Skyhook on the Kindle and other LBS News

Skyhook, the world leader in location information, context and intelligence, today announced TweetCaster, the #1 third-party mobile Twitter app, has integrated Skyhook's Location Engine in its Amazon Kindle Fire. Location services are now available on this device for the first time.

- press release

MapMuse today announced the release of Main Street Locator, a free app that connects users with historic Main Street districts across the USA. Main Street, Inc. is a grassroots economic development initiative sponsored by the National Trust for Historic Preservation that helps revitalize commercial districts through preservation-based strategies.

- press release

The mobile app ‘Girls Around Me’ got a lot of press recently. What does it do? What you'd expect: finds girls. How? But using the Foursquare API (until the company turned off access due to breaking terms of API use and the company behind it removed it from the Apple iTunes Store), Google Maps and Facebook. It was said to allow those interested to see their full name, photos, and send them messages. The app was on the market for some months before a journalist at the Cult of Mac wrote about it in the last few days.

- Forbes

Updating Aerial Imagery and other Government GIS News

It's spring - and time to capture aerial images before the trees bud! Lancaster County, PA is doing it with NGA and USGS (local paper). Summerland in BC is doing it on its own (local paper).

- various outlets

Governor Pat Quinn, Cook County President Toni Preckwinkle and Mayor Rahm Emanuel today unveiled Socrata-powered http://www.MetroChicagoData.org , the nation's first data convergence cloud that brings public data from the City of Chicago, Cook County and the State of Illinois into a single Open Data portal, for easy access by residents and businesses in the Metro Chicago area.

There is an API, but I don't believe you can download the data.

- press release

The USDA Forest Service's Eastern Forest and Western Wildland Environmental Threat Assessment Centers recently unveiled a product that helps natural resource managers rapidly detect, identify, and respond to unexpected changes in the nation's forests by using web-based tools. ForWarn, a satellite-based monitoring and assessment tool, recognizes and tracks potential forest disturbances caused by insects, diseases, wildfires, extreme weather, or other natural or human-caused events. The tool, available at http://www.forwarn.forestthreats.org, complements and focuses efforts of existing forest monitoring programs and potentially results in time and cost savings.

New Geo APIs - 2/7/12

DC Master Address Registry API: The service provides a master address registry as well as mapping and geographic information service (GIS) data for the city of Washington, D.C. The registry supports finding or verifying an address throughout the city. Mapping functions locate features based on the Maryland State Plane Coordinate System.

API methods support submission of a location as either intersection, block, property lot, or place name. The API returns address and map information to map the location.

PW also notes how the Google Maps API is "too free" in France, in case you missed it last week.

- Programmable Web

Waze, Safely and Rxs and other LBS News

A company called LowestMed has launched a mobile app that allows consumers to compare drug prices at their local pharmacy chains.

The app will be a mobile extension of the company's Web resource for comparative drug prices and prescription discount cards.

- eWeek

Waze launched version 3.0 for Android. "The latest iteration of the app features a complete overhaul from the ground up, including a new minimalist graphic interface as well as Foursquare and Yelp POI integration to make it the most powerful local search navigation system on the market."

- press release

RunKeeper has nine new partners using its API, bringing the total to 45. New ones include:

1. Fleetly: Lets users track and improve their Fitness Level in a social game.
2. Pedometer Ultimate: Turns your iPhone or iPod touch into a powerful GPS stopwatch.
3. Nexercise: An interactive game that makes fitness fun.
4. CleverRun: Predicts your target time for your next race and compares your runs to runs of the same distance.
5. Cycle Log: Helps cyclists track performance with GPS mapping, interval timers, voice cues and more.
6. Coachya: Helps coaches provide training plans, track, manage and bill their teams and athletes.
7. Vitogo: Lets you log your strength training with coaching, motivation and social support.
8. Weighty: Allows you to submit your weight and fat percentage to the Health Graph.
9. Scosche myTREK: A wireless pulse monitor that is worn on your forearm and lets you manage your pulse, training type, calories burned, distance/speed/pace and more.

(I don't use RunKeeper or any phone based workout app. I just use my old Garmin Forerunner 201. It's the one Kate M. gave me after I lost my first one.)

- Bostoninno

Safely, the family safety app suite from Location Labs is announcing it "has enabled more than one billion family safety location checks since inception." And, there's a new feature: a check-in feature for the kids - so they don't have to call to say where they are.

- press release

GeoCommunicator API and other GIS API News

GeoAstro API: GeoAstroApi is an API for retrieving geographical and astronomical info. With the API users can get info such as the sunrise and sunset for a location, moonrise and moonset for a location, moon phases for a date, the fraction of the moon that is illuminated and also convert Julian/Gregorian dates. The API uses HTTP calls and responses are formatted in JSON.

GeoCommunicator API: This service from the U.S. Bureau of Land Management provides mapping services to support ArcIMS image applications, ArcGIS applications, and other local GIS functions. Separate data services provide lookup functions for public land descriptions, surveys, and range allotments, as well as BLM administrative areas and specific sites it manages (e.g., abandoned mines, campgrounds, buildings, etc.).

Methods support mapping rangelands, allotments and pastures, administrative boundaries, and facilities. Data methods retrieve a land description based on the location or determine a location based on the land description.

OremGeocoder API: The OremGeocoder API allows GIS applications to plot Orem, UT addresses even when street names are placed before house numbers, streets have more than one name, or address coordinates don't match any streets at all. A closely related API that consumes this one informs the user which polygon on the map contains a given address.

GovHG Data.One API: Data.One on Hong Kong's government website, GovHK, provides public sector information, currently for geo-referenced public facility data and real-time traffic data. The traffic data, in the form of traffic speed maps, journey time indicators, and special traffic news, is also available via an API returning responses in XML.

Open311 API: Note: This is an API standard used by many API providers. For all compatible APIs listed on ProgrammableWeb, use the [[http://www.programmableweb.com/apitag/open311 open311 tag]].

Open311 allows developers to create third-party apps for citizens to report neighborhood issues from, potholes to graffiti and more, to a city's 311 system.

Open311 provides an Inquiry API to retrieve information such as services, facilities, and a 311 event update. The GeoReport API is the reporting API used to submit issues to the 311 service. These APIs are RESTful.

Nos Données (Our Data) API: NosDonnées.fr (Our Data) opens government data to the public, encouraging citizens to find and reuse public data. Available datasets include: geographic data; health; export and imports; energy statistics; election results; tax rates; maps of amenities; and more. NosDonnées.fr runs on the CKAN platform and makes data available via the CKAN RESTful API.

- Programmable Web