This blog is a research platform organizing projects, examples, and thoughts surrounding the idea of an urban mapping which reads the city as a network of individual activities and relationships in time rather than as a static form. This research looks at the city both from within and from above as kind of urban cat-scan. 


Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Nokia and Google Earth - competing in the merging of GPS and Net space

Nokia has announced on Monday in Barcelona that new cell phones were designed to more closely link global positioning systems while Google Maps (their competitor) who also presented a prototype of its own Android operating system for mobile phones.

Both companies understand the importance of how people's location affects how they use Net space. However, Nokia has introduced a device (N96) which allows for videos to be shot on location and to be "geotag" - uploaded with the actual location of collected images into a website not unlike Google's YouTube. Also a new feature focused on directions specifically to pedestrians as opposed to the more common vehicular directions. There is a "walk" feature and an "accelometer" feature for detecting shift of direction. The free internet sharing service "share on Ovi" allows uploading and sharing in a variety of formats in an interactive community similar to Facebook.

According to an article on BusinessWeek.com on 10/1/07, Nokia has also adquired Navteq, a mapping software allowing it to also compete with Google on mapping.

To see most recent BusinessWeek article Nokia and Goole Vie for Mobile Wed Role
http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/feb2008/gb20080211_206258.htm

Other articles on Nokia's new cell phone options and their potential mapping possibilities
http://www.pcauthority.com.au/news.aspx?CIaNID=69988

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2259127,00.asp

http://www.nytimes.com/idg/IDG_002570DE00740E18C12573EB00487884.html?ref=technology

More on recent developments of navigation and mapping devices
http://www.lbszone.com/content/view/2909/2/

http://blog.3g.co.uk/2008/02/htc-p3470-touchscreen-phone-with-gps.html

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