You may have checked in to a venue at some time in the past using foursquare, however, have you ever used the foursquare “explore” online map to explore venues in your area? You can use the service, powered by over 2,000,000 checkins - by logging into your foursquare account (you do have an account right?) and then going to https://foursquare.com/explore. The service should detect your approximate location and serve up a map that looks familiar to you. Then the fun starts… now start exploring local hot spots like coffee shops, nightlife venues, shopping spots, popular restaurants, or “Top” picks. Optionally, you can view places that foursquare recommends, places where you’ve checked in, places that your friends have visited, or see places that are offering foursquare specials – very handy! You can start exploring and get some great foursquare tips by visiting https://foursquare.com/explore
Coming soon to retailers, the new Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 – The Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 will be available for $399.99 SRP. Retailers carrying the devices include Amazon, Best Buy, hhgregg, Tiger Direct, WalMart, Office Depot and others. Some of the features and functionality available in this popular tablet include:
Control, Watch and Share Your TV Content – use your Tab as a universal remote, multitask on the web while watching and wirelessly stream the live feed from your TV to your Tab.
Browse the web, explore over 450,000 apps from Google Play and Samsung Apps, and access thousands of TV shows and movies via WiFi.
A big 10.1″ entertainment machine The Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 is powered by AndroidT 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich, a dual-core processor with a microSDT card slot and more.
Tab 2 10.1 Key Specs
OS: Ice Cream Sandwich
Processor: 1 GHz Dual Core
Camera: 3MP FF (rear) + VGA (front)
MicroSD slot (up to 32 GB add’l storage)
Built-In IR blaster (Smart Remote)
Services: Google Maps, GPS, Dropbox, Media/Readers/Music/ Game Hubs, Chat On, Netflix
An unconference for you WhereCamp enthusiasts in germany this June – WhereCamp Berlin Some details from the organizers… For those passionate about geographical specialties, WhereCamp Berlin is gathering its attendees on the 22nd and 23rd of June. Everyone is free to present and share topics, news and trends. In this highly successful “unconference”, participants drive the content for the day, making this event a truly unique and engaging experience. Meet great people, share ideas, facilitate new relationships and hear different perspectives and get integrated to what’s important to you. The event is free to attend and participation is strongly encouraged.
For more info or to learn about sponsoring WhereCamp Berlin, visit: wherecamp.de
An interesting video from Esri looks at potential uses for City Engine in an urban planning 3D scenario… Recall, CityEngine supports the use of geospatial data such as Esri Shapefile, File Geodatabase (GDB), KML, and OpenStreetMap (OSM), allowing users to work with existing GIS features – like parcels, building footprints and street center lines – when constructing 3D urban landscapes. See more about City Engine in this Q&A
Yes indeed, the new Bing is coming and according to the company this is perhaps the biggest update and news since the original launch in 2009! The new technology is best described with a few keywords: real-time, social, sharing, multi-media, location, social search. According to Bing, the new service will be available first to those in the US (dam!). If you would like to be one of the first people to experience the new Bing, visit www.bing.com/new, to receive an email notification when it’s available – see complete details of the new Bing in this fine blog post
There’s been a flurry of time sensitive, event related information coming our way recently. the following is a roundup of event related news and tips that could be of interest to the Geo technologist, GeoGeek, developer or techie… To begin, details of a cool event from Microsoft – Microsoft HTML5 DevCamp, Denver – Here’s details of an interesting event coming to Denver, CO on May 18, particularly for those interested in the hot topic of HTML5 . About the event. The HTML5 Web Camp is an opportunity to connect with designers and developers and show you what’s possible, and how you can start using it today.
Ever wonder about the US Army and the Army Geospatial Center? If so then check out this informative video for a look at the org. The Army Geospatial Center coordinates, integrates and synchronizes geospatial information requirements and standards across the Army.
I had to share this impressive video showing off some of the amazing 3D renderings possible with the latest technologies out there… This from the DigitalUrban blog – The movie above combines the use of CityEngine in Lumion with SketchUp and 3DMax to insert an exhibition space into a city while burning the CASA logo into the street network. CityEngine is a notable step forward for ESRI, both in terms of visualisation and analysis, linking it with Lumion and SketchUp allows it to be taken even further, towards the ultimate city creation toolkit.
This week I’ve been messing around a bit with MapSocial, a new, real time mapping service for facebook (I’m also pleased to boast that I think I may have been one of the first public users of this cool service!) . The application is still in Beta, however, you are invited to jump in and create your own maps, share them with friends, and invite others to contribute. Perhaps the first truly integrated mapping platform for facebook, the app is a great collaboration tool enabling teams to build a map or providing a clever way to take someone on a tour with you. To get started simply create a new map, you can then define the map parameters like the default basemap style, scale and center location. Then begin adding points and places along with custom symbology, descriptions, ratings, and more. The app gets really fun when you begin searching for places nearby and you can even search out foursquare places within a custom defined search area – this is really cool!! You can register for map social at http://signup.mapsocial.net/ and see also https://apps.facebook.com/mapsocial/
MapSocial enables users to do the following:
Create custom maps by yourself or with friends
Search for maps from the Community
Share your maps with friends
Search for foursquare places nearby
Add points on the map with custom markers and display parameters
Include detailed descriptions with your places and include a photo
Select from a number of basemap styles and define the map extents and center point
Collaborate and communicate with others
Take your friends on a tour, attaching them to your location and showing them around the map
Much More!
Above you see my first map of Dog Friendly Places. You see my position on the map identified by my picture/icon, along with POIs that I’ve added of dog parks and dog friendly places and their descriptions. I can invite friends to contribute and much more.
JiWire’s Mobile Audience Insights Report is an interesting summary of data based on data from approximately 315,000 public Wi-Fi locations. Most recently, the company has looked at WiFi usage of the consumer, particularly regarding mobile payments and public WiFi usage. Examining Wi-Fi Usage on Smartphones and Tablets Constant connectivity on smartphones and tablets are vital to on-the-go consumers and it’s apparent in the way they are connecting. JiWire’s Q1 Insights Report discovered that consumers are heavily utilizing public Wi-Fi from mobile devices with almost half of all Wi-Fi traffic coming from smartphones (31 percent) or tablets (14 percent). By contrast, connection from laptops has decreased from 70 percent last year to 55 percent currently. Additionally, nine out of 10 consumers report the following advantages for choosing public Wi-Fi instead of 3G/4G on smartphones:
Increasing connection speed, with 55 percent stating it’s the main advantage for using public Wi-Fi.
Avoiding data plan charges (37 percent), streaming content (17 percent) or for laptop tethering (7 percent).
Only 10 percent of the on-the-go audience indicated that they do not use public Wi-Fi, opting instead to connect with 3G/4G and/or exclusively use broadband cards.
Location-Based App Adoption — 70 percent of C-level executives are using location-based apps on a weekly basis or daily.
Mobile Shopping Behavior — 37 percent of on-the-go consumers have used a mobile wallet within the past three months.
Connected Device Trends — Almost half of the on-the-go audience is connecting to public Wi-Fi from smartphones (31 percent) or tablets (14 percent).
Comparison Shopping — When comparison shopping in-store, 49 percent of consumers compare prices with other stores.
Recall last week all the buzz in the Geo Tech arena was word of the GeoEye bid of $792 million for DigitalGlobe (See GeoEye Proposes Acquisition Of DigitalGlobe). Well, it seems the Longmont CO based crew at DigitalGlobe weren’t too thrilled with the offer and have not only flat out rejected it but the DigitalGlobe brass have penned a response in writing to them and cc’d the World on it as well – seems DigitalGlobe isn’t too pleased about the previous attempt at them at acquiring GeoEye… one can likely assume that these two companies won’t be holding hands any time soon! And in response to this GeoEye sent out the following… GeoEye Disappointed by DigitalGlobe, Inc.’s Rejection Of the Proposed Acquisition
The full text of the letter sent today to Matthew M. O’Connell, Chief Executive Officer of GeoEye follows:
May 6, 2012
Mr. Matthew M. O’Connell
President and Chief Executive Officer
GeoEye, Inc.
2325 Dulles Corner Blvd
Herndon, VA 20171
Dear Matt:
We are writing in response to GeoEye’s unsolicited conditional “public offer” to acquire DigitalGlobe made in your letter dated May 4, 2012. Our board of directors has met, has carefully considered your proposal and has concluded that GeoEye’s proposal is not in the best interests of DigitalGlobe and its shareholders. Accordingly, DigitalGlobe rejects your offer. Given the abruptness of your “public offer” and our past discussions, we believe you made your hostile bid in desperation due to well-publicized concerns about potential government decisions that may jeopardize your portion of the EnhancedView program.
We believe you initiated discussions with us with your unsolicited highly conditional private offer on February 7, 2012 because you were concerned about a disproportionate risk of budget cuts affecting GeoEye. We believe you have mischaracterized subsequent discussions in your May 4 letter as well as during your Friday investor call. In fact, we believe your public description of such discussions in your May 4 letter is materially misleading and incomplete.
Yep, I’m a fan of infographics… so simple yet effective and fun… what a great way to share some interesting facts and figures. The MMA (mobile marketing association) has just started rolling out infographics. This first one shares some interesting numbers regarding the mobile device and just how attached users are to their smartphones. Some of the facts and numbers shared:
Above you see my first map of Dog Friendly Places. You see my position on the map identified by my picture/icon, along with POIs that I’ve added of dog parks and dog friendly places and their descriptions. I can invite friends to contribute and much more.
