Apple iPhone 5 / 4S launching on 4th October 2011. It is supposed to have a bigger screen, a 8 megapixel camera, GSM + CDMA chipset in one, better faster gprs 21 Mbps. They are planning to launch it by 15th of October 2011. Fingers Crossed

The new retina display on the Apple iPhone 4

Retina display is also called Virtual retina display VRD. t is an “IPS” technology and is “better than OLED technology for smaller products like the iPhone.

A VRD unit consists of 4 modules; drive electronics to break down an incoming source image into an information stream, a light source made up of laser(s) or LED(s), a scanner bank made up of horizontal and vertical scanners, and a lens to expand the image that projects through the scanners. As in a television, the scanners rapidly oscillate left-to-right or down-to-up, selectively permitting colors through in precise configurations that produce a high-resolution 2mm x 2mm field of pixels. Then a lens acting as an expander boosts the size of the image to something like 18mm x 18mm, allowing for a larger and more natural image. The pixel field is then projected onto the eye, where the eye's lens focuses the image onto the retina. Aside from tapping into the optic nerve itself, there may be no more effective way to display an image.

The virtual retinal display is highly efficient with respect to power consumption, requiring far less power than the postage-stamp LCD screens used commonly in today's mobile devices. A VRD display uses about a microwatt of power. Since VRD displays project images directly onto the retina, they provide a sharp, clear image regardless of external lighting conditions. VRD displays require a fraction of the hardware of conventional display devices, allowing for lighter and more elegant mobile devices, in high demand for today's electronics market. VRD shows strong potential to replace LCD screens in cell phones, handheld computers, handheld gaming systems, and eventually even larger computers such as laptops.

VRD technology is being exclusively commercialized by the Seattle-based tech company MicroVision, Inc. Two products available so far include Nomad(tm), a head-mounted VRD system that displays a monochromatic overlay of relevant information to a task at hand, and Flic(tm), a laser bar code scanner. Nomad uses Windows CE and the 802.11b wireless protocol. As the components of VRD displays decrease in cost and the manufacturing processes used to create them improve, distribution of the product will surely expand to a very large market.

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-virtual-retinal-display.htm

GIS Dev Updates in India

GIS in India is proliferating at jet speed !! And not only GIS, but more products are taking birth with solutions built around it. Mostly in Local Search , classifieds, LBS and mapping solutions.

Recently rediff maps came into picture. It was a huge disappointment after looking at this beta product. It looks like they were in real hurry to push this product live without even thinking to correct their basics right. Its a crap, and we know it.

Giants in Indian mapping like google maps, yahoo maps, mapmyindia are steadily progressing at a slower pace. As such, no new innovations are visible, but they are not at all quiet. They are adding up the data on daily basis. Mostly, yahoo maps are pushing more detailed tiles for 2nd, 3rd tier cities of India. Google is more into launching their routing solutions for India. Looking at directions in India on google maps will be fun. Hopefully, the routing features will be similar as they provide on US maps.

Vidteq has come up with a brilliant product for Bangalore Junta. Showing videos of roads and traffic while searching a route is the best feature a user can demand for. Good luck ! Vidteq team :)

Today, google enabled Directions/Routing feature in India. This is not available through maps.google.com, rather its available on google.com/mapmaker

Chat without installing messenger using javascript based messenger

Inline chats are in, but what if u need more functionalities.

Have a look at http://izuz.net/
It has javascript based messengers for Google talk, Windows LIVE messenger, MSN Messenger, Yahoo Messenger, AOL Messenger

You can be any where in the world, be it africa, china, russia, mongolia... chat easily.

http://izuz.net/

Google chrome... the brand new browser with brand new features

Google comes up with a new browser, Google chrome, to challege the Internet explorer which is the banner of Microsoft as far as the browsers are concerned.  It has been built using the Mozilla as the backbone, integrating Apple safari and apple webkit. Built on a multiprocess environment. having a seperate thread, seperate memory for each tab, which gets realeased when the tab is closed.

Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US) AppleWebKit/525.13 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/0.2.149.27 Safari/525.13

Its fast. Built very intelligently, for instance the full screen mode is like default and u dont need the top bar always with the browser.

Google Chrome is a browser that combines a minimal design with sophisticated technology to make the web faster, safer, and easier.

Crash control can control a tab crash, the browser need not be closed. 

People behind firewall can rejoice, incognito mode allows u to open sites that are behind firewall and for which there will be no trace.

so enjoy.

There are other basic features that are taken from IE and Firefox. 

http://www.google.com/chrome

Forest GIS free GIS software

Forestry GIS (fGIS™) is a compact but robust shapefile editing program, digitizer and GIS data query tool for Windows®. fGIS was designed for natural resource managers who are not GIS specialists. It's easy-to-use and simple to install. Many power users also like fGIS because they can run it on laptops or home computers without copyright issues, it produces data compatible with commercial GIS programs, and fGIS is free.

http://www.forestpal.com/fgis.html

You'll find that fGIS is relatively simple to use:

• Open and view geo-referenced raster images including digital orthophotos and topographic maps in MrSID®, ECW, BIL, ADF, JPG, TIFF, GeoTIFF, BMP, IMG, JPEG2000, PNG and SDTS file formats.

• Open and view vector data in ESRI® shapefile (SHP) and e00 files, AutoCAD DXF™, MapInfo® MIF, Microstation® DGN, DLG-O, TIGER2000/line, GML/XML, SDTS and TatukGIS SQL (ttkls) file formats. An advanced R-Tree index system allows easy viewing of large (100+ MB) data files.

• Create and edit point, line and area shapefile objects and their associated data attribute tables. fGIS also edits and writes MIF, DXF, DLG & GML vector layers.

• Buffer point, line or area objects at any designated radius or width.

• Generate Cruise Points. Select an area object and fill it with either a random or ordered grid.

• Design maps with pre-defined layer symbology (PDF preview 28KB), or use advanced layer properties to define your own.

• Copy and paste shapefile objects from one layer to another.

• Designate the direction and distance of the next leg of a line or polygon with the COGO-like Traverse Tool. Directions can be entered in decimal degrees or degrees-minutes-seconds (handy for plotting deeds or laying out a field data collection route).

• Split a polygon or line (including GPS tracks) into separate units by drawing a line with the Split Shapes Tool.

• Clip Shapefiles to the boundaries of a polygon layer.

• Merge multiple shapefiles into a new one.

• Customize map properties including line width and color, area fills, label fonts and positions, image transparency, thematic rendering of data and more.

• Measure areas and distances. fGIS reports distances and areas in English units (feet, miles and acres) and metric units. Area and perimeter measurement fields can be added to data tables and updated automatically.

• Display data at user-specified scales.

• View maps in 3D.

• Map live GPS positions from any connected GPS unit with NMEA output (beta).

• Extract geo-referenced images of selected portions of a screen display.

• Export part of a vector layer and save it as a new file.

• Manage large data sets organized in dBase tables with the "Load Library Layer" utility.

• Join dBase and Access tables to shapefile attribute tables.

• Create point shapefiles from comma delimited text files with x|y coordinates.

• Convert Geographic WGS84 coordinate shapefiles to and from worldwide UTM zones and Wisconsin Transverse Mercator.  (Use the MN DNR Garmin Tool for transferring shapefile waypoint and track data to and from GPS units.)

• Print the map with three flexible output options. The Simple Print command will add a map title, subtitle, footer and the scale to the page. The Send Map to Word command will send an image of the view at a user specified resolution and scale to Microsoft® Word. A third option through the Export Image tool will send the map to a technical illustration/page layout module called Diagram Designer. You can add headers, legends, annotations and non-spatial symbols from template palettes in the Diagram Designer module.

• Save WMF files for use in publishing programs.

• Georeference scanned images with fGIS and other available freeware.

• More specifications and instructions are here.

File format converter

Do you have any Office 2007 file which you desperately want to convert  to office 2003. Heres a tool using which you can convert Microsoft Office 2007 files to 2003 format. The extension changes from .docx to .doc for which you dont need to have office 2007

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/thankyou.aspx?familyId=cf196df0-70e5-4595-8a98-370278f40c57&displayLang=en

Enjoy !

What is CommunityViz(R)?

What is CommunityViz^®?

If you are a planner, chances are you already know a little about CommunityViz, the popular GIS software for land-use planning. On this site you�ll find all the latest information on features, upgrades, purchasing, and more. Please feel free to look around, and e-mail or call us if you are not finding what you need.

If you are new to planning or to CommunityViz, read on for a brief introduction to the Why, Who and How of this powerful software tool.

Why

All over the world, cities, towns and regions face complex yet important decisions about their future. As population increases, communities need to choose where and how to shape themselves. There are thousands of questions like these:

• Where will or should houses, apartments and commercial buildings go?
• What roads, schools, water and infrastructure will be needed in future?
• Will tax revenue be enough to pay for services?
• What will traffic be like, and can it be reduced?
• What will happen to the natural environment?
• What will become of the local way of life � the heart and soul of the community?
• What can be done to improve the quality of life?

Fundamentally, communities need to decide how hundreds of economic, environmental and social considerations can be addressed and woven together to create vibrant places to live now and in the years to come.

While these decisions are important, they are also complex. Myriad factors are in play. Making wise, informed decisions requires combining science, data, and points of view from many fields at once � a task for which CommunityViz is designed.

Who

The people and organizations that use CommunityViz are diverse. They work in countries all over the world and they include:

• State and local governments of all sizes
• Regional planning and transportation agencies
• Federal agencies
• Professional firms and consultants
• Universities and academic institutions
• Non-profit organizations

Some of these people use CommunityViz �hands-on� every day; others simply see and interact with the rich set of multimedia outputs, reports, and visuals that CommunityViz users can create; still others are somewhere in between. CommunityViz is a flexible, customizable platform that can serve a wide variety of purposes.

How

CommunityViz is based on geographic information systems (GIS) software � computerized maps that can contain rich information about the physical world. In particular, CommunityViz plugs into ArcGIS^‐-brand desktop software from ESRI, the world�s leading GIS platform and the place where most planning organizations store information about the places they work.

CommunityViz adds a large suite of extra functions that combine with ArcGIS to make a more specialized, powerful decision-making platform � tools for setting up alternative futures (scenarios) and analyzing their effects; tools for making interactive three-dimensional (3-D) models of real places as they are now and as they could be in future; tools for explaining and communicating across the many groups of people who become involved in making decisions about the future of a place.

Some ways of using CommunityViz are very easy and anyone can do them; others are more sophisticated and require knowledge of GIS. Some people use CommunityViz themselves, and others hire certified CommunityViz professional consultants to help them apply it in particular settings.

http://www.placeways.com/communityviz/?p=communityviz

ArcMap MXD to ArcIMS AXL & MapServer converter/ export utility

NEW!
After over 9000 downloads I added the option to create configuration files for other Web Map Servers like MapServer ( http://mapserver.gis.umn.edu ) besides the already supported ArcIMS! You can extend this to other formats by adding new XSLT transformation stylesheets (see below 'Adding other formats')

The configuration files for ArcIMS and for MapServer are focussed on creating Open Geospatial Consortium compliant Web Map Services (OGC-WMS).

The files generated for MapServer can be customized by editing the "resoures/_MXDtoMap.xsl" file. The default form is particularly focussed on users that publish metadata and services through GeoNetwork opensource ( http://geonetwork-opensource.org ).

http://arcscripts.esri.com/details.asp?dbid=12766

zigGIS - PostGIS connector for ArcGIS, free ArcGIS plugin

PostGIS connector for ArcGIS zigGIS is an ArcGis plug-in that allows loading and viewing of PostGIS layers. The hope is to eventually get zigGIS so that it will also edit PostGIS layers.

The official zigGIS web site is http://code.google.com/p/ziggis/. The old ZigGis web site is no longer supported.

We have imported the svn project in google code, source code can be checked out at this address:

http://ziggis.googlecode.com/svn/

The ZigGIS logo - designed by Jeremiah Lewis, a very good friend of Abe - represents the aim of zigGIS, an Open Source GIS package that span Open Source and commercial GIS database packages. Launch zig for great justice!

Download it from : http://code.google.com/p/ziggis/

--
samiazm!™

ESRI ready to release ArcGIS Explorer build 450

ESRI is about to release an update to ArcGIS Explorer.

Build 450 will add no new features, but will resolve a number of graphics card related issues that we inadvertently picked up at 440 (via ArcGlobe apparently).

--
Ritesh Ambastha,

Free Spaces 25 GB- Share your data or atleast store it...

Hi all,

Heres a list of sites that are offering free space to store and share data

MediaMax offers 25 GB of free space to upload and share the data.


https://www.mediamax.com/Brands/MediaMax/home/signup.aspx

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Offers 5 Gb of free sharing and uploading space. Interface is good.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Xdrive Features

• Back up your valuable files - your music, photos and more - automatically.
• Conveniently access all your files from anywhere.
• Easily share your files with friends and family.
• Get 5GB for Free!

its an AOL Service..

Visit : www.xdrive.com
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Then there is the


Omnidrive allows 5 gb of data storage space with a good and user friendly front end.

http://www.omnidrive.com/

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Got stuff to share? Give it a home on eSnips and expect the unexpected!

Yes, the esnips interface is more for the multimedia stuff where as rest others are like a common explorer kind of interfaces making it easier for the users to share and store the data.

www.esnips.com
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Free online virus, malware, spyware scanners

Here are a few options for free online virus, spyware, malware scanners. You need not buy the system, you can use it freely. There are a few dependencies like the browser dependency, sometimes it requires a specific browser like Internet explorer or Mozilla or Safari, it depends on the developers

From the makers of the NOD antivirus

http://www.eset.com/onlinescan/

Bit Defender is one of them

http://www.bitdefender.com/scan8/ie.html

Here is Trend Micro House Call

http://housecall65.trendmicro.com/

Fsecure

http://support.f-secure.com/enu/home/olsbeta.shtml

Internet Operating System (OS ) now making rounds with XIOS/3 XML Based

Xcerion is the new buzz in the air. The Internet OS has arrived it seems. Though in its initial phase and its still in its development, they are claiming big things in a simple way. The OS promises to be easy and better to use than the MAC/Windows and above them it promises to be free. That means you just need a browser that will run the complete OS where you will have free wordprocessing tools, spread sheets and other such stuffs that will make you work simpler. Now when you need a browser what is the use of the OS, May be later they will have a booter that will install itself which will be configured to connect to the internet and then its all yours.

Google too is working on a similar concept. XML based OS, with AJAX and stuff like that. The names still not disclosed but they too will have something promising.

Heres a look at the Xcerion..

http://xcerion.com/index.php

Morange

Yet another tool for the mobile users, this tool is an advancement.

Many services that are new for mobile users with GPRS and WAP.

featuring

• multiple IM accounts: MSN, Yahoo Messenger, Google Talk, Morange Chat. allows u to exchange even pictures.
• PIM exchange
• file transfer, virtual storage space
  
• Mobile social networking like orkut and facebook
• push email supports POP emails
  
• RSS for mobiles, news and blogs
  
• Remote desktop access through mobile

It has java and symbian support. runs perfectly well in India with Vodafone and Sony Ericsson k800i

most of these services are free

Read more from them...

While alternative mobile applications connect only one or to two dots in the mobile world, such as push email or mobile instant messaging, Morange technology is to connect simply everything.

Morange empowers the user to access any information, communicate with anyone and have control on everything from mobile phone. We see the limitation in the current WAP/Browser architecture or isolated program running on each different program device. Instead, we choose to innovate based on the thin-client computing architecture as foundation. We build an open and extendable platform, elegant user interface that works across all different platforms and networks: may it be Windows Mobile, Symbian, J2ME, or Linux. Imagine that Morange is able to offer users the widest choice of applications: Professionals may require Push Mail; yet young generation may prefer instant messaging with their buddies.

www.morange.com check it urself and enjoy

Google Knol the encyclopedia . wikipedia

Google's coming up with its own version of encyclopedia, its called 'Knol', with ads and its own expertise. The concept remains the same that of Wikipedia, community supported encyclopedia. The difference could be of a better technology, better search features. But Wiki is not quiet, its also on its way to start a parallel wiki with ads, without disturbing this one.

I can't understand what difference it makes to make it an ad supporting tool that will generate some fantasctic revenues for wiki, but they must have thought it much harder than me. they are experts. Lets wait and watch the gwiki !

Sami has invited you to join Picsquare

join this and get great benefits on photo prints Sami Azmi (samiazmi@gmail.com) has invited you to open a free Picsquare account. To accept this invitation and register for your account, please click here. Picsquare allows you to upload, organize, view, share and order prints of your digital photographs online. It also provides you with a convenient way to create your own personalized photo gifts, get it printed and delivered to your loved ones. Some of the major features include: Buy digital prints as low as 9 cents / Rs. 3.00 Use unlimited storage capacity for uploading photographs. Organize your photographs using Tags and share them online. Create Personalized Photo Greetings starting at Rs. 49 / $1.39. Buy personalized Photo Calendar as low as $10.99 / Rs. 399. Buy personalized Photo T-shirts as low as $10.99 / Rs. 399. Buy personalized Photo Mug as low as $7.99 / Rs. 299. To learn more about Picsquare, visit Picsquare. (If clicking the URLs in this message does not work, copy and paste them into the address bar of your browser). Thanks, Picsquare Team www.picsquare.com

Location Masti

Location Masti

Mobiance announces "Location Masti" - inviting all hackers for a month long celebration of innovation, creativity and technology.

Location Masti is an opportunity for hackers to use Mobiance's pioneering mobile location technology with other sources of data/ APIs and build innovative applications

What

Location Masti is a location hack event to build innovative mashups based on Location based services using Mobiance's location technology. The event organized by Mobiance is aimed at exploring the countless avenues to build useful and relevant location aware applications by hackers in a spirit of innovation, creativity and masti.

Mobiance will be inviting hackers to take part in this 30 day event building innovative location enabled applications in the fields of social networking, navigation, local search and a whole lot more. In addition to Mobiance's unique technology to determine the location of mobile phones, hackers can aggregate multiple sources of data, make use of various available APIs and tools to deliver their next "killer" application!

Registrations would be open on the 1st of December, 2007. The event will stretch for a period of 30 days from 15th January, 2008 where the developers will be able to use Mobiance's location feeds and build applications that are useful and relevant to individuals by using their location.

When

Announcement of Location Masti: 26th November, 2007

Registrations: 1st December, 2007 to 31st December, 2007

Event run dates: 15th January, 2008 to 15th February, 2008

Final demo and submission: 15th February, 2008

Announcement of results: 1st March, 2008

Live pilots with winning applications: Second quarter 2008

How

Hackers at Location Masti will have simulated location feeds of 20 people available through a web service that they can use in building their applications. The web service will allow requests for both real time location and the archived location of the person at every quarter of an hour for the past day for use by the applications.

If the participants would like to have live location of privacy approved phones instead of simulated feeds, Location Masti allows that too. Just a form to be submitted online and the location feed will be available.

Details of Mobiance's Location feed APIs and web services will be made available to registered hackers at the time of registration.

Participation

Location Masti is open to all people above 15 years of age and who are accepted by Mobiance as "hackers". Hackers can participate

• as individual "hacker" or
• as a "team" of hackers with upto 10 members. Hackers can belong to only one team.
• Corporate hackers may join in the fun

Number of entries

Hackers or teams can submit any number of hacks but will need to specify their hacks at the time of registration.

Accessing Mobiance location Feed

Hackers will be provided a unique access code for each application at the time of registration. This code will be needed to access Mobiance's APIs and/or web services by the applications. Hackers will be required to maintain the privacy of this access code.

Submission of entries

The hackers can make their application available through a URL for demo purposes subject to presentation rules. For submission of entries, the code will have to be uploaded with documentation and instructions through a mechanism communicated to the hackers by Mobiance.

 

We are locationmasti on twitter.
Follow us for updates and announcements.

Web Mapping Illustrated

Developers who want to publish maps on the web often discover that commercial tools cost too much and hunting down the free tools scattered across Internet can use up too much of your time and resources. Web Mapping Illustrated shows you how to create maps, even interactive maps, with free tools, including MapServer, OpenEV, GDAL/OGR, and PostGIS. It also explains how to find, collect, understand, use, and share mapping data, both over the traditional Web and using OGC-standard services like WFS and WMS.

Link: http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/webmapping/

VeoGeo Map (Video & Map Tracking)

VeoGeo takes video sharing to the next level. Now you can map the activities you video, and share even more of the experience!


See what people from around the world are doing, and see where they’re doing it!

* Capture your outdoor activities on your video camera
* Capture a GPS record at the same time
* Upload them to VeoGeo and share them with the world

This could take off with GPS and Video Capture on Mobile Phones.
The N95 could be used in conjunction with Sports Tracker and the 5 mega pixel camera.

As the video is played the map has a route and marker that moves in relation to the geographic position in the video. A nice touch is the graph that shows both speed/acceleration and elevation.