iPhoto 6.0.5 Hidden Google Maps Integration And Possible Apple GPS-enabled Device (Camera/iPod/PDA/Phone)?

[RodThePlod]

This is how I think it'll work.

You'll search for a location and then you click "Photo's took in this location."
Providing people who've took photos in that location have shared there photo's.

Imagine searching Google Maps/iPhoto for Photos in your favourite nightclub?

Yeah - I like that approach. It's actually similar to the web site I set up a few months ago

 

[Abstract]

Hype often makes a good product look worse upon release. Nothing new there.... But why would people get excited over Apple releasing a cellphone, despite having no real info on the details of it yet?

Simple! Most of us are frustrated with the horrible user interfaces on cellphones, and the lack of usability. I've owned several that made dialing numbers on the keypad too much of a chore. My Razr I use now is decent, but even it has horrible engineering flaws - like putting small buttons down the side that always get pressed accidently when the phone is on a belt-clip. You end up accidently changing the settings for the ringer, etc. My Treo 650 had serious problems with call volume being too low. Almost every Treo owner had to pay extra for a shareware program called "VolumeCare" just to fix that! I'm just hoping Apple can overcome a lot of that, and build a cellphone with an elegant but logical UI!

Treo 650 has a low call volume. So? It's not a flaw that's specific to all mobile phones. My friend's phone is too loud!

And UI improvements. Well........Sony Ericsson is definitely king of mobile phone UI right now, Motorola being the absolute worst. I don't know what else Apple can do. I actually have an idea for how get 2 or 3 types of buttons on the front face of the phone without making it a slider phone, but that's really the only idea I'd like implemented that will change the UI. Otherwise, what you'll be getting is a UI from Apple that's similar to what you use now, maybe touch screen (gimmicky).

 

[GregA]

Yeah and Disney is shut down the service after 8 months with little or no interest in the service. And is going to cost them $30 million to shut it down. As a Disney and Apple sharehold I think it is a bad business model to be in.

Shutting down eh?

I would have thought that if Apple was getting into the MVNO business, they'd have been better off doing a joint venture with Disney. Ah well. Which network is Disney using anyway?

 

[penter]

THAT IS FLIPPING COOL.

theyre so sneaky... lol

 

[eenu]

as i have said a million times (and been ignored)....there was a direct reference to google in the WWDC 06 keynote.....mass colaboration with Google is a dead cert

 

[bloodycape]

Treo 650 has a low call volume. So? It's not a flaw that's specific to all mobile phones. My friend's phone is too loud!

And UI improvements. Well........Sony Ericsson is definitely king of mobile phone UI right now, Motorola being the absolute worst. I don't know what else Apple can do. I actually have an idea for how get 2 or 3 types of buttons on the front face of the phone without making it a slider phone, but that's really the only idea I'd like implemented that will change the UI. Otherwise, what you'll be getting is a UI from Apple that's similar to what you use now, maybe touch screen (gimmicky).

You know some of sony's phones are using Symbian OS, the same OS in most of Nokia's N and E series. I don't think touch screen is gimmicky at all it has some use but then again most of the phones with touch screen are some form of a smartphone, like the Treo, Sony 900 series, HTC phones and so on.

I had the Treo 650 sounds was fine nothing I would complain about. But then again there is a software called volumecare that took care of the low volume. And Motorola actually has a good interface but it is on their hard to get and pricey V3X.

 

[dguisinger]

well....

People seem to keep forgetting:

E911 support on cellphones is handled via a built in GPS receiver. Usually users don't know its there, and cannot access it.

This sounds like the iPhone.
E911 GPS: Check
GSM: Check
Music: Check
Camera: Check

Not huge news. The only thing it tells us is the limitation most providers put in place regarding what the GPS is available for is removed.

 

[peharri]

People seem to keep forgetting:

E911 support on cellphones is handled via a built in GPS receiver. Usually users don't know its there, and cannot access it.

E911 on GSM phones is handled by triangulation at the towers. GPS is not a component common to most GSM phones and certainly not a part of the standard (E911 wouldn't work with older or imported phones if they relied upon GPS.)

I think GPS is, IIRC, built into IS-95 ("CDMA") in some form, as phones have to have some idea of where they are for the system to work (GSM is more "I can hear a tower, I'll talk to that. Ooops! It's complaining I'm too loud, I'll lower my power level", that kind of thing. Very laid back and easy going. Nice.)

This sounds like the iPhone.
E911 GPS: Check
GSM: Check
Music: Check
Camera: Check

Not huge news. The only thing it tells us is the limitation most providers put in place regarding what the GPS is available for is removed.

Well, not really. It looks more like a more general purpose mobile device than a phone. It might have phone functionality, but I doubt that'll be its primary purpose.

 

[dguisinger]

E911 on GSM phones is handled by triangulation at the towers. GPS is not a component common to most GSM phones and certainly not a part of the standard (E911 wouldn't work with older or imported phones if they relied upon GPS.)

I think GPS is, IIRC, built into IS-95 ("CDMA") in some form, as phones have to have some idea of where they are for the system to work (GSM is more "I can hear a tower, I'll talk to that. Ooops! It's complaining I'm too loud, I'll lower my power level", that kind of thing. Very laid back and easy going. Nice.)

Actually I have 3 T-Mobile phones, each has GPS for use in E-911. Its a new federally mandated requirement.

 

[blybug]

Wouldn't a more obvious (and useful) feature be for iPhoto to "connect" to Google Maps and directly download maps/directions that would then sync to your iPod? PDAs have this kind of functionality, but there's no obvious or seamless way to do the same with your iPod. I'd like a button that brings up a dialog that lets you enter a zipcode or a startpoint & destination then automatically downloads maps and a set of directions that syncs to the iPod.

 

[Neuroguy]

Steve Wozniak is Key

I am surprised nobody mentioned this yet. Does anyone realize that (and a quote from Wikipedia)-
In 2002, Woz founded Wheels Of Zeus (note the acronym, "WoZ"), to create wireless GPS technology to "help everyday people find everyday things."

While Wheels of Zeus was closed in 2006, Wozniak immediately founded Acquicor Technology, a "shell" company for acquiring other technologies.

I think that the new iphone/ipod/other appliance may have a lot to do with integrating GPS, or perhaps a GPS chip in mobile computers to help us all find handy things around us, or as Woz said "to help everyday people find everyday things."

I think this is the genius of the Jobs-Woz partnership showing itself again.

After all, how much Segway polo can Woz be playing these days?

Neuroguy

 

[Neuroguy]

In addition

About my post above:

Woz' new company just acquired, this month, the following company:

Jazz Semiconductor is a US based pure-play semiconductor wafer foundry that serves customers targeting wireless, optical networking, power management, storage, aerospace/defense and other high-performance applications.

Sounds interesting!

Neuroguy

 

[BobVB]

GPS - S is for satellites, right?

Actually I have 3 T-Mobile phones, each has GPS for use in E-911. Its a new federally mandated requirement.

Unless a different e911 came out I don't think that's true. All e911 required is that positioning information was available - it didn't require a specific technology. It differentiates between handset and network technologies but accepts both.

GSM networks do it by cell tower triangulation, a network technology, not GPS, a handset technology.

 

[Maestro64]

I think you have that wrong - slightly - they're shutting down the ESPN thing...

"The Walt Disney Co. will spend about $30 million to shut down its Mobile ESPN wireless telephone services, but remains "excited" about its family-oriented Disney Mobile phone service, Disney Chief Financial Officer Tom Staggs said on Monday."

I stand corrected, that is what they are doing, I confused my facts. My comment was based on market researched which felt they did not see Disney being successful with the Disney Family phone considering they failed on the ESPN service which is a similar business plan of being an MVNO. Which means they rent time on existing cell networks.

By the way if Apple can not convice Cingular to sale their phone and get T-mobile and Verizon and other to allow the phones to work on their networks Apple will have to do the MVNO.

Apple may make a great phone with great GUI, but they do not control the networks and if the providers and other cell phone makes want to keep them out they can. Look what happen with the ROKR it was delay 18 months because of the network providers didn't like not making money from music downloads

 

[peharri]

Actually I have 3 T-Mobile phones, each has GPS for use in E-911. Its a new federally mandated requirement.

No, it isn't, and they may have GPS but that's a coincidence and I can tell you flat out that T-Mobile does not use GPS to locate your phone.

The Federally Mandated Requirement is that the mobile operator is able to locate your position. The technology they use is up to them. GSM operators do it via triangulation. E911 is supposed to work regardless of how old the phone is that you're using. Do you think your 1980s Motorola brick AMPS phone has a GPS receiver in it?

 

[jelloshotsrule]

"The Not-So-Silent Cartographer"

hahaha. freaking awesome

KDE's Digikam already supports GPS-mapping

well i guess no one else should do it, improve on it, etc, then eh? i'm still pissed at apple for wasting its time on final cut pro when adobe premiere already existed for the same market

 

[Maestro64]

No, it isn't, and they may have GPS but that's a coincidence and I can tell you flat out that T-Mobile does not use GPS to locate your phone.

The Federally Mandated Requirement is that the mobile operator is able to locate your position. The technology they use is up to them. GSM operators do it via triangulation. E911 is supposed to work regardless of how old the phone is that you're using. Do you think your 1980s Motorola brick AMPS phone has a GPS receiver in it?

The company that provides the triangulation technology is True Position. This is the primary solution used today for locating people using cell phones. However, it is expensive to deploy and the reason providers rather use GPS since it does not require them to update their Cell towers.

 

[Sayer]

Glad I sold my shares before they started to tumble (divine timing, if ever!).

Steve Jobs is taking a page from his buddy Slick Willy Rodham Clinton: "I did not grant those options..."

 

[Kielzog]

Apple prepping Photosynth competitor?

I was quite impressed with Microsoft's idea of Photosynth (http://labs.live.com/photosynth/). Apparently it stitches user photo's together and gives a 3D view of a place. Of course a lot of things can be automated if the exact GPS coordinates are known. A GPS enabled camera could provide this and the combination of Google Earth could be just the thing Apple is looking for.

 

[weldon]

Check out this cool GPS tracker device from Sony, made to work with digital cameras. The reviewer assumes that it uses the timestamp information to match photos with the GPS tracker log. Apparently the hardware is cool and the software is weak.

Another review of the Sony GPS-Cs1

GPSPhotoLinker is Mac software to geotag photos in iPhoto.

LoadMyTracks allows you to convert the GPS tracker log file to GPX or KML files.

iPhototoGoogleEarth allows you to link photos to Google Earth so you can "fly" to that spot on earth. You need to have the photos geotagged already.

Also, GreaseMonkey with some DHTML scripts allows you to geotag photos in Flickr.

BlockRocker can help you with tagging in Flickr.

Here's some general info on geotagging photos.

 

[aafuss1]

There's co-ordinates and other GPS related meta-data already in iPhoto 6.
See-http://stashbox.org/997/gpsmetadata_iphoto6.x.jpg
I bet Apple isn't going to release a hardware based GPS add-on anytime soon, but via software plug-ins-Google Maps or other earth/mapping sites.

PhotoSynth type technology in iPhoto would be amazingly cool.

Geo-coded photos:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geocoded_photo

 

[CraigStanton]

iPhototoGoogleEarth allows you to link photos to Google Earth so you can "fly" to that spot on earth. You need to have the photos geotagged already.

And to do that without the aid of a GPS device you can use Google Earth 4 and my Geotagger. It's a little droplet that gets the coordinates at the center of the GE view and inserts them into any jpegs you drop on it.

 

[calciphus]

It's just for Cameras that are already GPS enabled...

Sorry to burst everyone's bubble, but this is most likely for cameras that either have GPS integrated already (and some do) or for cameras like the Nikon D200 or D2X that have a port on the side specifically for hooking up a GPS device like this one:
http://www.redhensystems.com/products/video_collection_hardware/d2x-gps.asp

Since the EXIF standard contains a flag for GPS-data, they just didn't finish the feature yet. They will.

So no, the iPhone isn't going to be a gps camera pda music playing satellite radio streaming HDTV. Get over it. The iPhone already came out, and flopped (how many ROKRs do you see?) My guess is that if Apple really wants to move into that space, they're going to have to serriously look at their market, and their network partner.

Though Cingular has more users, Verizon and Sprint both have the high-speed data networks capable of integrating a phone with iTunes. Cingular simply doesn't. Verizon users spend, on average, more on downloads than any other non-MVNO provider.

Oh, and as for GPS already being in phones, it's there. Every phone sold after 01/01/04 had to have a GPS tracking device installed for use in Emergency situations. Providers were given six years to get a 95% adoption rate. Ever notice that little crosshair in the top? That means you've got a GPS lock. With SiRF-III GPS chips, you can be pretty well underground and still get a signal, esp. when it's repeated by your cell towers.

This isn't an iPhone clue. Get over yourselves.