PlanetEye

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Archive for the ‘Gadgets’ Category

Monday, July 7th, 2008

A-GPS or Assisted GPS

Juan Gonzalez
Vice President, Technology

Travelling around northern Italy and Switzerland gave me a good opportunity to rely on my GPS-enabled BlackBerry as the only navigation device to get from one place to the next.

Our journey took us to Nice, Monaco, Milan, Lake Como and St. Moritz - a roadtrip that includes breathtaking landscapes of the Alps and innumerable opportunities for great photography.

While we never got lost thanks to the always useful Google Maps on the BlackBerry, many times we found ourselves stopping to let the device “catch-up” with us. The article “The disruptive potential of GPS on the iPhone 3G” in ars technica may provide some important clues about the tricky business of delivering reliable location information in these new generation of smartphones like the BlackBerry and the iPhone.

Perhaps a good introduction to the complexities of GPS technology is the article “Assisted GPS and the iPhone”, where the differences between traditional devices and those that use other mechanisms such as Wi-Fi networks and cell towers to accelerate parts of the process.

All this sounds great when you’re travelling around a city which is densely packed with cell towers and there are plenty of Wi-Fi networks available to download required information. Things start to get a bit more tricky when Wi-Fi networks disappear on the road and all the mapping information needs to be downloaded over EDGE networks (this was the case throughout most of our roadtrip).

All of the sudden the device “knows” where you are, but can’t really show the pictures to communicate that information on time. 3G promises to accelerate most downloads by a factor of 2 to 3 times, depending on the type of files.

Yet, there is one final element that remains a bit of a mystery for all these new devices: how can they provide a precise GPS reading much faster than other dedicated GPS navigators that typically need seconds to get a fix.

Being an “Assisted GPS” seems to be the key, but it also introduces imprecision to the process as we discovered a few times after taking the wrong turn. It would seem as if sometimes, even if our location appeared to be known on the map, it would be delayed by unknown factors.

Without knowing too much, I quickly concluded that not having enough cell-towers available to triangulate our position, the device would depend exclusively on an “old-school” GPS reading, leading to the usual delays associated with it.

This would explain why Apple states that in the iPhone “applications may not be designed or marketed for real time route guidance.”

Wednesday, June 11th, 2008

Will the iPhone Jump-Start GPS?

Mark Evans
Director, Community

3G Iphone-1
For iPhone and Apple fans, the launch earlier this week of the new 3G iPhone is reason for celebration.

With lower prices - $199 for a 8GB model and $299 for a 16GB model - the iPhone has become even more consumer-friendly. Apple is clearly betting lower prices will resonate with all those people who loved the iPhone but shied away from buying one because of the cost.

There’s also considerable buzz about all the communications, entertainment, productivity and business applications that will be developed on the iPhone platform through its software development kit. For the iPhone aficionados, there will be no lack of applications and services - many of them available on the higher-speed 3G network, which promises to be as fast as Wi-Fi networks.

Among the new features within the iPhone is GPS. In the scheme of things, GPS was somewhat overshadowed when Steve Jobs introduced the new iPhone. But for the GPS industry and the growing number of consumers now using GPS devices, this was a major step forward. What better validation for GPS than having the world’s hottest device maker publicly embrace the technology.

Here at PlanetEye, we enthusiastically applaud Apple’s GPS decision given GPS is a major pillar of the online travel planning service that we’re providing to travelers looking for a new, exciting and different to plan, organize and book their trips. Any technology that supports the taking of beautiful photographs that includes built-in GPS can only be a good thing.

Among the people also celebrating the iPhone’s GPS support is Mashable, which suggests this will launch a flurry of cool and useful location-based services on the iPhone.

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Thursday, May 29th, 2008

Chumby Contest Winner!

karen
Marketing Coordinator

I had a great time attending mesh last week. There were some great sessions, and I got a valuable lesson in how ClubPengiun works!

People always ask me what it’s like working in tech with a bunch of programmers. There is an unjust bias out there that says that technologically savvy people are not creative. I have always found them to be incredibly creative. Programming means taking a blank slate and making something magically appear, what’s more creative than that? My theory was proven correct at MESH. In a room full of highly technical people, I heard amazing stories told by very creative minds.

Thanks mesh!

And now to the part that makes Marketing so glamourous: Giving things away!

We held a MESH draw for a Chumby. The person who won was Chris Taggart from Ottawa. Congratulations! and thanks to all who entered.

Monday, December 3rd, 2007

Holiday Gift Ideas for Travellers

Mark Evans
Director, Community

By Mark Evans

The fine folks over at PC Magazine have put together a list of 12 “travel-friendly” gadgets - just in case your wish-list for the upcoming holiday season needs some inspiration.

If I had a wish-list, some of the gadgets I’d be excited about would be:

- iGo everywhere85, which powers and charges a variety of, including notebooks, MP3 players, smartphones, digital cameras and handheld gaming devices.

- the iPod Nano because it’s just cool and now has nice screen for video.

- OQ0 Model 02. A one-pound a laptop perfect for checking e-mail, Web surfing, blogging, etc. while away from home.

More: Gadget Travel Gear blog has some more suggestions.

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Monday, November 26th, 2007

Whither the Widget?

karen
Marketing Coordinator

By Karen Geier

top_50_widgets_memory2.jpg

I’m a bit of a productivity junkie.

As such, I have tried a variety of technologies to make my life easier. Some have proven to be indispensable (the dishwasher comes to mind, as does GMail) while others, maybe not so much (my first Palm Pilot had a classy ride in its cradle, and wasn’t used very much.)

But now my life is made infinitely easier with a new brand of e-gadgetry, the widget.

When I first got my MacBook Pro, I was the widget queen. I had stickies everywhere (essential.) I had the translator at the ready (which proved useful when I needed to translate “Your shoes are on fire” into Spanish) and, most importantly, the U.S.-Canadian currency tool (I buy almost everything online.)

But how exactly do widgets fit into our space? We are currently designing widgets for PlanetEye to help people streamline their tasks but is that all a widget should be? I think not. While a quick and 100% useful tool like the calculator is indispensable, it’s hardly compelling. Widgets like a picture puzzle are fun, but are essentially time wasters. We needed to ask ourselves “How do we design a widget that is compelling to the user, but makes them feel productive?”

Taking a leaf from two of my favourite third-party widgets, the Facebook notifier and GMail notifier, a notification system might be the right tactic, but there again it gets lost in “one trick pony” land. I think the idea lies in the presence of widgets themselves. Widgets exist from a need to customise one’s workspace, so a widget should echo that customisation. You should be able to turn features on or off, making it yours.

Without giving away all our plans, I hope that people will enjoy the widget when it comes out. Watch this space for more information.

Thursday, November 15th, 2007

Putting the FUN in Functional

karen
Marketing Coordinator

by Karen Geier

As any good nerd girl would do, I was reading Wired magazine yesterday whilst having a manicure. GPS and its related technologies is a favourite subject of theirs, and this article struck me as something truly special. It described a new GPS-based game being developed to allow visitors to the Tower of London to reenact an escape.

“So what?” You may say, but it’s an interesting confluence of technology, history, and FUN. To launch the project, a group called Historic Royal Palaces was consulted for accuracy for details of escapes and near-escapes alike. Hewlett Packard’s iPAQs were used for the project, and a software package called “mscape” was used to build the game (mediascape is available for download here.)

The premise is thus — you explore your surroundings as the iPAQ keeps track of your movements. Mscape gives you goals and tasks based on where you are in the game. You eventually navigate out of the tower and win the game.

Why is this relevant?

Aside from the movies, no one has bothered to make history come alive. This is a technological solution that makes the user feel as though they are living the events (or living in a video game, for those who have no imagination.)

This could be a turning point to make history cool. It certainly sounds like it has made history fun, and it has opened up ways for people to use GPS technology in a way that is not purely functional. “Off-label” use of products is a great way to make products catch a mass appeal (and let’s face it, the bloom is off the rose once you’ve used in-car GPS once. It’s not a thrilling experience.)

This could spawn a whole host of new games, and give LARPERS a new lease on life (thank you Beauty and the Geek, now I know what LARPing is. (shudder.))Article on the Tower f London game is here.

Thursday, November 1st, 2007

Leopard Test: Geotagging and OS X

karen
Marketing Coordinator

Leopard Os X-1By Karen Geier

I was an early adopter of Leopard, but it wasn’t until a discussion with Mark about the lesser-known features of the newest iteration of OS X that I found out about its foray into geo-locating of photos.We decided to put Leopard’s geo-tagging support to the test. According to Leopard’s own help guide, once you have a geo-tagged photo on you hard drive, and you open it in preview, you have the option of choosing “photo inspector” to geo-locate the photo on an Apple map. Upon clicking on that map, you’re then taken to Google Maps in hybrid view. Clear as mud?Here’s what happened when we put it to the test. First, we took a photo using one of our GPS-enabled Mio cameras.6206110049_gps.jpgThis is always an hilarious adventure because no one ever seems sure exactly how to operate them. We were very excited until we had a transfer failure that resulted in the loss of the GPS information.So, we used one of our stock images:1029111100122.jpg This photo still had its geotag, and off we went.We opened the file in Preview. Next step is to open it in “Inspector.”gps.png Leopard uses this information to give you this screen.And clicking on it takes us to this view in Google Maps: gpsclick.pngSo, that’s how it’s done. Our general feeling about it was it doesn’t live up to most of Apple’s other improvements on an ease of use basis, or on a “prettily integrated interface” basis. It is, however, a great idea, (although we may be slightly biased toward geo-tagging.)

Wednesday, October 31st, 2007

Using Wi-Fi to Share Your Photographs

Mark Evans
Director, Community

Digital technology has made taking photographs a snap - no pun, intended!

The challenge, however, is easily sharing all those photos with friends and family. Sure, you can e-mail the better ones, or you can take the time to upload to Flickr or PhotoBucket, or even print some of them. But the reality is most digital photos stay on your camera until you eventually delete them, or live a nice, but quiet, life on your computer.

Eye-Fi is trying to address this problem with the introduction of a cool device called the Eye-Fi Card. It looks and feels like a standard SD memory card but it includes a built-in Wi-Fi antenna. This lets you upload photos using a wireless connection from your camera to 17 different Web sites, including Flickr, Photobucket, Facebook, Shutterfly, Picasa, Typepad and MySpace

Cool, eh!

The cards cost $99 and feature two gigabytes of memory - enough to store about 1,000 photos.

For more, check out Silicon Valley.com or Eye-Fi’s Web site.

Update: Paul Stamatiou has an extensive review on the Eye-Fi Card, while CNet’s Crave blog also has a review.

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Monday, October 29th, 2007

Leopard Does GPS

Mark Evans
Director, Community

Leopard Os X
Amid all the buzz about the launch of Apple’s new operating system, Leopard, is the fact it’s GPS-friendly.

If you have a photograph that includes GPS metadata, Leopard’s preview software will show you where the photo was taken on a world map. You can then open the GPS location in Google.

To be honest, it’s not a eye-opening feature given all Leopard is doing is converting latitude and longitude coordinates, and putting them on a map. But it is yet another indication that GPS is becoming increasingly popular.

For more, check out CNet’s Underexposed blog.

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Thursday, September 13th, 2007

How to Buy a GPS

Mark Evans
Director, Community

Everyone’s hot to trot these days about global positioning systems technology, or GPS. Whether it’s wireless devices such as the Blackberry, automobiles and, increasingly, digital cameras, it’s becoming easier to know where you are and where you want to go. Of course, it also helps that companies such as Microsoft and Google are promoting GPS through their ever-improving mapping technologies.

Buying a GPS device, however, can be daunting because there’s so much choice. You can spend $200 for a basic system or $1500 for something with all the bells and whistles. Do you want something with a small screen or do you need a large screen? Do you need a no-frills model or something with multi-media capabilities?

PC Magazine will hopefully make the decision-making process easier with an in-depth article looking at some of the more popular GPS devices as well as the options and features worth exploring. If you’re at all interested in buying a GPS or just interested in how the technology is moving towards the mainstream, the article is well worth reading.

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