Mobile Downloads vs. Mobile Widgets

Following Newsweek’s prediction that 2007 will be the year of the Widget, Third Screen reported that Mobile Widgets will likely fix the broken experiences of the Mobile Web.  I agree.  Today, most rich mobile apps must be downloaded, each has a MRC which leads to over inflated monthly bills, and apps are hard to discover among the hundreds of mobile apps on or off the deck directory.  There are hundreds if not thousands of possibilities for location-enhanced apps, but the download model (akin to the desktop software model in the PC world) doesn’t scale to support the niches.  I think the Widget approach to mobile application development removes these existing barriers for mainstream discovery and usage, while supporting the emerging personalization of the mobile Web. 

Continue reading...

Big MapInfo Stock Sale

The Albany Business Journal reports that in the past month Cannell Capital LLC of Jackson, Wyo., dropped its ownership in the company from 6.2 percent to 4.3 percent. That translates into the sale of 395,000 shares. Last year Cannell said it was time for MapInfo to be acquired; no response from company officials on that.

EPA offers Mashup-able Data

C|NET reports on how a query by Google prompted EPA to offer up an XML file of 1,600 locales relegated to the Superfund National Priorities List specifically for those wishing to produce mashups. And there will be more to come. The EPA document on the project is available in PDF.

Also interesting from a terminology point of view is the description of the mashup-enabling players:

The Environmental Protection Agency wants to make it easier for Google, Microsoft and other enterprising online mappers to spread the word about potentially hazardous sites in your neighborhood.

Before offering the XML file, EPA offered Web services (ESRI and OGC) and mapping tools (Enviromapper for one, is ESRI-based) as methods to access its data stores.

Update: Quick Fix

Update 1/18/07: The QuickGPSfix is now available to all TomTom One users.

Apparently the start up time on in-car navigation systems is a big enough problem that TomTom now offers a free service to cut the wait. When plugged into a PC, the device downloads predicted satellite locations so that when its turned on again, it can connect in seconds, according to a release. The service is called QuickGPSfix and works with the TomTom GO series of systems.

3rd Mashup Camp has Urban Planning Flavor

GigaOM notes that it’s time for the 3rd Mashup Camp held here in Boston this week. On tap are sessions and geek games for programmers. He does note that two competitions from FutureBoston focus on mapping mashups for future urban planning.

In addition to the best mashup contest, FutureBOSTON is hosting two competitions at Mashup Camp centered around creating prototypes of urban planning tools for the future. Winners will receive cash prizes plus support for continuing development of their tools.

It’s no surprise that a mashup contest might focus on urban planning with its intensive use of geographic data. Geo-enabling an app by adding in data from Google Maps or another GIS represents the most common and obvious kind of mashup. One of the first web mashups, HousingMaps, combines Google maps data with real estate rental and sale listings from Craigslist.

Will mapping mashup continue to lead the pack? Why do they now? Is it about the good tech/data available? Or is there pent up demand no seen in other mashup-able topics?