Geotagging Imagery and Video


IsWHERE is a log of my thoughts, reflections, and news/blog links on the emergence of image and video geospatial tagging. On May5th this year, I opened a second blog to deal with more detailed aspects of tools for FalconView and TalonView can be found at RouteScout. Trends I want to try and follow are the various disruptions resulting from spatial smart-phones, how many GPS devices are out there, smart-cameras, and other related news. And yes, I have a business interest in all of this. My company Red Hen has been pioneering this sort of geomedia for more than a decade.

So beyond a personal blog, I also provide a link to IsWHERE a shareware tool created by Red Hen Systems to readily place geoJPEG or geotagged imagery and soon GEM full motion media kept on your own computer(s) into Google Earth/Map from your File Manager media selection. Works great for geotagged images from Nikon, Ricoh, Sony, iPHONE, Android and all geo-smartphones that can create geotagged images. IsWhere - read about it

IsWhere Free Download (XP and VISTA)

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IsWhere Visitors

Saturday, July 31, 2010

eNews Archive

MAPPS Asks Congress to Revise Legislation Limiting Use of "Geolocation Information”

MAPPS, the national association of private sector geospatial firms, has sent a letter opposing proposed legislative language that would limit the use of "precise geolocation information". The association said that a draft bill, proposed to be introduced by Representative Rick Boucher (D-VA), chairman of the House Subcommittee on Communications, Technology and the Internet, threatens data collection, applications, and growth in the private geospatial profession.

The draft bill is intended to protect consumers' privacy by requiring "notice to and consent of an individual prior to the collection and disclosure of certain personal information relating to that individual." However, according to MAPPS, language included in the bill is a concern to the collection of geospatial data and geospatial lines of business through its provision limiting the collection of "precise geolocation information".

MAPPS believes the current bill language threatens information that is collected by private and government entities to perform E-911 and emergency response management, environmental protection, home security,mortgage foreclosure monitoring/early warning system, and many other tasks that are conducted by geospatial professionals.

"The intent of the bill drafted by Rep. Boucher — to protect personal privacy — is laudable, but in its current form, the provisions would result in a number of unintended consequences by severely limiting information collected by the geospatial community for government agencies, to support government programs, and to provide for commercial applications that consumers are demanding in the marketplace," said Jeff Lovin, MAPPS President. 

The current draft exempts government agencies from its limitations. MAPPS urged Rep. Boucher to more clearly define the term "precise geolocation information", exempt data collected by private sector firms under contract to government or for sale to government agencies, and exempt private individuals who are already regulated and licensed to practice by state licensing boards, as well as exempt commercial satellite remote sensing firms that are licensed to operate by the federal government.
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Friday, July 30, 2010

Gadgetwise - The New York Times Blog


New York Times July 28, 2010, 12:33 PM

Why Don’t More Cameras Offer GPS?

By RIK FAIRLIE

I’ve seen a lot of new point-and-shoot cameras over the past couple of weeks as camera makers announce their new summer lineups. A few have demonstrated solid new improvements that should deliver better photos. But one feature that I had been hoping to see — a built-in GPS receiver for geo-tagging photos — wasn’t offered on a single new camera.

Sony Cyber-shot HX5VSony’s Cyber-shot HX5V is one of the few cameras available with built-in GPS.

Built-in GPS is particularly useful this time of year when people are traveling a bit more than usual and snapping photos of trips, family events and summer sports. GPS lets you capture the exact location (latitude and longitude coordinates) where each image was snapped; photo-editing software like iPhoto, Picasa, Lightroom, and Photoshop Elements can automatically interpret the geo-tags and plot the photos on a map. It’s a very cool way to view your photo collection, and it also can help you retrace your steps to find that out-of-the-way hotel in Rome you raved about five years ago.

A few cameras with built-in GPS have been available for a year or two, including the Sony Cyber-shot HX5V, the Nikon Coolpix P6000 and the Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS7. But camera makers say they haven’t adopted widespread use of GPS radios in cameras because it’s expensive — it can add almost $100 to the cost of a camera — and because users haven’t really demanded the feature. Camera manufacturers see GPS as a niche market.

You can add GPS capabilities to existing cameras by purchasing add-on adapters for D.S.L.R. cameras or stand-alone devices that work with any camera. They work, but they are extra gear to lug around.

The easiest way to add GPS capabilities to an existing camera — without having to carry anything extra — is by using an Eye-Fi Geo X2Explore X2, or Pro X2. These SD cards not only have a Wi-Fi radio that enables them to automatically upload photos to your computer or a photo-sharing site like Flickr, but they also have a geo-tagging feature that adds location coordinates to the image’s EXIF data.

The Eye-Fi cards don’t use GPS satellites to determine coordinates, however. They rely on triangulation of data from Skyhook Wireless Wi-Fi networks. That means the Skyhook network probably won’t work in most remote locations, where there are no Wi-Fi networks.

Until camera makers put GPS receivers in mainstream cameras, the Eye-Fi cards are the simplest way to pinpoint locations where photos are taken. If geo-tagging photos is important to you, they’re worth looking into.


Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Feature Story

Feature Story
Microsoft Hohm Joins Forces With Blue Line Innovations to Help Consumers Track Energy Use Down to the Minute and the Dollar
Real-time power data monitor uses cloud to provide online, personalized energy- and money-saving recommendations via your Hohm profile.

REDMOND, Wash. — July 27, 2010 — Tracking your energy use and saving money just got easier today. Microsoft and Blue Line Innovations have joined forces to give consumers real-time information about their energy use down to the minute and the dollar. The companies have combined Blue Line’s popular energy tracking device with Microsoft Hohm to give consumers information about their household energy use — and its cost — at a glance, with easy-to-use graphs that show where you can save the most energy and money.


“With a utility bill you may only see your energy usage once every month or even every two months,” said Troy Batterberry, product unit manager for Microsoft Hohm. “The Blue Line PowerCost Monitor and WiFi Gateway provide updates every 30 seconds, so you’re getting real-time data so you can take real-time action. It’s kind of like online banking for your energy bill, offering 24x7 access to your usage.”

The PowerCost Monitor and WiFi Gateway pull consumers’ power use data into their Microsoft Hohm profile, where charts and graphs make it easy to track consumption patterns and see changes in real time.
The PowerCost Monitor and WiFi Gateway pull consumers’ power use data into their Microsoft Hohm profile, where charts and graphs make it easy to track consumption patterns and see changes in real time.
Click for larger image. 

The Blue Line PowerCost Monitor attaches to a household power utility meter; no wiring is required, and no need to call in an electrician. The WiFi Gateway device wirelessly transmits energy use data to the consumer’s Microsoft Hohm account and can provide personalized energy recommendations. Hohm also offers social networking communities on Facebook and Twitter to help users compare notes and get tips for ways to improve their energy efficiency.

Graphs and charts make it easy to identify usage patterns and potential problems. For example, the electricity usage chart below shows that power consumption spiked when the user turned on the air conditioner at various times of the day. With this type of insight into energy usage, consumers are empowered to make immediate choices about how to manage their household power consumption.

PowerCost Monitor and WiFi Gateway, Hohm View of Power Usage
PowerCost Monitor and WiFi Gateway, Hohm View of Power Usage
Click for larger image 

“Our goal with Microsoft Hohm is to give consumers information that can help them make smarter decisions to control and manage their energy use. We see this collaboration with Blue Line as a first step toward achieving that goal,” Batterberry says.

Microsoft’s collaboration with Blue Line is the first available device partnership for Microsoft Hohm, and Batterberry sees it as just the beginning. The goal of Microsoft Hohm is to connect to smart plugs, thermostats, HVAC systems, electric vehicles and other devices so that consumers have as much information as possible to help them understand and reduce their energy consumption.

The Blue Line PowerCost Monitor and WiFi Gateway are available today from Blue Line Innovations and through select retailers. The complete package of PowerCost Monitor and WiFi Gateway is available for $249 (estimated retail price); consumers who already have the PowerCost Monitor can purchase the WiFi Gateway separately for $159 (estimated retail price).


Feature Story

Feature Story
Microsoft Hohm Joins Forces With Blue Line Innovations to Help Consumers Track Energy Use Down to the Minute and the Dollar
Real-time power data monitor uses cloud to provide online, personalized energy- and money-saving recommendations via your Hohm profile.

REDMOND, Wash. — July 27, 2010 — Tracking your energy use and saving money just got easier today. Microsoft and Blue Line Innovations have joined forces to give consumers real-time information about their energy use down to the minute and the dollar. The companies have combined Blue Line’s popular energy tracking device with Microsoft Hohm to give consumers information about their household energy use — and its cost — at a glance, with easy-to-use graphs that show where you can save the most energy and money.


“With a utility bill you may only see your energy usage once every month or even every two months,” said Troy Batterberry, product unit manager for Microsoft Hohm. “The Blue Line PowerCost Monitor and WiFi Gateway provide updates every 30 seconds, so you’re getting real-time data so you can take real-time action. It’s kind of like online banking for your energy bill, offering 24x7 access to your usage.”

The PowerCost Monitor and WiFi Gateway pull consumers’ power use data into their Microsoft Hohm profile, where charts and graphs make it easy to track consumption patterns and see changes in real time.
The PowerCost Monitor and WiFi Gateway pull consumers’ power use data into their Microsoft Hohm profile, where charts and graphs make it easy to track consumption patterns and see changes in real time.
Click for larger image. 

The Blue Line PowerCost Monitor attaches to a household power utility meter; no wiring is required, and no need to call in an electrician. The WiFi Gateway device wirelessly transmits energy use data to the consumer’s Microsoft Hohm account and can provide personalized energy recommendations. Hohm also offers social networking communities on Facebook and Twitter to help users compare notes and get tips for ways to improve their energy efficiency.

Graphs and charts make it easy to identify usage patterns and potential problems. For example, the electricity usage chart below shows that power consumption spiked when the user turned on the air conditioner at various times of the day. With this type of insight into energy usage, consumers are empowered to make immediate choices about how to manage their household power consumption.

PowerCost Monitor and WiFi Gateway, Hohm View of Power Usage
PowerCost Monitor and WiFi Gateway, Hohm View of Power Usage
Click for larger image 

“Our goal with Microsoft Hohm is to give consumers information that can help them make smarter decisions to control and manage their energy use. We see this collaboration with Blue Line as a first step toward achieving that goal,” Batterberry says.

Microsoft’s collaboration with Blue Line is the first available device partnership for Microsoft Hohm, and Batterberry sees it as just the beginning. The goal of Microsoft Hohm is to connect to smart plugs, thermostats, HVAC systems, electric vehicles and other devices so that consumers have as much information as possible to help them understand and reduce their energy consumption.

The Blue Line PowerCost Monitor and WiFi Gateway are available today from Blue Line Innovations and through select retailers. The complete package of PowerCost Monitor and WiFi Gateway is available for $249 (estimated retail price); consumers who already have the PowerCost Monitor can purchase the WiFi Gateway separately for $159 (estimated retail price).


Wednesday, July 21, 2010

A quick PSA on “dots” versus “pixels”...

A quick PSA on “dots” versus “pixels” in LCDs
by Devin Coldewey on July 21, 2010


These days, when you go to look up the specs on a new camera or camcorder, one of the first things you check out is the LCD. But as often as not, you’ll be hit with an unfamiliar number: some huge quantity of “dots.” Most people aren’t familiar with this metric, as it is a slightly technical one — which is the reason it was chosen instead of the more common plain resolution numbers.

I decided to write up this short PSA in order to make this whole business a little more clear to the average camera-buyer.

Personally, I consider this practice misleading, like the usage of bits instead of bytes to rate consumer internet connections. The average person doesn’t know a bit from a byte (often doesn’t know a byte from Adam), so they have no way of actually understanding the numbers. More is simply better, though they’re not sure what they’re getting more of — and that’s just the way the internet and camera companies want it. They’re selling you an abstraction, and the less you know, the better for them.

The dots vs. pixels thing is a bit of a weird debate, because like Mbps and MBps, they are both valid measurements and sometimes both are necessary. In the majority of cases, though, camera makers are simply raising a smokescreen. It’s actually pretty simple: LCDs are made up of pixels, and pixels are made up of dots.

On most LCDs, there are three dots per pixel: one each of green, red, and blue. This is how it’s been for a long time, before pixels were really pixels and before LCDs were common. Some LCDs, however, in order to save space or increase effective pixel density, share dots between pixels, based on a different display model — you may hear this referred to as matrix or Pentile layout, but it’s comparatively rare, and low-cost LCDs like you see on most cameras are going to have 3 dots per pixel.

So when you see the dot count, a little math will set you right. Let’s say your camera advertises 460,000dots or thereabouts. Divide that by three and you get around 153000 pixels. Now, resolutions generally come in multiples or divisors of 640. So try dividing by a few of those and round off to the nearest 10.

153000/640=240
Probably not 640×240, that’d be a tiny panorama.
153000/480=320
Well there you go! 480×320x3=~460K dots.

If you apply this method to a few more common dot counts, you get the little chart I made to the right, there. Sometimes the camera makers round off to one side or another, or state the exact number of dots — but generally they’ll be talking about the same resolution. But remember, this is a rule of thumb and there are exceptions in the form of different dot layouts and uncommon resolutions.

Much larger than those listed, and they’ll start using other names. A 1280×720 LCD panel won’t be advertised as having 2765K dots — they’ll just call it 720p, because that’s more marketable than obscuring the actual number with a dot count.

So, now you’re prepared. You can even figure out the PPI — if you feel like doing a little trigonometry. I don’t, so you’re on your own there.


Saturday, July 17, 2010

iPhone DSLR: the next generation (video)

iPhone DSLR: the next generation

Everything you know about awkwardly attaching SLR lenses to iPhones is wrong. This is how you do it. What started out as a quick and less-than-perfect mod of OWLE's Bubo iPhone mount by one Jeremy Salvador (pictured above) has turned into a collaboration between production company Vid-Atlantic and OWLE itself on a more finely tuned, iPhone 4-friendly prototype that delivers some truly impressive results. Sadly, the actual iPhone 4 version of the rig won't be available for a while yet, but you can get an idea of what will be possible with it after the break.

Friday, July 16, 2010

Millennial Media: Apple OS Grows By 3...

Millennial Media: Apple OS Grows By 36 Percent In June, Android Up By 23 Percent

Mobile ad network Millennial Media, which claims that its network reaches 82 percent of 72 million mobile web users in the U.S., is reporting that globally, Apple OS requests are up by 36 percent in June, after dropping 33 percent in May.

Android requests continued to rise, and grew another 23 percent month over month. Android is now up a whopping 439% since January. iPad requests are also increasing at a fast rate, growing 206 percent in June, after rising 160 percent in May. RIM ad requests increased percent month-over-month, posting a 41 percent increase in requests since January.

In terms of ad impressions, Apple’s OS remained the leading Smartphone OS on Millennial’s network in June with a 56 percent share of impressions and an 8% growth month-over-month. RIM was the second largest Smartphone OS for the eleventh consecutive month, representing a 17 percent share of impressions for June, dropping by 2 percent from last month. Android’s OS remained the third largest operating system in for the fourth consecutive month, representing 11 percent of impressions, dropping by 4 percent from May.


There you go. Ten segments in all. I ...

An 8 Segment Model to Analyze Smartphone Market, Consumers and Handsets

I've been doing some nasty blogs recently, very negative vibes. I wanted to do something positive for now, especially to celebrate our 1 millionth page view on this blog today. And as I've been doing so much of the segmentation thinking in mobile over the years, the industry's first segmentation book, Nokia's first Segmentation Manager, running segmentation workshops on all 6 continents and all that, I thought many of the readers of this blog would be interested to see my best effort to split the smartphone market into 8 segments (or actually 10) and give my best views on those segment sizes, what peculiar needs a given segment (ie its customers) may have, and obviously how the major smartphone makers fit into given segments. This is based on some current thinking I have for a cool project you guys will hear of later in the year, but this part has been ready for a while and I think it helps illuminate the smartphone 'bloodbath' opportunities. 

(Long blog warning! This is one of Tomi's trademark long detailed fact-overloaded blogs. If you really are not very intersted in the finer points of smartphones, feel free to skip this blog. But if this is a passion of yours, I intend this to be one of the blog posts you will find most valuable on this site... Go get that cup of coffee first...)


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There you go. Ten segments in all. I removed Japan, 20 million, and split the remaining 210 million smartphone market into one enterprise group and a consumer group with 8 segments. Previously in the above, I calculated the proportion among 'consumer smartphones'. Now lets summarize by all (non Japan) smartphones.

Enterprise smartphones 50 million = 24%
Totally un-interested smartphones 20 million = 10%
Somewhat interested price conscious 60 million = 29%
Passionately decisive 80 million = 38%
Total market (excluding Japan) 210 million = 100%

Of the passionately decisive (80 million/38%), split into 6 sub-groups:
Music 6 million = 3%
Fashion 7 million = 3%
Camera 10 million = 5%
Apps 12 million = 6%
Web 15 million = 7%
Youth 30 million = 14%

Thats how I see the segmentation of smartphones in 2010. I hope this essay bought some value and insights to you. I am most interested in any opinions.

Monday, July 12, 2010

Nokia Divests MetaCarta

Nokia Divests MetaCarta

Nokia announced that it has divested MetaCarta to U.S.-based Qbase Holdings. Nokia will keep MetaCarta's geographic intelligence tech, which Nokia will use in its search and location services. Nokia had acquired MetaCarta in April 2010.


Wednesday, July 07, 2010

ArcGIS Editor for OpenStreetMap

ArcGIS Editor for OpenStreetMap

Marten Hogeweg has a great overview on the new ArcGIS Editor for OpenStreetMap.

For a while, ArcGIS users have been able to use the OpenStreetMap (OSM) content as a basemapin ArcGIS Desktop or in web applications thanks to a republishing of this content through ArcGIS Online. After the earthquakes, we have received many requests from users of ArcGIS who want to contribute to OSM, but who prefer to use the editing capabilities of ArcGIS Desktop.

For users of ArcGIS 10 this is now possible using the new free add-on ArcGIS Editor for OpenStreetMap.

This is great news for ArcGIS users and the OpenStreetMap project itself.  Users of ESRI ArcGIS Desktop 10 can use ArcMap to edit OpenStreetMap directly.  Lowering the entry to editing OpenStreetMap is what will make the whole project stronger, especially here in the United States where ESRI rules the roost.  Hopefully we’ll see some local and state governments start giving back to the OSM project.