Tag Archives: Google Maps

Report: Mercedes pondering Google Glass navi

By Brandon Turkus

Filed under: ,

Engadget is reporting that Mercedes-Benz might be tinkering with Google Glass for its future navigation systems. The first, big-name wearable tech item of the 21st century, Google Glass has a huge degree of potential in a number of fields, not the least of which is the auto industry.

Citing the Silicon Valley Business Journal, Engadget mentions that Mercedes is focusing on producing genuine, door-to-door directions that combine the pedestrian and automotive applications that Google Maps has become known for. President and CEO of Mercedes-Benz Research and Development North America, Johann Jungwirth, mentioned this seamless integration of directions is the division’s ultimate goal.

The idea is intriguing, but we’re probably going to be waiting on it for some time. Google Glass is still quite expensive and is far from being available at the local Best Buy. Until that day comes, it looks like we’ll just have to make do with going from our car’s navigation to a smartphone.

Mercedes pondering Google Glass navi originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 31 Jul 2013 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at Autoblog

Can Google's Mobile Growth Goose Its Stock Even Higher?

By Trefis Team

Google is set to release its Q2 2013 earnings Thursday afternoon. The company has been aggressively pursuing other avenues besides its core search advertising business to drive revenue growth in the coming years. This quarter saw a flurry of activity at Google as it announced major product updates for services like Google Maps and Google+. Google also announced the launch of its music subscription services called All Access that will compete with music streaming services such as Pandora and Spotify. Additionally, Google acquired four companies during the quarter with the most notable acquisition being for social map company Waze. …read more

Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Technology

Overhauled and personalized Google Maps beta opens to all

The newer, prettier version of Google Maps for the desktop is now available for anyone to try out without an invite, Google recently announced via Twitter.

The new Maps on the Web features vector-based maps, higher-quality images, and a completely new interface, but the central change that Google is pushing is Maps’ new focus on personalization. For directions, Maps is now supposed to highlight only the streets and landmarks you need to know about, making it easier to navigate.

The new Maps details specific locations and landmarks using a card-based interface similar to what you’ll find in other Google products, such as Google Now and Google+.

Driving and transit directions appear side-by-side, so you can judge whether you’re better off taking the bus or the car. Search results are labeled right on the map, and info cards drop down from the search box allowing you to take a quick look at a shop’s hours and location. And as you favorite locations and ask for directions, Google Maps learns your tastes and can begin to suggest other local hot spots you might want to try out. You can also set your home and work locations.

The new Maps displays several alternate routes right on the map itself, complete with mileage and traveling time. (Click to enlarge.)

Despite these improvements, however, serious Maps fans may want to stay away from the new Maps as some features are currently missing.

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at PCWorld

The Historic Neil Abercrombie ‘Search And Rescue’ Mission

By Tom Ballantyne Jr.

neil abercrombie SC The Historic Neil Abercrombie Search and Rescue Mission

Author’s Note: The following is taken from page 114, Chapter Eleven – Three At Least Plausible “Proofs” – Oh Really, O’Reilly!  While this is a satirical swipe at the obvious absurdity of this entirely unnecessary charade, it is meant to illustrate the absolute farce of not being able to locate (or produce – in reality, not ‘virtual’ reality) the alleged document….

Is it not preposterous that after Loretta Fuddy (who, without explanation, replaced Neal Palafox as Director, immediately following this not-hard-to-imagine hypothetical exercise)…that after she “certified” these two copies, she, with the help of the State Attorney General, would refuse a federal court-ordered subpoena, to allow the vault original (from which the certified copies were allegedly reproduced) to be viewed?  Yes, it is!

Could it be because after the current Hawaii Governor, Neil Abercrombie, promised to get to the bottom of this, on December 27, 2010, and allegedly conducted his own “search,” over a three-week period, until January 18, 2011 (how hard could it be?), all he could say was, quote:  “It was actually written, I am told, this is what our investigation is showing, it actually exists in the archives, written down.”? [1]

Are you kidding, Neil?  That’s it?  You’re the governor of the state, and your office is no doubt within spitting distance of the state archives, and after promising to “do what is legally possible…to try and see what we can do…for an open process [!] that will put those who want to disrespect the president and his parents [Really?], in the proper light; which is to say they have a political agenda, not worthy of any good American…” [Wow!  I suddenly feel ashamed of myself!], all you can say is that “you are told” that “it was actually written,” and that your “investigation” (which you publicly stated included the State Attorney General, and the State Director of the Department of Health!) is “showing” that “it actually exists…in the archives…written down”?[2]  That’s it, Neil?

I think we’ve just gotten a new appreciation for the term “government work”!  Is he serious?  This is probably a half-hour operation for the governor, at most! He tells his secretary that he’d like to see the vault copy of the president’s hospital-generated birth certificate, and has her call his buddy Neal (Palafox), the newly-appointed Director of the Department of Health, and tell him that he’ll be right over!

He walks out of his office (This is the ‘Aloha State’; he doesn’t need a security guard, even with all those “Right-wing” whackos running around…); he takes the elevator to the first floor; goes across the street to the State Archives – some 494 feet away according to Google Maps; and there, finds the Director, waiting for him. (He is the Governor, after all!)

He takes him straight to the floor where the birth certificates are stored, and, having looked up the room number, the aisle number, and shelf number (no doubt the day he got there, as he

From: http://www.westernjournalism.com/the-historic-neil-abercrombie-search-and-rescue-mission/

The iPhone Gains in Popularity, Yet Apple Stock Falls

By Dan Newman, The Motley Fool

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Apple‘s stock currently trades around its 52-week low. The latest smartphone industry report shows that not only are smartphones being adopted at the second-highest rate ever in the U.S., but also that Apple actually gained 4% market share. Why is there such a disconnect between company performance and stock performance?

Investor sentiment
After being the biggest momentum stock of 2011, hitting a high around $700 per share, Apple hit a few speed bumps. Its new Maps application that replaced Google  Maps was heavily criticized as an inferior choice. The company ran into supply issues with the new iPhone 5, with shipping times between three and four weeks even two months after its launch. The latest earnings release showed flat profits, and as cost of sales outpaced sales, margins fell.

In an industry where a slight trip can lead to a disastrous fall in a few short years, such news spooked investors. Take BlackBerry , for example. Blackberry once held 20% of the global smartphone market share in 2009, and in 2012 only claimed 5%. The seemingly unassailable position of Blackberry and its brand were quickly undone by its competition. Blackberry is attempting to regain its footing with a new OS and line of phones, and sold 1 million of its latest Z10 model last quarter, but the next quarter will tell whether it can keep up a sustainable pace of sales.

Additionally, the huge run up in share price of Apple’s stock in 2012, when it had roughly 70% institutional ownership, would lead to a rebalancing of portfolios. And that, together with questionable news on Apple’s future, meant that some institutions didn’t want to be caught having Apple on their list of holdings. Institutional ownership is now around 64%. The stock is no longer the “in” thing to hold.

But is the future that bad?
Even with the few missteps, including the strange events that caused CEO Tim Cook to issue an apology to China, Apple continues to barrel ahead. But, the market is looking back on Apple stock‘s past poor performance and not giving it proper credit.

First, trading at a P/E of 9.6, it’s roughly half the market‘s current overall valuation, yet offers a dividend yield of 2.5%.

Second, it remains the dominant force in a growing, future-oriented industry. Google’s Android OS gained 17 million users over the past year, whereas the iPhone added over 20 million. Apple was able to steal 4% of U.S. market share in the quarter ending in February, with Google and Blackberry both losing about 2%. Apple’s phones have not lost popularity, even though the stock has.

And the iPhone is just a piece of the Apple story, making up 51% of Apple’s revenue last quarter. The iPad made up 20%, and Mac 10%. These products are best in class, which gives them higher pricing power even if the industries trend toward commoditization. Add in future product developments, and Apple deserves …read more

Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Dow Waffles as Tech Sector Gains Momentum

By Jessica Alling, The Motley Fool

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After spending most of its time in negative territory yesterday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average made a late rally, ending the day up 48 points. So far this morning, the index has been up and down, trading 10 points higher as of 11 a.m. EDT. Economic news hasn’t helped the index so far this morning, as three reports showed little positive growth.

First up was the NFIB Small Business Optimism Index, which fell 1.3 points from Februrary’s results to 89.5. The survey of small business owners found that very few felt as if the current environment presented a good time to expand, another jab to the recovery. March’s results put the end to a three-month streak of gaining optimism, with 75% of business owners expecting conditions to be roughly the same in the next six months. This isn’t a good sign for the drooping labor market, as small businesses won’t hire if the conditions aren’t right.

Speaking of hiring, the number of job openings rose in February to 3.9 million from January’s 3.6 million — this is the highest number of job openings since May 2008 according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Despite the openings hike, hiring and firing remained at the same levels as seen in the previous month.

Last up was wholesale inventories data, which fell unexpectedly in February as petroleum stocks fell and overall sales gained strength. The drop of 0.3% was the largest recorded in a year and a half, according to the Commerce Department. Economists had expected a 0.5% increase after the revised 0.8% jump in January.

Tech leads the way
The standout sector so far this morning in Dow trading has been the techies. Microsoft is one of the stocks leading the way, with a 1.75% gain. Microsoft is also leading a group of 16 other companies in a EU complaint against Google , claiming that the competitor is giving away its Android OS to smartphone manufacturers, as long as its software applications such as Google Maps are installed and at the forefront of the phone’s display. The group filing the antitrust complaint believes that such action corners customers into using Google products, which not only controls customer data, but also dominates the mobile market. The European Commission, the EU‘s antitrust authority, is not required to do any more than reply to the group’s complaint, though Google is already under scrutiny in Brussels and other countries for various reasons.

Intel is also up this morning, with a 1.94% gain. The tech giant is riding the exciting news that its next-generation Thunderbolt will provide double the speed of its current form. Set to begin production in 2014, the new Thunderbolt will allow 4K video transfer with simultaneous display in addition to running at 20 Gbps — the current version runs at 10 Gbps. Intel is also enjoying its head start on competitor ARM , with its new Avoton — …read more

Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Market Minute: J.C. Penney Set to Jump on Ouster of CEO Ron Johnson

By DailyFinance Staff

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Thomas Iannaccone/Pool via Bloomberg

J.C. Penney does an about-face, and Microsoft sets a deadline for millions of Windows users.

The Dow Industrials rose 48 points yesterday, the S&P 500 added 9 and the Nasdaq gained 18. The market has been on a see-saw ride recently. The S&P has not had back-to-back gains or losses for the past 13 sessions, the longest such streak on record.

J.C. Penney’s (JCP) controversial CEO Ron Johnson has been ousted after less than two years on the job. The company’s revenue fell sharply last year after he eliminated sale prices and coupons, only to backtrack later on. Myron Ullman, the former CEO, will return as Johnson’s replacement. Investors are concerned the flip-flop could lead to another expensive makeover. JC Penney shares lost half their value during Johnson’s tenure.

If you own a computer running on Windows XP system, Microsoft will in effect dis-own you a year from now. The company says it will stop supporting XP, meaning it will not provide security patches and system updates.

Alcoa kicked off the earnings season last night with a better than expected increase in quarterly profit. But revenue for the industrial bellwether was a bit shy of estimates. The company also said China‘s production cutbacks are reducing the worldwide over-supply of aluminum.

Google has been giving away its Android system to mobile phone makers, in exchange for prominent placement of the company’s apps for Google Maps, YouTube and others. Now a group of rivals – including Microsoft, Oracle and Nokia – are asking European regulators to charge Google with antitrust violations.

Ford says its Focus brand was the top-selling passenger car in the world last year. It sold more than 1-million of the cars in 2012 – a quarter of them in China.

And Citigroup may file suit against the Nasdaq. According to the Wall Street Journal, the bank wants to recoup losses suffered in the botched launch of Facebook stock last May.

-Produced by Drew Trachtenberg

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Google Targeted in European Antitrust Complaint Led by Microsoft

By The Associated Press

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Philippe Wojazer/AP Google CEO Eric Schmidt, left, and French President Francois Hollande sign an agreement at the Elysee Palace in Paris on Feb. 1. On Tuesday, more than a dozen technology companies filed a complaint against Google, alleging unfair trade practices in Europe.

By JUERGEN BAETZ

BRUSSELS — Google is using unfair practices to cement its control over mobile Internet usage on smartphones, a group of companies led by Microsoft alleged in a European antitrust complaint Tuesday.

The “FairSearch” initiative of 17 companies — which includes Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), Nokia Corp. (NOK) and Oracle Corp. (ORCL) — claims Google is acting unfairly by giving away its Android operating system to mobile device companies on the condition that the U.S. online giant’s own software applications like YouTube and Google Maps are installed and prominently displayed.

“Google is using its Android mobile operating system as a Trojan horse to deceive partners, monopolize the mobile marketplace, and control consumer data,” said Thomas Vinje, the group’s Brussels-based lawyer.

Android operating systems have the largest share of the smartphone market worldwide, followed by Apple Inc.’s (AAPL) iOS platform with systems from Blackberry (BBRY), Microsoft and others far behind.

“Google’s predatory distribution of Android at below-cost makes it difficult for other providers of operating systems to recoup investments in competing with Google’s dominant mobile platform,” FairSearch said in a statement.

The European Commission, the 27-nation bloc’s executive arm and antitrust authority, is not obliged to take any action other than reply to the group’s complaint.

Google Inc. (GOOG) didn’t address the complaint’s charges in detail. “We continue to work cooperatively with the European Commission,” said Google spokesman Al Verney.

The U.S. company is already under investigation by Brussels for practices related to its dominance of online search and advertising markets.

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That complaint, filed in 2010, alleges Google unfairly favors its own services in its Internet search results, which enjoy a near-monopoly in Europe. Google has proposed a list of remedies to address the Commission’s concerns to achieve a settlement. The Commission is currently examining the proposed changes.

In China, Google has already come under official scrutiny because of Android’s dominance of the mobile smartphone market there.

Several European data privacy regulators have also launched an investigation into Google’s practices, alleging the company is creating a data goldmine at the expense of unwitting users.

Last year, the company merged 60 separate privacy policies from around the world into one universal procedure. The European authorities complain that the new policy doesn’t allow users to figure out which information is kept, how it is combined by Google services or how long the company retains it.

The policy allows Google to combine data collected from one person as they use …read more

Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Report: Why using Google Maps for driving directions is illegal in California

By Jonathon Ramsey

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Back in January of 2012, Steven Spriggs was cited for using a cellphone while driving in California, violating the state’s Vehicle Code Section 23123 that makes it illegal for someone to drive “while using a wireless telephone unless that telephone is specifically designed and configured to allow hands-free listening and talking, and is used in that manner while driving.” In this case, though, while Spriggs did have the phone in his hands, he was using it to check directions on Google Maps, not make a phone a call or send a text.

Spriggs appealed the citation, but according to Digital Trends, Judge Kent Hamlin of the Fresno County Superior Court has ruled against him. Hamlin’s eight-page decision asserted that the law prohibiting drivers from using their hands to operate their cellphones to make calls and send texts didn’t mean they could manually operate their phones for some other purpose, like getting directions; Hamlin reasoned that the law‘s intent was to prevent all manual operation of the cellphone to curb distracted driving.

Hamlin felt this even though Sprigg argued that when the original law specified voice calls, it was felt necessary to append the law to add texting to its purview. Using that example, if the law didn’t specify the other operations it covered, then it shouldn’t apply to those other operations. Hamlin’s decision countered that there was no legislative history that demonstrated the bill’s original supporters didn’t want texting covered by the law originally, and that since the purpose of the “plain language” of the law is to eliminate the distraction of manually using one’s phone while driving, that any such use is automatically covered.

Why using Google Maps for driving directions is illegal in California originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 08 Apr 2013 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at Autoblog

Hands off the smartphone map, California court tells drivers

Mapping technology and smartphones often go hand in hand, but in California if you want to check your destination on your mobile device don’t be driving at the same time.

That’s the word from a court there that says looking at a mapping program on a phone while driving is against the law.

A driver argued that state laws regarding distracted driving pertain to talking, texting and using the Internet while on the phone, but not using a mapping program. The court disagreed.

Technically, the ruling suggests if you want to use a mapping program in California you have to do it without touching a mobile device. For a lot of people that wouldn’t be a problem. Google Maps on Android, for example, delivers stellar spoken turn-by-turn directions that you can initiate while parked.

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at PCWorld

Google ‘Mapathon,’ Meant To ‘Create Better Maps For India,’ Draws Scrutiny For Police

By The Huffington Post News Editors

By Devidutta Tripathy
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – Police in India are investigating to determine whether U.S. Internet Google Inc violated rules in a competition that asked users to add information about their local areas for its online map services after a government agency raised security concerns.
Google, which ran the “Mapathon” in India in February and March, said its aim was to make more local information accessible to all and that it did not break any laws.
Police are acting on a complaint filed by Survey of India, the country’s national survey and mapping agency, which said the contest was illegal and may threaten national security.
“One complaint has been received and we are forwarding it to the cybercell for further action,” said Chhaya Sharma, a deputy commissioner of police in New Delhi.
Google officials said the company had not yet received an official communication from the police.
Google invited users to help “create better maps for India” by adding knowledge of their neighborhoods and promised the top 1,000 mappers prizes of tablets, smartphones and gift vouchers.
Survey of India first wrote to Google saying its “Mapathon” was against rules and then filed a police complaint, R.C. Padhi, a top official at the agency, told Reuters.
“We have to ensure that security is not compromised at any cost,” Padhi said, adding that some information uploaded on Google Maps could be “sensitive”.
Google is open to discussing specific concerns over the issue with public authorities in India, Paroma Roy Chowdhury, a company spokeswoman in India said in a statement.
“Google takes security and national regulations very seriously, and the Mapathon adhered to applicable laws,” Roy Chowdhury said.
LATEST IN SERIES OF DISPUTES
The investigation is the latest in a series of disputes between various governments and Google over privacy and security issues involving its popular mapping products. …read more

Source: FULL ARTICLE at Huffington Post

How Does Google Really Feel About Facebook Home?

By Evan Niu, CFA, The Motley Fool

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Yesterday, social networking giant Facebook unveiled its new Facebook Home suite of apps and tweaks. The package features heavy integration of numerous Facebook services directly into various Google Android devices, and will soon be available for broader download from Google Play.

Facebook Home isn’t quite a full-fledged fork of the operating system, like the route that Amazon.com has successfully pursued. Instead, it’s just a heavy modification that sits directly on top of the operating system, but hijacks numerous key features. You might even consider it a “half-fork.”

The standard Google search box is removed from the home screen. Actually, both the home screen and lock screen are replaced by Cover Feed, which will eventually include Facebook’s ads — and not Google’s. Mark Zuckerberg even argued that Facebook Home will end up being “really good for Android.”

That may be true since his point is that Home may boost developer interest in Android, since most developers “put most of their efforts” toward Apple‘s iPhone. However, as Google continues to lose more and more control over Android, what’s good for Android as a platform may not be good for Google as a business.

Google’s open stance on platforms facilitated Home, and Facebook didn’t even have to collaborate with its ad rival, even though Big G knew what Facebook was up to. “Google’s Android is open so we don’t have to work with them,” Zuckerberg noted.

That’s in contrast to Facebook’s relationship with Apple. Since Apple is set on maintaining control at all times, Facebook would need a lot more cooperation from Cupertino to make Home for iOS a reality. Zuckerberg acknowledged that Apple would have to be willing to partner. For now, the existing levels of Facebook and iOS integration will have to suffice.

Facebook integration in iOS 6. Source: Apple.

In a statement to VentureBeat, a Google spokesperson said:

The Android platform has spurred the development of hundreds of different types of devices. This latest collaboration demonstrates the openness and flexibility that has made Android so popular. And it’s a win for users who want a customized Facebook experience from Google Play — the heart of the Android ecosystem — along with their favorite Google services like Gmail, Search, and Google Maps.

These services are still present on Home-equipped Androids, but far less prominent. I wouldn’t expect Google to shamelessly bash Home, but I also wouldn’t expect the search giant to tell investors how it really feels about the potential threat.

Home is the latest in a string of hijackings and the most recent evidence of how Google has lost control of Android.

It’s more important than ever to understand each piece of Google’s sprawling empire. In The Motley Fool’s new premium research report on Google, we break down the risks and potential rewards for Google investors. Simply click here now to unlock your copy of this invaluable resource.

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Apple Prepares to Take the Mapping Fight to the Streets

By Evan Niu, CFA, The Motley Fool

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In the war over mobile mapping, Google remains the uncontested leader. The search giant is undoubtedly the gold standard when it comes to mobile mapping.

Perhaps you’ve heard by now that Apple  ditching Google Maps didn’t go so well, although the net result of the debacle was that iOS mapping ended up stronger than ever after Big G released an even better version of Google Maps as a third-party iOS app — even better than Google Maps for Android, by Google’s own admission.

Let’s take this outside
One of the key features at the center of the spat was turn-by-turn navigation. There’s another key feature Google has that Apple wants: Street View. According to a recent patent application that was initially filed in September 2011 but just now made public and uncovered by AppleInsider, Apple is exploring similar technology. 

The application is titled “3D Position Tracking for Panoramic Imagery Navigation,” and involves using a mobile device’s sensors to navigate a location. Moving the device physically provides data that “can be used to move up or down a virtual street or other navigation actions.”

To date, Apple doesn’t have any street imagery of its own to use, though, while Google has an abundance of it. At this point, Big G has nothing better to do with Street View than to go scuba diving or mountain climbing, so it’s safe to say the company is comfortable with its imagery lead.

Street View car. Source: Google.

This may be the biggest missing part of the puzzle. Google has spent years driving around its Street View cars, tricycles, and snowmobiles, paying $7 million in fines over those Street View cars, just to get all those snapshots. (Some even thought it ran over a donkey in in pursuit of those photos.) It’s unthinkable that Google would hand over this data to Apple, but the Mac maker could potentially partner with someone who has a comparable collection.

At the same time, both Apple and Google continue to explore indoor mapping possibilities. Apple just acquired WifiSLAM, a small start-up that used Wi-Fi signals to locate smartphones indoors. Apple not only wants to fight indoors, but it may be preparing to take the fight to the streets.

The mapping debacle didn’t seem to hurt sales at all, but investors still want to know whether Apple remains a buy. The Motley Fool’s senior technology analyst and managing bureau chief, Eric Bleeker, is prepared to fill you in on both reasons to buy and reasons to sell Apple, and what opportunities are left for the company (and your portfolio) going forward. To get instant access to his latest thinking on Apple, simply click here now.

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Review: Enjoy slick Web apps on your desktop with Cubiez

Web apps are great when you’re on your PC, but they require a browser. Mobile apps, on the other hand, require nothing but a smartphone, but are not very convenient to use while working on your computer. So why choose? A new platform called Cubiez (currently in public beta) offers the best of both worlds: Light and responsive apps that feel almost like mobile ones, don’t require a browse, and run on your computer. Very similar to the better-known Pokki, Cubiez is an online marketplace for apps through which you install and then run a variety of apps.

Cubiez’s app icons sit in your tray—the more apps you install the more icons you have.

Cubiez is fairly new in its field, and therefore doesn’t offer many apps yet. While its biggest rival Pokki includes hundreds of different apps, Cubiez has only a few dozen at the moment. There’s no way to view Cubiez apps online, but you can check them all out by installing Cubiez and clicking on its taskbar icon. You can look at all available apps, only new apps, or apps you have installed. There is no way to view apps by category, but since not many apps are available, this doesn’t make much of a difference.

Cubiez sits on the leftmost side of your taskbar—right next to the Start button (if you still have one)—and each app you install adds an icon on the taskbar as well. This is nice at first, but when you’ve installed seven apps, it starts to get crowded, and there’s no way to put Cubiez to sleep or collapse all the icons into one. Installing apps is a breeze: After choosing an app from the marketplace and clicking the install button, you can’t even count to five before the app is installed and available for use. Cubiez and its apps are all highly responsive, and there were no unexplained lags, sluggishness or unresponsiveness in any that I’ve tried.

Installing apps takes virtually seconds, and only one click.

Of all the apps Cubiez offers, about half are games. Among these, you’ll find some big names such as Kingdom Rush, Little Alchemy, and Plants vs. Zombies, some classics such as Pacman, and some super-addictive ones such as Unicorn Robot Attack. Aside from games, you’ll find useful apps such as Calculator, Facebook, Google Maps, Google Search, NewsHub (an RSS reader), and Weather. If you’re looking for a specific app, you can use the search box to find it quickly, but note that search strings are case sensitive, so searching for “facebook” will yield no results. The apps all run in a small window that can be moved around the screen, but cannot be resized.

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at PCWorld

Can America Blow Away Nuclear Power?

By Maxxwell A.R. Chatsko, The Motley Fool

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Imagine if you opened up your electricity bill next month and it showed that your energy provider owed you money for sending you your monthly allotment of kilowatts. Think negative prices sound farfetched? Think again. Several Texas and Midwestern utilities, such as Exelon and Dominion Resources , are facing just such a predicament in several markets during off-peak hours.

OK, so customers don’t actually get paid by their providers since off-peak prices represent a small piece of the amount paid each month. Nonetheless, negative prices are a real problem facing utilities relying on nuclear and fossil-fuel generation — and they have little to do with cheap natural gas. The main contributor to off-peak negative prices is actually wind power. If the problem persists, energy companies such as Exelon and Dominion, which focus on nuclear and coal, respectively, may be forced to retire their less competitive plants. Can America really blow away nuclear power?

Good news, bad news
Last year, the power industry sprinted to capture what was expected to be the last opportunity for a federal tax credit for new wind farm construction. The credit was eventually extended through 2013, but that didn’t stop a record 13 GW of capacity from being added to the nation’s grid. In fact, 8.38 GW were added in the fourth quarter alone.  

That’s great news for renewable energy-minded power generators such as NextEra Energy . The company owns more than 10 GW of wind capacity, or one-sixth of the nation’s total. The subsidy has enabled NextEra to create an impressive fleet of wind farms:

Source: NextEra Energy. Powered by Google Maps.  

Say what you want about the federal tax credit for new construction, but that isn’t the government subsidy fueling negative prices. The owners of wind farms receive a production tax credit, or PTC, of $0.022 for every kWh of wind energy produced. That may not seem like much, but consider this: Wind speeds, on average, are inversely proportional to demand from the grid. When the grid needs the least amount of power — during the night and in spring and fall — wind speeds are at their peak.

Generally, providers curtail their power production during off-peak times to obey the law of supply and demand. Flooding the grid with juice that has nowhere to go results in negative prices, thus forcing providers to pay the grid to take the power they created. No business aims to sell products with negative values.

A question of fairness
The PTC for renewable-energy generation creates an artificial incentive for owners of wind farms. Why shut down turbines during the grid’s off-peak hours when it’s the best time to maximize production and therefore subsidy revenue? For instance, wholesale electricity prices for off-peak hours sank to negative-$0.0411 per kWh in October 2012. A recent report (link opens PDF) from the Northbridge Group, an electricity consultancy firm, showed that the problem is becoming more profound …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Roam Abandoned Fukushima Town, Courtesy Google

By Kevin Spak If you like occasionally roaming the streets of the world on Google Maps, there’s a bleak new destination you should check out: Namie, Japan , a town in Fukushima Prefecture that’s been abandoned ever since the 2011 earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disaster. Google has just added street view images of the… …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Newser – Home

Eerie streets of abandoned Fukushima town revealed in Google Maps

The earthquake and tsunami that demolished northeastern Japan in 2011 left many thousands of its survivors cut off from their homes. But displaced residents of Namie-machi, a small town on the eastern coast of the Pacific that's still in an exclusion zone, can now at least get a present-day glimpse of their neighborhood, thanks to Google. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Computerworld Latest

Apple Buys Its Way Indoors

By Evan Niu, CFA, CFA, The Motley Fool

Indoor Google Maps. Source: Google.

Inside, Google still has a lead over Apple. However, the search giant’s indoor initiatives date back to 2011, so Apple has more hope in catching up behind closed doors as opposed to under the sun.

The Mac maker becomes a map maker
Apple has confirmed the acquisition to both

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Even though Google is undeniably the mobile mapping king, Apple isn’t giving up so easily. That’s why Apple has acquired WifiSLAM, a small start-up specializing in indoor GPS, since the next frontier of mobile mapping is inside.

iOS users quickly snapped up the new version of Google Maps once it was released on Apple’s platform in December, just months after Apple made the controversial switch to its in-house offering. Google’s first-mover advantage is seemingly insurmountable since it has spent years aggregating mapping data that Apple simply doesn’t have yet.

On the outside, Google’s Street View offers unprecedented reach for an online mapping service. We’re talking about the search giant showing users the Great Barrier Reef or more recently, the Himalayas’ Mount Everest Base Camp. Meanwhile, Apple’s still working on getting down the basics before going mountain climbing.

WifiSLAM is a small company that uses ambient Wi-Fi signals to help pinpoint a smartphones indoor location within an approximate accuracy range of 2.5 meters. That information could potentially be used to eventually build step-by-step indoor navigation, proximity-based social networking, or product-level retail customer engagement.

With WifiSLAM, Apple is taking the mapping fight inside instead of outside.

Let’s take this inside
Turn-by-turn driving navigation was reportedly a major point of contention between Apple and Google that led to the switch. Indoor step-by-step navigation, on the other hand, is mostly an untapped frontier.

Google has already begun building out its data on indoor maps, including integrated floor plans in selected locations and a Google Maps Floor Plans service that’s still in beta testing. So far, buildings like airports and shopping malls, among others, have partnered with Google to make indoor maps available. Big G doesn’t want you running into any Minotaurs, after all.

Indoor Google Maps. Source: Google.

Inside, Google still has a lead over Apple. However, the search giant’s indoor initiatives date back to 2011, so Apple has more hope in catching up behind closed doors as opposed to under the sun.

The Mac maker becomes a map maker
Apple has confirmed the acquisition to both The Wall Street Journal and Reuters, without officially disclosing the price. The WSJ‘s sources peg the price tag at $20 million, which is little more than loose change for Apple.

WifiSLAM is now the fourth acquisition that Apple has picked up to build its mapping service. The Mac maker began acquiring map makers as early as 2009, starting with Placebase for an unknown amount. The company would then proceed to buy Poly9 in 2010 and C3 Technologies in 2011. These three purchases were stitched together to help launch Apple Maps.

Two months ago, there were also rumors that Apple was looking to acquire Waze, the crowd-sourced traffic and navigation service. The acquisition made sense, since Waze is also a small start-up with innovative technology that could be integrated into Apple’s offerings, and Waze is already one of Apple’s mapping data partners. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Would A Dramatic Increase In Superchargers Relieve Range Anxiety In Regards To The Tesla Model S?

By Quora, Contributor

Now having an 85 kWh Tesla Model S in the family and having used the superchargers, which are epically awesome and game-changing, I’d say Range Anxiety is 99% a fiction of the media, especially anywhere in California.  Combine a realistic 200 mile range at 70+ mph with climate on normal, and superchargers that in 5-20 minutes can top you up to get anywhere in the state you’d possibly go, plus Vegas — there is no range anxiety in California with an 85 kWh Tesla.  Just plan any trip > 150 miles on Google Maps so you know where you are going.  Anything < 150-175 miles, you don't even need to plan. Supercharging is utterly amazing and even fun. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Latest