New Geoawesomeness Blog!!!!

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This is the last post on "the old blog". Starting from today geoawesomeness.com will be totally new and greater than ever. With a team of people passionate about location, we have a mission to build the ultimate quality blog about location related stuff.

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Windows Phone 8 - Offline Maps for everyone

Microsoft announced their new operating system Windows Phone 8. Surely it’s not gonna change attitudes of most Apple believers  and users of Android, but one thing is undeniable, starting from Windows Phone 7 it looks really great. 

Partnership of Microsoft and Nokia brings first results for other producers of Windows OS devices – offline Nokia maps with be available for all WP8 devices. It means that you will have access to free turn-by-turn navigation all over the world. It is important news as well for all lover of location-based apps. In combination with Nokia Location Platform now developers will be able to build at least some functionality that will work offline. 

Good news.

source: Microsoft

Nokia - to be or not to be? Solution: Location!!!

Two days ago there was thrilling news announced - Nokia is planning to cut 10,000 jobs to return to profitability level. The cuts are part of a plan to significantly reduce operating costs and sharpen the strategy. The Finnish company has had a rough ride in recent years. Although Lumia and partnership with Microsoft is starting to bring some results Nokia is too big and too slow. 

Location-Based Services – bright future

Although they are cutting costs apparently everywhere, there two areas where Nokia is still investing – Lumia and Location-Based Services!!! This is a great news for everyone passionate about geospatial tech stuff. Why? First of all because Nokia owns Navteq – one of the world biggest mapping data and solutions provider. Secondly because partnership with Microsoft gives Nokia access to great potential and tradition of leading World programmers. I know that it’s a big simplification but it’s truth.

Nokia Location Platform

The big recent indicator that Nokia wants to go deeply into location business was launching Nokia’s Location Platform that effectively is a location API that consists of a suite of client- and server-side programming interfaces that allow to develop interactive applications with maps and map-related services. 

We hope to see the first effects soon.

source: freesoftwaredown

Apple vs. Google - Mapping World War

Just over a month ago I've been writing that I feel in my guts that Apple is about to launch their own mapping solution. Two days later first leaks came out that it's gonna happen. Last Monday Apple finally announced its own version of Maps for iOS 6 which will replace the Google service on its smartphones. Google Maps has been present on iPhone since the beginning. Moreover they were the second most used app on iOS, just after Facebook and iTunes...

So why did Apple ditched Google's mapping service?

When you don't know why the answer is always easy - for money!!! Revenues from local search and ads are the fastest growing in the mobile advertising segment. We need to understand that both Apple and Google have huge databases about all of us. Adding to this data, spatial context puts it all into totally new level. The vision of targeting customers depending on their exact geographic location and offering to advertisers this unique possibility makes it worth going the way that Apple gone.

Will it affect Google?  

CNN Money reports that  iPhone and iPad to account for 2% of Google's 2012 revenue."Google will generate about $4.5 billion in gross mobile revenue in 2012, the lion's share ($4 billion) from search ads and the rest ($500 million) from display" said  Gene Munster, analyst from Piper Jaffray. Maps are minor source of this revenue but could mean something bigger. Then we think "maps" and technology, we think "Google" - Mountain View giant managed to change the world of web and mobile mapping, in fact it it added a new spatial dimension to everyday live of everyone connected to the Internet. But Google didn't have enough incentive to develop and monetize their mapping products...

Competition is good... Good for end user... Good for us. We could see the first signs of it when Google announced first changes to Google Maps just before Apple conference.

Foursquare is getting facelifting this week

Location Based Social Network Foursquare will get a major facelifting of its app this week, according to 4sq tweets:

May 30 tweet: ”Put on your fanciest fancy pants. The all new foursquare is coming soon! Get excited! #allnew4sq.”

June 1 tweet: “It’s a perfect day out and you’re finishing up at lunch. The #allnew4sq has ideas for what to do next. Coming soon!”

June 2 tweet: “The burning question: what should we do tonight? The #allnew4sq is coming this week!”

Looking at the screenshots of new Foursquare app from Twitter we are assuming that the service will finally make use of incredible amount of data that they own (2 billion check-ins and 20 million users since launching in March 2009) to generate contextually targeted venue recommendations based on the Explore tab (that was launched in mobile apps in March 2011 and in January 2012 on the web).

It seems that Google is as well preparing itself for the battle as it recently blew up its Google Place pages with what it calls Google+ Local. Competition is good. We are looking forward for the upcoming changes. 

source: The Verge, Foursquare

TomTom releases its latest map update for the summer jurneys

Tomtom has just released  new maps in preparation for the Summer. In total, 1.5 million km of new roads have been added to TomTom’s global map between May 2011 and May 2012. Additionally, new stadiums, temporary and permanent event venues and park & rides across the UK, Poland and the Ukraine have been included. Major map changes include adding 107,000 km of new road networks in Brazil, and updating 12,000 km of motorways in Spain.

Maps have been extended to cover greater areas of Mexico, Malaysia and Indonesia. Southern Africa maps now include more unpaved roads in rural areas for better routing and more accurate estimated times of arrival.

In addition, TomTom announced the TomTom Via 130, featuring a new Speak & Go function where drivers can control the device with just the sound of their voice, as well as making hands-free calls, which helps them keep their hands on the wheel and their focus on the road.

source: TomTom

Bing Maps now uses live traffic and geocoding from Nokia

Apparently the collaboration of Microsoft and Nokia goes beyond Lumia smartphones. After the latest up-date the  - now uses Nokia's live traffic and geocoding algorithms. Bing Maps can now offer the same traffic information that is already available at Nokia Maps in 24 countries (Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UAE, UK and US).

Why is it a good news?

This info is really important for all Bing Maps users from one basic reason - Nokia is the owner of Navteq - the biggest mapping data player on the planet. Not only their traffic data is one of the most accurate but also their geocoding algorithms (taking latitude and longitude information and connecting that to a readable address) will surely offer better routes and directions for Microsoft-mapping service users.

But this not the most important conclusion... the most important thing is that those two giants are teaming up to build better location-based services and apps. With their financial potential and Nokia's announcement of the new  Nokia’s Where Platform, can bring LBS to whole new level. I'm looking forward to see where it will go!!!

Nokia Where Platform video:

source: Nokia Conversations, The Verge

New Inrix Traffic 4 - helps drivers avoid traffic congestion for free

When you live in US (and recently Europe;) and you check your morning traffic info you don't really think about where is this data coming from... Well there is big chance that it's coming from Inrix that is the leading-provider of traffic information, directions and driver services all over the world. The company that is usually behind the scenes of the biggest players including huge number of the hottest automotive brands  is now coming out. 

The company collects and analyzes traffic data points from nearly 100 million sources, and now it's putting that information to work with Inrix Traffic 4 for iOS. In addition to helping users avoid congestion brought on by road work, police activity, local events and traffic accidents, the app now provides drivers with optimal routes. 

This surely not the best navi app ever but it's for free and with the best traffic information available on the market, so it's definitely worth trying. 

source: Engaget, Inrixtraffic

Location, Location, Location - Infographic

Location, location, location - this is the most known marketing phrase ever, but it's as well the most true marketing phrase ever! Now in the era of location-aware devices and networks, where people, emotions and content is spatially identifiable it is even more true. Kissmetrics created nice infographic summarizing how one can use location for marketing purposes broadly describing it as geo-marketing. 

Well... I would argue if it's a correct definition of geo-marketing that is historically linked to advanced spatial analysis with GIS tools but lets forget about science and enjoy this cool infographic.

CLICK ON THE PIC TO SEE FULL INFOGRAPHIC

source: Kissmetrics

NY Mayor Bloomberg announces Made in New York Digital Map to showcase tech jobs

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is often coming up with different ways to compete with west cost in terms of start-up engaging projects. This time the Mayor has introduced a new way for New Yorkers and others who plan on making the move to find jobs in the technology sector. The project is called 'Made in New York Digital Map', and it's an online map that shows off the city’s tech startups and job opportunities.

We can read on the project web site: 'The Made in NY Digital Map is a visual testament to the vibrant state of New York's digital industry - showing a powerful constellation of over 500 homegrown startups, investors and coworking spaces across the five boroughs. Browse by neighborhood, review job postings, or add your own startup to the digital landscape - the Made in NY Map is a living resource that reflects New York City's dynamic innovation ecosystem.'

The map shows the number of companies hiring (right now there are over 300 companies hiring), and invites more tech companies to submit themselves as well. It is nothing super innovative but it's great that Bloomberg is trying to attract tech savy talents to The Big Apple.

source: engaget, Made in NY Digital Map