In+ersec+ion for Spatial People

Spring is here, time to get outside and enjoy the warm weather!  Pixeostar has released a new location based GPS mapping app, called Blipp, that is great for the outdoors! This free app allows you to mark your memorable moments on a map and share them with Facebook friends. Imagine you are hiking up a mountain and you get a notification that 3 years ago your best friend was engaged there – how cool! From big events like weddings to smaller ones like catching your first fish, if it’s important to you, you can share it with Blipp.  Sharing life’s events with friends is important, and sharing them on an interactive map makes it even more special - it’s a great way to stay connected.

Contest Information:
To help promote Blipp we decided to run a contest. Check out official rules here: http://www.blippapp.com/contest/

At the end of the contest (April 30th) we will randomly select 1 entry and that winner will receive a Garmin Handheld GPS .

Please download the app here:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.blipp

A recent article on the BBC website outlines a study undertaken at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the Catholic University of Louvain which established that individuals can be uniquely identified by just four points of mobile phone location data. The study makes interesting reading regarding the collection of "Big Data" and personal privacy.

The full report from the study can be found here.

Supergeo Technologies, the leading global provider of complete GIS software and solutions, announced that SuperGIS Server 3.1a Standard edition will support Mobile SDK to help developers easily customize mobile applications to connect with SuperGIS Server services.

Designed for creating, managing, integrating and publishing various types of GIS services, SuperGIS Server 3.1a can integrate all types of spatial data, images, and GIS functions into desktop, mobile, and web applications over the Internet, assisting enterprises in building ideal workflow and improving productivity in making decisions efficiently.

The newest SuperGIS Server 3.1a offers Value and Standard editions to your requirements in diverse projects. The Value edition supports to publish map services, feature services and basic geoprocessing services. Except for serving all functions offered by Value edition, the Standard edition can publish advanced geoprocessing services and provide Mobile SDK.

To meet the requirements of accessing SuperGIS Server services on mobile devices, developers can apply SuperGIS Server Mobile SDK to customize applications on diverse platforms such as iOS, Android and Windows Mobile, allowing users to manipulate functions including map viewing, measurement, etc.

More new product features about SuperGIS Server 3.1, please visit http://www.supergeotek.com/LandingPage_SGS3.aspx

The free trial is available at http://www.supergeotek.com/download_6.aspx

Via APB, I learned about a Business Insider article named Wow, The New BlackBerry Maps Are Worse Than Apple Maps.

From the article: "Here are just a few of the problems we found in BlackBerry Maps: 

• No street view or satellite view.
• No public transit directions. 
• No way to look up news and reviews of venues based on Yelp, Zagat, or a similar service. 
• It has problems finding lesser-known venues like mom and pop stores and restaurants. (Although if you search for popular stuff like "McDonald's" or "The Empire State Building" you won't have a problem.)
• You can only look up directions between your current location and the place you'd like to go. You can't look up two different addresses and find directions between them.
• The interface is difficult to figure out."

Supergeo Technologies, the leading global provider of complete GIS software and solutions, partners with Géo.RM to cooperatively promote SuperGIS software and solutions in French-speaking countries, helping users improve work efficiency in decision-making, planning, and operational management by means of GIS technologies.   

Established in 1991 and based in Poitiers, France, Géo.RM is the professional GIS consulting company which specializes in providing GPS and GIS mapping solutions for fulfilling a variety of industry applications such as telecommunications, networks, pipeline management, environment conservation, etc.

After evaluating SuperGIS mapping software, Géo.RM is especially impressed by its high productive efficiency, powerful GIS functions, and reasonable price and further expects to offer the cost-efficient GIS alternatives including mobile, desktop and server solutions to government institutes and enterprises.

By taking the opportunity to partnering with Géo.RM, Supergeo is able to establish new distribution channel to widely promote its GIS innovations to French-speaking clients, explore new markets and achieve cooperative success.

More information about SuperGIS software, please visit http://www.supergeotek.com/products_all_product_list.aspx

More information about Géo.RM, please visit www.georm.fr; www.geo-boutique.com

#  #  #

About Supergeo

Supergeo Technologies Inc. is a leading global provider of GIS software and solutions. Since the establishment, Supergeo has dedicated to providing state-of-the-art geospatial technologies and comprehensive services for customers around the world. It is our vision to help users utilize geospatial technologies to create a better world.

Supergeo software and applications have been spread over the world to be the backbone of the world’s mapping and spatial analysis. Supergeo is the professional GIS vendor, providing GIS-related users with complete GIS solutions for desktop, mobile, server, and Internet platforms.

Done. Google Maps for iOS has just been made available. From the official description: "Navigate your world with Google Maps, now available for iPhone. Get comprehensive, accurate and easy-to-use maps with built-in Google local search, voice guided turn-by-turn navigation, public transit directions, Street View and more. Use Google Maps to discover great places to eat, drink, shop and play, with ratings and reviews from people you trust. Sign in to save your favorite places and quickly access all your past searches and directions from your computer, right on your phone."

MacRumors offers an entry named Roundup of Features in Google Maps for iOS: Better Design than Android Version, iPad Version Coming. Which includes:

• A horizontal two-finger swipe allows you to access a menu that shows traffic, public transit, satellite view and Google Earth (which sends you to the Google Earth app).
• Google's point-of-interest database allows you, for example, to read a restaurant review on Zagat, read the menu, book reservations and see interior photos at 100 restaurants.
• Pogue also notes there's a Compass Mode that allows you, at certain locations, to move your phone around and allow you to see the interior of a business on your screen.

November 13th, 2012. Vismo GPS tracking installed on the JCB Toughphone Pro-Smart is ideal for organisations operating in harsh, inhospitable, high risk areas of the World. Aimed at the Oil and Exploration market and those organisations involved in construction in high risk areas, the Vismo/Pro-Smart combination is robust and ready for action in environments where other handsets would be unsuitable. The JCB handset has IP67 certification and is both water and dust proof with the bulky shell protecting delicate innards from unfortunate bumps and drops.

Installing Vismo on the JCB Toughphone enables your security team to track, protect and respond to employees as they travel to higher-risk areas of the world. Vismo provides regular GPS locations direct to a secure web platform as well as the ability to view current locations and historical trails. Each smart phone has a panic button which triggers E-mail and SMS alerts in real time to key contacts along with a 20 second covert audio recording from the device.

The ability to pin-point a member of the team on the ground and correlate their position, respective to high risk areas, is key to maintaining the safety and security of individuals. Additionally, if a member of staff finds themselves in a crisis situation, the ability to locate the exact position and give appropriate advice is vital and could save lives. Precise GPS location fixes and the availability of historical trails during crisis situations around the world has resulted in many organisations turning to Vismo as a method of ensuring their employees stay safe.

Full access demonstrations are available directly from Vismo.

About Vismo:

Vismo is an innovative patent pending technology which has been developed in response to customer demand by Cellhire, a leading Global Service Provider of mobile communications with offices in the USA, UK, France, Germany, Russia and Japan. Vismo is available on multiple platforms including BlackBerry, iPhone, iPad, Android, Windows Phone and Thuraya and Iridium satellite phones.

Cellhire and Vismo are members of the BlackBerry SELECT Alliance Program.

More information:

Colin Dale – Business Development Director, Vismo Ltd

t: +44 (0)1904 616707

e: colindale[at]vismo[dot]com

w: www.vismo.com

Distributed on behalf of Cellhire by NeonDrum news distribution service

We just released Geopaparazzi 3.3.0 in the market. There are a couple of small enhancements and a feature we think most people will like.

• sketch pad for forms (the feature we think most people will like)
• enhanced forms
• geo-sms are now sent through the system app
• better geocoding ui

The most important feature for this release is for sure the sketch pad, that allows user to draw their notes out in the field.

Check out the release post for more info.

A new version of Geopaparazzi is out in the market: 3.2.0 (or at least it should be soon, lately google play takes some time to get in sync)

The list of news is quite nice:

• huge enhancement of forms with support for multiple tabs, fragments for tablets, images and map screenshots, date widgets...
• integration of forms with kmz export
• style enhancements on kmz export
• send simple notes and bookmarks info via sms
• geocoding via google services
• osm routing via openrouteservice
• measure tool is back
• opening of geoSMS by geopaparazzi in offline mode
• editing mode for geonotes with forms
• support for rendering themes through style maps for offline maps
• battery level visible in map mode
• gps connection status visible in map mode

Read more about it here.

Leading publisher of printed map products expands into digital world through PDF Maps app

TORONTO, (May 22, 2012) – Avenza Systems Inc., the leading developer of cartographic software --such as MAPublisher® for Adobe® Illustrator® and Geographic Imager® geospatial tools for Adobe Photoshop®-- has partnered with Mapmobility, Canada’s most prominent producer of printed urban mapping products to announce the largest offering of Canadian digital maps for consumer use on the iOS platform. Avenza will host Mapmobility’s highly detailed maps in the PDF Maps app and digital map store providing a new way for mobile device users to access a rich resource of content that was previously only available in print. The PDF Maps app allows users to explore and navigate Canada without having to worry about losing reception due to cell tower proximity or high data roaming charges typical of other “streaming” map services, making it the ideal travel accessory.

Mapmobility holds the largest Canadian market share of printed map products with hundreds of atlas and folded map titles making the relationship with Avenza mutually beneficial for both companies and the consumer. The partnership enhances Avenza’s digital map database by adding more than 30 years-worth of Canadian cartographic content, while Mapmobility benefits from Avenza’s foothold in a digital marketplace to reach a new mobile map consumer with the PDF Maps app and Avenza Map store. Mapmobility has selected Avenza as its exclusive channel for selling and distributing digital versions of its maps making the Avenza PDF Maps app and store the only place to find the vast array of Mapmobility Canadian maps.

“Given the shift in how our audience has received their information in the last ten years, we wanted to focus on a hi-tech solution that allowed consumers to be more interactive with our detailed maps,” said Carl Nanders, Director of Business Strategy at Mapmobility. “What Avenza provided is a way into a digital retail space without having to recreate the wheel ourselves. Avenza’s Map store within the PDF Maps app provides a more meaningful way to reach an audience that has gone mobile which is extremely appealing to publishers who once relied solely on the paper product.”

Avenza’s PDF Maps app is an all-encompassing solution for the use, distribution and sale of digital versions of paper maps to mobile devices. It includes both an app for consumers to use, discover and purchase maps directly from their devices as well as an in-app store to facilitate the transaction and delivery of maps. The in-app marketplace provides a new mobile e-commerce venue that allows those in the industry to have access to more than 200 million Apple iOS users seeking information about specific maps.

“For years we’ve worked with publishers providing cartographic software to help create maps, but as consumers continue to change how they access and consume content, we’re delighted to be the conduit for the more than 130 map publishers, including Mapmobility, to deliver such detailed maps in a more interactive manner,” said Ted Florence, President of Avenza Systems Inc. “As we continue to strengthen our community of vendors, many companies are beginning to see how useful the PDF Maps app can be in introducing content to consumers and we’re excited to be a part of how the industry evolves in a digital age.”

The PDF Maps app takes advantage of geospatial technology that allows travelers to view and measure real world locations and attributes. Paired together with mobile devices that utilize GPS, such as an iPhone or iPad, the PDF Maps app provides constant access to geographic locations and even points of interest without the risk of losing reception due to cell tower proximity – making it the ultimate traveling accessory for those that are enthusiastic about travel or anywhere internet bandwidth is not available or is cost-prohibitive when roaming internationally.

PDF Maps is available now on the iTunes App Store free of charge for personal use. For more information about the app, visit the Avenza website at www.avenza.com/pdf-maps. Pricing of each map is set by the publisher and free maps remain free to users through the PDF Maps in-app map store.

More about Avenza Systems Inc.

Avenza Systems Inc. is an award-winning, privately held corporation that provides cartographers and GIS professionals with powerful software tools for making better maps. In addition to software offerings for Mac and Windows users, Avenza offers value-added data sets, product training and consulting services. For more information visit the Avenza website at www.avenza.com.

For further information contact:
Tel: 416-487-5116
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.avenza.com