For months, there have been rumors in the tech sector of a new competitor to Google Maps. That competitor is none other than Apple and at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference, the new Apple mapping service made its debut. Here are some important aspects of it:
For anyone who grew up watching Knight Rider, the idea of a talking car is nothing new. In recent years, of course, talking cars have become more of a reality than a fantasy, thanks to GPS systems that deliver turn by turn directions out loud. But, for those who still pine for a Knight Rider-style talking car, the car with an artificial personality is still several years away. TomTom, though, now has the next best thing with voice upgrades for your GPS system! Read more »
No matter how effecting the marketing departments for navigation apps for smartphones are, using your smartphone while driving is just dangerous. No matter how reliable wireless providers insist their networks are, they are not infallible. There is little worse than being lost because you have driven out of your network coverage area and lose your navigation tool! For those who plan ahead or travel with a laptop computer and can pull over for get directions from your computer while driving, there is no more reliable a navigation tool than Microsoft MapPoint 2011! Read more »
Because of how fast the technology sector adapts and changes, sometimes it is hard to remember how significant some of the overnight successes for companies truly were. After all, one year the hot product is an iPad, the next year it is an Amazon Kindle Fire, the next year, the market explodes for an entirely different product. Because the attention span of consumers is so short, you might have forgotten one of the most significant product releases in the last decade. There have been sixty million of them sold since 2004. Give up? It’s the TomTom GPS navigation system. The founder and CEO of TomTom is Harold Goddijn and he is one of the coolest businessmen around.
It is a tough thing for a company when the chief product that business creates is past its peak in the marketplace. Many companies actively attempt to keep the truth about their product’s chances of survival in the market concealed from investors in order to continue the struggle for market dominance. Not so at TomTom, the satellite navigation company. Impaired by cheaper hardware flooding the market and similar, free, software offered by Google, TomTom has experienced a few rough years. Fortunately, TomTom has Marina Wyatt.
Marina Wyatt is the Chief Financial Officer of TomTom. Wyatt was hired as CFO immediately before TomTom made its initial public offering for stock in 2005 and she has remained with the company ever since. Marina Wyatt came to TomTom with an impressive resume. As a graduate of Cambridge University and a first job as a chartered accountant, one might assume Wyatt’s education was strongly rooted in finance. Actually, her degree was in geography and it was not until she joined the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales that her interests turned to economics. Her accounting jobs led her to positions at Psion, Symbian, and finally COLT Telcom Group. As CFO of COLT Telecom Group, Wyatt gained the real-world experience she needed to be a vital hire for TomTom.
With all of the recent uproar about the Stop Online Piracy Act, which many criticized as a potentially disastrous free speech violation, the major media outlets largely ignored the news out of the Supreme Court in January. However, earlier this week, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously in The United States Vs. Jones, creating one of the first explicit privacy protections in the digital age.
In U.S. Vs. Jones, the Supreme Court heard arguments involving the use of a GPS tracking device against a suspect without a warrant. The police affixed a GPS tracking device on a suspect’s vehicle without a valid warrant (law enforcement had an expired warrant executable in a location outside the jurisdiction where the GPS device was applied to the suspect’s vehicle). On January 23, the Supreme Court ruled that applying a GPS device to an automobile without a warrant was unconstitutional.
What is most interesting about the decision is that the Supreme Court divided over the reasoning behind the ruling. Many United States citizens forget that privacy is not a Constitutionally-protected right or freedom in the United States. Nowhere in the United States Constitution is there an explicit protection for freedom of privacy. While liberal Justices since the founding of the United States have argued that privacy is an implied protection under Freedom of Speech, most conservative Justices have only used property rights violations (Fourth Amendment) to take the side of pro-privacy advocates.
The majority of the Supreme Court followed that same classic argument with U.S. Vs. Jones. What is more significant is that conservative Justice Alito wrote a concurring opinion agreeing with the ruling – that search warrants are needed to apply a GPS device to a suspect’s vehicle – but disagreeing with the reasoning. Alito and three other Justices argued that the violation to the suspect’s property was insignificant compared to the violation of the suspect’s inherent privacy rights. Alito’s concurrent opinion harkens back to a Supreme Court ruling in 1967 that judged – in a wiretapping case – that the Fourth Amendment is intended to protect individuals, not their property.
This is a significant ruling – especially with the concurring opinion – because technology has been developing much faster than the law. As a result, the Supreme Court has not ruled on privacy rights for simple actions like sending and receiving e-mail, using a smartphone to take or distribute photographs or using smartphone applications to record conversations until now. While the debate in U.S. Vs. Jones may appear to have been limited to GPS devices, the unanimous ruling by the Supreme Court is thunderous in its implications. At this critical juncture, the Supreme Court is siding with an individual’s right to live free from government scrutiny using advanced technology.
About RESCUECOM:
RESCUECOM provides computer repair and computer support, 24/7: Meeting every tech support need including data recovery, virus removal, networking, wireless services, and computer support for all brands of hardware and software. For computer support or information on products, services, or computer repair, visit https://www.rescuecom.com or call 1-800-RESCUE-PC.
For More Information, Contact:
David Milman, CEO
315-882-1100
david@rescuecom.com
One of the coolest products in the world is not one that will be available directly to consumers, but it will benefit everyone who travels by plane. The Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast is that cool product and it is making air travel much safer than it ever has been.
Following the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States, the woeful state of air traffic technology became public knowledge. For the first time, most people in the United States learned that most of the computer systems that monitored and regulated air traffic control were from the 1950s! The last vacuum tube computers were mass produced in 1962, yet the airline industry continued to use those outdated computers. In 2003, the United States Congress established the Joint Planning and Development Office to revamp the outdated technologies the air traffic industry has been using. The JPDO proposed NextGen and the Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast system is an integral part of that initiative.
The Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast system is an innovative tool that works much like GPS. The ADS-B system keeps track of each and every plane outfitted with the system. One impressive leap forward that the ADS-B system makes is that the display for the Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast includes images of both planes in the air and on the ground. Because the ADS-B system monitors planes still in the terminal, it will help prevent runway conflicts. The other important leap forward that ADS-B includes is an interface that is universal. Unlike previous, radar-based systems that showed air traffic controllers only the airspace around their terminal, with plane positions relative to them, the ADS-B provides universal displays. This means that your departure airport, your destination airport and every airport in between has access to the exact same images and the same training to know how to properly interpret it! The ADS-B comes in two parts, the ADS-B In and the ADS-B Out.
The ADS-B In is a receiver. The Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast system is a satellite-based network that monitors weather information, geographical locations on the ground and ADS-B Out transmitters. In many ways, the ADS-B system is an airborne computer network, specifically designed for aviation. The ADS-B In system is what pilots use to access the Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast system. Using ADS-B In, the pilot receives weather information, telemetry on other planes and guidance information.
The ADS-B Out is the transmitter. The ADS-B Out is like a combination of GPS and the plane’s black box. The Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast Out system transmits all data about the plane and flight from the equipped plane to the ADS-B satellite network.
Australia is, to date, the only nation that has fully upgraded entirely to ADS-B technology. The United States is overhauling its aviation industry and by 2020, the intent is that the United States will be entirely on the Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast system. Finally, the aviation industry is getting out of the 1950s and into the 21rst Century!
About RESCUECOM:
RESCUECOM provides computer repair and computer support, 24/7: Meeting every tech support need including data recovery, virus removal, networking, wireless services, and computer support for all brands of hardware and software. For computer support or information on products, services, or computer repair, visit https://www.rescuecom.com or call 1-800-RESCUE-PC.
For More Information, Contact:
David Milman, CEO
315-882-1100
david@rescuecom.com
At the heart of most communication devices these days are batteries. Without realizing it, most products we use need some kind of battery to function. Smartphones, cameras, GPS devices, remote controls, laptops, music players, and computer tablets all need regular recharging. Naturally, the fact that the vast majority of our essential communication and entertainment devices can run on battery power rather than wired power source is an exciting thing. It’s also somewhat of an inconvenience, though.
With everything that needs to be regularly charged, it is easy to lose track of the varying battery lives among our electronics. How many times have you packed your camera for an event only to find the battery dead or close to dying when you need to use it? And if there’s one sound that everybody hates, it’s the annoying beep of your smartphone telling you to plug in the charger. Many people have car chargers for emergency uses or for charging on the go, but if you’re interested in a more reliable backup charging device, consider investing in a solar battery charger.
Solar power chargers are by no means a new invention. You might already be familiar with calculators that work on solar energy which use tiny solar chips to convert light energy into electrical energy. Solar battery chargers work using the same principle. Using sunlight, these chargers harvest solar power via a solar panel and charge a built-in battery. When you find yourself stranded or in need of an emergency charge, simply hook up your phone or camera to one of these solar chargers and off you go.
One particularly good model is the ultra-slim The XTG-SOL1500 Solar Portable Battery and Charger. The charger, which is just a little larger in size than an iPhone, has a solar panel that cover the majority of its upper side. The model includes a USB output that you can use to charge a variety of electronic devices like smartphones or cameras.
To charge the unit itself, simply place it in sunlight. Do so charges it up to 60%, according to its manufacturer. To get a fuller charge, connect it to a computer or power outlet. A USB cable is included for this kind of charging.
If you’re planning a camping or hiking trip, then this kind of device is a must-have. Forget about being lost in the woods or stuck in the desert; with this charger, all you need to keep your devices working is sunlight (assuming, of course, that your wireless network service provider covers the region you’re in).
Another cool feature of this solar charger is that it has its very own powerful LED light that’s great for reading on camping trips or in other situations where you find yourself needing some more light. Of course, the XTG-SOL1500 charger needn’t be limited to camping settings. Keep it in your bag as a sort of universal extra battery for all your other devices.
Whoever said solar power was too expensive was wrong. The charger sells for an affordable price online, and it’s definitely worth it.
About RESCUECOM:
RESCUECOM provides computer repair and computer support, 24/7: Meeting every tech support need including data recovery, virus removal, networking, wireless services, and computer support for all brands of hardware and software. For computer support or information on products, services, or computer repair, visit https://www.rescuecom.com or call 1-800-RESCUE-PC.
For More Information, Contact:
David Milman, CEO
315-882-1100
david@rescuecom.com
Google Maps has expanded from just an online map system to an indispensible navigating system. In fact, newer Android phones come with their unique Google based GPS. Other uses, as you probably know, include getting directions, measuring distances, viewing satellite images, and, every once in a while, making a beautiful and creative short film like “Address is Approximate.” Still, if you’ve been a regular Google Maps user since the service’s inception, then you’re probably familiar with the occasional inaccuracies or glaring omissions that occur in some maps. Such problems used to be much more frequent in the early days of Google Maps, and are slowly becoming fewer as Google enhances the software. The cartographic data has been steadily improving since Google launched Google Map Maker in 2008.
Google Map Maker relies on a volunteer community to add features such as new locations, more venue details, and new or changed streets to its maps. This is especially helpful for Google because mapping information is not readily available everywhere. Map Maker is free, fairly simple to use, and open to the public.
Of course, though this may seem like an overtly philanthropic, egalitarian and democratizing act on Google’s part, by allowing the people who are most familiar with their own areas to contribute cartographic data, Google is saving itself a lot of time and resources. Instead of dedicating funds and advanced tech support to populate and repopulate maps with ever-changing local data ad infinitum, Google has chosen to let users do it themselves!
In many ways, this feature is almost like the Wikipedia side of Google, a side where everyone can contribute. One major difference between the two, though, is that Google is slightly stricter about its guidelines for editing. When users (called editors in the Map Maker sphere) make edits or suggestions, those changes need the approval of other members in the community. The more your edits get approved, the more merit you gain in the editing sphere, and the better your reputation, the easier it becomes for you to make changes. As you advance in the meritocracy of Google Map Maker, your edits will start to go live automatically.
The interface itself is very simple. You can tag buildings, create their outlines, and add roads. Ideally, you would do this based off the satellite image of the area you wish to edit. Next, you input some data about your newly added locale, and once you pass the approval process, you can celebrate your latest position as a Google cartographer.
If you are mainly interested in updating their own neighborhoods or specific areas, Google Map Maker allows you to subscribe to certain areas and monitor any edits that occur there. Overall, Google Map Maker is a great way to contribute your knowledge and have some fun on a rainy day. Be careful, though, it’s easy to spend endless hours editing once you’re hooked.
About RESCUECOM:
RESCUECOM provides computer repair and computer support, 24/7: Meeting every tech support need including data recovery, virus removal, networking, wireless services, and computer support for all brands of hardware and software. For computer support or information on products, services, or computer repair, visit https://www.rescuecom.com or call 1-800-RESCUE-PC.
For More Information, Contact:
David Milman, CEO
315-882-1100
david@rescuecom.com