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Apple and Google to Blog the World 218

Posted by Zonk from the look-where-i-am-ma dept.
Zrop writes "AppleInsider is reporting that Apple has been working on OS-level integration of an geographical mapping technology as an integral part of Leopard, its next-generation OS. The technology is rumoured to employ GPS functionality. Will GPS chips make Apple iPod phones and MacBooks location aware? Users would be able to post information at a location, hanging in the air, ready to be browsed by people passing by. Imagine getting highly relevant messages, without even pressing a button, simply because you are in the vicinity and your preferences match the content of the post."
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Apple and Google to Blog the World More

Apple and Google to Blog the World

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  • You mean... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by blike ( 716795 ) on Saturday January 06, 2007 @07:31PM (#17492326) Homepage
    Imagine getting highly relevant messages, without even pressing a button, simply because you are in the vicinity and your preferences match the content of the post."
    You mean "Imagine getting highly relevant advertisements..."

    • WHO CARES what Apple intends to use it for... (Score:5, Interesting)

      by mrchaotica ( 681592 ) * on Saturday January 06, 2007 @07:43PM (#17492462)

      ...if this is anything like the "sudden motion sensor," it's really exciting because of all the cool stuff third parties will do with it. For example, off the top of my head I can think of a few things that I'd like to see implemented: automatically switching the "location" (which is used for determining network settings) according to the actual GPS location, linking iCal events to locations so that I can get reminders when I'm in the right place, etc.

      • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

        by kennygraham ( 894697 )
        linking iCal events to locations so that I can get reminders when I'm in the right place, etc.

        and iCal keeping track of what time zone you're in while you travel would be very welcome

      • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

        by 644bd346996 ( 1012333 )
        I'd much rather get the reminders when I'm in the wrong place! If I'm already in the meeting room, I probably don't need to be interrupted.

        • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

          by mrchaotica ( 681592 ) *

          Well, that all depends on your definition of "place." For example, is the meeting room a "place," or is the whole office building a "place?" If it's on the former scale, maybe you have the situation where you want to be reminded of the meeting if you're in your office, but not if you're in the meeting room. But if it's the latter, maybe you want to be reminded to go, say, get something from a particular coworker before you leave. Also, it can even depend on the transitions between places. For example, if yo

      • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

        by vought ( 160908 )
        Another lack of the difference between Apple and Microsoft.

        If true (and I stress "if true", since it's 1. from appleinsider and 2. a breathless rumors appearing days before MacWorld), this shows some real imagination. A product from Microsoft with the same features would be Microsoft from end-to-end, locking out potential partners or subsuming them well before the product became useful.

        I hope that this feature will be implemented in the typically benign-if-a-little-restrictive style of most of Apple's consu

    • Re: (Score:2, Funny)

      by Fungii ( 153063 )
      Exactly what i thought.

      Still though, more relevant ads are probably a good thing.

      • Still though, more relevant ads are probably a good thing

        I've got a better idea. How about NO ads, relevant or otherwise?

        There are already enough ads in the world ... heck, people are walking brand advertisements. Enough already ...

        • Re: (Score:2, Funny)

          by Anonymous Coward
          I've got a better idea. How about NO ads, relevant or otherwise?

          This from a guy with an ad in his sig.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Elminst ( 53259 )
      Precisely the reason I tagged this story with "minorityreport."
      *Bing!* "You've got ads!"

  • I can graphiti the WORLD! (Score:3, Funny)

    by mrmeval ( 662166 ) <jcmeval@NoSPAM.yahoo.com> on Saturday January 06, 2007 @07:32PM (#17492338) Journal
    Muh ha ha ha

  • AppleInsider is reporting that Apple has been working on OS-level integration of an geographical mapping technology as an integral part of Leopard, its next-generation OS.

    Why is it that when apple does this kind of thing it's somehow "cool", but when Microsoft does it, it's somehow "evil"?

    • Re:"integration" or "bundling"? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by brass1 ( 30288 ) <SlrwKQpLrq1FM.what@net> on Saturday January 06, 2007 @07:51PM (#17492536) Homepage
      Why is it that when apple does this kind of thing it's somehow "cool", but when Microsoft does it, it's somehow "evil"?

      Because when Apple does it, it becomes a well documented [apple.com], open [webkit.org] API. Microsoft? Not so much [microsoft.com].

    • Why is it that when apple does this kind of thing it's somehow "cool", but when Microsoft does it, it's somehow "evil"?

      It is? Who said that?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Beebos ( 564067 )
      One reason is because Apple only has, what, 4-8% of the PC market. Microsoft has, what, 90%? You have to dominate a market in order to be a monopoly. That was your concern, no?
    • MS: Bundling a web browser and media player: bad.

      Apple: Bundling a (GPS?!) system: good.

      I can't see how this could possibly be a good thing. It would demolish any hopes of privacy any Apple user may have, and it's bundling in a feature to the OS that is completely unrelated to common tasks.

      Apple: Where the customers eat shit and like it.

      • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

        by NoMaster ( 142776 )
        Apple: Where the customers eat shit and like it.

        Linux: Where the customers eat shit, and get told "Submit a patch or run back to Micro$uck$ Windoze, n00b!"

        (Disclaimer: I'm a Mac user. And a Windows user. And a Linux user, and an OpenBSD user, and ...)

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by 0racle ( 667029 )
        I could have swore my MacBook didn't have a GPS system in it.

      • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

        by mccoma ( 64578 )
        I never thought the browser or media player were the bad thing, might as well argue the included TCP/IP stack. Life moves on and essential grows. It was the inability to remove those items and having to pay for Windows even if I wasn't going to use it that got me.

      • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

        by Overly Critical Guy ( 663429 )
        Unlike Microsoft, you can uninstall the web browser and media player in OS X.

        Any other trolls I can quickly shoot down while I'm here? Or are you busy struggling with Vista's security flaws over at your employer, Microsoft?

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by drsmithy ( 35869 )

          Unlike Microsoft, you can uninstall the web browser and media player in OS X.

          You can do the equivalent in Windows, and have always been able to.

    • Re:"integration" or "bundling"? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Overly Critical Guy ( 663429 ) on Saturday January 06, 2007 @08:59PM (#17493076)
      Because Apple doesn't have an OS monopoly.

      Since when did Apple sign illegal OEM deals that forced OEMs to not ship competing products to prevent them from entering the market?

      Next.
      • So OEMs are allowed to ship Macs with rival operating systems on them? If Apple suddenly got a 90% market share tomorrow would that mean it would suddenly be wrong for them to bundle software? It seems that Microsoft are being punished just for being successful.

        • There are no OEMs of Apple-platform computers, but Apple authorized resellers regularly sell Intel Macs with Windows XP pre-installed [macmall.com].

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by hachete ( 473378 )
          This seems to be a speicies of troll crying out that Microsoft "are being punished for being successful". No, they're being punished for being a monopoly, for rigging the market, for making dubious deals.

          Apple don't have OEMs.
    • 1. When Apple does it, they're not leveraging a monopoly, because they don't have one.

      2. The last time anyone cared about Microsoft bundling anything, Windows 95 was new and the Earth was a rapidly-cooling ball of magma.

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Benzido ( 959767 )
      There is a long, boring answer to this which involves Microsoft's past and present sales and PR tactics. This is the answer most slashdotters would give.

      A more interesting answer is, 'because their software sucks'. If Microsoft's software was better, they would have some fans, and on social websites like this one there wouldn't be such a strong prevailing dislike of them.

      Obviously apple also engages in evil business ethics. But because they have fans, they can get away with it a bit more. Microsoft has, as

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by 2ms ( 232331 )
        You don't give a toss eh? When people identify business practices as monopolistic and unethical, it's not about how the businesses are being run by Very Very Bad Men doing Immoral Things. It's that it results in the still birth of new technology -- it's the antithesis to innovation. It results in the consumer having to pay exorbitant money for software that sucks. You don't care about that?

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by drsmithy ( 35869 )

          You don't give a toss eh? When people identify business practices as monopolistic and unethical, it's not about how the businesses are being run by Very Very Bad Men doing Immoral Things. It's that it results in the still birth of new technology -- it's the antithesis to innovation. It results in the consumer having to pay exorbitant money for software that sucks. You don't care about that?

          That Microsoft's software is on par with - if not better than - most of its contemporaries, somewhat confounds your h

    • Microsoft is a monopoly. People feel monopoly holders need more restrictions then non-monopoly holders.

  • I can just imagine the nasty surprises. (Score:3, Funny)

    by Spazntwich ( 208070 ) on Saturday January 06, 2007 @07:34PM (#17492362)
    "You're not standing in a puddle of water."
  • I heard ideas like this a long time ago, only then it was using cellphones.

    I think if Apple releases a cell phone (iPhone), it, and the next gen iPods are much more likely to be of use for geographically targetted advertisements (airtisements?) than a macbook. Anyone walking around with an open macbook will have thier own issues to worry about.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Tragek ( 772040 )
      The problem with the cellphone ideas was that what actual content on a cellphone actually needed to be location based, with the exception perhaps of advertisements? And who really wants to voluntarily expose themselves to more ads. With regards to your comment on ads on the ipod/iphone, I don't think apple would go for that. Who is Apple a close enough friend with the let them advertise on their bread and butter? I like the idea of this, personally, for one reason alone: Location based scripts. As of now,
  • I remember when the Pentium III came out, and everybody freaked out because it had built-in serial number identification that were supposed to destroy your privacy. Now "They" will know where you are, but since it's Apple, slashdot puts a nice happy spin on it. Do they make tinfoil iPod cases?

    • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

      by carpe_noctem ( 457178 )
      Do they make tinfoil iPod cases?

      They did, but people complained that they scratched too easily.

    • Re:Will this "feature" have an off button? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by dangitman ( 862676 ) on Saturday January 06, 2007 @08:01PM (#17492646)

      I remember when the Pentium III came out, and everybody freaked out because it had built-in serial number identification that were supposed to destroy your privacy.

      I don't remember everybody freaking out. That would surely make the world news, and lead to civil chaos, if the entire population of the planet started "freaking out." I don't remember anybody freaking out, actually. A few people raised some privacy concerns, yes. Not the same thing as everybody freaking out.

      Now "They" will know where you are, but since it's Apple, slashdot puts a nice happy spin on it.

      Actually, the majority of the posts so far are talking about ways this could be abused, and a sprinkling of "Apple is teh suck" posts. I haven't yet seen anyone on slashdot say it is "cool" or put a happy spin on it.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by omeomi ( 675045 )
        I haven't yet seen anyone on slashdot say it is "cool" or put a happy spin on it.

        I think it has the potential to be cool. Imagine if you could leave comments on the world just like you do on /. or any other forum. Advertising would be a problem, yes, but that's where user-based moderation would come in. If somebody placed an advert, anybody who came along to it would have the opportunity to vote it down. Funny or insiteful comments would get moderated up. I really think that would be cool.
        • Sure, there's potential coolness. My point is that, contrary to the GP's post - slashdot has not been fawning over this idea, just because it's from Apple. And it has no relation to past controversies over privacy in Pentium chips, etc. Maybe it has privacy or security implications. If so, then let's discuss those rationally.

          It seems much more common for people to whine about slashdot bias whenever an Apple story is posted, than it is for people to uncritically praise everything Apple does. Not to mention t

    • Re:Will this "feature" have an off button? (Score:4, Insightful)

      by mr_matticus ( 928346 ) on Saturday January 06, 2007 @08:23PM (#17492802)
      Cars with OnStar and every cell phone made in the past 5 years (if not longer) already have the ability to be tracked. If someone especially desired it, your computer could also be located (to a lesser degree of accuracy).

      If "the man" wanted to know where you were at any given time, it's not like it was hard before. The serial number 'scare' (if you can really call it that) was different because it reported information unrelated to any communication purpose. With wireless devices of any kind, you're already broadcasting your location by using it (even just having it turned on), so it's really a non-issue. Why not provide the option of doing something with it?

      The difference between Microsoft and just about anyone else (including Apple) is that Microsoft would turn it on by default without any real security concerns, and it would "integrate" with a soldering iron. Take Media Center for instance--if you choose "satellite" in the setup, you CAN'T continue if it doesn't detect an MCE-compatible IR receiver (even if you don't want to use it). You also can't cheat by calling your connection "cable" and then choosing a satellite lineup. Microsoft is too smart for that. With this, it's like texting to a bulletin board (the cork-and-pin variety). You can put something up there that might be helpful to someone else--but you aren't obligated to post anything, nor are you obligated to read any of it.

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by pyr3 ( 678354 )
      Reading the article (btw, why was it linked to twice in the summary?), it seems to me to just be an opinion piece based on rumors and a single patent application. The patent application itself sounds more like it describes the rumored 'iPhone,' which would make GPS functionality not that out of place seeing as many cellphones on the market now employ GPS technology. As far as the OS-level integration, it seems more like adding GPS and/or map support to the OS is what Apple is interested in. More like iMa
    • Sigh...of course you'll be able to turn it off. But you'll want it because this will allow you to do things like locate your stolen laptop.

      Why do Slashdotters think everything is a top priority privacy concern? Guess what, the fact you have an IP means I can already geolocate you. Get the fuck over it.

  • Let me guess (Score:3, Funny)

    by theurge14 ( 820596 ) * on Saturday January 06, 2007 @07:36PM (#17492380)
    "Here I sit all broken hearted
    I tried to..."

    You know the rest.

  • Finally. (Score:5, Funny)

    by CosmeticLobotamy ( 155360 ) on Saturday January 06, 2007 @07:39PM (#17492418)
    Neat, a way for me to tell passers-by, "Bob Johnson sucks ****," without the hassle of finding a bathroom stall and a marker. Heck, now I can let people know right as they're passing Bob's house. He'll be so happy.

    • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward

      Hey man, fuck you!

      Bob

  • Geolocation with WiFi (Score:4, Informative)

    by drewzhrodague ( 606182 ) <drew@nOsPaM.zhrodague.net> on Saturday January 06, 2007 @07:42PM (#17492456) Homepage Journal
    You can do geolocation with WiFi, if you have a large enough database. We have one [wifimaps.com], and there are others. Here [placelab.org] is a good example of this kind of action. There aren't many applications that deal with location, but as you can imagine, there is a point to location-based blogging, and apparently a need for it. I wasn't successful in building a killer location-based app, but I like to see the other valiant attempts by others.

    Hay, I'm looking for a gig too, Apple and Google.
    • More on wifi geolocation here [slashgeo.org]. Yes, it's a shameless plug, but I believe it's relevant. Slashgeo focuses on geospatial technologies, with a tendency to cover items related to open source and community-related geospatial projects. Here's the 'Open source community' topic [slashgeo.org]. And more related to this story, here's the GPS [slashgeo.org] and RFID [slashgeo.org] topics too. And why not the Google one [slashgeo.org]. There's already plenty of GPS/Wifi/Google existing geospatial tools/apps that will rock the world. It's only a matter of time :-)
  • The site stephansmap.org is geared towards this. It actually goes beyond: it has time integration.

    I developed it. So far needs some more users. So I'm redesigning it.

    Stephan
  • GPS Navigation With Your Laptop! http://www.bytefusion.com/products/op/usb-gps/usb- gps.htm [bytefusion.com]


    Does anyone know this device works under Linux?
    I Love to buy one.

  • Ummm... (Score:5, Funny)

    by dangitman ( 862676 ) on Saturday January 06, 2007 @07:49PM (#17492524)
    How do I type if I'm hanging in the air? And isn't this Mac-user-levitation technology a bigger story than boring old GPS?

  • Kinda Done... (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Clazzy ( 958719 )
    At least in mobile phones. Some phones (in the UK at least) will automatically display the dialling code for the area you're in. It's a more simplified version but it's a handy feature to have. Of course, this is a more complex version and should hopefully have more beneficial uses.

  • Imagine... in my local supermarket... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by dpbsmith ( 263124 ) on Saturday January 06, 2007 @07:56PM (#17492578) Homepage
    There are ads on the back and on the front inside of the shopping cart. There are ads on the floor that I walk on, while trying to manuever my cart around instrusive stands of featured products placed so as to block the aisle. Hanging off shelves in the aisle are little machines with bright blinking LEDs ready to dispense coupons for products. Flat-panel TV sets with sound hang near the meat section, running a continuous informercial. Another TV set with sound hangs above the cash register in the checkout line, running a different infomercial.

    As I check out, the process is interrupted by the cashier asking whether I want to buy their X-Treme Value of the Week, which is stacked near the cash register with an ad on it, and hands me two long slips of paper: a receipt, and a bunch of ads and coupons. These latter are "highly targeted," alright: they are always for competing brands of products I just bought.

    Can I "imagine getting highly relevant messages, without even pressing a button, simply because you are in the vicinity and your preferences match the content of the post?"

    Yes, I can.

    And I know exactly kind of messages they'll be.

    And I betcha a nickel those preferences will be opt-out.

    • When Ralph's started doing the check-out commercials, I was ultimately thankful to them - because a mere two blocks past my local Ralph's was Trader Joe's. I still went to Ralph's for my Diet Coke habit, but those ads chased me away for all my other shopping, to somewhere generally better and cheaper.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by vought ( 160908 )
        When our local ( at least six months ago; Blossom Hill at Santa Theresa) Albertson's started showing check-out ads interspersed with NBC and FoodTV television blurbs, I made a point of mentioning to the cashier and/or other customers during each check out that I found the practice distracting and stressful.

        Eventually, I started going out of my way to the Safeway on Almaden.

        The point of all this is that I am sure, should this rumor turn out ot be true, that it will have something to do with targetted ads. I

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Servo ( 9177 )
      So you shop at Shaw's too?
  • While this might be a nice geek toy, it wouldn't be practical for everyday use. Picture the scenario: You're in some unknown city, now you have to pull out your MacBook (better hope the battery's charged). After that you can either whip out your phone as well to switch on Bluetooth and get your laptop online via GSM or UMTS, or you've got to find a WLAN hotspot which would only let you look up stuff around that very hotspot. Not a killer app. Not Apple-like at all.

    I could see something like this being usefu

    • I could see something like this being useful on a PDA or a cell phone (if you've got a data plan), so it might be a feature of the rumored "iPhone". However, looking at the prices for Bluetooth GPS units, I wonder whether the chipsets aren't too expensive to make them a default option.

      You know what I see it useful in? A camera, so that it could automatically add the location to the EXIF data of each photo taken. I would think Google and Apple would be all over that kind of thing, since it would have really

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Baumi ( 148744 )

        You know what I see it useful in? A camera, so that it could automatically add the location to the EXIF data of each photo taken.

        Yep, I'd love a GPS-enabled camera, as well. I think Kodak had one on the market a few years ago, but it was an expensive high-end model. Currently, I'm using a Symbian phone + BT GPS unit + phototagging software to achieve the same result, but in-camera GPS would be much appreciated. Still, I think it's a price issue there, too. Anything but Sirf III is pretty much too flaky to use (and even that needs up to a minute to get its bearings), and those chipsets are still expensive.

        • There are several of these sorts of projects running around. TopoFusion [topofusion.com] is one of them. Even nasty ol' Sony makes some sort of gizmo to do this.

          You have to supply your own GPS, the cord is a pain, but there are lots of bluetooth enabled GPS units available and if the camera makers would get their head out of there nether ends (And I'm looking at YOU Nikon), they could easily put a bluetooth chip in the camera.

      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        by Gnavpot ( 708731 )

        You know what I see it useful in? A camera, so that it could automatically add the location to the EXIF data of each photo taken. I would think Google and Apple would be all over that kind of thing, since it would have really cool possibilities for iPhoto and Google Image Search. Too bad neither of them makes cameras...

        http://www.geospatialexperts.com/ricoh.html [geospatialexperts.com]
        http://scilib.typepad.com/science_library_pad/2006 /08/sonys_camera_gp.html [typepad.com]
        http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg. tcl?msg_id=005bL5 [greenspun.com]

  • I am going to give my girlfriend one of these so I can stalk her.

  • GPS + Ipod (Score:5, Insightful)

    by nurb432 ( 527695 ) on Saturday January 06, 2007 @08:04PM (#17492666) Homepage Journal
    "Sorry, your content is not authorized for consumption in the country which you currently are in"
  • If it's as unobtrusive as Gmail's topical advertising, I think topical+geographic advertising would be OK.

  • Right... (Score:5, Informative)

    by gordgekko ( 574109 ) on Saturday January 06, 2007 @08:12PM (#17492710) Homepage
    >> Users would be able to post information at a location, hanging in the air, ready to be browsed by people passing by. Imagine getting highly relevant messages, without even pressing a button, simply because you are in the vicinity and your preferences match the content of the post."

    Right. This didn't even work when users were able to post information at a web site using invisible notes back in the 1990s. Remember that "revolution"? Users of a web site could discuss its contents with each other using software that interfaced with their web browser. End result? No one posted anything except the occasional juvenile comment.

    Now I'm expected to believe that people are going to be walking around with a cellphone and eagerly texting messages and posts that others will be able to read when they enter the area.

    Good luck with that.
    • Just imagine driving by a highschool or middleschool. You'll be inundated with hooribly speeled sub AOL quality comments.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by leenks ( 906881 )

      Right. This didn't even work when users were able to post information at a web site using invisible notes back in the 1990s. Remember that "revolution"? Users of a web site could discuss its contents with each other using software that interfaced with their web browser. End result? No one posted anything except the occasional juvenile comment.
      Isn't that what slashdot is? Or comments on 'blogs?
  • And if Apple releases a MacThin touch tablet, then the ability to scrawl on the virtual bathroom wall will be that much more realistic.
    "For a good time, IM..."

  • Innovation (Score:2, Interesting)

    by gorrepati ( 866378 )
    Its been a long time since we have seen a truly innovative feature.. Hail Apple.
  • Damn, this is an awful use technology.

    I mean really, first a Trusted Computing chip, now "location awareness" to "fix" the fact that geolocation by IP is inacurate.

    The thing is - when you have a platform that has video and location awareness it raises a host of issues including "What happens when this platform gets compromised by theives?"

  • Instead of wasting resources on spying on people, get them to spy on themselves. Finding out where the owner of an Ipod lives will soon be as simple as checking where they are the most.

  • Imagine the Future... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Aminion ( 896851 ) on Saturday January 06, 2007 @08:54PM (#17493032)
    ... you will hover by a school and be attacked by "LOL U teh gay!!1" messages.

    ... you wife borrows your nano nuclear powered PDA only to receive the following message as she passes one of the store downtown "Hello again, Mr Smith! We hope you enjoyed Chixx with Dixx 69. May we also suggest: Brazilian Tranny Wars 43?"

    ... your n00b neighbor has got his box pwned again and it is constantly broadcasting ads for Viagra alcopops and penis pumps with festive Christmas motifs.

  • the streets will be overrun by /.ers (Score:3, Funny)

    by Aeron65432 ( 805385 ) <agiambaNO@SPAMgmail.com> on Saturday January 06, 2007 @09:05PM (#17493116) Homepage
    Every street corner will pop up a notification saying, "CowboyNeal WAS HERE," and the obligatory "in SOVIET RUSSIA THE INTERNET MESSAGES YOU."


    I, for one, welcome our new GPS-messaging overlords.

  • The probability that I would give a rat's ass about the opinions of people who just happen to be in physical proximity to me is vanishingly small. I don't even want to LOOK at the other people on the subway, much less know what they're thinking.

    At least on an Internet forum I stand a reasonable chance of meeting people I actually want to talk to, and where they are physically located is irrelevant.
  • The clocks in GPS are extremely accurate. Accurate enough to be used in communications protocols without clock sync or worry about too much drift. If I were at Apple and building GPS into all of my computers, my first thought would be using the clock as the system clock and then, how I could exploit the clock.

    Apple is unlikely to screw its consumers with a bunch of lame proximity-based advertising.

  • Has its drawbacks, but could be useful (Score:3, Insightful)

    by AlXtreme ( 223728 ) on Saturday January 06, 2007 @09:53PM (#17493472) Homepage Journal
    A location-based wiki (wikipedia, wikitravel) would be pretty neat. Travel to a city, walk around while having access to short descriptions of monuments. Figure out which restaurants are good by walking up to them and reading a few reviews.

    Of course, abuse would be just as easy as messing up a wiki page, but that hasn't stopped their popularity either.

    I don't see why this would have to be tied into an OS though, and it would make more sense for phones than laptops. Once we have cheap unlimited GPRS/UMTS connections, that is.

  • Location based encryption based on lat/long and password.... must be standing on Mount Ranier within 50 meters of a specific point. Or as you move through a building, it decrypts and gives you instructions.
  • "DON'T TURN AROUND! There is a troll behind you. Run to the next corner and turn right. NOW!"

  • But GPS: (Score:3, Interesting)

    by RalphSleigh ( 899929 ) on Saturday January 06, 2007 @10:20PM (#17493684) Homepage
    But GPS:

    a) Does not work indoors, and there are very few times I would consider using a laptop outside in this climate.

    b)Eats battery like nothing else, this might be good for the odd fix now and again when you boot up, but running continously would probably put a bit of a crimp on your battery.

    • Eats battery like nothing else, this might be good for the odd fix now and again when you boot up, but running continously would probably put a bit of a crimp on your battery.

      Luckily Apple laptops already have acceleration sensors. So, all you need to do is fire up the GPS when you detect any kind of significant motion (something more than just vibration). The give the user a preferences option to have the GPS always off, always on, or on only when motion is detected, and you're doing pretty well, I wo

  • Imagine getting highly relevant messages, without even pressing a button, simply because you are in the vicinity and your preferences match the content of the post.

    Yes, I can imagine it. I worked on a project at Ericsson for a while called Geobility (or Geoportal, mattering on the whim of our head honcho) that was formed to accomplish this. I guess it's past the NDA. (1998...)

    Basically, the idea was you'd have a GPS enabled phone that would correlate location to your personal profile. (This was a revolut

  • West of House
    You are standing in an open field west of a white house, with a boarded front door.
    There is a small mailbox here.

    >examine mailbox
    The small mailbox reveals a leaflet.

    >get leaflet
    Taken.

    >

  • Likely Misconceptions (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Dak RIT ( 556128 ) on Sunday January 07, 2007 @03:55AM (#17495698) Homepage
    Every assumption here on Slashdot for the most part seems to assume that ANYBODY can "write" information in a location and when you walk into that location it is wirelessly transferred to your iPod, iPhone whatever, so that you have no control of what content you are receiving.

    Wouldn't it be far more likely for the information to be downloaded to your iPod FIRST, and then the information already on your iPod is then simply triggered to come up when you're in a specific location? Stores could potentially use this data for advertisements, but you'd have to agree to download them first... not likely. I think a more likely use of this technology could be by museums or various attractions to provide a kind of "virtual guide" to people with iPods/iPhones, or by individuals themselves to possibly import information from iCal for example to help them remember appointments, or to use as a personal shopping list reminder that sits right there in one device with your music, phone, etc, quite convenient. Dak

  • Why do I want to have my location known, by Apple, advertisers, Google, you name it? Isn't it enough to be tracked by the use of cellphones? Most of the time I don't want people to know where I am. But then again, it's Apple so it's cool. What's next? The cool iRFID, a new implant so we will not have to enter any info any more, because it's "there"? Give me a break.

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