Location-based Services

Jim Fallows of the Atlantic interviewed Michael Jones, chief technology advocate for Google in the Jan/Feb issue. Here are the high points for me for those who are too busy to read it: Biggest change in maps in last decade: So a map has gone from a static, stylized portrait of the Earth...

Researchers from the social networks IT security group at Ben Gurion University of the Negev, in Isreal, home of Waze, can help prevent traffic accidents. They studied a month's worth of data from the four million users of the app in that country. The used Google Earth to analyze the data and...

The patent, granted on Dec 25, 2012 is titled: System and method for identifying erroneous business listings. The idea is to highlight businesses that may intentionally locate themselves near or within the boundaries of oft-searched points of interest like the Eiffel Tower or Yellowstone National...

National Institute for Geographic Information and forestry API: The service provides data for mapping and geographic information sysetms (GIS) applications related to forestry and agricultural conditions in France. It documents forest coverage, tree species and health, soil conditions, and...

Surprise! The path to the mobile future is ... Maps! Who says that? Rolfe Winkler, writing in today's Wall Street Journal (WSJ), says that whoever has the best mobile maps "will be an important driver of shares in tech giants such as Apple, Google, Microsoft and Facebook and help determine who...

The two changes take effect Jan 28, 2013: 1) Instead of using just a first name, last initial (e.g. Adena S.) to indicate check-ins publicly, on that date, full names will be used (Adena Schutzberg). Foursquare says the old way is confusing, but explains any user can change their full name if...

Cellid API: The service provides geolocation information by detecting the nearest cellular phone access point and marking its location. It was developed to provide location to a phone's systems without the need to access a global positioning system (GPS) signal. After identifying an antenna,...

Until Wednesday only the Chinese government and military had access to the interface to use the signal from the Beidou constellation. Then the interface was made public. To be technical: an official version of the complete interface control document [pdf] (ICD) for the nation’s BeiDou...

Consumer Reports makes very clear which brands might be keepers: In years past, there were numerous brands competing in the portable navigator space. Now there are essentially three main players: Garmin, Magellan, and TomTom. All others are truly fringe players and their products should...

Would it bother you if you knew that online retailers priced their merchandise based on your location? According to an article in the Wall Street Journal, some online retailers are basing their pricing on "geolocation" and browsing history. But is this any different than what retailers do now...