Apple and Google to Blog the World 218
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."
You mean... (Score:5, Insightful)
WHO CARES what Apple intends to use it for... (Score:5, Interesting)
...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)
and iCal keeping track of what time zone you're in while you travel would be very welcome
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
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)
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)
Still though, more relevant ads are probably a good thing.
Re: (Score:2)
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)
This from a guy with an ad in his sig.
Re: (Score:2)
*Bing!* "You've got ads!"
Re: (Score:2)
I can graphiti the WORLD! (Score:3, Funny)
"integration" or "bundling"? (Score:2, Insightful)
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)
Because when Apple does it, it becomes a well documented [apple.com], open [webkit.org] API. Microsoft? Not so much [microsoft.com].
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
Want a good example? Compare the documentation for OS X and Windows on the same equivalent subject:
http://www.google.com/search?q=exception.port+site
http://www.google.com/search?q=vectored.exception. handler+site:msdn.microsoft.com [google.com]
One has a two line blurb, the other has a full article and API documentation.
As for openness, well, they only use standards when they're useful to them. They have a half-assed implementation of t
Re:"integration" or "bundling"? (Score:4, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2)
It is? Who said that?
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
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)
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)
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
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)
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)
Since when did Apple sign illegal OEM deals that forced OEMs to not ship competing products to prevent them from entering the market?
Next.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
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)
Apple don't have OEMs.
Re: (Score:3)
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)
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)
Re: (Score:2)
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
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
oh I see, you're just trying to repeat the FUD about Apple forcing its users (at gunpoint) to buy teh new OSs every month for $1299.9999!!!11 each time omg wtf!
Re: (Score:2)
I can just imagine the nasty surprises. (Score:3, Funny)
Congratulations: (Score:5, Funny)
Old idea with a new spin (Score:2)
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)
Will this "feature" have an off button? (Score:2, Insightful)
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
They did, but people complained that they scratched too easily.
Re:Will this "feature" have an off button? (Score:5, Insightful)
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.
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)
I think it has the potential to be cool. Imagine if you could leave comments on the world just like you do on
Re: (Score:2)
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)
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)
Re: (Score:2)
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)
I tried to..."
You know the rest.
Re: (Score:2)
It's interesting that you didn't know it, are you female? Maybe it's not as prevalent in women's bathrooms.
Finally. (Score:5, Funny)
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Hey man, fuck you!
Bob
Geolocation with WiFi (Score:4, Informative)
Hay, I'm looking for a gig too, Apple and Google.
Re: (Score:2)
stephansmap.org geared towards this (Score:2, Informative)
I developed it. So far needs some more users. So I'm redesigning it.
Stephan
fyi: GPS USB (Score:2)
Does anyone know this device works under Linux?
I Love to buy one.
Re: (Score:2)
I don't know about you, but what I'd want is a PC-card (or even mini-PCI) version that doesn't stick out, so that I could keep it in the laptop permanently
Re:fyi: GPS USB [ SOLVED ] (Score:2)
Ummm... (Score:5, Funny)
Kinda Done... (Score:2, Interesting)
Imagine... in my local supermarket... (Score:5, Interesting)
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.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
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)
Too complicated for laptops (Score:2)
I could see something like this being usefu
Re: (Score:2)
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)
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.
Been there, done that... (Score:2)
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)
http://www.geospatialexperts.com/ricoh.html [geospatialexperts.com] /08/sonys_camera_gp.html [typepad.com]
http://scilib.typepad.com/science_library_pad/2006
http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg. tcl?msg_id=005bL5 [greenspun.com]
Track me more. (Score:2)
GPS + Ipod (Score:5, Insightful)
I like Gmail's targeted adverts (Score:2, Insightful)
Right... (Score:5, Informative)
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.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
great (Score:2)
"For a good time, IM..."
Innovation (Score:2, Interesting)
Whooo! Hooo! (Score:2)
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?"
What a great idea (Score:2)
Imagine the Future... (Score:5, Funny)
the streets will be overrun by /.ers (Score:3, Funny)
I, for one, welcome our new GPS-messaging overlords.
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
Clocks (Score:2)
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)
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.
Highly Relevant Encryption (Score:2)
Troll! (Score:2)
But GPS: (Score:3, Interesting)
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.
Re: (Score:2)
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 indeed! (Score:2)
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
Zork + GPS (Score:2)
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)
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
What's next, the implantable iRFID? (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Must be a different slashdot "crowd" you're talking about...
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
I want a full-frame DSLR with GPS integration; Canon do the first bit, Nikon do the second, no-one does both.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
For DSLR users, I think Sony, Nikon and Canon all produce devices that can do this.
There are others options too - many PDA's have this capability, e.g. the iMate JAMin or the eten g500 [etencorp.com]. Some mobile phones with location based services also provide this facility, although the accuracy depends on the location technology used (might not be that important for holiday snapshots?)
I a