“The e-911 program’s goal is to address the challenges of developing technologies such as Voice over Internet Protocol, telematics, satellite phones and instant and text messaging. The 911 system, set up 30 years ago, needs a new “system of systems,” IP-enabled national blueprint to keep up with new IT devices, the report said. The 911 […]

“FleetNav Express can be accessed at SiriCOMM, Inc.’s 300+ satellite-based Wi-Fi Hot Spots. The new relationship is part of SiriCOMM’s strategy to market its network as a hosted platform for third-party services, as well as its own solutions. These include eloads, a load matching service, and Fuel Network, a real time listing of fuel charges […]

“If proof were needed that the market for navigation devices is booming, a glance at the number and size of booths devoted to them at the CeBIT technology fair would dispel all doubts. Much of Hall 11 at the world’s biggest tech show, in the German city of Hanover, is given over to navigation and […]

“Police arrested Vaughn Sept. 23 after tracking him to a house in Newburgh where they had planted a purse tainted with dye. Following the arrest, Evansville police obtained warrants to search Vaughn’s car and motel room from Vanderburgh Superior Court. But Kelley said police did not inform Judge Robert Pigman in affidavits used to obtain […]

This is Sony Ericsson’s Black Diamond, a prototype concept phone by designer Jaren Goh. Not only does it look stunning, it’s designed to come fully loaded with cutting edge edge technologies and materials. Polycarbonate skin, mirror finished cladding, OLED screen providing a ‘borderless screen’ effect and 4 megapixel camera. All theoretical, of course, as it’s just a concept mock-up, but what a stunning design!

“Saunders said if a trooper sees someone has had several warnings, that could increase the chance of that person getting a ticket. About 160 state troopers have in-car computers. Both warnings and tickets will be written on the computers, then downloaded to the patrol’s main computer, allowing dispatchers to check for warnings. Saunders said troopers […]

“The sucesses with NightVision and Telematic has resulted in needs for extended engineering at Autoliv Electronics. The company will now move in to larger facilities in Mjärdevi, Sweden. NightVision consists of a camera that is monitoring heat from objects in front of the car from which signals are sent to a display inside the car. […]

Responsibilities:
As a member of the GE Asset Intelligence Solutions & Services team, this individual will Develop and Implement global transportation Supply chain solutions and Go-To-Market strategy for Food, Pharmaceutical and other industries where temperature and load conditions drive the value chain.
Support business customer solutions & services (Value Added Services) strategy and tactics for market penetration […]

I love the concept behind Carnival of the Mobilists. It’s a compact weekly overview of the most important mobile news and happenings.I want to inspire from that and do the same for Flash Lite.So here it is my first…

Nothing really major heard at Cebit. Microsoft/Intel tout pocketable PCs. Samsung pushes 8GM hard drive into mobile phones.
Sun offers own alternative to Lego Mindstorms - based of course on J2ME.
People can be interested in mobile TV.

Because Squarespace is such an easy platform to use so far, and because I tend to ask questions, rhetorical or otherwise, I have created the Smartspace Discussion Board as a place to create and have discussions about some of the issues raised in my postings and your comments. Take a moment and hop over to the Board and add your opinions and links to the discussions at hand. There is always a link to the Discussion Board at the lower left of the main page in case you get lost.

 The first question opens the door for further consideration of Peter Morville’s point about metadata and findability. Specifically, what areas should be focused on to make future locative services better?

Engadget shows the level of popular participation mapping has reached. It has posted DIY instructions for creating annotated Google Maps, a pastime that is becoming increasingly widespread as leading edge technology users and even fast followers get more comfortable with linking different bits of information together to illustrate their world. For those users who can navigate a few editing programs and, more importantly, capture key visual and informational information about their area, creating an annotated Google map requires just a little time and attention.

One question is does raise is, what is the outcome of the hundreds if not thousands of consumer-driven creations of annotated maps and mashups already underway, like those enabled by applications such as Platial Maps, for example? What is emerging from the rising mashup/mapping mania is a million standalone maps of personal or niche community interest, with little if any aggregation to a larger mapping system — "metamaps" if you will.

Is this a bad thing? Not yet, since we are in a largely positive phase of user-created relational geography. At the moment, however, it is like entering a disorganized bookstore with thousands of different travel guides to roughly the same area. What’s lacking is a layer that allows users to choose first what view of the world they want to see, then what area, then perhaps based on expertise of the mapper - a mix of Google and eBay for user created geographic information. Anyone got a few million dollars to start this thing?

The European Commission has approved plans by the Irish government to make available EUR170 billion (USD202.7 billion) for improving broadband availability. The Commission recognises that Ireland is struggling to compete with other, older EU member states in delivering broadband access and says its plan to boost access to more than 120 towns poses no threat to competition within the EU. To date the government has spent EUR80 million activating 27 of the 120 planned metropolitan area networks (MANs) in a project that is 50:50 funded by it and the EU. But eircom could challenge the Commission’s decision arguing that it makes no sense to spend public money to introduce services that it is already providing. Although it is currently assessing its position, eircom’s commercial director David McRedmond said ‘We provide services in 118 out of the 120, and the two locations of Clifden Co Galway and Ringaskiddy in Co Cork are already under construction’. Meanwhile, Babcock & Brown, the Australian group which may table a takeover bid for eircom, has increased its stake in the incumbent to 26.1%, coming closer to the 29.9% mark which would trigger a bid for the firm.

In a separate development, Irish broadband provider Smart Telecom says it will start offering a 6Mbps service to residential customers priced from around EUR65 a month. It will also bring in 5Mbps and 4Mbps options for EUR55 and EUR45 a month respectively.

Telecom Italia France has selected IPTV content protection specialists Verimatrix to supply it with its Content Authority System (VCAS) for its AliceBox triple-play service. AliceBox offers its customers unlimited calls to France and Italy, a minimum 6Mbps broadband connection and up to 100 broadcast channels over its DSL network. It was launched on 1 January 2006 and is available to all subscribers of the Alice internet broadband service.

Hutchison Telecommunications International (HTIL), a unit of Hutchison Whampoa, has revealed plans to triple capital spending in 2006 to HKD14.5 billion (USD1.9 billion), up from HKD4 billion in 2005. Under the new expenditure plan, HKD10 billion – roughly two-thirds of the entire group amount – has been earmarked for India, where HTIL hopes to double network capacity and offer services in 23 operating areas, up from the current level of 16. Originally HKD9 billion was to be spent in the country, but CEO Dennis Lui said that the increased investment was ‘due to some recent changes in the Indian market’. These changes are understood to revolve partly around the Indian government’s plan to subsidise mobile operators that rollout networks in rural areas, and partly around fears that new operators (such as Telekom Malaysia - see today’s story regarding its acquisition of a 49% stake in Spice, a competitor to Hutchison in India) will enter the market and steal market share. Hutch’s Indian subscriber base increased by more than 50% in 2005 to 11.4 million at the end of the year.

In addition to the spending in India, between HKD2 billion and HKD3 billion will be used to continue the development of mobile networks in Vietnam and Indonesia, where HTIL hopes to launch later this year. The remaining HKD2 billion of the overall group budget will spread over the company’s other operations (Hong Kong, Israel, Thailand, Sri Lanka and Ghana).

In a separate but related story, HTIL has reiterated its desire to spin off its Indian subsidiary for a separate stock market listing, and may do the same for its other Asian holdings.