Exploring all aspects of mapping and geography, from field data collection, to mapping and analysis, to integration, applications development and enterprise architecture...
Geospatial Technology, End to End...
Exploring all aspects of mapping and geography, from field data collection, to mapping and analysis, to integration, applications development, enterprise architecture and policy
Posted by
Dave Smith
On
7/11/2008 04:55:00 PM
2
comments
Was just a little over a year ago that I shrugged at the release of the iPhone... Finally, they are coming through with some of the things I suggested quite a while back, primarily
True GPS
3G data connection vs. EDGE
Almost as good as my AT&T Tilt now, but still doesn't run all of the mobile GIS apps I have.
Peter Batty on Google's "Locate Me" capability (location finding via cell towers), along with hybrid mode maps in an upcoming iPhone firmware 1.1.3 release - The Digital Earth Blog and others mention this as well - more on the new firmware here:
Personally, I'm not thrilled at how Apple still has the platform locked down, with restricted capability for users to upgrade and develop for the iPhone platform...
As for me, I still have my own bias for my AT&T Tilt, which, while perhaps not as stylish or elegant, nonetheless already has all of the functionality that these iPhone, N95 and other imminent releases are still striving for - and it's proven to be a good, reliable and versatile workhorse for me already.
Posted by
Dave Smith
On
6/30/2007 10:58:00 AM
5
comments
Yesterday, I was offered an iPhone, out of the blue. Yea, it's really cool, has an incredible interface, is power-packed with features, and just amazing technological innovations. But... I remain skeptical, I just don't share the enthusiasm that Peter Batty and others are demonstrating. Just a few things I have found thus far:
Maps, but no GPS. Huh? No apparent map APIs for us technogeeks who would seek to leverage it with other GIS capabilities. I'd just as soon run my mobile navigation software, along with ArcPad and other goodies...
Runs OSX, but it's not really OSX - It's stripped down and locked down so you can't use OSX software, can't use 3rd-party software, can't develop for it.
Security - Apple's smug arrogance that they are invulnerable to hacks, viruses and everything really does not sit well with me. It's a function of many things - the "get big evil Micro$oft" syndrome among hackers, market share, accessibility of development tools, and other things, not so much that Apple is in actually any more secure.
When you're not connected to the internet via WiFi, you get AT&T Edge - at 40kbps, that's slower than dial-up. Granted, they are upgrading to 80kbps...
And so on...
Maybe I will pass this time around, and instead wait for the next-generation iPhone. For the interim, I might prefer to go with a GPS-integrated Windows Mobile SmartPhone instead.
Originally from Massachusetts, I grew up in Germany during ten years of the Cold War. Since then, I call Pennsylvania home, by way of El Paso, Boston, Philadelphia and Washington. I began in the Surveying field right out of high school, and while getting my B.Sc at Penn State, pursued a wide variety of academic interests, from surveying and photogrammetry to physics and civil engineering to computer science, and began to get involved in the still-fledgling fields of GIS and Remote Sensing, including a student GIS project for the City of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Over the past 20 years I have fused all of these disciplines, having obtained my license as a Professional Land Surveyor, followed by my Professional Engineer license, with my longstanding interest in computer science, to develop and deliver a wide variety of applications geared toward support of surveying, CAD, GIS, engineering and environmental science. I recently joined the US Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Environmental Information, where I am national program manager for EPA's Facility Registry System.
Was just a little over a year ago that I shrugged at the release of the iPhone... Finally, they are coming through with some of the things I suggested quite a while back, primarily
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