Monday, June 2. 2008

Update: Adobe Acrobat 9 Gets Mapping Tools

Update: Read the comments; I clearly didn't understand the new offering based on my reading of the Webware review.

--- original post -----
To be clear, it's the highest priced document creation version ($699) that gets these goodies, per Webware:

Mapping features only in Acrobat Pro Extended 9 preserve geospatial coordinates and enable users to mark locations and measure distances.

That doesn't sound like it'll not bother the folks at TerraGo, the company behind GeoPDF. That solution uses software to create GeoPDFs. The output files can be used in the standard free Adobe Reader, with free toolbar, for mapping apps.

Minnesota Town Requests Removal of StreetView Images; Google Complies

Short story:

The North Oaks City Council sent a letter to Google in January asking the company to remove the images and destroy the files or possibly be cited for violating the city's trespassing ordinance.

Google spokeswoman Elaine Filadelfo said the images of North Oaks were removed shortly afterward. She didn't know of any other city in the country that has made a similar request.

The City's roads are all private and Google didn't have permission to travel on them to take the pictures. Google responds the staffers probably didn't see the no trespassing signs. It seems Google is still working to train its crews where they can legally "shoot." Oh and the city is ok with aerial/satellite imagery as that's legal.

- Minneapolis/St. Paul Star Tribune

Google Location Services API in Gears

TechCrunch UK (via TechCrunch US via Washington Post) reports on some new info on Google and LBS:

- "Location services API had been added to Google Gears" (Gears left limited beta last week and is open to all now)
- Google is "backing up their Location API with a large effort to map out cell-phone towers and wifi hotspots, so that a users location can be pin-pointed more precisely."
- Google building its own database of cell towers/wi-fi hotspots (I think we knew that) and "users of the service will further refine and improve the service by having devices submit information on towers and signal strength" (I think we knew that, too)
- "an effort to develop and define a standard API for accessing Location data" (I expected a link to OGC, where Google is a member, but found a dead link to blog in India)

DASH Price Drop: Now the GPS Unit is $300

The original price via the company and on Amazon was $400. Recall that the Internet-connected nav system also requires a monthly fee. Now, Amazon is offing it for $300, but the DASH site is still $400. Engadget wonders if the price drop is due to low sales. Most reviews have been positive, though many noted a rather steep price. The original list was to be $600, but at lease it was $400.

Jim Gray Tribute Coverage

The tribute for the Microsoft Researcher whose work enabled TerraServer and other online mapping was held Saturday at Berkeley. He was presumed missing at sea after setting sail last January. One element of the tribute was the announcement that the Jim Gray Chair in Computer Systems will be established at UC Berkeley, with funding from from Marc Benioff, the founder of Salesforce.com; Bill Gates, the chairman and co-founder of Microsoft; Eric Schmidt, chief executive of Google; Mike Stonebraker, co-founder of Ingres; and the Hewlett Foundation. Donation information is the Chronicle article below.

- New York Times

- San Francisco Chronicle

- Seattle Times

- Information Week

- LA Times

Quote of the Week

"The first thing people should do is look at a map. GPS (global positioning systems) and the Internet do not give you sufficient information."

- PennDOT spokeswoman Karen Dussinger providing suggestions on how to avoid traffic delays while the organization does roadwork this summer, in the Scranton, PA Times Tribune