The patent, Pedestrian route production, has this abstract:
As a pedestrian travels, various difficulties can be encountered, such as traveling through an unsafe neighborhood or being in an open area that is subject to harsh temperatures. A route can be developed for a person taking into account factors that specifically affect a pedestrian. Moreover, the route can alter as a situation of a user changes; for instance, if a user wants to add a stop along a route.
So, any GIS-based route built off a model might be patentable? Shortest? Darkest? Most dangerous? Most hilly?
The patent application was in 2007; Bing Maps added pedestrian directions in 2010.
by Adena Schutzberg on 01/04 at 11:08 AM |
Comments |
Here are the interim details of our poll to date. There is still time to cast your opinion.
-
Yes...fully implemented: 22%
-
We use some cloud; some desktop: 35%
-
Still using desktop or server solutions: 38%
-
Cloud isn't ready to handle geospatial: 5%
by Joe Francica on 01/04 at 05:59 AM |
Comments |
Just after Christmas, when many were not working or not working too hard (I put myself in the latter group), Ed Freyfogle of Nestoria, a real estate search tool, explained in a detailed blog post why and how his organization moved from the Google Maps basemap to one from MapQuest built on OpenStreetMap. I found the post very well written and had nothing to add. So I added it to our Worth a Click section (@directionswac). Here's the entry. That section is where we link to content from other websites that we feel is worth your time.
Other websites tackled the news of the switch (and a second one detailed in the posts comments) differently.
On December 27 CIOL's Christoper Mims
summarized the article and concluded. "It's doubtful that Google realized when it decided to start charging companies to use its Maps API that OpenStreetMaps was mature enough for developers to immediately jump ship."
The same day
Forbes Chris Barth retold the story with a provocative headline "Google's Penny Pinching Is Costing It Customers" and even included Apple's recent acquistions as potential future competition for Google.
Do you prefer to read the original (especially if it's well-written) or a summary?
by Adena Schutzberg on 01/04 at 05:50 AM |
Comments |
Conumer Reports ranks Android phones above iPhone when it comes to GPS navigation. Why? Android come with Google's turn by turn directions; on the iPhone an app must be downloaded. The report also notes that navigation apps from the big GPS players (TomTom, Navigon, etc.) are quite good.
- ABC News
The Asus Transformer Prime is not doing well in the GPS deparment Early adopters report that the device has trouble locking on ot satellites and that the tablet doesn't seem to be nearly as quick or accurate to get a lock as other Android devices. The company indirectly acknowledged the issue by removing "GPS" from the Transformer Prime specifications page at its US website.
- The Verge
by Adena Schutzberg on 01/04 at 05:40 AM |
Comments |
Today LightSquared named Marc Montagner as its new chief financial officer after the previous one left the company Montagner brings some key experiese and experience: He worked on regulatory and technical issues for LightSquared’s predecessor company, SkyTerra and was in charge of acquisitions for Sprint, including the Nextel merger.
Sprint's deal with LightSquared is based on FCC approval of the wireless tech by the end of 2011. Of course, that didn't happen so Sprint generously gave LightSquared another month. But if that falls through, Sprint could walk away.
by Adena Schutzberg on 01/04 at 05:13 AM |
Comments |
