Tuesday, January 27. 2009

New GPS Warning: Going the wrong way on the highway

Network World reports that Nissan will begin testing a new feature of its navigation system that literally alerts a driver when the car is heading in the "wrong" direction on the highway. That's the cause of accidents, some fatal. The fear in Japan is that such accidents will increase, especially as the population ages.

Tests will be held on roads operated by the West Nippon Expressway Co. The plan is to have the feature available in cars in Japan by 2011.

MSDN Magazine on Geospatial in SQL Server

MSDN Magazine offers an easy to read intro (even for non-developers) about the possibilities of using SQL Server 2008 for geospatial. It's called Spatial Data Support In SQL Server 2008, by Bob Beauchemin.

Podcast: Hybrid Positioning and Your Future

Hybrid positioning refers to handsets that use GPS and another technology to determine the device's location. Such solutions use Wi-Fi access points, cell towers, TV towers and their related signals, RFID, Bluetooth as a companion for when GPS is not enough. A recent report suggest growing use of hybrid solutions. What might your future and that of geospatial marketplace look like as these solutions proliferate? Our editors share some scenarios and point out gaps in the existing infrastructure, i.e., places to make money.

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Monday, January 26. 2009

NAVTEQ Scores with NFL to Supply Super Bowl Maps

The interesting thing about the Super Bowl Maps that are being supplied by NAVTEQ is that it's NOT using Google or Microsoft as its base. In fact, NAVTEQ seems to have finally used technology from their purchase of The Map Network to show off the great graphics that had been the hallmark of that company. The Map Network had supplied events with both paper and digital mapping technology for several years until the NAVTEQ purchase but I had not heard or seen much of them since.

Additional Tube Maps - Should there be only One?

The BBC reports on the availability of two new Tube Maps - one updates an existing "stair free" map, the other notes accessible restrooms. I'm all for more information about access, but wonder if a single useable map with all that information is possible?

I used to help build a haunted house as fund raiser. The head of the project always insisted we build to ADA regulations, even though we didn't have to do so. (My Mom would visit in her wheelchair to test it before we went live. She got a real kick out of that!) The project lead argued, and I know understand quite well, that meeting ADA requirements often means better design for all. That should be true for maps, too.

Understanding Tech's Place in Stimulus

The New York Times has a very readable article about where tech may or many not fit into the goals of the stimulus package. It focuses on the three areas selected for investment: " $20 billion to computerize medical records, $11 billion to create smarter electrical grids and $6 billion to expand high-speed Internet access in rural and underserved communities."

The comment that struck me, as the geospatial community now has three publicly available proposals to ponder about how its technology might fit into the stimulus package:

All three fields, said Robert E. Hall, an economist at Stanford, involve "a bunch of specialists, where if we raised spending quickly, the limited number of competent suppliers would be in short supply and get increased incomes," benefiting some companies more than the economy as a whole.