Software giant Google has unveiled a visual search application forsmartphones called Google Goggles. When users with the new mobileapplication take a picture, Google launches a search for informationassociated with that image, whether it is a bottle of wine at avineyard, the façade of a restaurant in Manhattan, or a street sign inthe backwoods of West Virginia. Once the search is complete, usersreceive a list of links on their smartphones just as they would ontheir computer after a conventional Google word search.
Vic Gundotra, vice president of engineering at Google, says that thecurrent form of Google Goggles, which introduces the idea ofimage-based search instead of word-based search, is only the beginning:“Today you have to frame a picture and snap a photo to get results, butin the future you will simply be able to point to it. [It will be] assimple and easy as pointing your finger at an object, and we'll be ableto treat it like a mouse pointer for the real world."
Google also released a new location-based service named What’s Nearby,which allows users in unfamiliar places to access a map of theirlocation and find out the 10 closest points of interest, fromrestaurants to shops to museums and parks. When combined with GoogleGoggles and Google Maps Navigation, the application provides driverswith a comprehensive set of location-based services that ensure theyare well informed and well oriented.
In yet more Google news, the software corporation hinted that it wouldrelease a new smartphone in early 2010 with software made entirely byGoogle. This year saw the launch of the Google Android operatingsystem, but currently Google licenses that system to other smartphonecompanies (like Blackberry and Verizon) rather than harnessing it to aplatform of its own that can compete with the iPhone. The Googlesmartphone will be called the Nexus One.
Google rival Microsoft announced that Navteq will deliver 3D map data and other mapping visuals to Bing Maps.The data will enable a feature called Streetside, which providescontinuous street-level views of many parts of the country. ErikJorgensen, corporate vice president of MSN at Microsoft, says the newStreetside feature aspires to bring “the mapping experience alive” forusers. Other features of the new Bing Maps, still in Beta, includeenhanced aerial views and 3D modeling, which enables users to rotateimages 360 degrees in one spot.
Also responding to Google, and the encroaching threat of free Google Maps Navigation,
TomTomslashed the price of its iPhone GPS app in half, from $99 to $49. Theonly feature that the cheaper TomTom GPS app lacks is maps of Canada.Otherwise, it’s the same as the older version. The application isavailable in Apple’s App Store for American customers only.
QNX Software Systems has developedthe QNX CAR application platform, which allows developers to target thecar with cloud-based applications. The idea of the platform is todeliver an iPhone-caliber user experience to drivers. QNX CAR comeswith an infotainment reference implementation that makes it easier fordevelopers to integrate their apps with Adobe, Apple, Google,Gracenote, Microsoft, and Pandora. Already developers are using theplatform for 2011 vehicles.
Tele Atlas announced that it will provide digital maps and location content for GPS Tuner Atlas, an off-road navigation software from
GPS Tuner.The software provides digital maps and navigation to outdoorenthusiasts of every ilk—off-road drivers, bird watchers, runners,cyclists, and golfers. Tele Atlas will enhance the product with itshigh-resolution satellite imagery in Europe and the United States. GPSTuner Atlas will available on mobile devices in 2010.
Hertz announced that it will partner with Greenopia to add a new eco-friendly guide to its NeverLostnavigation system. Starting in 2010, renters from Hertz will haveaccess to a list of green businesses in Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles,New York City, and San Francisco. “With the addition of Greenopia toNeverLost Online Trip Planning, Hertz is making it easier for rentersto harness the latest technology to make eco-friendly decisions whiletraveling in unfamiliar locations,” says Mark P. Frissora, chairman andchief executive officer of the Hertz Corporation.
Finally,
BMW has enlisted theservices of MILE Traffic and Travel to provide real-time trafficinformation throughout Europe for its drivers. MILE is a consortium of
ITIS,
Mediamobile, and
Infoblue,which are leading providers of traffic information in the UK, France,and Italy respectively. Their collective deal with BMW marks the firsttime that a car manufacture will provide a pan-European telematicsservice to its drivers.
Chief executives from ITIS, Mediamobile, and Infoblue all expressedexcitement about the BMW endorsement, and said they looked forward tobringing “next generation traffic information” to Germany. “We areparticularly delighted to be building a new service in Germany and tobe able to enter this important market through innovation and the useof latest technologies,” says Stuart Marks, chief executive of ITIS.“BMW have exceptionally high standards and we were selected based onour ability to meet these.”
BMW’s new service through MILE will most closely resemble Ford’s SYNCservice in the U.S., which provides Ford drivers with GPS, emergencyservice, voice-activated search, and real-time traffic. BMW partnerswith ATX Group in the U.S. to provide a similar suite of services(roadside assistance, automatic collision notification, and real-timetraffic), but until now a similar service had been lacking from theirEuropean fleet. The new MILE service will concentrate on Germany butcover all of Europe with up-to-the-minute traffic updates and videostreaming.
Andrew Tolve
