Gizmodo
Nokia GPS Phones to Fight the Traffic Plague
Nokia has developed software that allows data to be received from GPS enabled phones, which is then compiled and interpreted into traffic flow patterns, which is kinda similar to what Dash GPS units offer. However, these plans are currently at concept stage, with a demonstration recently taking place as a joint venture between Nokia, California Center for Innovative Transportation (CCIT), CalTrans, and Berkeley's Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.
The data sent back from each test car logged the vehicle's speed and location via an on board N95 handset, this information was then sent to a central control station, which in turn relayed the relevant travel alerts. Nokia are quick to point out that their technology has an economical benefit over similar systems, mainly because it relies solely on technology people already own. Given the soon-to-be ubiquitous nature of GPS enabled cellphones, we would have to agree with Nokia's observation. Rest your privacy woes aside; the information sent will be completely anonymous. Nokia seem to be making a big effort in this field, and it certainly sounds like a win, win to us—go ahead and checkout the video at CNet. [CNet]
3:25 PM ON SAT FEB 9 2008
BY HAROON MALIK
2,497 views
Comment
That sounds pretty cool, but how would this data be any more accurate than Google? Also: It doesn't change the fact that there is only one Bay Bridge and one Golden Gate Bridge. I feel bad for commuters (BART or car)...that crap makes me feel lucky I work from home.
Isn't this what the GPS unit Dash does?
dash.net
does anybody really believe this is "anonymous". There have been other "anonymous" systems that haven't been honest. AT&T rings a bell. Look, if I kill somebody, and I tell the police I was somewhere else, this could really hurt my story. But seriously, I already use google maps, and here in California, we already have state funded traffic monitoring systems. Besides think of all the extra network traffic this would create. Our cell phone quality is already below acceptable standards 25% of the time.
I was one of the drivers in the experiment yesterday. There ended up being a six car pile-up in a right line on 880 that they were able to pinpoint exactly from our driving patterns. Pretty cool stuff, and the data they collected was apparently just as they'd hoped.
Telenav already does this on most phones.
Stated that it will be anonymous or not, I do not want my whereabouts continually cataloged in any database. Seems like something the government would just love to have access to. My IMEA/telephone number is available to this technology.
Yeah, sounds paranoid, but I'm reminded of the Hertz GPS equipped vehicles where Hertz mailed their own imposed fines to past renters, after tracking how fast they were driving.
All I've ever heard about the N95's navi is that it sucks. It takes too much time to connect to satellites and it is supposed to be very slow on giving directions causing often street missing. A friend got the N95 cause of the GPS and then got a Garmin GPS cause the N95's GPS sucks.
@rbf2000: well yea you can buy a cell then plus a gps unit, but the point is having a cell that has already GPS
so... what about battery life? 12h?
12h??? if you place a car battery on it maybe. I had an N95 and the battery was holding up to 2 days, without very much talking and blue tooth use. Imagine for how long a battery will last on a GPS application.
[www.i-guide.ro]
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