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TomTom (TOM2) today announced that its navigation services are now available in the new Mercedes me app, recently launched by Daimler.
The Mercedes me app offers a range of “Mercedes connect me” services including remote status and maintenance management as well as the latest information about traffic delays and ETA, powered by TomTom’s routing technology.
“We are proud to strengthen our relationship with Daimler,” said Jan-Maarten de Vries, VP Product Marketing at TomTom Automotive. “We believe that our world-class maps, navigation software and services make TomTom a key partner for the world’s leading car manufacturers. We understand that car manufacturers want to extend the user experience beyond the car and its embedded infotainment systems. We support that wish by offering the components to develop navigation portals and smartphone companion apps.”
The Mercedes me app is available to download free of charge from iTunes and the Google Play store. The online routing is only available for consumers that have a car with “Mercedes connect me services” and “Live Traffic Information”.
first published week of: 11/09/2015
GueGuessr is definitely on the top of our list. It started as a small web app that gives you the challenge of guessing the locations of a series of random Street View images. After you’ve made your guess, it reveals the real location, and awards points based on how close you get. It’s so addictive that it gained a lot of attention. On the website we can read that it partnered with brands like BBC, Skoda or The North Face.
Pursued is a surprisingly fun Street View game from Hungarian game developers Nemesys Games. The main theme of the game is as follows: “You’ve been taken without warning. A friend is trying to help you, but you must figure out where you are!”. The aim of the game is to guess the name of the city you look at and type the name in the dedicated box as soon as possible. If you can’t tell by the visual clues in the Street View you can move around by clicking in the Street View image and by using your ‘+’ and ‘-‘ keys to zoom in and out. It’s really cool and well made. continued…
first published week of: 08/17/2015
Nowadays, you can track the location of belongings such as wallets, bikes and bags with small GPS trackers, and the coin-sized TrackerPad is perhaps the smallest of the lot.
There are already some pretty tiny tracking devices on the market, such as the TrackR Bravo and the Tile. At only 10 x 10 x 3.8 mm (0.39 x 0.39 x 0.15 in), though, the TrackerPad is roughly the same size as a British 10 pence piece or a US quarter, making it significantly smaller than both of those options.
Whereas the casings of the TrackR Bravo and the Tile are made of hard materials, the workings of the TrackerPad are enclosed within a soft, flexible casing. It weighs just 1.6 g (0.05 oz) and is attached to objects using its adhesive rear.
The TrackerPad has a built-in prepaid SIM that communicates with the TrackerPad server and the server, in turn, relays info to an accompanying TrackerPad app on the user's smartphone (platforms yet to be confirmed). continued…
first published week of: 07/27/2015
With Christmas right around the corner, logistics companies are under huge pressure to ensure that all presents arrive with Santa-like efficiency.
This year it is estimated that online Christmas shopping is expected to grow by some 14%; eclipsing last year’s high which saw UK shoppers spending £21.6 billion on gifts over the festive period.
Because of this, it won’t just be excited children twitching at their curtains to catch sight of Santa; many undoubtedly checking his progress via Nasa’s famous Santa tracker.
Time-sapped parents, relying on those last minute deliveries, will be also be praying that weather conditions and unforeseen disruptions don’t stop the last available sought-after Tracy Island toy arriving in time to put under the tree.
first published week of: 12/14/2015
Uber has categorically denied claims that its in-app car map does not use real time data to show where drivers are.
The claims come from Alex Rosenblat and Luke Stark, researchers at New York think tank Data & Society who penned a paper looking at the ride-sharing company's algorithm. Although not yet published, highlights from the paper were shared with Slate by employees at Data & Society. They claim "the presence of those virtual cars on the passenger's screen does not necessarily reflect an accurate number of drivers who are physically present or their precise locations… Instead, these phantom cars are part of a 'visual effect' that Uber uses to emphasize the proximity of drivers to passengers. Not surprisingly, the visual effect shows cars nearby, even when they might not actually exist."
The Slate article argues that the debate around Uber's employer status -- or lack thereof -- comes down to its algorithm, partly because its "facilitator" status relies on that algorithm setting the price based on real-time demand. It then goes on to highlight the ways in which the algorithm focuses more on projections. continued…
first published week of: 08/03/2015
Transportation service Uber has hired a longtime mapping expert from Google as the company focuses on boosting its own mapping expertise. As Recode reports, Brian McClendon has left his engineering VP role at Google to oversee Uber’s Advanced Technologies Center. McClendon previously led development for Google Earth and Google Maps and has worked for the company for 10+ years.
At Uber, the former engineering VP will work primarily on the transportation service’s efforts around mapping and self-driving cars. Reporting to Uber Chief Product Officer Jeff Holden, the former Googler is also said to be overseeing the company’s safety initiatives.
Mapping is key to Uber’s experience as it relies on location for customers to find nearby drivers and vice-versa. Mapping is obviously a big deal for the transportation experience as well with Uber drivers relying on Google Maps as a GPS solution. continued…
first published week of: 06/22/2015