Meridian’s indoor GPS technology has been the sole preserve of companies prepared to build their apps from inside Meridian’s custom editor. Now, however, it’s opened up the platform, introducing a pair of SDKs that let use anyone use its coveted Nav Kit and Blue Dot know-how to help people get around cavernous public spaces. Tested in locations like Miami Children’s Hospital, Sydney Airport and Macy’s, users will be able to get turn-by-turn directions to help them find their gate, offspring or this season’s must-have look — with the latter the first to launch a mobile app built with the technology.
The latest update for Google’s efforts to index of IRL mapping information is focused on your computer. Google Earth 7 for your desktop is finally ready to match the Android and iOS versions, with support for its 3D renderings in 25 cities, and “tour guide” feature that drags you through 11,000 locations around the world, no passport or Frommer’s required. This update for PCs comes alongside the addition of 3D imagery for Avignon, France; Austin, Texas; Munich, Germany; Phoenix, Arizona; and Mannheim, Germany, which all apply to both the desktop and mobile editions. Hit the source link for more information or head to the Google Earth website to check it out yourself, who knows, you might find a pyramid.
Launched earlier this summer in Japan, NEC LifeTouch L Android 4.0 Tablet comes now with the full support and integration of Microsoft SkyDrive. NEC also announced that its tablet will now also be available in “White Pearl” as well! The LifeTouch L will come with an Dual Core 1.5GHz TI OMAP 4460 CPU, 1GB of RAM, a 10.1” IPS Screen with a 1280×800 resolution, WiFi, BLuetooth 2.1+EDR, GPS, DLNA… with a size of 257x181x7.99mm, a weight of 540g a a 7,400mAh batter offering up to 13h of …
Remember late last year when Recon Instruments introduced its MOD Live Android-enabled heads-up display for the likes of ski goggles?Joining the ranks of other optics makers, Oakley’s partnered with the company to seamlessly integrate the unit into its own goggles, dubbed Airwave. It’s not just another shell for the system, either, as Oakley will be providing a companion app that’ll work with iOS — which seems to be first official instance as such since Recon itself said it would be coming earlier this year. The MOD Live itself is otherwise the same right-eye positioned system (providing a perceived 14-inch display at five feet away) we’ve seen for almost a year now, so don’t expect to get the clearest picture if you’re left eye dominant or use contact lenses for distance. Furthermore, there’s still GPS for tracking friends / navigation, and Bluetooth to work with a water-resistant wrist remote that allows you to control your smartphone and the display itself. Of course, this also means Recon’s Android SDK will also be workable, as will your Contour camera.
If you’re interested in Oakley’s spin on the MOD Live, the Airwave will hit Apple stores on October 31st for $600 in your choice of black with a black Iridium lens, or a white with black graphics and a “fire” colored variant of the lens — yes, they’re interchangeable just like most of Oakley’s other specs. If you’re curious for further details in the meantime, check out the simulation video and press release after the break. Now, how about those full-on smart glasses to take on Google Glass as the company’s CEO mentioned in April?
Everyone knows that Google prides itself on mapping accuracy. If you hadn’t checked beyond the base maps in the past few years, though, you’d have thought the terrain was charted in the “here be dragons” era — it’s been as flat as a board. Take a second look today. Google has overhauled Google Maps worldwide to show hills, deserts and lush zones by default, as well as label the geographical features that hadn’t previously been identifiable in a sea of white. The map overhaul isn’t so nuanced enough as to remind us how steep the hills can be in San Francisco, but it will remind us that Gobi refers to more than just a chipset.
Nokia has joined in the maps attention-seeking, highlighting its own camera-toting efforts to 3D visualize locations, just as Google Maps has done with Street View. NAVTEQ True, as Nokia calls its system, combines 360-degree LIDAR with the awesome power of lasers to map out 1.3m 3D data points each second, panoramic cameras, and military-grade positioning systems.
Those positioning systems don’t only rely on GPS for location, but Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) sensors to track speed, orientation, and the effect of gravity, so as to get an even more granular fix on where the teams are. Nokia dispatches them both in cars and on foot – though it’s not clear whether NAVTEQ has visited the Grand Canyon yet – with panoramic cameras (that link 360-degree images to the corresponding position in LIDAR 3D models) and automated high-res multi-view cameras to cut out the amount of user-processing required.
‘For instance, in one single day, we might collect 12 million signage images, two million panoramic images, a trillion LIDAR points, and 65 million million (65,000,000,000,000!) colour pixels” Nokia
The results are all funneled into apps like Nokia City Lens and Nokia Maps, which will be increasingly important in Windows Phone 8. It remains to be seen whether Apple, which ousted Google Maps from iOS in favor of its own navigation application, will turn to NAVTEQ to license the 3D graphics, as Oracle and others have done.
NAVTEQ was one of the few highlights of Nokia’s recent financial results announcement, with licensing of the navigation system to third-party clients looking a little more successful than sales of Lumia Windows Phones. Net sales were down for the Location & Commerce division, as was operating profit, but if you exclude the one-time costs incurred during the three month period, Nokia actually made a little profit on the group.
You might remember Google’s unveiling this spring of the Street View Trekker, a seeming cross between a backpack and Van de Graaff generator that lets the mapping team produce 360-degree imagery where even trikes dare not tread. The portable camera ball is just going on its first trip, and Google has chosen the most natural destination for a novice tourist — the Grand Canyon, of course. Staffers with Trekkers are currently walking trails along the South Rim of the canyon to provide both eye-level points of reference for wayward hikers as well as some breathtaking, controllable panoramas for those who can’t (or won’t) make it to Arizona. Once the photos make it to Street View sometime in the undefined near future, it’ll be that much easier to turn down Aunt Matilda’s 3-hour vacation slideshow.
There’s no shortage of wearable cameras on the market today. Typically, these are video cameras able to record and share video about your day-to-day life. The Memoto Lifelogging Camera is one of the smallest cameras of this sort that I’ve seen and it takes photographs rather than video.
The tiny camera also has GPS inside and has no controls. It automatically takes photographs as the user goes about their day. The camera works with a Memoto app that automatically organizes photographs taken for you, making them searchable. The camera is designed with no buttons the user has to press or operate.
As long as the camera is worn, it will take pictures. The photographs taken are associated with information on when and where the photo was taken allowing users to revisit moments from the past. The little camera measures 36 x 36 x 9 mm and has a built-in clasp to attach to your clothing. The internal rechargeable battery promises two days of use per charge, and the battery recharges via USB.
When the Memoto is connected to your computer to recharge it automatically uploads photos to the Memoto servers. That last part might bother some people with their photographs going to the company’s servers rather than being saved to their own computer. The camera captures five megapixel resolution images every 30 seconds as long as it’s worn. It has an integrated accelerometer to orient the photos correctly, no matter how the camera is worn. The project is on Kickstarter seeking $50,000, and as of writing, it has raised $47,447 with 38 days to go.
A new set of two API releases for developers will soon have 3rd party apps working with Google Maps features that will allow them to be location aware – with location information not just relegated to GPS. The first of two releases is the Google Maps Tracks API, this allowing developers to integrate the display and analyzation of GPS data on a map, with this API being built on top of Google’s own cloud infrastructure for reliability that’s unmatched. The second of two releases today works with Google Maps Geolocation API, this enabling developers the ability to integrate location data found by looking up said information on nearby wifi access points and cell towers.
With these two new API releases, 3rd party app developers will be able to take the massive beast of a dataset that Google has in their Google Maps archive and integrate it into their own apps at a whole new level. With this information, apps of all kinds will be able to map their own location – that being the device they’re being run on, of course – and help people find the locations they’re aiming at. Should a bakery have an app, for example, Google Maps integration would be able to lead the user of said app to the physical location of the bakery, even if they don’t have GPS switched on.
If you run a business – or work for a business as a developer – you can also pay for support from Google to make this system work for you. You’ll be able to work with Google’s own set of advanced features such as geo-fencing. With geo-fencing, a company can create a virtual space on a map that’ll be able to send notifications if a device enters or exist its bounds. This system could certainly be automated and do away with a central dispatcher – if that’s your kind of business, of course.
Have a peek at a timeline of recent Google Maps related stories and see how the system has been evolving of late. It’s Google that’s still in the limelight here in the GPS maps universe as the rest of the brands fight for glory against such a titan as the big G. Stay tuned for more on the iPhone Google Maps story specifically, where a re-release of Google Maps app data in app form constitutes a giant news release.
In its never-ending quest to dominate the global mapping scene, Google has just rolled out a new pair of APIs designed to help organizations build their own location-enabled applications. The first is Google Maps Tracks API, which gives developers the ability to concoct apps that can store, display and analyze GPS data on a map. In other words, those in need of a geofencing program — fleet managers and the like — need look no further. Secondly, there’s the Google Maps Geolocation API, which “enables an application or device to determine its own location without the use of GPS by looking up the locations of nearby WiFi access points and cell towers.” It’s pretty clear that enterprises are the target here, but it seems like only a matter of time before consumer-facing location apps tap into ’em. After all, the world needs more indoor mall apps. Fact.
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