Hasta La Gadget!

Geotagging. It’s not exactly a long, lost art, but it’s certainly not something most folks bother to do after a trip. Avid travelers, hikers and the general outdoorsy crowd have been embracing the feature for years, though, and it’s actually seeping into the mainstream without most individuals even noticing. How so? Smartphones. Given the proliferation of iPhones, Android handsets and Windows Phone devices making their way onto the market — coupled with the explosive use of geo-minded social networks like Path, Instagram and Foursquare — an entire generation is now growing up in a geotagged world. Phone users have it easy; so long as there’s a data connection and an embedded GPS module (commonplace in modern mobile devices), there lies the ability to upload a photo with a patch of metadata embedded. Snap a shot at a national park, upload it, and just like that, viewers and friends from around the world now have an idea as to what a specific place on the Earth looks like.

Solmeta N3 geotagging module review

Columbia’s GPS Pal app for Android and iOS

Casio Exilim EX-H20G (with Hybrid GPS) review

For travel hounds like myself, that’s insanely powerful. I’m the kind of person that’ll spend hours lost in Google Earth, spinning the globe around and discovering all-new (to me, at least) locales thanks to the magic of geotagging. It’s sort of the photographic equivalent to putting a face to a name. By stamping latitude, longitude, altitude and a specific time to any given JPEG, you’re able to not only show the world what you saw, but exactly when and where you saw it. It’s a magical combination, and with GPS modules finding their way into point-and-shoot cameras — not to mention external dongles like Solmeta’s magnificent N3 (our review here) — there’s plenty of opportunity to start adding location data to your photos. For more on the “Why would I want to?” and “How would I best display ’em?” inquiries, let’s meet up after the break.

Continue reading Embracing geotagging: how to journal your trips (and contribute to Google Earth) with snapshots

Filed under: Digital Cameras, GPS

Embracing geotagging: how to journal your trips (and contribute to Google Earth) with snapshots originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 02 Aug 2012 12:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Enabling persistent location in a third-party mobile app isn’t always easy — it usually requires either cautious uses of updates, like iOS 5’s geofencing, or an acceptance that there will inevitably be a knock to the battery life while it’s running. Skyhook doesn’t want there to be any compromise, at least on Android: an update to its developer kit has rolled in an Always-On location option that theoretically represents the best of both worlds. Third-party app writers can opt for position refreshes as quick as 30 seconds apart, if that birthday gift reminder needs just that many updates, but will supposedly face “little to no noticeable impact” on how quickly users’ smartphones sip energy. We like the idea of guilt-free GPS, and there’s even an airplane tracking mode for when you just have to check into Foursquare from 30,000 feet in the air. Developers can start working on the option today; until implementations reach the wild, everyone else will have to make do with a clip of the airplane tracking feature after the break.

Continue reading Skyhook SDK for Android touts always-on location finding without the battery hit (video)

Filed under: Cellphones, GPS

Skyhook SDK for Android touts always-on location finding without the battery hit (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 18 Jul 2012 17:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Interior navigation is only just coming into its own, but IndoorAtlas has developed a technology that could make it just as natural as breathing — or at least, firing up a smartphone’s mapping software. Developed by a team at Finland’s University of Oulu, the method relies on identifying the unique geomagnetic field of every location on Earth to get positioning through a mobile device. It’s not just accurate, to less than 6.6 feet, but can work without help from wireless signals and at depths that would scare off mere mortal technologies: IndoorAtlas has already conducted tests in a mine 4,593 feet deep. Geomagnetic location-finding is already available through an Android API, with hints of more platforms in the future. It will still need some tender loving care from app developers before we’re using our smartphones to navigate through the grocery store as well as IndoorAtlas does in a video after the break.

Continue reading IndoorAtlas uses disturbances in the (geomagnetic) force to map interiors, plot a path to aisle 3 (video)

Filed under: Cellphones, GPS

IndoorAtlas uses disturbances in the (geomagnetic) force to map interiors, plot a path to aisle 3 (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 09 Jul 2012 15:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Open Street Map has been helping Flickr display geotagged shots for some time. That crowdsourced map data has led to more than a few photos being located in a gray blob, however, which is why Yahoo just struck a deal to put Nokia maps into as many nooks and crevices of the world as possible. The addition will make sure that Instagram photo tour of Africa is often accurate down to the street corner, not to mention give a slightly Finland-tinged look to the maps themselves. Open Street Map isn’t going away, but it’s now being used only for those areas where regular coverage is spotty or non-existent. The images already apply to any existing and upcoming uploads — there will be no question that self-portrait was taken in Tanzania.

Flickr brings in Nokia map data for precise geotagged photos, Instagram shots just got eerily accurate originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 29 Jun 2012 12:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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