2007 September 6

This issue sponsored by

Professional Surveyor Magazine

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Editor's Introduction

This week, I discuss Skyhook Wireless' new SDK with Ted Morgan and developments in the GIS industry with Nancy von Meyer. Plus, a note about the cabbie strike in New York and 23 press releases.

In case you have never noticed it, I want to bring to your attention our Web site's search engine, at the bottom of the home page.

— Matteo Luccio

Skyhook Wireless Releases New SDK

On Monday, Skyhook Wireless, provider of a system that uses wireless Internet routers to determine a user's position (the company calls it the Wi-Fi Positioning System, or WPS), will announce a major upgrade to its Software Development Kit (SDK). The upgrade, it says, will broaden platform support to the majority of Wi-Fi-enabled devices (including Windows Vista, Mac OSX, Symbian, and Linux platforms, in addition to the original Windows XP, Windows Mobile, and Windows CE platforms); add compatibility with devices that require a GPS data stream in the NMEA 2.1 format; and add a confidence estimator that developers can use to define how location information is displayed in their applications.

According to a press release, the company has improved the system's velocity estimation, which is a key to accurate navigation, by almost 50 percent and has enabled WPS to be deployed in autonomous mode, with little or no network connectivity. WPS coverage, it says, now includes 19 million access points and 70 percent of the United States, Canadian, and Australian populations. European coverage includes London, Amsterdam, and Barcelona.

I discussed these announcements with Ted Morgan, Skyhook Wireless' Founder and CEO.

Read more…

Interview with Nancy von Meyer

At its 45th Annual Conference in Washington, DC, a few weeks ago, the Urban and Regional Information Systems Association (URISA) bestowed its highest honor, the Horwood Distinguished Service Award, to Nancy von Meyer, PhD, PE, RLS, GISP. The award is named after Edgar Horwood, a pioneer in the field of information systems for local government who was one of the organization's founding members and its first president. Past recipients of the award include Jack Dangermond, in 1988, and Don Cooke, in 2004.

Von Meyer has a long record of leadership and contributions to URISA, the GIS community, and the geospatial industry. She has been vice president of Fairview Industries since 1983 and works with counties, states, and federal agencies across the United States, finding efficient ways to build, sustain, and publish land records information. She earned a Ph.D. in Civil and Environmental Engineering in 1989 from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, where she also studied GIS. She has researched new approaches to parcel issues for nearly 20 years, has been involved in many URISA committees and activities, has served on several National Academy of Sciences panels, and has authored numerous articles.

I asked von Meyer a few questions about her work and about geospatial technology.

Read more…

Briefly Noted

Real-time, GPS-based tracking is among the issues in this week's strike by New York City cab drivers. According to today's New York Times, "Hossain Khan, a driver who took part in the strike, complained about the mapping aspect of the equipment [that the city is requiring cab owners to install], the part many drivers call simply G.P.S. It would let the taxi commission monitor where taxis went during the day — information the commission says it could use to direct taxis to places where they are needed. But Mr. Khan worried that the city would instead use that information to send speeding tickets to drivers who drove to the airport in less time than the trip should take."

News Briefs

Please note: I have neither edited nor verified the content of these press releases.

  1. CONTRACTS & COLLABORATIONS

    1. GeoDecisions to Implement Recycling Web Portal for California

    2. TatukGIS Internet Server Used for Web-Based Traffic Crash Reporting & Analysis Solution

    3. TrafficLand Signs Agreement With CNN

    4. DH Pace Completes Seven-City AVL Implementation of CompassCom Software Solution

    5. Intermap Technologies Awarded $12.5M Contract for Geospatial Mapping and Imagery Data

    6. ITT Visual Information Solutions Supports Rochester Institute of Technology with Donation of ENVI & IDL Software Licenses

    7. GeoDecisions and North Dakota Department of Transportation Unveil On-RAMP

    8. Delaware County Taps Xplore For GIS Needs

    9. Sui Southern Gas Company Selects the ArcFM Solution

    10. Cadcorp SIS Provides GIS Software Base for SSi's New Fire Hydrant Management System

  2. PRODUCTS & SERVICES

    1. Fleet Tracking Systems Are On the March

    2. DeLorme Releases Xmap 5.2 GIS Enterprise Suite With Breakthrough GPS Capabilities That Put Aerial Imagery In The Palm Of Your Hand

    3. Snowflake Software's GO Loader Enables DNF Referencing

    4. Clark Labs Releases Land Change Modeler Software Extension for ArcGIS

    5. Orbit GIS 4.2 Released for Win 32 and 64 bit

  3. CONFERENCES & TRAINING

    1. Keynote Speakers Set for Trimble International User Conference

    2. Golf Tournament to Support GITA Rocky Mountain Chapter Scholarship Fund

    3. Five Distinguished Professionals to Receive GIS in the Rockies Career Achievement Award

    4. The 2007 GIS In The Rockies Conference Deadline For Online Attendee Registration Is Friday, September 7

  4. PEOPLE

    1. URISA Leaders Recognized at Annual Conference

    2. DMTI Spatial Honors Dr. Roger Tomlinson for his Pioneering influence on Location Intelligence

    3. DRMP's Jason Houck Earns GISP Certificate

  5. OTHER

    1. Leica Geosystems Geospatial Imaging Commits to OGC/ISO Interoperability

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Matteo Luccio, Editor
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