F-G

Faster, More Energy-Efficient GPS

If you want to add location information to pictures today, it’s a fairly tedious process. Many people manually annotate their pictures after they've uploaded them to a computer. And while some high-end cameras come equipped with a Global Positioning System (GPS) chip that captures the location information, this extra hardware is slow and can drain battery power. Now Geotate, a U.K.-based spinoff of Philips Research, thinks that it can make GPS faster and more energy efficient in any device.

Details Here: www.technologyreview.com/Infotech/20781/

first published week of:   05/19/2008

Five ways for CIOs to impress their CEOs

What do CEOs want from their CIOs, and how can CIOs build on the power gains they've built up, even as everything around them is changing? CIO magazine tackled just that subject during a panel session at the CIO Leadership Conference and found five main keys to being a top-notch CIO today-and tomorrow.

Details Here: www.intergovworld.com/article/5eb1d3e20a010408016f9a3132deee8f/pg1.htm

first published week of:   06/23/2008

Flash Goes Mobile

No matter how much money you spend on a cell phone, the Web you see on its small screen isn't quite the same as the one you view on a laptop. Some features often can't run on mobile-phone Web browsers. But the latest version of Opera Mobile could bring more of the Web to your mobile world. Capable of displaying full Flash media content, Opera Mobile version 9.5 makes it possible to use cell phones and handheld computers to view online animations and movies.

Stripped-down versions of the Web have been offered to mobile users in the past. But these have been widely viewed as flops, says Jon von Tetzchner, CEO of Opera Software, based in the Norwegian capital of Oslo. “There is only one Web, and that's what the end user wants,” he says.

Details Here: www.technologyreview.com/Infotech/20198/

first published week of:   02/11/2008

Future of the Web

MIT’s “Technology Review” asked technology innovators, luminaries, and users what the Web might be in five to ten years. Comments include:

• “I would like to see the Internet reach people in rural areas and help alleviate poverty. I would like to see more people reaching the Web from devices big and small, fixed and mobile…”
• “There will be higher-speed Internet access by fiber and wireless media. Seventy percent of all mobiles will be Internet enabled in 10 years or less. Gigabit speeds in wired and wireless modes will be more widely available.…”
• “No one can see the future, because it depends on you…”
• “The total end of privacy…”
• And much more -- experts with similar and opposing views. Well worth the read.

first published week of:   06/30/2008

Garmin Nuviphone: an iPhone-Killer?

Garmin’s Nuviphone promises to wed GPS and cellphone with finesse and flair. It’s the talk of town, a mid-week surprise: a company with a bankload of credibility in a nearby technological niche muscling in on the cellular game.

Well, perhaps not so surprising that we forget the last time such a thing happened. “Has iPhone met its match?” asks ZDnet. “Garmin hits iPhone directly with Nuviphone,” says Electronista. iPhone, iPhone, iPhone: Nothing demonstrates Apple’s impending dominance of the sector better than the fact that it’s already the journalist’s favorite metric for anything new that comes along.

The Nuvi will be a touchscreen slab-style handset with a 3.5" display and serious GPS-centered chops. Think of it as geolocation matured and properly integrated into the smartphone experience. A suite of software stocked with millions of interesting locations will be packaged with it, and WiFi, Bluetooth and a 3G modem (using the HSDPA standard) will keep the data flowing no matter where you are or what you’re doing. Expect the browser to be desktop-caliber, with solid productivity apps and capable media playback.

Details Here: blog.wired.com/gadgets/2008/01/who-dares-call.html

first published week of:   01/28/2008

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