Coming in 2008: GPS-enabled cameras?

The year of the GPS-enabled camera is nearly upon us.

So predicts Kanwar Chadha, founder of GPS chip designer Sirf Technology. "Most (camera makers) are seriously planning location-enabled cameras. The first," he said, "you'll see next year."

Chadha has a vested interest in the technology, so take that bullish prediction with a grain of salt, but don't discount his expertise, influence, and connections. And do pay attention to a new technology Sirf is developing that Chadha promises will let GPS devices find their location within 10 seconds of being switched on.

If his prediction comes true, it'll be good news for those of us who want to know where our pictures were taken as well as when.

öll greinin á http://www.news.com/8301-13580_3-9825378-39.html?tag=nefd.lede

Laser Photon Thruster Could Shorten Trip to Mars to 1 Week

A new laser photon thruster (PLT) developed by Young Bae, head of the Bae Institute, could be the holy grail of space travel in our solar system. The clean burning laser is precise, powerful and efficient. In short, just what the astronauts ordered.

The PLT could accelerate a spaceship to velocities greater than 100 km/sec making the journey to Mars a week long journey. The small scale demonstrator produced thrusts of 35 µN and is scaleable to power spaceships.

Other uses include precision satellite positioning controlling synthetic apertures for space and earth observation and clean burning positioning thrusters for docking.

Meiri hraði á koparnum

29-year-old Australian researcher Dr. John Papandriopoulos has developed an algorithm that has the promise of upping ADSL connections from 1-20Mbps to 100Mbps by reducing electromagnetic interference. He moves to Silicon Valley in two weeks.

John Cioffi, an engineering professor at Stanford and known as the "father of DSL" by some, has offered him a job at his tech startup, ASSIA, where optimizing DSL networks is their focus. His school is trying to find a vendor to implement his work.

Although others are researching similar ways to reduce crosstalk, his approach allows for easier implementation. ISPs worldwide could roll out products in 2-3 years using his algorithm if he can get equipment vendors licensed to use it.

Research Boosts Wireless Data Transfer

Scientists at the Georgia Electronic Design Center (GEDC) at Georgia Tech are investigating the use of extremely high radio frequencies (RF) to achieve broad bandwidth and high data transmission rates over short distances.

Stephane Pinel, a research scientist with the Georgia Electronic Design Center, demonstrates gigabit-wireless technology at the group’s Atlanta headquarters. (Georgia Tech Photo: Gary Meek).

Within three years, this “multi-gigabit wireless” approach could result in a bevy of personal area network (PAN) applications, including next generation home multimedia and wireless data connections able to transfer an entire DVD in seconds. 

The research focuses on RF frequencies around 60 gigahertz (GHz), which are currently unlicensed—free for anyone to use—in the United States. GEDC researchers have already achieved wireless data-transfer rates of 15 gigabits per second (Gbps) at a distance of 1 meter, 10 Gbps at 2 meters and 5 Gbps at 5 meters.

Wireless high-definition video could also be a major application of this technology. Users could keep a DVD player by their side while transmitting wirelessly to a screen 5 or 10 meters away.

Öll greinin á slóðinni http://www.gatech.edu/news-room/release.php?id=1431

Nokia Focus On Mobile Map Navigation

Nokia is going full force into expanding their mobile mapping service by offering to buy US-based Navteq for a massive US$8.1billion. Navteq is a company which develops digital maps for the car industry, satellite navigation devices, internet-based mapping applications and solutions for the government and business markets.

Early this year, Nokia rolled out their mobile mapping service called Smart2go. I even have a post about the review of Smart2Go, which was done by a reader of mine, Hafiz Ismail.


“The navigation area is a fast-growing business, and with location-based services expanding rapidly into mobile communications devices, the industry is poised for even further growth,” Nokia said in a statement.


The news of Nokia is acquiring Navteq proves to be one of the key steps to strengthen their leadership in mapping service for mobile phone. If the acquisition is successful, it aligns perfectly with Nokia’s vision to enable everyone to find their way to people, places and opportunities on mobile communications devices, cars, desktop computers and in all the other places that are important to them.

Hi-Tech Will Make Parking in City So, So Much Easier

As I endlessly circled the blocks around my optometrist's office this afternoon, I thought, "Man, how great would it be if I could check the Internet to see what spots are opening up? Wouldn't that be awesome, and reduce my carbon footprint, and save me time as well as my last frayed nerve? Wouldn't it be great if someone had thought of that?"
Guess what? Someone has.
I caught this piece in the San Francisco Chronicle this morning. The federal Transportation Department has given the Bay Area $159 million to experiment with new technologies to reduce congestion. Since parking in SF is one of my least favorite things to do -- second only to scraping dog poop off my shoe -- I was thrilled to learn that some technologies include embedded sensors to tell when spots are occupied, and meters that can be fed by credit cards or possibly Fastrak transponders.
That's right, Department of Parking and Traffic! You'll be getting no more hard-earned money from me! Muahahahaha! Technology DOES improve lives.

google bræður, kaupa leikföng

The fun thing about having lots of money is you can buy as many toys as you want. Over at Google it's a veritable playground.

(Credit: Boeing)
A company controlled by Google co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page and CEO Eric Schmidt, with the strange name of H211 LLC, has an agreement to land four jets at Moffett Field, according to documents released to The New York Times after the paper filed a Freedom of Information Act request. Moffett Field, which is operated by NASA Ames Research Center, is very close to Google's Mountain View, Calif., headquarters.

So, in addition to the two Gulfstream Vs and a Boeing 767, the Google billionaires anticipate landing a Boeing 757 at the airfield starting sometime next month, the documents show.

Google and NASA have a public-private partnership that gives NASA scientists access to the planes and provides fees that help defray the costs of running Moffett, a Google spokesman told the Times. Oh, and the Googlers have bought carbon offsets to mitigate the Boeing 767's negative impact on the environment, he says.

The Google billionaires are paying $1.3 million annually for the Moffett rights.

Some may see the planes as a sign of indulgence. And they have the community up in arms over the increase in flight traffic over the area and other CEOs in the area jealous that they weren't the ones to score a Moffett deal.

Actually, maybe these aren't just toys to the Google guys. Maybe they are a reflection that the company has become so important it needs special privileges, and a way to evacuate large groups of people out of the area quickly.