Sunday, May 31. 2009

Abaqus Offers Turnkey SaaS for "Personal Location-based Analytics"

Last week Abaqus announced a web portal called myGeoDiary (See image at right; click for larger graphic), a working proof of concept for their technology platform. Is it just another API to geoenable a social networking? Maybe. Shailendra Jain, CEO, explained to me that he believes his unique selling proposition is that the platform provides "rich ground for personal analytics." I have to admit that I never heard geotagging described in that fashion but it makes some sense because it emphasizes a deeper level of understanding of personal location-based data...that's if you want to go deeper on where you've been, record more descriptive information, and reference that information again in the future. Jain said any social network website that uses his platform can, "hold and store data for personal intelligence; then retrieve it for retroactive context."

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Podcast: Exclusive Interview with Greg Bentley, CEO, Bentley Systems

Recently, Editor in Chief Joe Francica met with Greg Bentley, CEO of Bentley Systems, the geospatial and engineering software and solutions company. He sat down with Bentley at his office in Exton, PA and discussed the company's focus on infrastructure, a timely topic given the global investments being made by many countries to stem the economic downturn. Bentley discussed the company's financial position and how the economy has affected revenue performance. He mentioned that the company reached two significant milestones this year: Bentley attained $500M in revenue in 2008 and it will also celebrate 25 years in business. This audio interview lasts approximately 25 minutes and was recorded on May 19th, 2009.

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Friday, May 29. 2009

TomTom Sells/Licenses Nav Software

GPS Business Review has the story; I've not yet found any announcement from TomTom. I did find the microsite for the product.

The news: TomTom will offer NAVIGATOR 7 software on a microSD card for some Windows Mobile smartphones. Purchases will be made online; the software will include the map of Western Europe and cost €89.95 per the microsite. In time, the software will be downloadable. The software will also be available for license to partners.

Using Maps to Get People Trained in CPR

The centerpiece of the American Heart Association's campaign during National CPR & AED Awareness Week is a map. The idea is to document those who have been trained on the map and to reach the goal of 1 million trained.

While I'm all for CPR and training, does the map help? Are you likely to visit it to find out if there's someone trained in CPR in your ZIP Code? State? Will knowing that encourage you to get trained? Will the map be valuable after the campaign?

From the PR: "The American Heart Association wants a million people to learn CPR as part of National CPR & AED Awareness Week, June 1-7, to help save cardiac arrest victims like Matt. The week encourages the public to get CPR training and learn how to use an AED. It also encourages them to log their training on the association's Web site. The site will feature a live map that will update in real time when people submit their information."

Is this an effective use of maps for "marketing?"

- map/website
- press release

Update: Does a Vancouver proposal related to open source mean a new GIS?

Update: Passed.

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Thursday, May 28. 2009

MapInfo Pro 10.0 Gets a New User Interface

As the Insights conference and the launch of MapInfo Professional 10.0 nears, PB Business Insights dropped another tidbit about the new release.

"MapInfo Professional 10.0 will feature an enhanced user interface. The new interface, which includes redesigned icons and dockable toolbars, helps organizations more easily and efficiently create maps in fewer clicks. The end result: it’s easier and takes less time to create maps that can be shared throughout an organization."

I saw a screen capture here, though it's tough to make out all the detail. The blog post about it also notes a webinar on the new release on June 9.