GPS Online Connectivity on the road

The Global Positioning System that helps us navigate the highways was a brilliant idea. So brilliant that industry watchers at ABI Research Inc. in New York say there will be 900 million such devices in use worldwide in another five years.

But many GPS devices aren't very bright. Yes, they can tell us how to get where we want to go - but not much else. Travelers need lots more information - the latest traffic conditions, for instance, or the weather.

Such data is easily available over the Internet, but that's not much use when you're rolling down I-93 or 401 unless you've got a GPS with a wireless communication system. Then you can tap into those databases for real-time information on the road.

A growing number of GPS devices have gone online. We tried out three: the Dash Express from Dash Navigation Inc.; the Go 930 from TomTom International BV; and the Nuvi 780 by Garmin Ltd.

The Dash Express, cheapest of the three at $399, lacks some of the attractive features of the other two. For instance, the Go and Nuvi have FM transmitters, so they can relay their spoken driving directions over your car radio. They also have Bluetooth technology.

But the Dash leads the pack when it comes to Internet integration. Users pay $12.99 a month to subscribe to the Dash online service. Now you can add new maps and software upgrades, or punch in your favorite addresses, by logging onto the Dash website.

The Dash Express contains Wi-Fi networking. Just bring it within range of your home hot spot and turn it on, and the software upgrades install themselves. It also has a built-in cellular modem that works in most parts of the United States and downloads information as you drive. It gets the latest traffic data, warning when there's gridlock ahead.

Some of the traffic data may come from fellow drivers. Dash uses anonymous information about your car's speed and location to map traffic on the road you're driving. This data is relayed to every other Dash user in the area. Dash says this will enable its service to provide much better real-time traffic data. Dash also lets you search for your destination through the Yahoo Internet service.

The Garmin Nuvi 780 costs $749, nearly twice as much as the Dash Express. In exchange, you get a much more compact unit, not much bigger than a full-sized iPod. The Nuvi also has FM radio and Bluetooth features, an MP3 music player, and access to the Audible audiobook service, for an additional subscription fee.

News: Email Security in iPhone

iPhone is of no use to business clients, if it does not support the corporate delivery for corporate emails. That is why, Sybase Inc. has already planned selling the software, which could help the popular device gain use among business clients by allowing them to access their emails.

The program for Apple Inc.'s iPhone will be released before the end of this year. The new program will let workers use the iPhone to access their e-mail with the same security safeguards that are currently available in products for use on Treo smartphones from Palm Inc. and Research in Motion's BlackBerry.

Sybase is also working on similar software for Android, a new smartphone platform that Google Inc. is developing with dozens of other companies. Android is being put together by the Open Handset Alliance, a collection of 30+ companies, including Intel, TI, Sprint, T-Mobile, HTC, Motorola, Samsung, and Wind River.

This group is putting the finishing touches on this platform, which will consist of a Linux-based operating system, middleware, and key mobile applications. Many of these are likely to tie into Google's services, like Gmail and Google Maps.

Because this platform will be open source, the Alliance hopes it will be quickly extended to incorporate new technologies as they emerge.
In addition, it will be open to third-parties to create applications using Java.

The new Sybase software programs will allow businesses to deliver e-mail to several different types of phones, depending on which device a user carries.

Touchscreen Laptop by 2010

The new version of 'Touchscreen laptop' is due already, to come out in 2010. This will replace a traditional keyboard with a second touch-sensitive video screen. The screen can be configured as a keyboard or the device can be opened flat and used as an electronic book. It is desined for the emerging world out there, while keeping in mind to make it userfriendly for the childeren. This is a collaboratice effort from acedima and the industry involved in the social projects. “You can fold it flat and use it as one continuous display,” said Nicholas Negroponte, the founder of 'One Laptop per Child Foundation' the foundation’s founder.Negroponte said the organization hoped to price the new computer at $75 each, compared with the $188 price for the current generation of laptops. Mary Lou Jepsen, who left One Laptop per Child to launch a for-profit business, will work with Negroponte's organization to design the new laptop.

The One Laptop per Child Foundation, is a New England based nonprofit organization which is planning a new version of its inexpensive laptop for developing countries. They have defined their mission statement in ternms of FOUR Ps

In addition, this non-profit organization is planning the resumption of the get-one-give- one program to allow people in affluent countries to buy two of the laptops and donate one to a child in a developing country. This is a brilliant idea to spread the fire of knowledge across the untamed among the folks needs to be lit up with it, out there.

Negroponte said the program will resume in August or September and will be open to buyers in North America and Europe. He said the previous program, which opened last year to people in North America, enabled the One Laptop to distribute 30,000 additional laptops to children in Rwanda, Mongolia, and Haiti.

JLA Ventures: RIM, RBC, and Thomson

RIM is rocking with its announcement to make a $150 million fund that will invest in companies creating software for BlackBerrys and other mobile devices. The Royal Bank of Canada and Thomson Reuters are co-investors.

The BlackBerry Partners Fund will be managed by JLA Ventures and RBC Venture Partners. This move from RIM smells similar to Apple's March declaration that it would set up a $100 million "iFund" for the development of iPhone and iPod Touch applications.

Well, this new BlackBerry model in more than a year: the Bold, a high-end model that further expresses the company's wish to make tools for work with fun and frolic. The Bold, or 9000, has twice the screen resolution of the current Curve model, making for a very sharp display. It matches the resolution, but not the size, of the screen on Apple's iPhone, which has emerged as a potent competitor in the "smart phone" category. It also has much more internal memory, a glossy metallic look, and adds corporate-strength Wi-Fi capabilities to third-generation cellular and Bluetooth radios.

A horizontal screen above a trackball and a keyboard with one letter per key seems impressive. This Canadian, Waterloo based RIM didn't declare a price for their new model 'Bold', nor did it sepcify any agreements with specific cellphone carriers. Assumption is the phone would be available from various carriers this summer. The initial model would support GSM networks, the kind employed by AT&T and T-Mobile. Later models could work on the Sprint Nextel Corp. and Verizon Wireless networks.

Like the Curve and the Pearl, BlackBerry's consumer-oriented phones, the Bold has a full-size headset jack and a camera that can also capture video. At the same time, it has dual-band Wi-Fi, a feature previously only found on a model aimed at the corporate market.The Bold will also have exchangable back plates in different colors, a first for a BlackBerry.

iPhone's Global Reach

The paucity of iPhones for sale in some markets comes as Apple is hustling to meet its goal of selling 10 million of the hybrid iPod-cell phone-Internet surfing gadgets by the end of 2008. So far, Apple has sold 5.4 million iPhones, according to the latest data as of the end of March.

Apple, is rapidly linking its network with the world wide wireless carriers to expand its presence across the Globe. In the Asia-Pacific region, SingTel will sell the gadget in Singapore, Bharti Airtel in India, Globe Telecom in the Philippines and Optus in Australia, SingTel has about 2.3 million mobile subscribers in Singapore and around 7 million in Australia.

According to data as of Dec. 31, 2007. Bharti currently has about 64 million subscribers, while Globe reported a 21.3 million mobile subscriber base for the quarter ended March 31.

Last week, the top mobile phone operator in Latin America, America Movil SAB, also announced plans to deliver the iPhone to its region. America Movil has 159.2 million subscribers in 16 countries, including Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Mexico.

In recent weeks Apple has also signed deals with Rogers Communications Inc. to sell the device in Canada; Milan-based Telecom Italia to sell the iPhone in Italy; and Vodafone Group, the world's biggest mobile company by sales, to sell it in a total of 10 countries, including Australia, India, Italy and Turkey

Apple is also planning a software update for this summer that makes the iPhone work better with corporate e-mail, a necessary upgrade to help the iPhone compete with Research in Motion Ltd.'s BlackBerry and Palm Inc.'s Treo smart phones. Girding for a fight with Apple in the business-oriented smart-phone space, Research In Motion on Monday unveiled the Bold, its first BlackBerry model to work over 3G.

Mobiles offer SOS service

Cellphones have proved to be a great device rescuing people out of emergency situations. No body thought it could be a blessing when one do not have access to 'Radio', 'TV' or if there is no electricity either that the mobile alert systems can avert an upcoming radom situation.

In one of the situation, when fierce storms hit California in early January, submerging streets and felling power lines, Steve Livingston was prepared. Armed with a text message alert from the San Mateo County Office of Emergency Services, he dodged the flood and made it home safely. A few months earlier, when a surprise earthquake shook the region, Livingston, chief marketing officer of Sunnyvale, Calif.-based mobile transaction firm mBlox was in Los Angeles on a business trip. Alerted by a text message from the same service, he rushed to call his family back in Hillsborough, near San Mateo. "The pervasiveness of text messaging makes it one of the best ways to communicate to masses of people," he says.

As the Technology evolve these small gadgets are getting smarter with intelligent features in it. All one need to do is sign into the message alert system that could be life saving. Even the government is signing on. The Federal Communications Commission is developing a national mobile alert system for 2010. The messages, which will be distributed through the country's four largest carriers (AT&T, Verizon, Sprint Nextel and T-Mobile) will include "presidential" or national emergency alerts, weather and local emergency alerts and child abductions.

Moreover, the public companies are designing their own mobile safety network system. For instance, several phone makers, including Samsung and Asus, offer SOS functions that — with the push of a button — ping pre-set numbers with text messages that warn the sender is in danger.

Some firms are going further, viewing phones as the 21st-century equivalent of medical ID bracelets. Marina Del Ray, Calif.-based developer MyRapidMD Corp. is one. Its Emergency Service Profile software application is designed to be installed on cellphones and relay basic information about its owner to first responders. Users submit data including blood type, medications, allergies, emergency contacts and a photo for identification purposes. The information resides on their phones where it can be quickly and easily accessed, even in areas without cellular reception. If the phone is broken, emergency workers can call a 1-800 number and access the data remotely.

"It's not meant to be a full medical history — just key data for those first 15 minutes, when people most need that information," notes MyRapidMD President Mark White.

Let's Compare iPhone

Screen Resolution + Input Method

Because the iPhone uses a virtual ‘soft’ on-screen keyboard instead of the full QWERTY keyboard on the Treo, Apple has naturally used this additional space to increase the screen size

Operating System

The PalmOS has now successfully powered many generations of Treo smartphones while the OS X variant which powers the iPhone has yet to prove its mettle – particularly when it comes to telephony where Palm has had the benefit of a long learning curve.

Storage

The opportunity to have 4 or 8GB of permanent storage on the iPhone may prove appealing at first but the fact is that seasoned Treo users fully understand the higher benefits that an external SD card storage provides. For some $150 I can easily add an 8GB SD card for data storage on my Treo without limitation to the number of cards that one can use.

GSM + Wireless Data + Camera

While both the iPhone and Treo 680 share an almost identical Quad-Band radio with GSM/GPRS/EDGE support there is no doubt that Apple wins points here by adding WiFi, Bluetooth 2.0 and a 2.0 megapixel camera. However, the use of WiFi is likely going to quickly drain the iPhone’s non-removable battery which is a consideration to keep in mind. Also, a 3G iPhone is planned for Europe by the end of 2007.

Battery

While the battery performance of the iPhone and Treo 680 are fairly similar with 5 and 4 hours of Talk Time respectively there is no doubt that the removable battery on the Treo provides significantly better power options for Treonauts on the go.

Dimensions + Weight

While the Treo 680 is some 15% heavier than the iPhone the fact is that I consider the additional weight of the full QWERTY keyboard, SD card slot and removable battery to be well worth it.

Comparison of Technical Specifications

Leaving these technical specifications aside the iPhone does offer some unique and innovative features that Treo could certainly learn from- the impressive overall look & feel of the user interface with very rich graphical elements which I have been yearning to see equally well represented on the Treo. The UI looks rich, inviting and user-friendly.

The iPhone’s “Visual Voicemail” which allows you to go directly to any of your messages without listening to the prior messages so you can quickly select the messages that are most important to you is a feature that many Treo power users have suggested for some time but which Apple is now first to implement.

With a full iPod interface inside the iPhone it is clear that people will be delighted with its Music, Movies and Photos capabilities. The Safari web browser looks extremely robust and has a stunning display for web pages. iPhone uses a rich HTML email client that fetches your email in the background from most POP3 or IMAP mail services and displays photos and graphics right along with the text (albeit it looks considerably more complex to use than on the Treo).

The iPhone’s “Widgets” like the Weather pictured here above are an absolute pleasure to look at and the iPhone’s “horizontal scrolling” is equally smart. Advanced sensors including an accelerometer detect when you rotate the device from portrait to landscape and changes the display orientation; a proximity sensor detects when you lift the iPhone to your ear and turns of the display while an ambient light sensor automatically adjusts the display’s brightness.

Other Comparisons

This is a great iPhone comparison matrix showing the iphone side by side other leading smart phones. It really gives you a good perspective how the iPhone compares on size, price, and features. Another good iPhone comparison can be found at www.iphonevsblackberry.com