Tuesday, October 27. 2009

MSN Direct to Shut Down at End of 2011

Microsoft noted considering shutting down the data service that powers live local data (traffic, weather, gas prices) for some GPS units (among other devices) back in May (APB coverage). Now the official word the service will shut down Dec 31, 2011.

Devices that use it will continue to work, they just won't have access to the data sent over FM signal. The system is pretty old (2004) and was part of the SPOT, or Smart Personal Objects Technology, initiative which now operates in 134 cities.

- Radio World

Tuesday, October 13. 2009

Podcast: Google Maps Changes US Base Data, Adds Parcels and Crowdsourcing

This past week Google prompted a flurry of discussion by announcing some changes to its data and functionality in Google Maps. There’s new data and new feedback tools and some anxiety in the geospatial world. Our editors separate fact from fiction and offer our take on the implications of these changes.

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Tuesday, September 15. 2009

How few cell phones are needed to track traffic?

"Results suggest that a 2-3% penetration of cell phones in the driver population is enough to provide accurate measurements of
the velocity of the traffic flow."

That's just one conclusion of a study titled Evaluation of Traffic Data Obtained via GPS-enabled Mobile Phones: the Mobile Century field experiment (pdf) from UC Berkeley's Institute for Transportation Studies.

- via Docuticker

Tuesday, September 8. 2009

TomTom Shares OpenLR Standard: What is it?

The press release says:

OpenLR has been designed for traffic information systems and dynamic route
guidance, and is available as an open-source technology a
http://www.tomtom.com/page/openLR. It can easily be adapted to the requirements
of system integrators, and the technical community can contribute with their
ideas to improve it.

Location data can range from static road sign information to highly dynamic
traffic and weather situation information as well as safety-critical information
- anything that needs to be accurately linked to a specific piece of or position
on the road network. The OpenLR technology allows location content providers to
reference any location on any navigable map, completely royalty-free.

Continue reading "TomTom Shares OpenLR Standard: What is it?"

Podcast: What Your Relationship with your GPS Says About You

In this special "vacation" edition of the podcast, our editors turn their attention to a piece of geospatial technology they both use: the Garmin Forerunner "GPS watch." There's quite a bit of disagreement about what's expected of the device and what's wanted in future versions.

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Thursday, August 6. 2009

Impact of Real Time Routing: More Traffic

Reader Kevin points out the latest from the Freakonics blog:

Two physicists and a computer scientist used Google maps to study traffic in Boston, London, and New York, and found that when people use real-time driving maps to try to pick the fastest routes, traffic slows down. Their solution: close a few roads so drivers have fewer options.

The citations go back to a Christian Science Monitor article from last year citing a scientific paper (pdf) from August 2008.
The bit of irony for me? I saw Steven D. Levitt, one of the authors of Freakonics speak at the Tele Atlas conference a few years ago!