Four Tech Tools Today's Geo Professional Should Know About

Recently there are few online tools and applications which related to geo-information were launched. They include: Yahoo! Pipes, Microsoft Popfly, Google Enperimental and OpenLayers. In this post, I would like to write a short description on Yahoo! Pipes. Hopefully, other applications will be posted near the future.

Yahoo! Pipes is a web application from Yahoo that provides a GUI-based interface for building applications that aggregate Web Feeds and other services, creating Web-based applications from various sources and publishing those applications. (From Wikipedia)

The interested part in the Yahoo! Pipes for me was the integration between the map and the RSS feeds to provide users very useful information. Unfortunately, I don’t have much time to play on that. Thus, I’ve found some nice video clips for the basic tutorial on Yahoo! Pipes and the Proto Mashup on how to configure your RSS feeds with Yahoo map to search the information you need. Perhaps it can help you have a better understanding on Yahoo! Pipes.

Multipurpose Umbrella with GPS and digital compass integrated

Recently a multipurpose umbrella "The Pileus umbrella" has been developed in Japan. This umbrella includes GPS, digital compass and taps Google Earth for navigation. It also has a digital camera to send images to the Web, and a projector to display images on its underside.

The high-tech umbrella allows you to take pictures with a built-in camera. These can be uploaded to Flickr via wireless internet connection and within 2 minutes, you can watch downloaded photo-streams on your umbrella screen with a simper wrist-snapping movement.

The project started out as academic research at Keio University in Sprinh 2006, but now Pileus LLC is keen to make it a money-spinning venture. Price for the umbrella still not yet come out but it is likely to be very expensive.

Bandwidth Definitions for Mobile Phone

Bandwidth Definitions for Mobile Phone

2.5G Next-generation communications architecture, also known as 2.5G. 2.5G networks will transfer data at 115 Kbps, compared to the current 10 to 20 Kbps. A step toward 3G (see below), some scattered 2.5G carrier service is expected to arrive in mid-2001. See also GPRS.

3G 3G stands for "third generation." It is aimed at delivering high-speed services and is targeted to offer access speeds of about 144 Kbps, later moving up to 2.4 Mbps. 3G will allow for mobile-based bells and whistles – like graphics on your cell. ETA: within two years.

Bluetooth is a communications specification using low-band radio frequency (2.4Ghz ) to wirelessly connect and synchronize PDAs, mobile phones, computers and other devices existing within a 30 foot/10 meter area.

CDMA Code Division Multiple Access got its start as a military technology, developed by the Allies in WWII. Much like data sent over the Internet, CDMA conversations are "spread" when sent, then reassembled upon arrival. The technology allows multiple calls to be carried over one channel. CDMA is the fastest-growing transmission technology and is basically the multiplexing platform for 3G. It is considered an efficient and secure technology, and it operates at lower power, which conserves batteries. CDMA carriers: Verizon, Sprint PCS. CDMA champion: Qualcomm. Estimated number of users: 67 million.

EDGE Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution is as the name states: an evolution of GSM (and US-TDMA) systems moving into 3G. It operates at 384 kbps, and enables multimedia transmissions and broadband applications.

EPOC EPOC is an open platform OS for handheld computers and mobile phones with Web access. EPOC is being developed by Symbian, a joint company of Psion, Nokia, Ericssson, Motorola and Matsushita (Panasonic). EPOC's main competitor is Windows CE.

GSM Global System for Mobile Communications is the digital transmission technique widely adopted in Europe and supported in North America for PCS. The U.S. companies with GSM support include VoiceStream and the new Cingular wireless service from BellSouth and SBC Communications. GSM's cool feature: the "portable" memory chip that can be plugged into any GSM compatible phone without losing the data (phone numbers, messages etc.). It is a variation of TDMA, with a data transfer rate of 9.6 kbps. Estimated number of users: 331 million.

GPRS General Packet Radio Service is a wireless data transmission service based on packet transmission, which is similar to the way Internet email is delivered. GPRS is being absorbed in 3G, is compatible with GSM and TDMA networks and offers speeds in the 115 kbps range.

HDML Like HTML, Handheld Device Markup Language formats information, in this case for mobile phones or handheld computers. It was originally developed by Unwired Planet (now phone.com) and considered the forerunner of WML (Wireless Markup Language).

i-Mode i-Mode is a packet-based wireless service launched in 1999 by Japan's NTT DoCoMo. i-Mode operates at 9.6 kbps and uses a subset of HTML, rather than WML. Next generation i-Mode will reportedly support transmission rates of 384 kbps.

PCS Personal Communications Service is an all-digital set of cellular services operating in the 1850-1990 MHz bands. PCS technologies include CDMA, TDMA AND GSM.

SMS Short Messaging Service, wildly popular in Europe and Japan, allows text messaging between mobile phones. SMS is just now entering the U.S. market.

TDMA Time Division Multiple Access is the "oldest" of the digital technologies listed here. It allows a number of users to access a single radio-frequency (RF) channel without interference, doing so by allocating "unique" time slots to each caller. Estimated number of users: 48 million.

Windows CE is a version of Microsoft Windows designed to run on PDAs or other small devices. CE was renamed Pocket PC with the version 3.0 release.

WML Wireless Markup Language is the language that allows the display of Web pages on mobile phones and PDAs. WML is part of Wireless Access Protocol (WAP). It is a cousin to HTML.

Location-Based Services in Asia/Pacific

Asia, as the most diversified wireless market in the world, has both the countries with the most advanced mobile technologies and services as well as the fastest growing mobile markets that still focus on basic services. Location-based service (LBS), labelled “the next big thing,” has been the subject of aggressive revenue projections on the part of industry insiders. However, the LBS market has yet to materialize in a big way, hampered by slower-than-expected implementation of more accurate location determination technologies (LDTs), consumer privacy concerns, and operators focused on the deployment of other proven mobile data services in the Asia/Pacific region.

LBS development differs amongst the Asia/Pacific markets. Japan and South Korea are the most advanced markets, with almost all categories of LBS applications available now. China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, New Zealand, and Australia’s operators currently are considering investing more money and making LBS a future revenue generating point. However, they will prudentially make an investment on LBS, as there are still other types of value-added services to pick from with lower levels of investments and risk.

In 2004, Asia registered a total revenue of US$353.0 million and it is expected to reach US$771.9 million by 2010, with a consistent CAGR of 10.5% for the forecasted period from 2004–2010.

Cartographic Visualization

There is an old proverb saying, “one image is worth more than thousands of words”, giving thus the simplest answer to the question why visualisation is necessary. The term ‘cartographic visualization’ refers to the creation of a visual image of spatial data, mentally, or physically, using graphic means.

This term is sometimes used as an alternative for cartography, because the term cartography has connotations that make it be regarded as a manual craft. But cartography includes more than visualization, as it is also concerned with data quality and cognition. Cartographic visualization, which is subset of the term Scientific visualization, may also refer to the graphical exploration and analysis of geospatial data and information. Therefore it can be more specifically defined as a map-related graphical procedure for the investigation of geospatial data and information. (Konecny, 2004)