Nokia Expands its Geolocation Plans with Location Services Buy

Nokia acquired location-based services company MetaCarta on Friday, a service with two distinct focuses: geosearch and geotagging . With MetaCarta's geosearch technology, the service finds content, data and information about a place and then presents it in a single mapped-based view using any map server, whether one from Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, ESRI or another company. The geotagging technology, on the other hand, lets MetaCarta pull geographic references from online content and then allow that information to be used in other applications. Sponsor One of the more notable examples of MetaCarta technology is the NewsMap application, a hosted mashup that extracts the geographic information found in news articles and displays those locations as icons on a digital map. Users can then zoom in and out on the map to see where the news is happening and what stories correspond to the map icons. For a real-world example of how Newsmap works, you can visit DailyRecord , a news site which features an embedded "news map" at the bottom of their homepage. For another example of a similar technology, see Bing Maps's Local Lens application , a map layer that identifies news stories by city and neighborhood and maps them out using the Bing Maps service. (Bing Maps does not use MetaCarta's technology, it's just similar.) Although news maps like those above are somewhat interesting, the most intriguing thing about this new acquisition is not the map app, but the technology behind it. Basically, the geotagging aspect to the MetaCarta service can add location data to existing information that previously had none. In doing so, a company could build up a geo-database that could function as the backend for all sorts of location-based services from social apps to local search tools and more. And the need to have an accurate, rich and complete geo-database is going to be a key component to winning a top position in the emerging location-based services market. Nokia hasn't specified exactly how it plans to use the newly acquired company's technology, only saying that "MetaCarta's technology will be used in the area of local search in location and other services." It's not a leap, though, to assume that MetaCarta's technology could be integrated into Nokia's free Ovi Maps mobile application. Nokia has had a clear focus on location-based services as of late. The company acquired the social travel service Dopplr in September of last year and later launched turn-by-turn navigation for Ovi Maps in January. However, the company's largest mapping-related acquisition to date is still the $8.1 billion purchase of digital map provider Navteq in 2007. Discuss

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Nokia Expands its Geolocation Plans with Location Services Buy

Tags:applications, Bing Maps, geosearch, Google, Map, MetaCarta, Microsoft, mobile, news, nokia, social, technology, yahoo

Apple’s Tightening Grip: This Could Be Android’s Big Chance

The long-closed nature of Apple's iPhone OS ecosystem is coming to a head with the addition of major new restrictions on developers. If there ever was a time when the Android world had a chance to out-innovate Apple, this could be it. Each day this week, developers have pointed out another indignity Apple's legal framework subjects them to. Could this be the pressure that gets resolved by the rise of a compelling Android offering? It seems like a long shot. Sponsor People creating applications on the iPhone and iPad platform are apparently no longer allowed to build in development environments abstracted from the preferred form of code , 3rd party analytics services are believed to be no longer allowed to track use of apps , Apple has baked in its own advertising platform and the essential requirement of winning Apple's permission to deploy apps on its platform is feeling more onerous every day.   At the same time, no one else has come close to building a User Experience that can rival the iPhone and iPad.  If someone could, a grand battle could emerge.  Instead, right now it's looking ugly. On the positive side, the number of Android applications is growing faster and faster . The Anguish Prominant iPhone developer Dan Grigsby articulated today what could become an increasingly common sentiment in a goodbye post announcing the closure of his popular iPhone development blog Mobile Orchard : Ask permission environments crush creativity and innovation. In healthy environments, when would-be innovators/creators identify opportunities the only thing that stands between the idea and its realization is work. In the iPhone OS environment when you see an opportunity, you put in work first, ask Apple's permission and then, only after gaining their approval, your idea can be realized. I've always worked at the edge; it's where the interesting opportunities live. None of the startup I've created would have been possible in an ask permission environment.... I won't work in this ask-permission environment any longer. As Google's Chris Messina put it well in some poignant speculation this afternoon, "It occurs to me that Apple is crossing a chasm. To where, I don't know. But its early proponents seem to be being left behind." Another Perspective: Despite Its Problems, Apple's Ecosystem Remains the Best Raven Zachary, President of leading iPhone development shop Small Society , offers another perspective. Android needs a better OS before we'd even begin to see iPhone developers leave. I didn't fall in love with iPhone OS due to the elegance of Apple's legal terms. It's the platform that I fell in love with. It's the best mobile platform out there, and while I appreciate the analysis by the community and the hard questions being asked, I remain committed to the iPhone platform. Of course the most probable outcome of all this is that most developers will stay where the users, the money and the best user experience are. Some will be unhappy and some will leave - but probably not enough for consumers to notice. If only someone could build an Android device that rivaled Apple's hardware, and if the issues with different versions of Android across devices could be fixed, if the Android OS was just betteer - then there would be an incredible opportunity to lure away developers and finally get more users drawn to their applications. The iPad is really incredible though and there are a whole lot of very big "ifs" in play. An effective challenge by Android sure feels like a long-shot right now, doesn't it? Discuss

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Apple's Tightening Grip: This Could Be Android's Big Chance

Tags:analysis, Android, android world, apple, applications, Chris Messina, Dan Grigsby, development environments, healthy environments, iphone, Legal, mobile-orchard, money, perspective, president, raven-zachary, Read, small-society, society, startup, Zachary

Apple Announces Multitasking for iPhone? Close Enough.

So before the purists go off the deep end, fuming about the iPhone OS 4.0 announcement today , let's just concede one point - it isn't truly multitasking. Apple announced "Multitasking" with seven key points, one of them being "Fast App Switching", and this is what they meant for much of multitasking. But, here's the thing - for some of the most exciting things we've wanted to do, multitasking-wise, with our iPhones, the new OS will indeed offer true multitasking, and for that we're fairly excited to say the least. Sponsor Multitasking, for the most part, is handled by a double click on the home button, which pulls up a screen showing icons of all the apps currently hanging out in the background. Some, like Skype or Pandora, will actually be running, while others will simply be in a frozen state. The multitasking feature will be available for iPhone 3GS and iPod Touch 2nd Generation starting this summer and Apple is guaranteeing that it will not only keep your device moving quickly but will work to conserve battery life. In this effort, the company has released 7 APIs to handle the "multitasking". Instead of allowing the application to continue running a full instance in the background, potentially clogging up the system and draining power, the OS will handle background operations for several specific processes. [Image courtesy of GDGT .] For other applications not using these specific background services, switching out of the app will simply freeze it in its current state for the user to return to later. Otherwise, Apple certainly nailed it as far as the types of services we were hoping to run in the background. You want music to keep streaming through Pandora while you catch up with reading on Read It Later? You got it. How about keeping track of your bike ride across town with Map My Ride and being able to look up directions on the way? Sure! Keep Skype running in the background and get phone calls and chat notifications? Indeed. The iPhone will even complete tasks, such as uploading photos and videos, in the background - a feature sounds rather like "true" multitasking to us. We admit, "true" multitasking or not, this fulfills many of our wishes and we're quite excited. The only thing we'll have to hope for now is that the apps we want to multitask implement these new APIs. By doing multitasking this way, Apple has tried to assure that it can control the quality of the experience, but we'll have to hope for companies to follow along and release updated versions. Discuss

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Apple Announces Multitasking for iPhone? Close Enough.

Tags:apple, Apple Announces, applications, background, exciting-things, experience, iphone, iphones, map my ride, Multitasking, Pandora, Read, reading-on-read, skype, summer, the-background, true multitasking, user

A Blow To Net Neutrality: FCC Loses Appeal to Comcast

In a battle that's been ongoing since the fall of 2007, Comcast just won the latest round against the Federal Communications Commission. A federal appeals court announced its decision this morning to grant ComCast a petition for review, vacating the order by the FCC, which imposed a "net neutrality" on the nation's largest cable company. The decision appears to focus on the FCC's legal authority to enforce net neutrality and not on the legality of net neutrality itself. Sponsor The case began when "several subscribers to Comcast's high-speed Internet service discovered that the company was interfering with their use of peer-to-peer networking applications," the decision reads. Comcast argued that its move to block p2p file-sharing was "necessary to manage scarce network capacity", but the FCC found differently, ruling that the company had "significantly impeded consumers' ability to access the content and use the applications of their choice". When we last looked at this issue , the FCC had ruled against ComCast, enforcing a key tenet in the Net Neutrality debate - that ISPs have an obligation to serve up content regardless of type or method of delivery. The ISP should not have the power to discriminate according to source, destination or other such factors. Until now, the FCC's decision had backed this, but now the appeals court has ruled that the FCC was acting outside of its powers. According to Cecilia Kang at the Washington Post this decision could affect the FCC going forward: The so-called net neutrality rule, imposed by former FCC chairman Kevin Martin, comes just days before the agency accepts final comments on a separate open Internet regulatory effort this Thursday. And the agency will be faced with a steep legal challenge going forward as it attempts to convert itself from a broadcast- and phone-era agency into one that draws new rules for the Internet era. The decision could also be a stumbling block in the FCC's plan to implement a national broadband network . The full text of the report is available in .pdf . Discuss

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A Blow To Net Neutrality: FCC Loses Appeal to Comcast

Tags:affect-the-fcc, applications, Cecilia Kang, Comcast, decision, FCC, federal appeals court, federal communications commission, internet, Kevin Martin, Legal, national broadband network, news, power

What’s a "Universal" iPad App and How Do You Use It?

Do you already own an iPhone or iPod Touch and are planning on buying an iPad , too? Then you need to know about the new "universal" applications now available in the iTunes App Store. These combo apps for Apple's line of mobile devices are basically "buy one, get one free" deals except for one small difference - both apps are bundled into one download. When you run the universal application on a small-screened device, you'll see the iPhone version and when you run the app on your iPad, you'll see the larger, iPad-only version. And these won't just be blown up, oversized iPhone apps either - they'll be custom designed apps made specifically for the iPad. Sponsor How To Find Universal Apps When searching through the application store, you can identify the universal apps by the small plus sign that appears to the left of the application's price in the search results. Or, if viewing the description page for an application, the left-side column will read "This app is designed for both iPhone and iPad" underneath the app's icon and price. There are a few applications already available which support this new pricing format, for example, Pandora , Instapaper Pro , Evernote , WordPress , LogMeIn Ignition , IMDb and Now Playing . Some other applications even include the word "universal" in their application title. Unfortunately, Apple's own e-Reader application, iBooks , is not one of them. There is no addition configuration needed in order to choose the right version for the device you have plugged into your Mac or PC prior to syncing. If you're syncing your iPhone, the iPhone application is copied over to your device. If you're syncing your iPad, the iPad application will copy over. App Sharing: This is Why the iPad Doesn't (Yet) Replace Your PC or Mac The only problem with this configuration is that it does require that you actually sync your iPad to your computer. Yes, you need to hook up your new tablet computer - you know, the one designed to replace your notebook or netbook - to your computer. That's the only way to make the universal app available to your other mobile devices via your iTunes library.

Tags:applications, description, gadget, iPad, iphone, itunes, library, online, sharing, the-application, universal