The Digital Geographer

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June 27, 2008

Reminder on law in UK RE satnavs when driving

"It is not alleged that to use a hands-free mobile is per se illegal. It is not. But your attention must be on driving, as it should be ... if you (have) a satnav..."

Judge Farrell in tragic case of an accident where lorry driver Mervyn Richmond ploughed into a queue of stationary traffic while talking on his hands free mobile system

Jonathan

Posted by raper at 02:39 PM

June 24, 2008

Touch Diamond GPS experiences

I have been experimenting with the GPS on my Touch Diamond... and there are some curious aspects to it.

Firstly, as a SIM-free device from Expansys there are no applications included by default on the device that use GPS. So unless you download and install something like Google Maps there is no way to even test the GPS. QuickGPS is installed by default to download ephemeris data and provide assisted GPS support (for fast time-to-first-fix), but this application does not start or use the GPS directly.

Secondly, as there is no installed application, there is no way to know what COM port the GPS is on, making it very hard to configure a GPS-using application. The 'External GPS' control panel is not pre-configured to the right COM port either. For those who have the same device, I discovered it to be COM 4 at 4800 baud using professional mobile GIS software ArcPad (which allows you to search the COM ports and open each in turn).

Thirdly, the Manual gives no information about the GPS beyond instructions on QuickGPS and general regulatory warnings about driving while using GPS. So unless the carriers push GPS with additional guidance and pre-installed apps I suspect many would never know they had it.

Finally, having solved this setup problem I have been astonished at the speed with which the Diamond can get a position when the A-GPS data from QuickGPS is up to date (each download lasts 6 days). It has been taking a about 5 seconds from activation to the first fix on a warm start i.e when the last startup was within the last 24 hours. This is pretty darn fast, and if reproducible on most occasions (watch this space!) would revolutionise pedestrian GPS. It's always about the last mile though: promotion, packaging, manuals and web support are needed to let people know what and how can be achieved with such a powerful tool.

Jonathan

Posted by raper at 08:33 AM | Comments (0)

June 17, 2008

Twenty four LBS sites and blogs

A selection of recent LBS sites I've visited.

Useful Networks
M Spatial
Cloud Made
Zodigo
Yotta
230 miles of love
POI Friend
Walking Hotspot
London Calling
My Loki
Jentro
Upingme
Gypsii
Enkin
Seero
Socialight
Lightpole
Brightkite
Zkout
Wildknowledge
Whrrl
Ipoki
Placebase
TurfTag

Jonathan

Posted by raper at 11:43 AM

June 15, 2008

HTC Touch Diamond: 1st impressions

I have been looking for a new Windows Mobile Professional device (one with a stylus) for a month or two and after much research decided on a HTC Touch Diamond. What sold it to me is the VGA screen, the GPS and 4Gb internal storage... all features that seem destined to be standard ones after a year or two.

My first week has not disappointed... the GPS works really well, even in marginal reception environments. I used ArcPad as my GPS software and went walkabout. ArcPad has a satellite signal strength histogram, and it appeared that the Diamond was getting a fix at much lower signal strengths than my previous Holux BT GPS (SIRFStarIII). As I walked under buildings and trees, and then got on a train and looked for a seat as it passed through cuttings it never lost lock. A fortunate satellite configuration I hear you say... and so I will test more. However, gut reaction says that this very well specc'ed light and nicely styled phone is going to perform pretty well in the market... possibly well enough to kick start 'Ped-nav' in the UK?

Jonathan

Posted by raper at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)

June 10, 2008

NFC Touchpoint trial at Blackfriars station

I came across this 'Near Field Communication' Touch point poster at Blackfriars station a few days ago. The idea is that NFC-equipped devices can touch the poster and get directions when making connections at Blackfriars between train, bus and tube.

The details of the scheme can be found in a press release from last August.

I'd love to know how this trial was going...

Jonathan

ps This link shows the way such a system can be made part of a wider e-ticket infrastructure:

Deutsche Bahn 'Touch and Travel'

Posted by raper at 09:20 AM | Comments (0)

June 06, 2008

Day 2 Navigation and Location Europe

Second day highlights for me:

I chaired a panel on Map updating with Laurent De Hauwere of Tele Atlas and Maarten Oldenhof of Automotive Navigation Data. The key question was whether users would both contribute map updates and be prepared to pay for them. I suggested that users might be able to earn credits for uploading data as Navizon do. This might promote greater participation in map updating... and adapt the model of OpenStreetmap to commercial conditions. Predictably Laurent disagreed!

I enjoyed the Investor insight panel chaired very effectively by Rainer Horn of Space tec capital: it made me think about some of the decisions we have to take about the development of Placr.

There was then a session on tourism LBS with John Duhigg of Penguin and Richard Lee of Creativity Software. Richard pointed out something I think that many people have missed in this market segment, namely that LBS is a 'content play' about mobilising content and not about selling technology per se. This requires some new insights into content, and I don't hear much about this in the discussions of LBS. Paper for Journal of LBS anyone?

I also enjoyed Rick Smith of m spatial on mobile local search. He too stressed the importance of 'developing the user's relationship with content', something hitherto only geeks have been prepared to explore! Andrew Grill of Seeker Wireless gave a fluent analysis of the scope for mobile advertising, forever debunking the mobile myth about getting a 'voucher on your phone when you pass Starbucks', showing that even if well considered (which it is not), it would also be far too expensive for delivery through SMS.

In the final panel on UGC, Malte Schloen of Locr, Christophe L'hermine of Webraska and Sam Critchley of Gypsii got into an interesting discussion about the potential of user-generated content on their sites to contribute to privacy violations by linkage with other data. Sam was of the view that the media were hysterical about this, while young people (in particular) were quite savvy.

Two days very well spent!

Jonathan

Posted by raper at 12:57 AM | Comments (0)

June 05, 2008

Day 1 Navigation and Location Europe

N&LE is being held at the Marriott, Amsterdam in a meeting room full of green beize tables with a constant supply of refreshments next door. Thomas and Osman run around shepherding speakers and keeping the whole thing to time.

Highlights for me:

Panel on mobile navigation, excellently moderated by Peggy Anne Salz of MSearchGroove . The panel were discussing the available propositions for mobile navigation. John Craig of Destinator stirred things up by suggesting that mobile advertising was not the killer app in any sense. There was also a discussion of pedestrian navigation, and some wondering out loud why it had not taken off. Jure Sustersic of Forum Nokia pointed out that walkers had embraced mobile navigation guidance for outdoor sports. I reminded people of the achievement of Navitime in getting 2million users to use a public transport-integrated pedestrian navigation system in Japan. The discussion then moved onto the question of why and how Navitime succeeded in Japan, and others elsewhere were struggling. Are Japanese consumers different? Is it because Japanese addressing is so different? Is it because of the superior sidewalk databases that exist in Japan? I prefer to think that it is an innovative developer who have the great advantage of the required infrastructure (3G data, flat data tariffs and GPS phones) and a well organised value chain. Andrew Grill said that he believes the Google cellID API will be opened up allowing thousands of developers access to reasonably accurate base station locations.

Speednetworking: 2 rows of chains arranged opposite each other... explain what you do to the people opposite... then move on at the bell. Very enjoyable and introduced me to Rainer Horn of space tec capital , who tries to combat my scepticism about VC funding!

I chair a panel about dynamic LBS content featuring Weatherbug, NavX , Oxford Softworks and 8motions. The questions of user expectations, POI standards and kinds of POI's that users will pay for all came up

I meet some entrepreneurs working on some of the same business propositions that Placr is, including Journey Dynamics and Networks in Motion

I also hear a very interesting presentation by Adrienne Jan, Head of LBS for Orange Group who lets it be known that they have done a soft launch of A-GPS in UK and France... and that they are willing to hear propositions for access by developers. Eventually, they aspire to opening up the interface to all, when the capacity and privacy issues can be sorted out.

All in all... a very interesting day!

Jonathan

Posted by raper at 12:00 AM | Comments (0)

June 03, 2008

Ludlow is the least wired place in the UK (possibly)

In Ludlow last Thursday, in need of an Internet connection. I start scanning from the parking place looking for an open hotspot (hey... my home one is open...), but I find nothing. So I go to a nearby computer shop... they give me the bad news: no Internet cafe, no 3G and they themselves don't give access. So I go to the Tourist Information Centre. Yes there IS one hotspot... at the library, but, ah... it's Thursday and they are closed. So it appears that the Internet is closed in Ludlow on Thursdays!

However, I persist and visit one of the main hotels in town The Feathers, and, sure enough, for the price of a cuppa I get a wireless connection. Thanks!

On Saturday I get the chance to go into Ludlow Library. Now, as an Information Professional I salute Shropshire Library service for offering free community wireless Internet access there (except Thursdays). However, it didn't work for me on a Mac (probably not their fault... maybe a web developer who only uses IE6). Let that pass... I might have been able to get around it through Virtual PC... however, it was the WiFi FAQ that caught my eye... and I quote:

Can I plug my laptop into a power socket?

"You will need to have had your equipment tested by a qualified electrician who will issue you with a Portable Appliance Test (PAT) certificate. A current certificate must be shown to a member of staff before you plug in."

Hmm. I think the Health and Safety brigade have gone over the top here. My Mac draws 45W... a rather dim light bulb... and has a fused power supply. The chance of a laptop causing electrical damage is extremely low. I'd like to nominate this as one of the most bureaucratic barriers to Internet access ever seen!

Jonathan

Posted by raper at 10:44 PM | Comments (0)