services
Meeting the Expanding Information Demands of Telephone Industry Customers through FIND1ST(TM)Enhanced Data and Technology across Phone, Wireless and Internet
Tuesday, 18 July 2006
Scientigo(TM), Inc., a technological innovator in local/mobile search, enhanced directory assistance solutions and a wide array of location based services, and Infocall S.p.A., a provider of international telephone directory databases in Europe, today announced a Strategic Partnership to collaborate on marketing opportunities in Europe.
"Scientigo's FIND1ST(TM) technology platform represents a profound advancement in directory assistance solutions and is sure to help rapidly drive the exciting evolution of our industry," stated Alfonso Graziani, Chairman, InfoCall. "We are very pleased to be teaming with Scientigo and look forward to leveraging this relationship to further enhance our market leadership in Europe."
This important new partnership will permit Scientigo to introduce its industry leading local/mobile search and enhanced directory assistance platform, known as FIND1ST(TM), to the European market place with InfoCall, a partner that is noted for its quality information services and established international wireline and wireless customer base. Scientigo anticipates that a revenue sharing arrangement to be finalized with InfoCall will contribute measurably to future growth.
The intended design of FIND1ST(TM) will enable operators to conduct queries quickly and efficiently, helping customers to locate relevant, local business information from their phone, computer or mobile device, including service and product locator, airline flight times, stock quotes and information, and restaurant and hotel information; personalized assistance, including local attractions, local events, driving directions with downloadable maps, movie listings and horoscopes; and general information, including public services locator, weather conditions, sports scores, headline news and lottery results.
Doyal Bryant, CEO of Scientigo, noted, "Together with Infocall, we can more rapidly meet the expanding information needs of wireline, wireless and Internet users on an international basis. We are very proud to be partnering with Infocall and expect that this will prove to be a highly productive and profitable relationship."
CRM Today
location based services
Meeting the Expanding Information Demands of Telephone Industry Customers through FIND1ST(TM)Enhanced Data and Technology across Phone, Wireless and Internet
Tuesday, 18 July 2006
Scientigo(TM), Inc., a technological innovator in local/mobile search, enhanced directory assistance solutions and a wide array of location based services, and Infocall S.p.A., a provider of international telephone directory databases in Europe, today announced a Strategic Partnership to collaborate on marketing opportunities in Europe.
"Scientigo's FIND1ST(TM) technology platform represents a profound advancement in directory assistance solutions and is sure to help rapidly drive the exciting evolution of our industry," stated Alfonso Graziani, Chairman, InfoCall. "We are very pleased to be teaming with Scientigo and look forward to leveraging this relationship to further enhance our market leadership in Europe."
This important new partnership will permit Scientigo to introduce its industry leading local/mobile search and enhanced directory assistance platform, known as FIND1ST(TM), to the European market place with InfoCall, a partner that is noted for its quality information services and established international wireline and wireless customer base. Scientigo anticipates that a revenue sharing arrangement to be finalized with InfoCall will contribute measurably to future growth.
The intended design of FIND1ST(TM) will enable operators to conduct queries quickly and efficiently, helping customers to locate relevant, local business information from their phone, computer or mobile device, including service and product locator, airline flight times, stock quotes and information, and restaurant and hotel information; personalized assistance, including local attractions, local events, driving directions with downloadable maps, movie listings and horoscopes; and general information, including public services locator, weather conditions, sports scores, headline news and lottery results.
Doyal Bryant, CEO of Scientigo, noted, "Together with Infocall, we can more rapidly meet the expanding information needs of wireline, wireless and Internet users on an international basis. We are very proud to be partnering with Infocall and expect that this will prove to be a highly productive and profitable relationship."
CRM Today
Motorola To Embed Yahoo Services In Mobile Phones
location based services
The phones, available in the first half of 2007, will be pre-loaded with Yahoo Go for Mobile, which includes email, local search and an address book. By Antone Gonsalves TechWeb Jul 20, 2006 02:03 PM
Motorola Inc. on Thursday said it has agreed to embed Yahoo Inc. services in tens of millions of mobile phones.
The multi-year agreement has the Schaumberg, Ill., cellular-phone maker preloading devices with Yahoo Go for Mobile, a package that includes email, local search and an address book. Motorola plans to start shipping Yahoo-equipped phones in the first half of 2007 in the Americas, Europe and Asia.
The deal stems from a partnership the two companies announced in July 2005. Under the alliance, Motorola, the world's second largest cellular phone maker, agreed to embed the Web portal's services in its Linux-based devices, broadband home products and iRadio service.
The agreement was announced two days after Yahoo issued a revenue forecast for 2006 that disappointed Wall Street. In addition, the company delayed the launch of an upgrade of its advertising system.
location based services
The phones, available in the first half of 2007, will be pre-loaded with Yahoo Go for Mobile, which includes email, local search and an address book. By Antone Gonsalves TechWeb Jul 20, 2006 02:03 PM
Motorola Inc. on Thursday said it has agreed to embed Yahoo Inc. services in tens of millions of mobile phones.
The multi-year agreement has the Schaumberg, Ill., cellular-phone maker preloading devices with Yahoo Go for Mobile, a package that includes email, local search and an address book. Motorola plans to start shipping Yahoo-equipped phones in the first half of 2007 in the Americas, Europe and Asia.
The deal stems from a partnership the two companies announced in July 2005. Under the alliance, Motorola, the world's second largest cellular phone maker, agreed to embed the Web portal's services in its Linux-based devices, broadband home products and iRadio service.
The agreement was announced two days after Yahoo issued a revenue forecast for 2006 that disappointed Wall Street. In addition, the company delayed the launch of an upgrade of its advertising system.
Thursday, July 20, 2006
Avis, Budget will offer Garmin units in rentals
location based services
The parent of two of the nation's largest car rental companies said Monday that it would begin offering customers a portable navigation system made by Garmin Ltd. in August.
Avis Budget Car Rental LLC, which operates the Avis and Budget car and truck rental brands, said it would offer the Garmin units for $9.95 a day or $49.95 a week at 125 locations in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico.
Olathe-based Garmin (Nasdaq: GRMN) announced a deal in January with St. Louis-based Enterprise Rent-A-Car, the nation's largest rental car company, to offer navigation units at 100 airport locations for $7.95 a day.
In October, Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group Inc. began offering Garmin navigation units at 149 Dollar Rent A Car locations for $9.95 a day.
Garmin has not released financial terms for its deals with the car rental companies. Garmin spokeswoman Jessica Myers said Monday that the deals have the effect of luring potential new customers by allowing people to try car navigation who otherwise might not have.
The Hertz Corp., the No. 2 car rental company, equips its fleet with navigation units from Garmin rival Magellan, a unit of French company Thales Navigation Inc.
Garmin is the leading maker of portable navigation units for automobiles in the United States. In June, Garmin sold 58 percent of all portable navigation units domestically, ahead of TomTom NV (24 percent) and Magellan (7 percent), according to researcher NPD.
The unit used by Avis and Budget will be called Where2, which is based on Garmin's $800 StreetPilot c550. The Where2 unit includes real-time traffic and construction information, hands-free calling for phones with Bluetooth and contact information for the rental car companies and 250 airlines.
location based services
The parent of two of the nation's largest car rental companies said Monday that it would begin offering customers a portable navigation system made by Garmin Ltd. in August.
Avis Budget Car Rental LLC, which operates the Avis and Budget car and truck rental brands, said it would offer the Garmin units for $9.95 a day or $49.95 a week at 125 locations in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico.
Olathe-based Garmin (Nasdaq: GRMN) announced a deal in January with St. Louis-based Enterprise Rent-A-Car, the nation's largest rental car company, to offer navigation units at 100 airport locations for $7.95 a day.
In October, Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group Inc. began offering Garmin navigation units at 149 Dollar Rent A Car locations for $9.95 a day.
Garmin has not released financial terms for its deals with the car rental companies. Garmin spokeswoman Jessica Myers said Monday that the deals have the effect of luring potential new customers by allowing people to try car navigation who otherwise might not have.
The Hertz Corp., the No. 2 car rental company, equips its fleet with navigation units from Garmin rival Magellan, a unit of French company Thales Navigation Inc.
Garmin is the leading maker of portable navigation units for automobiles in the United States. In June, Garmin sold 58 percent of all portable navigation units domestically, ahead of TomTom NV (24 percent) and Magellan (7 percent), according to researcher NPD.
The unit used by Avis and Budget will be called Where2, which is based on Garmin's $800 StreetPilot c550. The Where2 unit includes real-time traffic and construction information, hands-free calling for phones with Bluetooth and contact information for the rental car companies and 250 airlines.
PANAMA - what a bummer of a name for a search engine
The Panama Canal is a geographic paradox - It connects the Pacific Ocean with the Caribbean, that is , it takes ships from the west to east, but if you look at the map of the Panama Canal due to the strange shape of the Panama Isthmus, the canal actually goes from east ( Pacific side) to west ( Caribbean side). That is the left side is the right side and the right side is the wrong side. Just what you need in a search engine!
Search goes on for way to tackle Google
location based services
Yahoo! pays heavy price for Panama setback· Microsoft makes belated play for lucrative market Richard WrayFriday July 21, 2006The Guardian
Panama is not only a central American country through which passes one of the industrial wonders of the 19th century - the canal - it is also the name given by Yahoo! to its enterprise designed to help advertisers navigate one of the industrial wonders of this century, the internet.
This week Yahoo!, one of the pioneers of the internet portal, said its new system, created to strengthen its hand in the battle for a larger slice of the lucrative online search advertising market, will not be ready until next year.
Yahoo!'s shares suffered their biggest one-day fall on fears that the setback would allow Google to increase its dominance among search engines and could provide the window through which third-placed Microsoft might slip.
There is a lot to play for. Search engines on the web have not only opened up the world's wealth of information to anyone with access to a computer and an internet connection, they have also become amazingly lucrative vehicles for the companies behind them.
Allowing firms to advertise their wares alongside relevant search results has been one of the truly revolutionary business models of the so-called new economy - the new business environment that the net is supposed to have created.
Last year the online advertising market in the US, where it is most developed, was worth more than $12.5bn (£6.76bn), up 30% year on year, according to a survey by the Interactive Advertising Bureau and PricewaterhouseCoopers.
In the UK, the market was worth £1.4bn and this year the amount spent by British advertisers online looks likely to outstrip that being spent on national press advertising. Advertising linked to web searches is the largest component of online advertising. In the US it accounted for 41% of the market last year; in Britain it makes up over half the market. It is also the most lucrative area of online advertising.
Google, which makes a whopping 98% of its revenues from search adverts, has profit margins of more than 60%. Yahoo!, which makes use of its position as the web's most visited portal to sell display advertising while also trying to increase its share of search revenues, has margins of just over 40%.
The sheer power of Google's momentum was clear in quarterly figures last night which revealed that its profit had soared by 110% to $721m in the three months to June, compared to a year ago.
The search company's revenue was up 77% at $2.46bn. Google is growing faster outside its home market than it is in America - the company revealed that the proportion of income earned overseas had risen from 39% to 42%.
Google's earnings were released after stock market closed in New York. Its shares had slipped by 3% during the day on fears that it might be afflicted by the slowdown affecting its competitors.
Search is dominated by Google. According to the research firm ComScore, in May Google had a 62% share of global search traffic, up from 55% in the same month the previous year - a rise assisted by its controversial decision to move fully into the Chinese market.
Yahoo! was firmly in second place with just over 20%, down from 22%, while Microsoft languished in third at under 9%.
In the core US market, Google, according to ComScore, increased its share of monthly online searches in June this year to 44.7%, from 36.5% during June 2005.
From all these statistics one thing is clear: Google dominates. Yahoo! and Microsoft will have to increase both their share of search and the revenues they make from allowing advertisers access to that search audience, to stop the behemoth from Mountain View, California, taking over.
Internet users do not seem swayed by the effectiveness of online search engines. Nate Elliott, an analyst at Jupiter Research, suggests that this is because branding is the important factor. "It is quite ironic that the actual quality of the search itself does not matter. Obviously, if a search request brings back no relevant results people would stop using it, but all the search engines are quite similar."
To increase audience share, search engines have become interested in partnerships with online firms that have a strong brand awareness. In May, Yahoo! linked up with online auction site eBay, one of the web's largest e-commerce players, in a partnership that includes using Yahoo!'s search facility on the eBay site.
That deal came after Google beat Microsoft to a link-up with AOL, paying an over-the-odds $1bn for a 5% stake in the company, giving it the right to keep its search engine at the heart of the Time Warner online property. Google is keen to retain its position within AOL and the company is rumoured to have agreed to hand back to AOL 90% of the advertising revenues it gets from searches carried out through the portal.
A deal with AOL was Microsoft's chance to get back in the game, Mr Elliott reckons. "The AOL deal was their shot and they missed it. There are only a handful of partnerships that matter, with the portals that do not have their own search functions and AOL was the largest of those."
Microsoft is now expected to roll its MSN search facility into its new Windows Vista operating system but there are doubts about whether that will help to boost its market share.
To meet the second challenge - of finding ways to increase revenues generated by paid-for searches - Microsoft has already developed a new tool. This is called AdCenter and it is designed to compete with Google's popular AdWords, which allows advertisers to create adverts and choose search keywords so that when those subjects are searched for the advertiser's campaign appears on the screen.
Microsoft has yet to aggressively market AdCenter to the advertising community and some on Wall Street believe that the delay in the roll-out of Yahoo!'s new advertising software - Panama - could present the software giant with just the window of opportunity it needs.
For Yahoo!, the delay in the roll-out of Panama has been a severe blow.
"From a search query standpoint, Yahoo! is maintaining share," said Jefferies analyst Youssef Squali. "But from a revenue perspective, they have certainly lost quite a large share to Google, and that is why Panama was so important and why Panama continues to be important."
The Panama Canal is a geographic paradox - It connects the Pacific Ocean with the Caribbean, that is , it takes ships from the west to east, but if you look at the map of the Panama Canal due to the strange shape of the Panama Isthmus, the canal actually goes from east ( Pacific side) to west ( Caribbean side). That is the left side is the right side and the right side is the wrong side. Just what you need in a search engine!
Search goes on for way to tackle Google
location based services
Yahoo! pays heavy price for Panama setback· Microsoft makes belated play for lucrative market Richard WrayFriday July 21, 2006The Guardian
Panama is not only a central American country through which passes one of the industrial wonders of the 19th century - the canal - it is also the name given by Yahoo! to its enterprise designed to help advertisers navigate one of the industrial wonders of this century, the internet.
This week Yahoo!, one of the pioneers of the internet portal, said its new system, created to strengthen its hand in the battle for a larger slice of the lucrative online search advertising market, will not be ready until next year.
Yahoo!'s shares suffered their biggest one-day fall on fears that the setback would allow Google to increase its dominance among search engines and could provide the window through which third-placed Microsoft might slip.
There is a lot to play for. Search engines on the web have not only opened up the world's wealth of information to anyone with access to a computer and an internet connection, they have also become amazingly lucrative vehicles for the companies behind them.
Allowing firms to advertise their wares alongside relevant search results has been one of the truly revolutionary business models of the so-called new economy - the new business environment that the net is supposed to have created.
Last year the online advertising market in the US, where it is most developed, was worth more than $12.5bn (£6.76bn), up 30% year on year, according to a survey by the Interactive Advertising Bureau and PricewaterhouseCoopers.
In the UK, the market was worth £1.4bn and this year the amount spent by British advertisers online looks likely to outstrip that being spent on national press advertising. Advertising linked to web searches is the largest component of online advertising. In the US it accounted for 41% of the market last year; in Britain it makes up over half the market. It is also the most lucrative area of online advertising.
Google, which makes a whopping 98% of its revenues from search adverts, has profit margins of more than 60%. Yahoo!, which makes use of its position as the web's most visited portal to sell display advertising while also trying to increase its share of search revenues, has margins of just over 40%.
The sheer power of Google's momentum was clear in quarterly figures last night which revealed that its profit had soared by 110% to $721m in the three months to June, compared to a year ago.
The search company's revenue was up 77% at $2.46bn. Google is growing faster outside its home market than it is in America - the company revealed that the proportion of income earned overseas had risen from 39% to 42%.
Google's earnings were released after stock market closed in New York. Its shares had slipped by 3% during the day on fears that it might be afflicted by the slowdown affecting its competitors.
Search is dominated by Google. According to the research firm ComScore, in May Google had a 62% share of global search traffic, up from 55% in the same month the previous year - a rise assisted by its controversial decision to move fully into the Chinese market.
Yahoo! was firmly in second place with just over 20%, down from 22%, while Microsoft languished in third at under 9%.
In the core US market, Google, according to ComScore, increased its share of monthly online searches in June this year to 44.7%, from 36.5% during June 2005.
From all these statistics one thing is clear: Google dominates. Yahoo! and Microsoft will have to increase both their share of search and the revenues they make from allowing advertisers access to that search audience, to stop the behemoth from Mountain View, California, taking over.
Internet users do not seem swayed by the effectiveness of online search engines. Nate Elliott, an analyst at Jupiter Research, suggests that this is because branding is the important factor. "It is quite ironic that the actual quality of the search itself does not matter. Obviously, if a search request brings back no relevant results people would stop using it, but all the search engines are quite similar."
To increase audience share, search engines have become interested in partnerships with online firms that have a strong brand awareness. In May, Yahoo! linked up with online auction site eBay, one of the web's largest e-commerce players, in a partnership that includes using Yahoo!'s search facility on the eBay site.
That deal came after Google beat Microsoft to a link-up with AOL, paying an over-the-odds $1bn for a 5% stake in the company, giving it the right to keep its search engine at the heart of the Time Warner online property. Google is keen to retain its position within AOL and the company is rumoured to have agreed to hand back to AOL 90% of the advertising revenues it gets from searches carried out through the portal.
A deal with AOL was Microsoft's chance to get back in the game, Mr Elliott reckons. "The AOL deal was their shot and they missed it. There are only a handful of partnerships that matter, with the portals that do not have their own search functions and AOL was the largest of those."
Microsoft is now expected to roll its MSN search facility into its new Windows Vista operating system but there are doubts about whether that will help to boost its market share.
To meet the second challenge - of finding ways to increase revenues generated by paid-for searches - Microsoft has already developed a new tool. This is called AdCenter and it is designed to compete with Google's popular AdWords, which allows advertisers to create adverts and choose search keywords so that when those subjects are searched for the advertiser's campaign appears on the screen.
Microsoft has yet to aggressively market AdCenter to the advertising community and some on Wall Street believe that the delay in the roll-out of Yahoo!'s new advertising software - Panama - could present the software giant with just the window of opportunity it needs.
For Yahoo!, the delay in the roll-out of Panama has been a severe blow.
"From a search query standpoint, Yahoo! is maintaining share," said Jefferies analyst Youssef Squali. "But from a revenue perspective, they have certainly lost quite a large share to Google, and that is why Panama was so important and why Panama continues to be important."
Boston's Big Dig a Big Headache for Online Maps
location based services
In case you haven’t already heard, the Big Dig here in Boston has had some big problems, which has resulted in a closure of many key connector ramps from the main artery to the Logan Airport tunnel. There are detours set up that may last weeks to months as they repair faulty fixtures in the ceiling of these connector tunnels. The Boston Globe today wrote up a piece on how the online map world can’t keep up with these significant but (hopefully) temporary detours. TeleAtlas is mapping the Big Dig even now as the mess is unfolding, but unfortunately they won’t be getting the new detour information through the system in time to help travelers getting to the airport under the new detour laden routes. I did a quick check of a couple of online mapping programs and they sent you right through the closed ramps, whoops. It’s a complex pathway for road data to travel from TeleAtlas van to your GPS, but man if we could ever shrink that to a few days…. Now that would be big.
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location based services
In case you haven’t already heard, the Big Dig here in Boston has had some big problems, which has resulted in a closure of many key connector ramps from the main artery to the Logan Airport tunnel. There are detours set up that may last weeks to months as they repair faulty fixtures in the ceiling of these connector tunnels. The Boston Globe today wrote up a piece on how the online map world can’t keep up with these significant but (hopefully) temporary detours. TeleAtlas is mapping the Big Dig even now as the mess is unfolding, but unfortunately they won’t be getting the new detour information through the system in time to help travelers getting to the airport under the new detour laden routes. I did a quick check of a couple of online mapping programs and they sent you right through the closed ramps, whoops. It’s a complex pathway for road data to travel from TeleAtlas van to your GPS, but man if we could ever shrink that to a few days…. Now that would be big.
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Sprint and Smarter Agent Launch Location-Based Real Estate Application for Wireless Phones; Recently Sold Allows Customers to View Home Sale Data for Their Location on Select Phones
location based services
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. & PHILADELPHIA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 20, 2006--Whether strolling past seaside homes on summer vacation or searching for a new home in time for the school year, from time to time we all find ourselves curbside wondering how much it would cost to live in a particular neighborhood. Now the curious can instantly satisfy their real estate cravings using select Sprint (NYSE:S) phones equipped with Global Positioning System technology.
Sprint and Smarter Agent, the premier provider of "location aware" real estate applications, announced today the launch of a new wireless phone application called Recently Sold Homes.
Recently Sold Homes by Smarter Agent instantly returns information about the closest homes sold within the last three years. Information includes last sold price, last sold date, taxes and square footage. This is the first of a suite of real estate searches to be offered by Smarter Agent that will enable both consumers and real estate professionals to use select Sprint and Nextel phones to learn about real estate anytime, anywhere.
"With reports of home prices stabilizing, and over 12 million households expected to move this year, it's more important than ever to know what's happening in the real estate market," said Brad Blumberg, CEO of Smarter Agent.
"We are pleased to provide Recently Sold Homes by Smarter Agent to our customers," said David Owens, director of devices and productivity applications for Sprint. "Sprint customers can now use Smarter Agent to transform their wireless phone into a powerful real estate tool. This is one of the many exciting GPS-enabled location-based applications Sprint offers that gives customers personalized information when and where they want it on the device they always have with them."
"Because of Smarter Agent's patented 'location-aware' real estate searching, once you download the application, every time you engage it, your wireless phone automatically locates where you are and instantly provides you with recent sales data for homes around you," added Blumberg. "The application has a lot of features that makes learning about real estate fun and easy to use."
Smarter Agent includes a GPS mapping function. By selecting 'Map It,' the user can see his or her location and all of the recent home sales in the area on the same map. In addition, the user can search by city and state to research multiple areas of interest, save properties to their phone, or call an agent for live support. See a sample Sprint with phone screen shots at this link: http://www.smarteragent.com/mobile/sample_screens.php
Smarter Agent covers 180 of the 200 largest markets in the United States. The consumer can conduct unlimited searches for a single monthly fee of $4.99, plus data charges starting at $10 for unlimited access or $0.02 per kilobyte for casual usage.
Sprint Nextel has the longest history in the industry with location-based services, beginning in 2000 with location and mobility services, the first GPS-enabled phone to support E911 services in 2001, and the first navigation service on mobile phones with turn-by-turn voice-guided driving directions in 2003. Sprint Nextel continues its leadership in location-based services by offering the largest portfolio of wireless mobility solutions for enterprise, general business and consumers. The consumer applications include turn-by-turn directions and point-of-interest and specialty applications such as Garmin Mobile, TeleNav, BiM Active, Sprint Family Locator, Rand McNally Mobile Travel Tools and MapQuest Find Me. Frost & Sullivan recognized Sprint Nextel with the 2005 Company of the Year Award in Location Based Services for excellence in successfully deploying and delivering location services and solutions.
About Sprint Nextel
Sprint Nextel offers a comprehensive range of communications services bringing mobility to consumer, business and government customers. Sprint Nextel is widely recognized for developing, engineering and deploying innovative technologies, including two robust wireless networks offering industry leading mobile data services; instant national and international walkie-talkie capabilities; and an award-winning and global Tier 1 Internet backbone. For more information, visit www.sprint.com.
About Smarter Agent
Smarter Agent is one of the most award-winning GPS in the world. CTIA, the telecommunications industry association, recently named Smarter Agent the 2006 Winner in its Emerging Technology Awards LBS/GPS category. Smarter Agent(R) is creating a communication revolution by combining the powerful capabilities of mobile LBS (location based services) technology with real estate content about properties, neighborhoods and interesting places around you. Smarter Agent has been granted 3 patents governing the use of GPS and location-based services in the real estate vertical. The company's application platform delivers dynamic, location-relevant content to both mobile devices and the Internet. This allows consumers and enterprise users to learn, interact and transact with the world around them as never before possible.
Contacts
SprintEmmy Anderson, 913-794-3467Emmy.L.Anderson@sprint.comorSmarter Agent, Inc.Brad Blumberg & Eric Blumberg, 856-614-5423info@smarteragent.com
location based services
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. & PHILADELPHIA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 20, 2006--Whether strolling past seaside homes on summer vacation or searching for a new home in time for the school year, from time to time we all find ourselves curbside wondering how much it would cost to live in a particular neighborhood. Now the curious can instantly satisfy their real estate cravings using select Sprint (NYSE:S) phones equipped with Global Positioning System technology.
Sprint and Smarter Agent, the premier provider of "location aware" real estate applications, announced today the launch of a new wireless phone application called Recently Sold Homes.
Recently Sold Homes by Smarter Agent instantly returns information about the closest homes sold within the last three years. Information includes last sold price, last sold date, taxes and square footage. This is the first of a suite of real estate searches to be offered by Smarter Agent that will enable both consumers and real estate professionals to use select Sprint and Nextel phones to learn about real estate anytime, anywhere.
"With reports of home prices stabilizing, and over 12 million households expected to move this year, it's more important than ever to know what's happening in the real estate market," said Brad Blumberg, CEO of Smarter Agent.
"We are pleased to provide Recently Sold Homes by Smarter Agent to our customers," said David Owens, director of devices and productivity applications for Sprint. "Sprint customers can now use Smarter Agent to transform their wireless phone into a powerful real estate tool. This is one of the many exciting GPS-enabled location-based applications Sprint offers that gives customers personalized information when and where they want it on the device they always have with them."
"Because of Smarter Agent's patented 'location-aware' real estate searching, once you download the application, every time you engage it, your wireless phone automatically locates where you are and instantly provides you with recent sales data for homes around you," added Blumberg. "The application has a lot of features that makes learning about real estate fun and easy to use."
Smarter Agent includes a GPS mapping function. By selecting 'Map It,' the user can see his or her location and all of the recent home sales in the area on the same map. In addition, the user can search by city and state to research multiple areas of interest, save properties to their phone, or call an agent for live support. See a sample Sprint with phone screen shots at this link: http://www.smarteragent.com/mobile/sample_screens.php
Smarter Agent covers 180 of the 200 largest markets in the United States. The consumer can conduct unlimited searches for a single monthly fee of $4.99, plus data charges starting at $10 for unlimited access or $0.02 per kilobyte for casual usage.
Sprint Nextel has the longest history in the industry with location-based services, beginning in 2000 with location and mobility services, the first GPS-enabled phone to support E911 services in 2001, and the first navigation service on mobile phones with turn-by-turn voice-guided driving directions in 2003. Sprint Nextel continues its leadership in location-based services by offering the largest portfolio of wireless mobility solutions for enterprise, general business and consumers. The consumer applications include turn-by-turn directions and point-of-interest and specialty applications such as Garmin Mobile, TeleNav, BiM Active, Sprint Family Locator, Rand McNally Mobile Travel Tools and MapQuest Find Me. Frost & Sullivan recognized Sprint Nextel with the 2005 Company of the Year Award in Location Based Services for excellence in successfully deploying and delivering location services and solutions.
About Sprint Nextel
Sprint Nextel offers a comprehensive range of communications services bringing mobility to consumer, business and government customers. Sprint Nextel is widely recognized for developing, engineering and deploying innovative technologies, including two robust wireless networks offering industry leading mobile data services; instant national and international walkie-talkie capabilities; and an award-winning and global Tier 1 Internet backbone. For more information, visit www.sprint.com.
About Smarter Agent
Smarter Agent is one of the most award-winning GPS in the world. CTIA, the telecommunications industry association, recently named Smarter Agent the 2006 Winner in its Emerging Technology Awards LBS/GPS category. Smarter Agent(R) is creating a communication revolution by combining the powerful capabilities of mobile LBS (location based services) technology with real estate content about properties, neighborhoods and interesting places around you. Smarter Agent has been granted 3 patents governing the use of GPS and location-based services in the real estate vertical. The company's application platform delivers dynamic, location-relevant content to both mobile devices and the Internet. This allows consumers and enterprise users to learn, interact and transact with the world around them as never before possible.
Contacts
SprintEmmy Anderson, 913-794-3467Emmy.L.Anderson@sprint.comorSmarter Agent, Inc.Brad Blumberg & Eric Blumberg, 856-614-5423info@smarteragent.com
Mapquest Rolls out Multi-Point Routes
location based services
Mapquest has rolled out a beta of its new multi-stop Route Builder feature. This new tool lets travelers save time and money by mapping out their entire journey – and multiple destination stops in between – in one convenient step. So, if you aren’t yet using a GPS, the new multipoint routing at Mapquest can help you out. I tested it and it seems intuitive and pretty useful. You can start by putting in a starting and ending destination, and then move on to add other stops. If you want to change the order of your stops, you can easily move stops around and the route updates before your eyes. As you would imagine, with multiple stops, the direction set gets pretty long, so they have included the ability to hide segments of the directions as you work your route, and then allow you to reveal them all to print.
MapQuest’s Route Builder feature was the #1 requested feature among the millions of MapQuest consumers. "Despite record gas prices, most Americans are still planning to drive to their annual … summer vacation destinations," said Jim Greiner, VP and GM, MapQuest. "MapQuest.com continues to be the leading resource for people to find places and get reliable directions. And now the new Route Builder feature lets travelers map out driving directions between multiple stops - saving them time, gas money and frustration."
MapQuest’s Route Builder lets users:
Add up to 10 location destinations along a route;
Search for destination by address or place name;
Optimize route to avoid highways or toll roads;
Find gas stations, hotels, restaurants, ATMs, and other places along the way;
Re-order stops by dragging and dropping and automatically recalculate driving directions;
Print, or email route; and
Choose to show or hide directions as the route is plotted.
Read More in: GPS News
Related Articles:
location based services
Mapquest has rolled out a beta of its new multi-stop Route Builder feature. This new tool lets travelers save time and money by mapping out their entire journey – and multiple destination stops in between – in one convenient step. So, if you aren’t yet using a GPS, the new multipoint routing at Mapquest can help you out. I tested it and it seems intuitive and pretty useful. You can start by putting in a starting and ending destination, and then move on to add other stops. If you want to change the order of your stops, you can easily move stops around and the route updates before your eyes. As you would imagine, with multiple stops, the direction set gets pretty long, so they have included the ability to hide segments of the directions as you work your route, and then allow you to reveal them all to print.
MapQuest’s Route Builder feature was the #1 requested feature among the millions of MapQuest consumers. "Despite record gas prices, most Americans are still planning to drive to their annual … summer vacation destinations," said Jim Greiner, VP and GM, MapQuest. "MapQuest.com continues to be the leading resource for people to find places and get reliable directions. And now the new Route Builder feature lets travelers map out driving directions between multiple stops - saving them time, gas money and frustration."
MapQuest’s Route Builder lets users:
Add up to 10 location destinations along a route;
Search for destination by address or place name;
Optimize route to avoid highways or toll roads;
Find gas stations, hotels, restaurants, ATMs, and other places along the way;
Re-order stops by dragging and dropping and automatically recalculate driving directions;
Print, or email route; and
Choose to show or hide directions as the route is plotted.
Read More in: GPS News
Related Articles:
Shah Capital buys Magellan for $170 Mil
location based services
An investment group led by Shah Capital Partners (SCP) today announced they have reached an agreement to acquire Thales Navigation, makers of the Magellan series of GPS units. Reports are out that say the deal was for $170 million USD. We reported on this possibility back in May. This is good news, I think that Magellan has lost its way recently and didn’t bring the innovation to the GPS marketplace that they were capable of and needed to do. These are the people that got the jump on automotive navigation, and where are they today in the European Market, or the US market, where the entire category is exploding? Garmin is eating their lunch in the US, while TomTom is doing the same in Europe. Let’s face it, competition is good for consumers, and while I am happy to hear about the recent launches of the new RoadMates, I am even more happy to hear about this purchase. In the near term, Shah capital had better pump some dollars into R&D (like Garmin did 2 years ago), and in eighteen months, I would expect some innovative products popping out the other end.
The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2006. The new Company will be named Magellan Navigation, Inc. and will be headquartered in San Dimas, California.
“We are excited to work with such an industry leader in the high-growth navigation market,” said Ajay Shah, managing partner of SCP. “Thales Navigation is well positioned with a number of core strengths, including leadership positions in both consumer and commercial markets, the strength of the Magellan brand, pervasive retail distribution, and a strong technology portfolio. We are looking forward to working with the management team to build on these successes and continue the growth of the business as demand for navigation technology continues to expand.”
“SCP is a great fit for Thales Navigation,” said Henry Gaillard, chief executive officer of Thales Navigation. “This is an exciting new phase for the company. We intend to execute aggressively on our strategy to increase our leadership in the consumer, survey, GIS and OEM markets worldwide, and SCP is both committed and uniquely qualified to help us achieve even greater success as a stand alone company.” help you out.
Read More in: Automotive GPS GPS News Magellan GPS News
Related Articles:
Mapquest Rolls out Multi-Point Routes - Jul 20, 2006
Boston's Big Dig a Big Headache for Online Maps - Jul 20, 2006
CBS: Quick Overview of GPS Market - Jul 20, 2006
Came straight to this page? Visit GPS Lodge for all the latest news.
location based services
An investment group led by Shah Capital Partners (SCP) today announced they have reached an agreement to acquire Thales Navigation, makers of the Magellan series of GPS units. Reports are out that say the deal was for $170 million USD. We reported on this possibility back in May. This is good news, I think that Magellan has lost its way recently and didn’t bring the innovation to the GPS marketplace that they were capable of and needed to do. These are the people that got the jump on automotive navigation, and where are they today in the European Market, or the US market, where the entire category is exploding? Garmin is eating their lunch in the US, while TomTom is doing the same in Europe. Let’s face it, competition is good for consumers, and while I am happy to hear about the recent launches of the new RoadMates, I am even more happy to hear about this purchase. In the near term, Shah capital had better pump some dollars into R&D (like Garmin did 2 years ago), and in eighteen months, I would expect some innovative products popping out the other end.
The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2006. The new Company will be named Magellan Navigation, Inc. and will be headquartered in San Dimas, California.
“We are excited to work with such an industry leader in the high-growth navigation market,” said Ajay Shah, managing partner of SCP. “Thales Navigation is well positioned with a number of core strengths, including leadership positions in both consumer and commercial markets, the strength of the Magellan brand, pervasive retail distribution, and a strong technology portfolio. We are looking forward to working with the management team to build on these successes and continue the growth of the business as demand for navigation technology continues to expand.”
“SCP is a great fit for Thales Navigation,” said Henry Gaillard, chief executive officer of Thales Navigation. “This is an exciting new phase for the company. We intend to execute aggressively on our strategy to increase our leadership in the consumer, survey, GIS and OEM markets worldwide, and SCP is both committed and uniquely qualified to help us achieve even greater success as a stand alone company.” help you out.
Read More in: Automotive GPS GPS News Magellan GPS News
Related Articles:
Mapquest Rolls out Multi-Point Routes - Jul 20, 2006
Boston's Big Dig a Big Headache for Online Maps - Jul 20, 2006
CBS: Quick Overview of GPS Market - Jul 20, 2006
Came straight to this page? Visit GPS Lodge for all the latest news.
Another Online Mapping Patent Granted
location based services
This time the patent is granted to LandVoyage, the mapping portal focussed on real estate, that's currently up for sale. The patent, US 7,054,741, is titled "Land Software Tool" and per the press release covers "functions that provide the online map drawing and measuring capabilities available on the LandVoyage mapping website." A continuation to cover features noted but not claimed in the patent is pending, as are some new features. Here's the abstract. I am not a lawyer, but this sounds like a lot of tools already online to me! And, it doesn't sound all that good for the GIS industry. On the other hand, it does sound like something that might entice a buyer of LandVoyage, should it be considered enforceable. (Again, I'm not a lawyer and can't speak to that.)
Disclosed is a network accessible tool that is capable of providing map and satellite image data, as well as other photographic image data to locate, identify, measure, view, and communicate information about land over the Internet-to-Internet users. The network accessible tool includes a location tool that allows the user to locate areas on a map using geographic names, township, range and section descriptions, county names, latitude and longitude coordinates or zip codes. Network accessible tool also includes a metes and bounds tool that draws boundaries on the map and image data in response to metes and bounds descriptions that have been entered by the Internet user. The network accessible tool also includes a lat/long drawing tool that draws boundaries on the map and image data based upon latitude and longitude coordinate pairs that have been entered by the Internet user. A cursor drawing tool allows the Internet user to draw and edit boundaries on the map and image data by simply clicking the cursor on the corner points of the boundary. An acreage calculation tool is also provided that calculates the acreage of an enclosed boundary. A distance measurement tool is also provided. The cursor information tool provides information relating to the name and creation date of the map and image data in accordance with the location of the cursor on the screen. The information can be communicated by printing, downloading, or e-mailing.
location based services
This time the patent is granted to LandVoyage, the mapping portal focussed on real estate, that's currently up for sale. The patent, US 7,054,741, is titled "Land Software Tool" and per the press release covers "functions that provide the online map drawing and measuring capabilities available on the LandVoyage mapping website." A continuation to cover features noted but not claimed in the patent is pending, as are some new features. Here's the abstract. I am not a lawyer, but this sounds like a lot of tools already online to me! And, it doesn't sound all that good for the GIS industry. On the other hand, it does sound like something that might entice a buyer of LandVoyage, should it be considered enforceable. (Again, I'm not a lawyer and can't speak to that.)
Disclosed is a network accessible tool that is capable of providing map and satellite image data, as well as other photographic image data to locate, identify, measure, view, and communicate information about land over the Internet-to-Internet users. The network accessible tool includes a location tool that allows the user to locate areas on a map using geographic names, township, range and section descriptions, county names, latitude and longitude coordinates or zip codes. Network accessible tool also includes a metes and bounds tool that draws boundaries on the map and image data in response to metes and bounds descriptions that have been entered by the Internet user. The network accessible tool also includes a lat/long drawing tool that draws boundaries on the map and image data based upon latitude and longitude coordinate pairs that have been entered by the Internet user. A cursor drawing tool allows the Internet user to draw and edit boundaries on the map and image data by simply clicking the cursor on the corner points of the boundary. An acreage calculation tool is also provided that calculates the acreage of an enclosed boundary. A distance measurement tool is also provided. The cursor information tool provides information relating to the name and creation date of the map and image data in accordance with the location of the cursor on the screen. The information can be communicated by printing, downloading, or e-mailing.
Stanford Fellow Imagines Every Cell Phone as Citizen Media Outlet
location based services
Perhaps some day in the not so distant future, every person on the planet who has a cell phone camera will be able to snap a photo of a newsworthy event happening in front of them and easily send it to a web clearinghouse of such news images. That’s the dream of Erik Sundelof (pictured at left), a Reuters Digital Vision Fellow at Stanford University, a program that aims to develop technology to advance humanitarian goals in underserved communities.
While there are plenty of big news outlets such as the BBC that accept photo and video submissions from their audience, and phone services that let you send photos to moblogs or mobile blogs, the idea of one global service for submissions from every type of cell phone hasn’t caught on yet.
Sundelof has spent much of the past school year at Stanford developing a prototype of such a service, currently mocked up at InTheFieldOnline.net . I met him for lunch and he showed me how simple the system was. Take a photo or video with your camera phone. Send a text message with attachment to an email address, and voila! it’s posted to the site after just a brief delay. He’s tested it in rural villages in India, and with his parents in Sweden, where he grew up.
At the moment, he’s working on a “cooler version” of the service in the hopes of attracting Silicon Valley funding, or perhaps paying customers who run newspaper sites or other media outlets. His hope is to build an open source software platform — with programming code that can be improved and modified by anyone — to enable people to send in photos or video to central sites or to their blogs or websites of their choice. The simpler, the better.
I was impressed with Sundelof’s knowledge of citizen journalism and his hopes for its future, envisioning a time when more people could help tell the stories around them, and traditional media might merge with the best citizen contributions to tell a more complete truth. Even though he has more of a background in technology than in media, Sundelof has an interesting philosophy about citizen journalism and takes an outsider’s perspective on hot-button issues such as moderating forums (he likes them more open) and personalized news (he doesn’t think people should be able to filter out bad news).
The following is an edited transcript of our wide-ranging discussion on his project and the shifting media landscape.
What first got you interested in citizen journalism?
Erik Sundelof: Before I came here to Stanford [in September 2005], I’d never worked with citizen media. And I came here because the Reuters Foundation wants to help their organization to develop open source media software. When I came here I thought, what can we do for them that is something new? The problem with open source software is that they tend to copycat. Like OpenOffice is just a copy of Microsoft Office. They’re not doing anything new. They’re not trying to compete by doing anything new, they’re just trying to beat the price.
I started to think about what would be my first thought after a car bomb went off. Certainly not to run to an Internet cafe. That’s probably the last thing I would think about. But I might call my friends with my cell phone to tell them I’m all right. Then you have your phone out, so now the possibility is that you could also record that, shoot it and send it to Reuters, the BBC or wherever. That would be a great tool to really create a vehicle and channel for those people to get their frustration out, that would help the democracy part.
I have been dealing with blogs but never put a category of citizen media on it. I don’t see the need for putting a label on it as ‘citizen media’ — why not just call it media. Because everything else is just called news and it depends on how you present it, how you package it and mash it up.
When I was at the We Media conference at Reuters in London, I learned that Reuters is thinking a lot about this subject of citizen journalism, but they also have all these professional journalists out in the field, so they are trying to figure out how to make it work.
Sundelof: I think the right combination is to have the [reported] article and then a small box with a way to give users to tell their side of the story, their contribution.
How do you moderate that? How do you filter it?
Sundelof: I think it becomes easier when you’re using cell phone technology, when the user needs their identification. You need to make sure the news is all accurate and that the news is coming from the location where it happened, which is easier if you have a computer but with a cell phone you have to do triangulation. If you’re not Google, you don’t have the money to do that. So without money, you have to make a deal with a cell phone service.
They have to have a global positioning system (GPS) to know where you are?
Sundelof: You can still use triangulation to find out which cell tower the call is coming from. Then you need to map that, which takes time and resources, and you end up needing Google, because they can get the attention of cell phone providers. [Cell phone companies] won’t listen to smaller organizations, I think that’s the main problem.
During the flooding in New Orleans after Katrina, people who were stranded in homes were sending text messages from their cell phones to friends to tell them where they were. Those messages were posted to a blog at the Times-Picayune newspaper’s website, which then was read by emergency crews who went out and saved the people.
Sundelof: There were similar things after the Pakistan earthquake, because the only thing people could rely on was text messages. The volume of calls becomes so high that you can’t get through by voice but you can get through with text messages because it uses less data. What is lacking is the way to organize the material when it comes in. There’s so many people sending in material, that it’s difficult to authenticate everything quickly. You need to have permission from the network provider. They have to be able to give you that information, and there are a whole lot of legal issues there.
There are many different aspects to this, and the cell phone is a perfect complement to news contributed to the web. You can get it online easily. There were similar things going on after the London bombings, but the media collected that and then put it up on the web. It would have been better if you could just upload it immediately.
There are numerous examples of similar stuff going on but the big news organizations don’t get it at all. They get stuck in details and legal issues that they really shouldn’t care about. I can understand that the lawyers [worry about unfiltered material] but there are always ways around it.
It’s a control issue, not wanting to give up control. There’s a fear that if there are citizen journalists, then what’s the role of the professional journalists? Someone encroaching on their turf and not being paid anything or being paid very little. So the professionals are afraid their whole purpose is disappearing but I don’t think it’s really true.
Sundelof: They have a clearer purpose because they can actually focus on bigger events and present more well thought out articles…Events like Rodney King and similar events, it’s really interesting to have cell phones as part of the scene. Because it’s much harder to get away with that if you have 40 people with cell phones sending it in. You can’t say, ‘No, it was not police brutality.’ Well we have 40 different people saying they saw it — with proof.
I really see an opening here for citizen contributions. The key here is that the media organizations need to realize they are losing control. They can’t really control [the news] now because people are posting this stuff to other blogs. I think it would be better to merge traditional reporting with citizen media rather than have a [totally] new media. To take the best of the old fashioned news organizations and bring in the power of the bloggers, because you have so many people investigating. Mix them and you have an extremely good organization and you’ll have content that’s really important in finding out the truth.
I guess it’s the idea of Yahoo News or Google News where they are trying to aggregate the different types of media on the same page.
Sundelof: I’m actually against Google News, the way it is now, because I don’t believe you should customize the news. You shouldn’t present to the person only what he wants to see. Then we’re creating narrow-minded people. They only see what they want to see, and when they hear something else, they say, ‘That didn’t happen.’ Well it did, but you chose to go to Google News and only see what you wanted to see all the time.
I think it’s really dangerous, because I don’t feel that news should be in the hands of such a big corporation such as Google. There’s already a problem here in the States over the ownership structure of news companies. I don’t think the solution is to go to one big company instead and say that Google News should solve it all. I think users like it because then they don’t get so upset. They get exposed to just the things they want to get exposed to.
I know that people here use their cell phones differently than they do in Europe or Japan. And in Africa, the landlines are so bad that cell phones have taken over as means for communication. It’s much more important in developing nations.
Sundelof: It’s much cheaper to build the infrastructure for cell phones, and Africa is the most perfect place for launching any cell phone service because it’s so flat you don’t have trouble with the base stations, you don’t need that many. You can still get decent coverage, of course you do have the problem with dictators which you can’t really solve.
But in Asia you don’t need to get that much money for each transaction because you have so many people. If you add up the people in China and India, you have one fourth of the population of the world. If they send one message each, and you say they pay $1 each per year, that’s $2 billion. There’s no way that your cost for setting up the system will match that $2 billion. It’s not even close. That’s where you have the big markets, because you don’t have to charge them much at all.
We’re running a number of test cases. We have been running this in India and have tried it out in most parts of the world. It’s worked well in the rural parts of India. We tried it out with an organization called Video Volunteers . They are bringing in solutions for people to do their own documentaries in villages in India. They go over there, hand over the video equipment, teach them how to use the equipment and edit the video, and let them do what they want. They’re creating a dialogue without the Internet. Information technology is not always about the Internet.
I want to make sure even my parents in Sweden can do it. They just have to remember a number.
How does InTheFieldOnline.net differ from all the moblogging functions that cell phone companies offer, or sites such as moblogUK , which offers free blog space for camera phone pictures?
Sundelof: They are similar but to some extent they are lacking in simplicity. If you don’t do everything right, you are thrown out of the system. I say we just capture it all and do the best we can.
It’s more of an open system?
Sundelof: Yes, that’s right. They usually don’t support other cell phone services. They say you have to post it on a moblog, I say you can post it anywhere. So you can post to Flickr or Blogger or Drupal. The difference is we allow people to post on the media of their choice, rather than on my site, I don’t care.
*****
What do you think of such a service? Can citizen journalism via cell phones help enhance the news? Would you use this service? How? Share your thoughts in the comments below. I’ll be updating this blog post when Sundelof unveils the next version of his prototype in the next few weeks.
Filed under Citizen Journalism, Digging Deeper
Hi Mark...this is quite an interesting discussion in light of the recent Pew study that finds only 34% of bloggers think of themselves as journalists (the study does not differentiate between citizen and professional journalists)...
After reading this study, and in light of the wonderful citizens media bootcamp at the Media Giraffe Project conference a couple of weeks ago, my sense is that there are distinct differences between citizen contributions and citizen journalism. The citizen journalists I was priviledged to meet have a real focus to what they are doing--it's not just random contributions here or there--and a commitment. They do what they do because publishing to the web is easier, and cheaper, than paper (although a few even publish to paper) but they are often rigorous in their fact-checking and there's often some kind of editorial process.
In the end, it the profession's fear of "citizen journalists" might be more a fear of those disaffected from their own ranks and from other professions (who also do citizen journalism) than of the citizenry in general.
By tish grier 12:41PM on 19 Jul 06
This is cool. Now if you can come up with the ability to send short video clips from phones to the site as well, make it free for everyone and put compnaies like Huice wireless out of business that would be very cool.
By Mike Rielly 12:19PM on 20 Jul 06
Good point, Tish. I'm going to post on the Pew study and another study on the podcast audience from Nielsen later today.
Mike, this project does include the ability to send video clips from cell phones to the central site. Not sure about Huice wireless, but I think the business model for this is still TBD (to be determined). But if you have any ideas, I'm sure Erik would be all ears.
By Mark Glaser 1:54PM on 20 Jul 06
Mike,
The idea is to provide a simple, cheap and easy maintainable tool so that users that cannot connect to the internet still are able to do so with as simple techniques as possible. Thus my architecture will allow people 'in the field' to report news stories (or any other types of content for that matter) to the web using just a cell phone, but is developed in such a way as to be extremely extensible. As such one can basically push any piece of information - text, audio, graphic, picture, video from any cell phone to the web. It is the natural extension to citizen journalism as it creates the vehicle for people without internet being able to get their voices heard on the internet.
If you would like to try it out yourself the very simple showcase is found here - http://inthefieldonline.net/showcase.Step by step instructions is as below.
location based services
Perhaps some day in the not so distant future, every person on the planet who has a cell phone camera will be able to snap a photo of a newsworthy event happening in front of them and easily send it to a web clearinghouse of such news images. That’s the dream of Erik Sundelof (pictured at left), a Reuters Digital Vision Fellow at Stanford University, a program that aims to develop technology to advance humanitarian goals in underserved communities.
While there are plenty of big news outlets such as the BBC that accept photo and video submissions from their audience, and phone services that let you send photos to moblogs or mobile blogs, the idea of one global service for submissions from every type of cell phone hasn’t caught on yet.
Sundelof has spent much of the past school year at Stanford developing a prototype of such a service, currently mocked up at InTheFieldOnline.net . I met him for lunch and he showed me how simple the system was. Take a photo or video with your camera phone. Send a text message with attachment to an email address, and voila! it’s posted to the site after just a brief delay. He’s tested it in rural villages in India, and with his parents in Sweden, where he grew up.
At the moment, he’s working on a “cooler version” of the service in the hopes of attracting Silicon Valley funding, or perhaps paying customers who run newspaper sites or other media outlets. His hope is to build an open source software platform — with programming code that can be improved and modified by anyone — to enable people to send in photos or video to central sites or to their blogs or websites of their choice. The simpler, the better.
I was impressed with Sundelof’s knowledge of citizen journalism and his hopes for its future, envisioning a time when more people could help tell the stories around them, and traditional media might merge with the best citizen contributions to tell a more complete truth. Even though he has more of a background in technology than in media, Sundelof has an interesting philosophy about citizen journalism and takes an outsider’s perspective on hot-button issues such as moderating forums (he likes them more open) and personalized news (he doesn’t think people should be able to filter out bad news).
The following is an edited transcript of our wide-ranging discussion on his project and the shifting media landscape.
What first got you interested in citizen journalism?
Erik Sundelof: Before I came here to Stanford [in September 2005], I’d never worked with citizen media. And I came here because the Reuters Foundation wants to help their organization to develop open source media software. When I came here I thought, what can we do for them that is something new? The problem with open source software is that they tend to copycat. Like OpenOffice is just a copy of Microsoft Office. They’re not doing anything new. They’re not trying to compete by doing anything new, they’re just trying to beat the price.
I started to think about what would be my first thought after a car bomb went off. Certainly not to run to an Internet cafe. That’s probably the last thing I would think about. But I might call my friends with my cell phone to tell them I’m all right. Then you have your phone out, so now the possibility is that you could also record that, shoot it and send it to Reuters, the BBC or wherever. That would be a great tool to really create a vehicle and channel for those people to get their frustration out, that would help the democracy part.
I have been dealing with blogs but never put a category of citizen media on it. I don’t see the need for putting a label on it as ‘citizen media’ — why not just call it media. Because everything else is just called news and it depends on how you present it, how you package it and mash it up.
When I was at the We Media conference at Reuters in London, I learned that Reuters is thinking a lot about this subject of citizen journalism, but they also have all these professional journalists out in the field, so they are trying to figure out how to make it work.
Sundelof: I think the right combination is to have the [reported] article and then a small box with a way to give users to tell their side of the story, their contribution.
How do you moderate that? How do you filter it?
Sundelof: I think it becomes easier when you’re using cell phone technology, when the user needs their identification. You need to make sure the news is all accurate and that the news is coming from the location where it happened, which is easier if you have a computer but with a cell phone you have to do triangulation. If you’re not Google, you don’t have the money to do that. So without money, you have to make a deal with a cell phone service.
They have to have a global positioning system (GPS) to know where you are?
Sundelof: You can still use triangulation to find out which cell tower the call is coming from. Then you need to map that, which takes time and resources, and you end up needing Google, because they can get the attention of cell phone providers. [Cell phone companies] won’t listen to smaller organizations, I think that’s the main problem.
During the flooding in New Orleans after Katrina, people who were stranded in homes were sending text messages from their cell phones to friends to tell them where they were. Those messages were posted to a blog at the Times-Picayune newspaper’s website, which then was read by emergency crews who went out and saved the people.
Sundelof: There were similar things after the Pakistan earthquake, because the only thing people could rely on was text messages. The volume of calls becomes so high that you can’t get through by voice but you can get through with text messages because it uses less data. What is lacking is the way to organize the material when it comes in. There’s so many people sending in material, that it’s difficult to authenticate everything quickly. You need to have permission from the network provider. They have to be able to give you that information, and there are a whole lot of legal issues there.
There are many different aspects to this, and the cell phone is a perfect complement to news contributed to the web. You can get it online easily. There were similar things going on after the London bombings, but the media collected that and then put it up on the web. It would have been better if you could just upload it immediately.
There are numerous examples of similar stuff going on but the big news organizations don’t get it at all. They get stuck in details and legal issues that they really shouldn’t care about. I can understand that the lawyers [worry about unfiltered material] but there are always ways around it.
It’s a control issue, not wanting to give up control. There’s a fear that if there are citizen journalists, then what’s the role of the professional journalists? Someone encroaching on their turf and not being paid anything or being paid very little. So the professionals are afraid their whole purpose is disappearing but I don’t think it’s really true.
Sundelof: They have a clearer purpose because they can actually focus on bigger events and present more well thought out articles…Events like Rodney King and similar events, it’s really interesting to have cell phones as part of the scene. Because it’s much harder to get away with that if you have 40 people with cell phones sending it in. You can’t say, ‘No, it was not police brutality.’ Well we have 40 different people saying they saw it — with proof.
I really see an opening here for citizen contributions. The key here is that the media organizations need to realize they are losing control. They can’t really control [the news] now because people are posting this stuff to other blogs. I think it would be better to merge traditional reporting with citizen media rather than have a [totally] new media. To take the best of the old fashioned news organizations and bring in the power of the bloggers, because you have so many people investigating. Mix them and you have an extremely good organization and you’ll have content that’s really important in finding out the truth.
I guess it’s the idea of Yahoo News or Google News where they are trying to aggregate the different types of media on the same page.
Sundelof: I’m actually against Google News, the way it is now, because I don’t believe you should customize the news. You shouldn’t present to the person only what he wants to see. Then we’re creating narrow-minded people. They only see what they want to see, and when they hear something else, they say, ‘That didn’t happen.’ Well it did, but you chose to go to Google News and only see what you wanted to see all the time.
I think it’s really dangerous, because I don’t feel that news should be in the hands of such a big corporation such as Google. There’s already a problem here in the States over the ownership structure of news companies. I don’t think the solution is to go to one big company instead and say that Google News should solve it all. I think users like it because then they don’t get so upset. They get exposed to just the things they want to get exposed to.
I know that people here use their cell phones differently than they do in Europe or Japan. And in Africa, the landlines are so bad that cell phones have taken over as means for communication. It’s much more important in developing nations.
Sundelof: It’s much cheaper to build the infrastructure for cell phones, and Africa is the most perfect place for launching any cell phone service because it’s so flat you don’t have trouble with the base stations, you don’t need that many. You can still get decent coverage, of course you do have the problem with dictators which you can’t really solve.
But in Asia you don’t need to get that much money for each transaction because you have so many people. If you add up the people in China and India, you have one fourth of the population of the world. If they send one message each, and you say they pay $1 each per year, that’s $2 billion. There’s no way that your cost for setting up the system will match that $2 billion. It’s not even close. That’s where you have the big markets, because you don’t have to charge them much at all.
We’re running a number of test cases. We have been running this in India and have tried it out in most parts of the world. It’s worked well in the rural parts of India. We tried it out with an organization called Video Volunteers . They are bringing in solutions for people to do their own documentaries in villages in India. They go over there, hand over the video equipment, teach them how to use the equipment and edit the video, and let them do what they want. They’re creating a dialogue without the Internet. Information technology is not always about the Internet.
I want to make sure even my parents in Sweden can do it. They just have to remember a number.
How does InTheFieldOnline.net differ from all the moblogging functions that cell phone companies offer, or sites such as moblogUK , which offers free blog space for camera phone pictures?
Sundelof: They are similar but to some extent they are lacking in simplicity. If you don’t do everything right, you are thrown out of the system. I say we just capture it all and do the best we can.
It’s more of an open system?
Sundelof: Yes, that’s right. They usually don’t support other cell phone services. They say you have to post it on a moblog, I say you can post it anywhere. So you can post to Flickr or Blogger or Drupal. The difference is we allow people to post on the media of their choice, rather than on my site, I don’t care.
*****
What do you think of such a service? Can citizen journalism via cell phones help enhance the news? Would you use this service? How? Share your thoughts in the comments below. I’ll be updating this blog post when Sundelof unveils the next version of his prototype in the next few weeks.
Filed under Citizen Journalism, Digging Deeper
Hi Mark...this is quite an interesting discussion in light of the recent Pew study that finds only 34% of bloggers think of themselves as journalists (the study does not differentiate between citizen and professional journalists)...
After reading this study, and in light of the wonderful citizens media bootcamp at the Media Giraffe Project conference a couple of weeks ago, my sense is that there are distinct differences between citizen contributions and citizen journalism. The citizen journalists I was priviledged to meet have a real focus to what they are doing--it's not just random contributions here or there--and a commitment. They do what they do because publishing to the web is easier, and cheaper, than paper (although a few even publish to paper) but they are often rigorous in their fact-checking and there's often some kind of editorial process.
In the end, it the profession's fear of "citizen journalists" might be more a fear of those disaffected from their own ranks and from other professions (who also do citizen journalism) than of the citizenry in general.
By tish grier 12:41PM on 19 Jul 06
This is cool. Now if you can come up with the ability to send short video clips from phones to the site as well, make it free for everyone and put compnaies like Huice wireless out of business that would be very cool.
By Mike Rielly 12:19PM on 20 Jul 06
Good point, Tish. I'm going to post on the Pew study and another study on the podcast audience from Nielsen later today.
Mike, this project does include the ability to send video clips from cell phones to the central site. Not sure about Huice wireless, but I think the business model for this is still TBD (to be determined). But if you have any ideas, I'm sure Erik would be all ears.
By Mark Glaser 1:54PM on 20 Jul 06
Mike,
The idea is to provide a simple, cheap and easy maintainable tool so that users that cannot connect to the internet still are able to do so with as simple techniques as possible. Thus my architecture will allow people 'in the field' to report news stories (or any other types of content for that matter) to the web using just a cell phone, but is developed in such a way as to be extremely extensible. As such one can basically push any piece of information - text, audio, graphic, picture, video from any cell phone to the web. It is the natural extension to citizen journalism as it creates the vehicle for people without internet being able to get their voices heard on the internet.
If you would like to try it out yourself the very simple showcase is found here - http://inthefieldonline.net/showcase.Step by step instructions is as below.
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