Wednesday, April 16. 2008

Rosum Update

You recall Rosum, the folks who use TV signals to determine position? Per Venture Beat the company has raised $15 million to further its development and push into the femtocell ((where a small cell station extends service coverage indoors), voice-over-Internet protocol (VoIP), and first-responder and defense applications.

MyAthlete Race Tracking for Boston Marathon

MyAthlete is the latest offering of track tools - this one aimed at endurance athletes such a marathons and triathletes. You carry the device and anyone with Web access (via cell say) can track you on a map. The device will be used by Team Hoyt at Monday's Boston Marathon. (Dad Dick pushes son Rick in a specially- made wheelchair.) The interesting thing about this device - you can rent it and return it after a race.

- press release

Local Papers Create Virtual World for their Valley

This may not be the first of its kind, but it's the first of which I've heard. The Castro Valley Forum and San Leandro Times are hosting their own virtual world representing the area. For now there are but three "areas" represented by buildings: a business district, a library and a news and information stand. Users download a small 3D file and the Unity Web Player (seemless install on my Mac) to enter the world. Once there they can interact with the few books on the shelf and click on announcements in the news stand to learn more. I had some trouble navigating (I've never been good at 3D) but did eventually find the newspaper box for Castro Valley Forum. I clicked on it to see the top headlines.

It his how newspapers may hold on? In virtual worlds?

Practical Uses for Google StreetView

InformationWeek offers both a primmer on how use the feature and five ways its been put to good use. Nothing revolutionary here. I want to know how Google will monetize it.

Why did DigitalGlobe's going public push up GeoEye's stock price?

That's the question at Motley Fool. GeoEye was up some 9% yesterday. Rich Smith doesn't understand why. He suggests that it's not good news for GeoEye since now it has a direct competitor for easy to get capital where before it was the only game in U.S. satellite companies for investment.