Ask.com Mobile offers up Click to Speak directions

I love speech to text enabled apps and Ask.com has kicked off 2008 with a very cool new mobile offering in their voice-enabled driving directions. The app receives input from your voice commands, simply enter a start and end location and then the directions are pushed to your mobile via SMS... nice! Some features as listed by Ask.com:
Click to Speak builds on the award-winning(2) features of Ask.com Mobile:

-- Unique Interface for Streamlined Searching: Designed to minimize thumb
strokes, the Ask.com Mobile home page offers links to key mobile
categories, making it easier to navigate to relevant results.

-- Instinctive Tools: Including Smart Answers, which provide shortcuts to
answers and tools at the top of the search results page and Zoom Related
Search, which provides conceptually-related suggestions to narrow or
expand queries.

-- Platform Independent: Ask.com Mobile works on any mobile web browser so
consumers don't have to worry about which carrier they are signed up with
or which mobile device they have.

-- Nothing to Download: Ask.com Mobile does not require a download to get

visit m.ask.com on your mobile






Ask Mobile with Dial Directions from xbrendanx on Vimeo.

Coming Soon... GeoExpress 7 with de-speckling and more

According to Seattle, Wash.-based LizardTech, the company will unveil the latest version of its flagship product, GeoExpress version 7 on January 28, 2008. Among many exciting features, GeoExpress will come equipped with a new "despeckling" tool that will enable users to create even better looking mosaics than ever before. This from the company... With this latest release, the company will also demonstrate how GeoExpress 7 fully complements LizardTech’s entire line of geospatial products with complete interoperability, flexibility and ease of use. A complete list of features and benefits will be available on January 28, 2008. Those interested are also invited to Join a webinar to see the benefits GeoExpress 6.1, Express Server 6 and Spatial Express bring to the managing, storage and distribution of digital content.

Iowa Caucus Results Google Maps Mashup

It didn't take long for these guys to be prepared as you can follow the Iowa Caucus for information and results on this clever Google maps mashup jump to http://maps.google.com/iowacaucus2008 or See map here

Help out the service at Sea cause and maybe win a trip to Mexico!

Recall Drew Stephens and the crew from Service at Sea - the group traveling the World by sea and bringing GIS and geospatial awareness to deserving cultures (they launched from San diego at last year's ESRI User Conference), well, you can help Drew's non-profit and be entered to win a trip to Mexico at the same time.
Contest Details: Donate any amount and you are entered. We hope you can donate $50, but $25, $35, or any amount will get you in, and you can enter multiple times by donating in $50 increments. For example, if you send $200, you will be entered four times. All donations after February 07 have already been entered. We expect odds to be approximately 1 in 1000. Imagine, your thoughtful contribution to this community could get you to the warm pacific air!

How to Enter / General Rules: Go to: http://serviceatsea.org/donate/make-a-donation/ on the Service at Sea website, and use the "Make a Donation" button, or send a check to "The GIS Institute" PO Box 1124 Boulder, CO 80306. We will randomly select a winner from all donors on January 31, 2008. The Mexico Fundraiser is not tax deductible. You must be available to claim and complete use of the award between May and August, 2008.

Service at Sea is a program of The GIS Institute, a 501(c)(3) Non Profit Corporation based in Boulder, CO, to empower conservation organizations to reach their goals through the effective use of mapping technology.

DigitalGlobe Worldview-1 Imagery - open for business

Today, DigitalGlobe has announced the General Availability of Worldview-1 Imagery - From the Longmont-based company, The general availability of WorldView-1 imagery marks the final milestone for the satellite which launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base on September 18, 2007, delivered its first sample set of high-resolution images on October 15 and began supplying imagery to the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) on November 26. WorldView-1, with its superior increase in capability and capacity, and QuickBird, DigitalGlobe’s other high-resolution satellite, together operate as the world’s highest-resolution commercial satellite constellation. The two satellites are collecting up to 900,000 square kilometers of new imagery per day, an unprecedented level that will enable faster turn-around on collection and rapid updating of DigitalGlobe’s ImageLibrary. Users can search DigitalGlobe’s ImageLibrary: http://browse.digitalglobe.com/imagefinder/.

Portable Navigation Device Prediction - 500 million units by 2015

Some new research out today from TRG reveals a not-so-surprising trend in the swelling PND market. This from the report... Mobile phone-based navigation is remaking the GPS market. While Garmin and TomTom remain the worldwide market leaders for portable navigation devices today, mobile phone makers Nokia, Motorola, LG and Samsung are expected to lead the way in the near future. This will happen as the worldwide portable navigation market grows from 50 million units in 2007 to more than 500 million units in 2015, according to Telematics Research Group. The change in market leadership derives from the increasing importance of connectivity. Wireless connectivity, either to the Internet or the cellular network, is opening up new applications and services by bringing together accurate location-based data with advanced POI data including pricing, inventory and user-generated content such as ratings of local businesses. TRG estimates 30M dedicated PNDs were sold last year and about 20M navigation-enabled mobile phones for a total of 50M units. Both segments will grow rapidly over the next few years but navigation-enabled mobile phones will start outselling dedicated PNDs next year.
I couldn't agree more... think convergence... the consumer doesn't want more devices so why scoop up that expensive PND when you already have a connected navigation device in your smartphone!

BC Experience Map gets a new home in Saanich BC

As reported by the Globe & Mail Today, that HUGE terrain map of BC (formerly housed at the BC Experience) has a new home at a popular rural market tourist attraction in Saanich (not Victoria as reported - directions here) - Saanich is a suburban Municipality in the Victoria Capital Regional District. Galey Farms who also runs a farm market along with some other rural tourist attractions (corn maze, train ride etc...) has scooped up the Free map and saved it from the trash heap... nice stuff! For details of the search for a new home for the map see here.

Image of BC Experience map captured at ESRI User Conference

A new year is a Good Time to Start Thinking About GIS

Here's a good tip to help the GIS manager get organized in 2008 - I just received the 3rd Edition of Thinking About GIS by Roger Tomlinson. Just in time for 08, this next edition in the popular title appears at first glance to be one of the must have in the corner office bookshelf (i.e. it's an ideal GIS manager companion hence the title, GIS planning for managers). Anyone who's had trouble in the past fumbling for information to help design a system from the ground up will appreciate this book. At just over 200 pages, it's lightweight but heavy on useful material. The 12 chapters will systematically lead you through strategies for planning, describing and identifying your system needs, defining the system scope, creating a data design, outlining a logical data model, system requirements, cost vs benefit and finally, planning your system implementation... who couldn't use help with this?

Appendixes touch on popular topics that frequently give the manager reason to scratch her head like how to conduct benchmark testing, creating and planning your RFP and writing a design document. If you think you'll be charged with planning and implementing a plan for a GIS this is a great place to start.

Some items I enjoyed were Tomlinson's who, what, where, when, and why of GIS advice, his 10 stages of GIS planning, and all of chapter 8 on creating the data design. A bargin at less than $15! See Amazon.com or ESRI Press

Website Magazine - insights and tips for website owners

Just ran into this pub of interest, particularly those of you charged with web management and promotions etc.. best of all its free - about the Magazine from the publisher - Until now, there has not been a magazine that caters exclusively to the business of running a website. Website Magazine has tapped premier talent in the Internet industry for our content and each and every issue will contain practical advice and insights for website owners. You can register for it here (US only sorry)

11 technologies I'm watching in 2008 (no particular order)

The following are some services, devices, and applications that I'll be excited to watch over the coming year(s) as they evolve and add even more cool functionality

Android - which devices makers and carriers will jump on board?
Nokia MOSH - will it become more useful and integrated with new devices?
Dash Navigation (PND) - how cool is it and is it worth the price tag?
Nokia N95 USA version - will North Americans buy it?
ArcGIS Explorer - google earth on steroids?
GeoPDF - more support from Autodesk and others?
GPS integration with iPhone - maybe integrated GPS in iPhone 2?
Jaiku - with Google behind it will it overtake Twitter?
Nokia Research Sports Tracker - maybe rolled out as a commercial app?
WHERE (mobile widgets) - another contest and more cool location-aware apps coming?
N810 Internet (Linux) Tablet - Linux going mainstream finally?
I could go on and on but I'll stop with 11 items - 10 wasn't enough!

What are you watching this year?

iPhone users get your firmware update to 1.1.3

If you found an iPhone under the tree you may want to check out details of the latest firmware update to 1.1.3. Never updated your phones firmware yet? Think of it as updating your PC's OS, however, it's not as simple as simply grabbing a patch from MS like we frequently have to do. If it's anything like performing a firmware update on a Nokia smartphone it's about as fun as getting an ice cold herbal colonic! You'll need to backup all you apps and data and then start from scratch (maybe Apple has streamlined this and made it simple... I sure hope so for your sake), if not, make sure you have alcohol handy when you get brave enough to jump in and do it. See more here
See also this review which also provides a helpful Video clip

Helio Ocean - THE cool smartphone for 2008? Maybe

Are you familiar with Helio yet? If not I bet in 08 you will be! Helio has a slick device called the "Ocean" that may make waves big time as the new year rings in. Starting at about $199 (with plan) the device bundles all the popular things that you, hip, mobile users want and need - things like social networking ala MySpace, integrated GPS, Google maps, a swift 3G network, Music (audio and videos), YouTube access, gaming, messaging, and cool cutsom ring tones and images for customizing your device. Sure you can get all this on other smartphones from Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Palm etc... but these guys have made all this stuff front and center, simple to get to and cool... all important factors that will lead to sales. See www.helio.com - plans start at $55 p/month and include all you can eat data and messaging! North Americans still haven't embraced the "smartphone" yet, maybe this will help stimulate some more interest... no smartphone yet - smarten up!

Google Street View driving down-under in New Zealand

From down-under, The NZ Herald is reporting that team Google is driving th streets (likely in Auckland) gathering imagery for use in the popular and sometimes controversial "Street View". In the article the reporter notes in length the issues and concerns that people are having with Street View.. no doubt this will result in a few emails from Kiwis being sent to Google HQ. From the get-go the article quickly pointed out the following to readers... Images of partially clothed sunbathing women, a man entering an adult bookshop and another a strip club, and one being arrested, sparked debate over what should be public and what should stay private.
On the plus side, they do finish off with a note that the data is indeed good for the tourism business... see more HERE

Search for Ron Boychuck using Google earth - SAR Observers Always Needed

You may have heard about InternetSAR when Steve Fossett disappeared... the resource helps to organize volunteers in an effort to sift through imagery using Google Earth in hopes of locating some clues that will help locate missing aircraft. In addition to still searching for Fossett InternetSAR has helped coordinate search efforts for missing Vancouver Island-based pilot Ron Boychuck. Here's how it works:

You must have Google Earth installed on your computer. After registering for free with InternetSAR.org, you'll be provided with an overlay -- basically a satellite picture of the area that was taken shortly after the suspected crash. Using your pan and zoom tools on Google Earth, you scan the terrain for anything that might be a plane, debris, or even severed treetops. If you spot something, with a click of a button you can compare what you've seen with a nearly identical picture of the area taken BEFORE the crash. If the post-crash picture is clearly different, you can report it to InternetSAR.org immediately. See http://internetsar.org

GIS update from the South Pacific

GIS in the South Pacific... if your interested in getting a brief, general overview of geo-technology activities taking place in one of my favorite destinations (Fiji), Islands Business has provided a nice overview of how GIS and remote sensing is used in FIJI, from utilities to emergency planning and response, a nice update on activities from SOPAC.

Seattle Space Needle Fireworks computer glitch... Ooops!

For a number of years I used to always watch the Seattle festivities from the Space Needle... looks like this year things messed up a bit due to a computer glitch... oops!

HGTV Opens the FrontDoor with a great Google Maps real estate Mashup

Ok, if you haven't noticed already, I have a thing for following real estate apps, particularly those powered by a great map UI... webmap services and real estate go together like PB&J and the two disciplines are simply perfect for each other! Another fine real estate mashup is now available from the people at HGTV - enter Frontdoor.com (great name!) The site is well designed and provides a great mashup of real estate listings which is easy to navigate and has a great foundation created thanks to the use of the Google maps API to power the site's interactive mapping... once again a nice simple, functional resource that's easy to navigate and appears to do what you would expect... nice job! See http://www.frontdoor.com/

Happy New Year - Best Wishes for a safe 2008

ok, I'm outta here.. gotta go do a few things before the big night (shovel, clean the basement, take the kids to a movie yadayada...) Have a Safe, happy, and prosperous New Year to all. Looking for a New Year resolution... try this one, delete your entire IN box in your email and start the year fresh... c'mon, I dare ya! Just think of how good it would feel though ;0)

Hey DOT, how about some decent maps??

Oh the joy of looking for current road conditions and road closures along the Colorado highways. During the winter season in CO you'd expect that when visiting the DOT site (http://www.dot.state.co.us) the first thing you would find would be a BIG, BOLD sign alerting visitors where they can get info. My first choice was to click on a link labeled lane closures - this then takes me to another page with loads of links and many of the links bringing up PDF documents - hey DOT.. how about a freaking map??? A decent tabular report is posted at http://www.cotrip.org/ but in this day and age a map of real-time updates, maybe links to webcams and other timely info is what we want. Static maps showing links to webcams are provided but they are quite sad really, some of the maps having 300 icons which is totally freaking useless because you can't tell exactly where the webcam is located as its so cluttered. So there you have it.. the best local source seems to be at http://www.cotrip.org/ and according to a reporter on a Denver station, the 511 call in for info number is pretty much useless as well...

The image above shows how a map of web-cams appears... can you find the camera near the I-70 US 40 intersection??

Clicking on a camera icon provides some information on current conditions.. not bad, however, a mashup providing multiple layers of info would be much more helpful.

Perhaps you have an example of an efficient road condition interactive mapper that CO DOT could use as a prototype... feel free to share details or even better, send the DOT your unsolicited proposal to help get hem going in the right direction.

I suppose as an alternative there are third party services like Weatherbug.com , MyCast, Weather.com, and Mobimate also has some useful free services - all definitely worth a looksee next time you travel in the winter.

WeatherBug Mobile alerts may indeed be worth the relatively small fee!

Google Maps Street View now features eight more cities

Did you know that Google Maps Street View now features eight more cities in the latest update - Boston, Dallas, Ft Worth, Indianapolis, Minneapolis, St. Paul, Detroit, and Providence. That brings the coverage to 23 U.S. cities. In addition, you can now easily embed a fully interactive Street View player into your website or blog - start at http://maps.google.com/help/maps/streetview/

Sample embedded Street View of Wynkoop St, Denver CO



View Larger Map

Mobile reminder - Nokia Beta Labs, AT&T devcenter newsletter

Here's a reminder of a great mobile app resource from Nokia - Nokia Beta Labs. Browse and download free mobile apps and tools for sharing photos, adding more GPS fun to your mobile, mobile messaging tools and much more. See http://www.nokia.com/betalabs/applications
Speaking of mobile, you developers out there thinking of porting your apps to the iPhone or other mobile environment supported by AT&T will be interested in the AT&T developer program and devcenter... Check out the new AT&T devCentral Developer Program Devices Station. Find the device information you need, export data quickly, view detailed images and 360 demos - you can register for the free DevCenter newsletter here

BBQ Cookout prepping for New Year!