GIS, Maps, Geo and Location Technology by @gletham
Here’s a holiday shopping tip for mobile enthusiasts looking to jump on the Windows Phone 7 hysteria.. AT&T is offering up a 2 for 1 deal on the latest mobile solutions running Windows 7 Mobile OS – these include: LG Quantum, HTC Surround, or Samsung Focus. Like all carrier based promotions, there will be special contractual obligations and the offer may not be valid at all outlets. See more HERE
Yes indeed, Steve Coast (@SetveC), founder of OpenStreetMap (OSM) has been hired to Microsoft according to this tweet from Steve – this in order to help the company to integrate OSM even tighter with Microsoft apps and services, most notably, Bing Maps I assume. From Microsoft… “Steve will help develop better mapping experiences for our customers and partners, and lead efforts to engage with OpenStreetMap and other open source and open data projects”. Indeed this is an interesting move, particularly as Steve’s wife, Hurricane (See @hurricaneCoast on Twitter) recently enlisted in corporate life as well by joining up with Mapquest in a similar capacity. Indeed this is big news for the OSM community and the open source movement, however, one does have to wonder how this can impact the development and the future of OSM… I mean think about it, we now have AOL (Mapquest) and Microsoft buying up the talent that spurred all this innovation but these are companies that ultimately are responsible to the shareholders. I guess we’ll be hearing more down the road about OSM mapping tools and apps running on the Win 7 mobile platform and then there’s Google… I wonder who Google will be looking to hire from the OSM camp?? Regardless, good luck to Steve and the Open Source movement. see details on the Bing Maps Community Blog
This from Steve’s official blog… “Of course, this doesn’t mean Microsoft ‘owns’ OpenStreetMap any more than CloudMade or MapQuest do with the significant resources those firms have put in to making a better map with OSM. OSM continues to be independent as it always will be, and I will continue in my roles to push the OSM cause forward.”
For a detailed look at the effect of this on the mapping community, check out James’ post
Good news for Nokia (Symbian) smartphone users needing to stay in touch via their WordPress blog as the WordPress client (Open Source) for Nokia is here. Details of the app… WordPress for Nokia allows you to do it directly from your S60 or Maemo-powered Nokia. WordPress for Nokia is an open source project, making both the app and the source code free to download and use – Supported: WordPress 2.7 or higher (WordPress.com or self-hosted). See more info HERE or details at http://nokia.wordpress.org/
Got a great idea for a mobile app or location aware service that targets the consumers of a specific brand or product? The GSMA today announced that it is now accepting entries for its Brand App Challenge – a competition in which mobile application developers create “brand apps” for a select group of global consumer brands. Developers will compete by creating customised mobile apps for the participating brand sponsors based on the objectives and guidance provided by the individual brands. The apps will address a wide range of mobile operating systems including Android, Apple iOs, BlackBerry OS 6, HP webOS, Symbian and Windows Phone 7. See more news HERE or details on the submission process and more, please visit http://www.mobileappchallenge.com/app-challenges/brandappchallenge/
An interesting story via the O’reilly Radar touching on the City of Boston and how the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority (MBTA) made real time data available to the public (and perhaps more important, to developers), spurring a ton of innovation from mobile app developers as is evident from the MBTA application showcase page at http://www.mbta.com/rider_tools/apps/ – see also the Mass Transit app from Sparkfish creative. For more on the story of open transit data in Boston see the article Boston’s real-time transit data: “Better than winning the World Series“