Friday, November 6. 2009

Podcast: A Hallway Conversation with Maarten Oldenhof

Adena Schutzberg interviewed Automotive Navigation Data (AND) CEO Maarten Odelhof about the state of commercial geodata, the licensing challenges and the role the community can play in keeping data up-to-date. This is the third in a series of interviews with geospatial insiders and outsiders.

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ESRI Keywords: Authoritative Data, Generic Services

Wyatt Kash, editor in chief at Government Computer News was on the questioning side of the latest interviewwith ESRI's Jack Dangermond.

Dangermond highlights the differences between Google Earth-based Virtual Alabama and ESRI-based Virginia Interoperability Picture for Emergency Response, VIPER. The former copies data to central repository for visualization while the latter is built on a services framework that pulls live data and analyzes it. He recounts the history of online mapping (it started wtih MapQuest). He evaluates how Vivek Kundra is doing and lays out his vision for Web GIS.

A few things stand out in this interview:

- many repeated uses of the terms "authoritative data" and "generic services"
- discussion of a hosting option for ArcGIS online which provides "users additional options to extend their systems"
- a reference to the recent integration of data.gov and geodata.gov (I don't think I was aware of that)

- Government Computer News

Junaio: Mobile Social 3D Editable Augmented Reality App

Metaio Augmented Reality Solutions is behind the Junaio iPhone app which will launch soon. RWW has the preview of the app which allows users to add, edit and animate 3D objects within the phone's view of reality. Then, those photos, for example can be shared via social networks. The video examples are fun (putting a dinosaur near the Golden Gate Bridge, putting a pumpkin in the hands of a coffee shop visitor) but as the article suggests, the uses for games and other interactive events is quite high. I'm sure there are uses for advertising and perhaps more serious uses. The app also has "traditional" AR features including providing information about locations and finding restaurants.

junaio from junaio on Vimeo.

- ReadWriteWeb

iPhone augmented reality parked car finder

I'm thinking Car Finder will be many people's first augmented reality app purchase. For 99 cents you get an app that allows you to "save the location" of your car into your iPhone. Then, when it's time to leave the concert or mall, you pop open your iPhone and it shows you on the scene in what direction and how far away the car is! Brilliant! I wonder why this is only coming out now? Perhaps it's being timed for the holiday shopping season?

- AutoBlog

Garmin: Sitting on Hands or Smart Like a Fox?

GPS Business News asks if Garmin is sitting on its hands after Google's announcement of free navigation for Android. Alas the article is behind a wall, but the question is a good one. (And I'm sure the analysis is, too.)

But I have only public sources to cite and this one is interesting. Steve Chuang writing in Taiwan Economic News suggests Garmin is going for #1 in Taiwan in 2010 by launching three new devices. It'll try to move from #2 and pass Mio at #1. TomTom is #3. Part of the plan is using "preloaded maps of Taiwan, in a bid to use the self-developed maps to boost its brand recognition with local consumers. " In the past the company licensed maps from a publishing company, but now is creating the maps itself. Further, "Institutional investors indicated that by focusing more on independently developing PND maps for Taiwan, Garmin is likely to threaten the leader Mio in the market and may outstrip it by the end of this year."

There are also reports indicating that brand name satnav and white box satnav manufacturers may drop prices to $US69 and $US49 for the holidays to compete with Google.

- Taiwan Economic News
- DigiTimes

Entergy Offers up Property Locator for Texas

Entergy Texas Inc. has decided to lend a hand -- and possibly attract new customers of its own -- by launching a Web site specifically designed to help companies find commercial and industrial real estate in the region.

I was sure the site, Texas Site Selection Center was a GISPlanning ZoomProspector site, but if it is, it's not branded that way. It's Bing Maps based and includes data downloads in shapefile, Access geodatabase (and sometimes KML) format.

- Trading Markets