Follow
Blog: Chris Harlow on ITSearch The Harlow Report Archives
It was so bad, in fact, that Tim Cook wrote an open letter to iOS users, promising Apple would work non-stop to make it better. And it has been. It’s already made several improvements to the app, and is in the middle of a big hiring push for its Maps team…
Just last month we spotted over 10 job listings on Apple’s website that called for iOS software engineers that would be working on the Maps app. And today, several more Maps listings have surfaced (at least 7), this time calling for ‘Maps Ground Truth’ managers.
What’s Ground Truth? Well a quick Wikipedia search tells us that it’s a term used in remote sensing, for collecting data on location and comparing it remote data like satellite imagery. So essentially, it’s just confirming that the stuff shown on satellite really exists.
Read full story at iDB…
first published week of: 04/04/2022
Users Are Uncertain About Whether The Apps' Benefits Outweigh Their Risks
Nearly 60 percent of smartphone users employ apps that access their location data despite having concerns about risks to their privacy and even personal safety, according to a survey conducted by ISACA, a nonprofit group that focuses on risk and security management.
Respondents to the survey, which polled 1,000 smartphone owners by phone last month, indicated that their chief concerns were advertisers' access to their information and potential risks to their personal safety.
Concerns about personal safety were piqued this week after sharp criticism of an app called Girls Around Me that became known as a “stalker” app.
Researchers don’t know why consumers continue to use products that make them uncomfortable, said Ryan Calo, a Stanford University privacy researcher. But they see the behavior often enough to have a name for it: the privacy paradox.
Location-based applications are booming, but location data is particularly sensitive because it can easily be identified with a particular user.
“If you think about it, most of us have one location where we spend our daytime hours at work and one location where we spend our nighttime at home, so after just a day or two of these data points, it’s fairly obvious who they describe,” said Aaron Brauer-Rieke, a fellow at the Center for Democracy and Technology.
Experts suggested that the lure of interesting or useful new technology may overwhelm consumers’ skepticism.
Read full story at PCWorld…
first published week of: 12/05/2022
The WorldDEM DTM is derived from the WorldDEM product (Digital Surface Model) by removing all man-made features and vegetation. The unrivaled quality of the original WorldDEM product combined with a sophisticated editing process guarantees highly precise and consistent terrain information. While surface features (e.g. built-up areas, vegetation) are reliably removed, characteristic terrain features such as ridge lines or mountain crests are preserved.
Read full story at Airbus…
first published week of: 01/24/2022
The WorldDEM DTM is derived from the WorldDEM product (Digital Surface Model) by removing all man-made features and vegetation. The unrivaled quality of the original WorldDEM product combined with a sophisticated editing process guarantees highly precise and consistent terrain information. While surface features (e.g. built-up areas, vegetation) are reliably removed, characteristic terrain features such as ridge lines or mountain crests are preserved.
The WorldDEM DTM provides an excellent foundation layer for a wide range of applications such as civil engineering (e.g. road design, Earth work calculation), the management of natural resources (e.g. flood modeling), mapping (e.g. derivation of contour lines) as well as military mission planning (e.g. vehicle traffic-ability analysis, 3D terrain visualization).
WorldDEM is based on data acquired by the high-resolution radar satellites TerraSAR-X and TanDEM-X, which started synchronous data acquisition in December 2010 and completed coverage of the Earth’s entire landmass twice over in mid-2013. The satellites covered more complex terrain areas with a third and fourth acquisition campaign to ensure consistent high quality and accuracy of the final product. WorldDEM provides the first global, single-source, high-precision Digital Surface Model and has established a new standard of global elevation models.
first published week of: 02/07/2022
Using everything from local community sources to patent-pending technology, Maponics is the undisputed global leader in mapping the geographic boundaries of social spaces like neighborhoods, subdivisions, school attendance zones, shopping districts, and college campuses. Top real estate portals such as Realtor.com, Trulia, ZipRealty, Fannie Mae, Redfin and Realtor Property Resource rely on Maponics data to improve search capabilities, perform trend analysis, and deliver advanced mapping applications. Local search and location-based information sites like HelloMetro, TripAdvisor and Airbnb enhance search results with the intuitive geography of Maponics Neighborhoods. Across multiple industries companies including Twitter, Yellowbook and Deals by Citysearch utilize Maponics Neighborhood data to offer real-time, location-based advertising and promotion through mobile applications.
“We continue to hear from our customers that more geographic coverage is important to their plans to improve the services that they offer their user communities,” said Darrin Clement, CEO of Maponics. “The expansion of coverage provided by the latest releases of our Neighborhood and Subdivision products makes Maponics the clear choice for companies looking to provide comprehensive, meaningful geographic context on the Web, in mobile apps, or as part of internal GIS applications.”
Neighborhood Boundaries and Subdivision Boundaries are each available to license in numerous GIS data formats. Neighborhood Boundaries are also available through the Maponics Spatial API for mashups or other online use.
first published week of: 09/05/2022
Aerial mapping company, Bluesky, has launched the first nationwide map providing accurate height measurement for around 40 million buildings.
Created from a combination of remote sensing surveys, including data from aircraft mounted lasers (LiDAR), the Bluesky Heighted Building dataset covers the whole of England, Wales and Scotland, and will help to change the way we visualise and understand the built environment. By applying height values to 41,083,111 buildings, Bluesky is giving planners, developers, local government, utility companies and the emergency services a brand new perspective. Including multiple values for every residential, leisure, retail, commercial and industrial structure in mainland UK, the Bluesky Heighted Building dataset will provide new intelligence to underpin decision making and service delivery.
first published week of: 10/31/2022