LBSzone Alert, Nov 7, 2007 - A weekly update on mobile technologies and location-based services
Written by Spatial Media LLC
Wednesday, 07 November 2007
Welcome again to our weekly update on location-based services and
mobile positioning. Making news this past week affecting the LBS ecosystem are Navteq, Tele Atlas, Google, and many others.
Wow... we go 7 days between publishing a newsletter and the industry
gets turned upside-down... well, not totally, but there has indeed been
some exciting developments. Case in point, Google and the OpenSocial
movement. Obviously this is very significant to those of you
considering application development for the mobile social networking
space - in case you hadn't noticed this is a HUGE growth area and we're
already seeing amazingly creative applications coming out almost daily.
Just this week I've really picked up my use of Jaiku,
and utterz... both enable me to do some cool things with my mobile
(anytime, anywhere) and also take advantage of positioning. Even more
recently I added Earthcomber to my mobile deck. This app available from
the Nokia content download client (this comes embedded on most new
devices) provides location-aware search and yields some excellent
results.
Speaking of local search, I found another great app just
yesterday in Boopsie. Indeed the name is a bit, well, goofy, however,
the app is way cool. Once again local search results are provided but
the kicker here is that the app provides a gateway to common search
results accessible by only a couple of clicks or keystrokes... very
nice. Finally, we can't leave off without mention of Android.
No doubt you've heard about the effort of Google and friends to bring
about an open development environment for mobiles. The development of
Android will be driven through the Open Handset Alliance by providing
developers a new level of openness that enables them to work more
collaboratively, Android will accelerate the pace at which new and
compelling mobile services are made available to consumers - according
to Google. Where will this go? Well, that will be answered in a few
months once developers have had a chance to start developing with SDKs
which are set to be opened up next week on Nov 12. The final piece to
this puzzle may play out early next year when the next wireless
spectrum auction takes place - recall Google is expected to pony up
some cash for a piece of the wireless spectrum. A great read on
Google's plans can be found in the NY Times article - the author notes
the following: "The technology is expected to provide cellular handset
manufacturers and wireless operators with capabilities that match and
potentially surpass those using smartphone software made by Apple,
Microsoft, Nokia, Palm, Research in Motion and others." I guess we'll
see about that. It is interesting to note that Nokia is absent in the
list of partners... no surprise since they dominate the smartphone
marketplace with devices that use the popular and open Symbian S60
platform (more than 24 million symbian smartphones shipped in Q3 07!) - this should indeed be fun to watch unravel! PS: Don't forget about deCarta's devCON'07, next week in San Jose, CA.
Mobile Technology Feature - Top 10 Business Apps for Android - Android has become one of the most popular mobile operating systems
in the world due to advanced software, competitive manufacturers, and an
app market that is filled with exciting and useful applications. Read
on for this fine Top 10 List compiled by tech writer, Blake Sanders
The Really Big List of Mapping, Geo location Mobile developer resources, APIs and Tools - The Mobile Ecosystem... no question that mobile is huge and
the opportunity for developers, in particular, geo developers! There's
loads of developer resources on the web so to help the developer,
here's a listing of just some of the fine dev resources, blogs,
toolsets and more to consider when developing or porting your app to a
smartphone or Tablet.
ArcGIS.com Mashup Tutorial with Flickr and Foursquare data-
Here's a simple "how to" tutorial on working with the free ArcGIS.com
to easily import KML or RSS data from Flickr and foursquare into ArcGIS
to create your own custom map mashup. ArcGIS.com has some recent
updates including support for KML, be sure to check it out!
Most Users of Free Photo Apps Say Adding Cool Effects is Most Useful - Adding cool effects
to photos was rated as the most useful thing by more than halfof
consumers surveyed using free online photography services, according to
CatchFree a free
online service that helps people find the best free mobile and web applications
to perform useful tasks.
Amazon Kindle Fire Tablet Up Close - No Replacement for the iPad But Pretty Darned Sweet - As could be
expected, speculation and blogging is rampant with many stories and
pseudo "reviews" coming out, many of them touting the next "iPad
killer".
Mobile Developer Resource - MapQuest & The Mobile Worker - Facility management companies, surveyors, multi-level marketing,
insurance claims, pipeline companies, water utilities; all have field
workers who would benefit from mobile applications. Not only checking in
to work sites, but keeping a record of the work done
Flickr GPS Photo Tag Tip - Here's a tip for Flickr users who want to share their GPS information
with their photos. note, in order to do this you'll need to be
capturing photos using a GPS-enabled or GPS-aware camera (see you're
smartphone hardware settings to ensure that GPS or location sharing is
turned "ON)".
Mobile data usage in Canada to triple between 2010 and 2012 - Some interesting, yet not terribly surprising, numbers on mobile
usage coming out of Canada. According to a report summarized on
Techvibes, mobile usage is soaring, in particular, the smartphone
segment
Social Location Directory
Do you have a location-aware application, social location service or other location-sensitive service that you'd like to share with us? Please browse this growing directory of Social location Services and feel free to leave a link to your favorite service! See the Directory HERE
Suggested Reading
The Underground Guide To The iPhone:
The iPhone is – if I may say so – one of the greatest mobile
revolutions of the past decade. More and more, mobile phones seem to
materialize out of our wildest dreams. Because of the tight integration
of third-party applications, you can do nearly everything with your
device — be it gaming, working, fooling around, and of course phoning.
Good Mobile Messaging: Executives and professional field forces spend an increasing amount of time on the road tending to business.
Mobile Apps - Native or Web?:
You probably have a plan to build a mobile app, but you've struggled
with the basic question - Should I build it using open web standards
such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, or should I build it as a native app
for the devices I want to target?
iBike Coach App- a new “Always On” feature always gathers data
Nike+ GPS App- for sports tracking, recording and sharing
Featured Events
Content & Apps for Automotive Europe 2012 (18-19 April, Germany)
will give you key insights on how in-vehicle connectivity is being
revolutionised as OEMs integrate dynamic content to stay relevant
throughout the vehicle life cycle.
Location Intelligence for Enterprise - Europe 2012, January 16-17, London Hear from Google, Jones Lang LaSalle, Tesco, Willis, Oracle,
ESRI, Microsoft, PBBI and many more as they debate the best strategies
for business models and integration.
Consumer Telematics Show 2012 (Jan 9, Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas, USA) is the most prestigious and
dynamic consumer telematics focused meeting for the automotive industry.
Held in Las Vegas on the eve of the Consumer Electronics Show (CES),
this year's senior-level speakers will include General Motors, Audi,
Toyota, Panasonic, Continental, Hughes Telematics, Gartner, KIA,
Mercedes-Benz and many more
Esri Dev Summit - The
Esri Developer Summit (DevSummit) brings together developers and GIS
professionals from all over the globe. March 26-29, 2012, Palm Springs,
CA
