Slashgeo

TechCrunch, Wired, and I'm sure many others are talking about Yahoo's new FireEagle service which is in alpha release now. TechCrunch describes the service,

"FireEagle, which is built entirely on Ruby on Rails, was originally inspired by Yahoo’s ZoneTag research product. It is a platform for controlling people’s location information. Tell it (directly or via a third party application built on FireEagle’s APIs) where you are (give it specific lat/long, or a city name, or a zip code, etc.) and it will note your location. Alternatively, users with GPS phones (or other GPS device) could set it to periodically update FireEagle with geo information."

Wired touches on something I'm sure we'll hear a lot about services that know your location, the "creepy" factor,

"As with most developments in the geo-location realm, FireEagle offers some really cool possibilities —I have no doubt that web developers will leap at the chance to offer seamless integration of geodata — but it also looks a little bit creepy. Do we really want everyone to know exactly where we are all the time? Of course, if you consider that your mobile service provider already has that information, perhaps concern over making it public is a moot point."

I see plenty of "cool possibilities" to having a single warehouse and API for that kind of data, so I'll be trying to get myself in the alpha-testing along with many others I'm sure.

Slashdot discuss a where we learn students in U.K. are tracked with RFID chips. Their summary: "Ten kids in a pilot program in the Hungerhill School in Edenthorpe, England will participate in a program that puts RFID chips in students' uniforms to keep track of their whereabouts. A group called 'Leave Them Kids Alone' is opposing the program. Bruce Schneier blogs: '...Now it's easy to cut class; just ask someone to carry your shirt around the building while you're elsewhere.'" If you find this story interesting, take a look at our previous RFID-related stories...

Slashdot runs a story where we learn the U.S. government can track any cellphone. Their summary: "According to a Washington Post article, federal officials are routinely asking and getting courts to order cellphone companies to furnish real-time tracking data on subscribers. The data is used to pinpoint the whereabouts of 'criminal suspects', according to judges and industry lawyers. In some cases, judges have granted the requests without even requiring the government to demonstrate probable cause that a crime is taking place or that the inquiry will yield evidence of a crime 'Privacy advocates fear such a practice may expose average Americans to a new level of government scrutiny of their daily lives. Such requests run counter to the Justice Department's internal recommendation that federal prosecutors seek warrants based on probable cause to obtain precise location data in private areas. The requests and orders are sealed at the government's request, so it is difficult to know how often the orders are issued or denied."

No new features, so this is minor news, but still, Google Earth has been slightly updated and it is no longer "Beta" software. It still crashes almost immediately after launch on my Debian Sarge installation. Related, Direction Mag runs an editorial wondering what are the relations between Google Maps/Earth news and GIS professionals: "But, while these are "natural steps" from my perspective, and perhaps yours too, the tech world was all agog since this is Google. Still, we who have our heads down trying to solve day-to-day issues with professional tool must keep up to date with what Google and its peers are doing. Google, whether we like it or not, is part of our technology ecosystem. Even if we don't use Google Maps for analysis or Google tools for search, we know ultimately many of our end-users, clients, and citizens do." Meanwhile, in regards this story on the new My Location feature announced this week, to Anonymous Voxel writes "Was the data that Google uses in their new "My Location" feature gathered illegally? Apparently yes, according to this discussion on the New York Times web site between a user and Barry Schnitt, Google's spokesperson: Check it out, it's very interesting. Looks like this could become a major headache for Google's lawyers."

A few geoblogs covered the announcement by Garmin, traditionally focusing on GPS devices, of a smartphone named Nuviphone [multiple screenshots], due later in 2008. From the Wikipedia stub: "The Garmin nüvifone is an Internet-enabled mobile phone and personal navigation device manufactured by Garmin. It makes use of a touchscreen with virtual keyboards and buttons, similar to Apple's iPhone." It has GPS capabilities, from the PR: "“This is the breakthrough product that cell phone and GPS users around the world have been longing for — a single device that does it all.” The nüvifone is an innovative mobile phone that has a wide range of advanced yet easy-to-use features. The all touchscreen device is the first of its kind to integrate premium 3.5G mobile phone capability with an internet browser, data connectivity, personal messaging, and personal navigation functions in one device. When powered on, the 3.5-inch touchscreen display reveals three primary icons — “Call,” “Search,” and “View Map” which allow the user to effortlessly master the nüvifone’s functions." Some related stories below.

The Earth Is Square and SlashDot bring us news about how shopping centers are using people's cell phones to track their shopping habits and keep an eye on where they are. From the SlashDot summary : "According an article from the Times, customers in shopping centers are having their every move tracked. Using cellphone signals, the system can tell when people enter the center, how long they stay in a particular shop, and what route each customer takes. The system works by monitoring the signals produced by mobile handsets and then locating the phone by triangulation."

Please visit the links above for more detail.