Hasta La Gadget!

It looks like Apple may be jumping back into the Maps business, and in order to do so, it has acquired the indoor-GPS startup, WifiSLAM. The company was a startup that came to fruition about two years ago with the help of one of its co-founders, ex-Google software engineer intern, Joseph Huang. Before it was acquired by Apple, the company helped app developers add indoor mapping features to their retail and social networking apps.

Sources stated that Apple purchased the small startup for $20 million. The news was later confirmed by an Apple spokesman who said that Apple “buys smaller technology companies from time to time.” Google has already jumped into the indoor-mapping game and it currently offers indoor mapping services for several locations, including certain airports, retail venues, and sports venues.

WifiSLAM works by allowing mobile apps to detect the user’s locations using the WiFi signals in the building. The service says that by only using ambient WiFi signals, your smartphone can pinpoint you to 2.5m accuracy. Not only is the startup used to help with indoor navigation, but it is also used to help create proximity-based social networking apps, and improve retail customer engagement.

Apple will most likely use the startup to add an indoor-mapping feature to its Maps app, but there are also many other possibilities that the startup can offer. Apple may also have a difficult time convincing customers to use its Maps app again. The app was notorious for giving bad directions, something that several people in Australia can account for. But of course, it’s Apple, so I’m sure the company will find some way to convince consumers to give Maps a second chance.

[via The Wall Street Journal]

Apple acquires indoor-GPS startup WifiSLAM is written by Brian Sin & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

You might think that police or other federal authorities would need to obtain a court order to be able to place a GPS tracking device on your vehicle. That court order is apparently not needed according to the Obama administration. This is despite the fact that the Supreme Court ruled last year that attaching GPS devices to the vehicles of citizens amounted to search protected by the Constitution.

Wired reports that the Obama administration will take its case before an appeals court this week in a case set to test the parameters of Supreme Court ruling from 2012 concerning GPS tracking. If the federal government wins, authorities will continue to be able to place GPS tracking devices on vehicles with no court order.

The case will be heard in the third US Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia. At the heart of the case is a decision on whether or not police and other law enforcement agencies need probable cause warrants issued by a judge in order to track the GPS location of a suspect’s vehicle. Wired reports that after the Supreme Court’s January 2012 ruling, federal authorities disabled 3000 GPS trackers that were installed on vehicles without warrants.

The federal government believes that broad exemptions with regards to search warrants that have been granted in the past for instances such as the oversight of school students, probationers, border maintenance, and the ability to search vehicles and luggage for drugs should be applied to GPS devices. The government says that not being able to place GPS devices on vehicles without a warrant would “seriously impede the government’s ability to investigate drug trafficking, terrorism, and other crimes.” The case that will be heard in Philadelphia has to do with three brothers that were arrested for pharmacy robberies in a van that was being GPS tracked without a warrant by authorities. The brothers were found with drugs and pharmacy surveillance systems in their possession inside the vehicle that was being tracked.

[via Wired]

Obama administration believes no warrant is needed for authorities to use GPS tracking on vehicles is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Not all that long ago, we were staring at spreadsheets, table layouts and sketch-ups, squinting our eyes and attempting to wrap our brains around all of it. On Friday, we popped by Fort Mason in San Francisco, to test drive ZBoard’s latest and greatest electric skateboard, and things were already underway, the stage was being erected and banners with our familiar logo were draped everywhere. That moment, however, had nothing on the surreality of the following morning, when, bright and early, the companies began setting up tables.

Outside, a Tesla Model S was parked for test drives, and inside were a pair of electric Toyotas, one sporting a giant, decorative plug on its roof. There were big booths from Lenovo and Nokia, an Indie Corner jam-packed with and impressive displays like the the Ekso Bionics robot exoskeleton and Da Vinci’s truly awe-inspiring surgical robot. Next to that, was Insert Coin, a gathering of all the semi-finalists for our first-ever startup competition, who had flown from all over to show off a truly diverse and impressive selection of innovation.

On stage, an equally diverse array of panelists joined us, from reps for companies like Google, Microsoft, Toyota, and OUYA, to 3D printing companies, roboticists, futurists, sci-fi writers, space explorers, indie gamers and a multimedia DJ / philosopher. Frankly, we’re exhausted. And we can’t wait to do it again. See you in New York.

Filed under: Announcements, Cellphones, Cameras, Displays, Misc, Gaming, GPS, Handhelds, Home Entertainment, Household, Laptops, Peripherals, Robots, Tablets, Transportation, Wearables, Wireless, Storage, Networking, Science, Internet, Software, HD, Mobile, Alt

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Many Rolls-Royce drivers are used to effortless speed between the big engines and smooth suspensions. The automaker’s new Wraith coupe could iron out what few of those wrinkles are left through a clever use of GPS for the transmission. Its eight-speed ZF automatic gearbox relies on positioning to pick gears in advance, gauging the situation down to the exact stretch of road: it can see the need for a shorter gear at the upcoming corner, for example. Other tech upgrades aren’t quite as fresh, although we’re sure that less traditionalist Rolls drivers won’t mind a heads-up display, voice command support and the infotainment system’s multi-touch trackpad. The Wraith’s €245,000 ($318,745) price and late 2013 availability will likely be too much to endure if all you’re looking for is seamless shifting — they may, however, provide some consolation for missing out on that LaFerrari.

Filed under: GPS, Transportation

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Via: Autoblog

Source: Rolls-Royce

SensoMotoric Instruments is a company that builds eye-tracking goggles for research and teaching projects, and the DFKI is the German center for artificial intelligence. Together, the pair has cooked up ‘Talking Places,’ a Google Glass-esque concept that is designed to help people navigate unfamiliar locations. Thanks to a combination of cutting-edge hardware and software, we were taken on a tour of a model village and were surprised to see that the unit offered up plenty of information about our surroundings. Interested in how it’s done? Head on past the break.

Filed under: Cameras, Displays, GPS, Wearables

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