In+ersec+ion for Spatial People

June 18, 2013, Toronto, Canada, NAC Geographic Products Inc. announced that LibanPost - the postal service provider of Lebanon has licensed Global Postal Code System (also called Universal Address System) to establish a nation-wide address database and provide Global Postal Code based postal services in Lebanon.

Before knowing the Universal Address, Mr. Khalil Daoud, Chairman and Managing Director of LibanPost, had worked with public committees for over 10 years to establish an address system in Lebanon without success. Lebanese residents continue using "landmark"-based references to identify the location of their homes, such as “beside the hospital”, “in front of the school”. Postal services rely on locals to deliver mail to households based on somewhat arbitrary knowledge about who lives where.

The introduction of the Universal Address will vastly change the situation. Generated from longitude/latitude coordinates, a Universal Address i.e. an eight or ten character Natural Area Code (NAC) can uniquely specify a house, building or even a fire hydrant anywhere in the world, and can be obtained with a smartphone or an online high resolution satellite image map such as NAC Locator. For example, the Universal Address of Grand Serail is NAC: KXQK NMGG and Lighthouse NAC: KXN7 NMH0. With the Universal Addresses, you can get the turn by turn driving directions from Grand Serail to Lighthouse immediately with http://nactag.info/default.asp?saddr=KXQK NMGG&daddr=KXN7 NMH0.

Unlike conventional addresses, the Universal Address does not need people to assign and is readily available for public use for all location purposes. If it is printed on an evelope of a letter, LibanPost will be able to sort the letter from the world level to final household mailboxes automatically and deliver it right to your home efficiently. In an emergency situation, a given Universal Address can significantly accelerate emergency address dispatching and locating. If you tell the Universal Address to your visitor, he can use a GPS navigation system to get to your home without your directions. Governments can use Universal Addresses to register properties and collect property taxes. Banks and insurance companies can use Universal Addresses to verify the home locations of their clients.

"The adoption of the Universal Address will hopefully solve all Lebanese addressing problems," said Dr. Xinhang Shen, president of NAC Geographic Products Inc., "and it is also another milestone toward the unification of postal code systems in the world."

About NAC Geographic Products Inc.
Incorporated in 1995 in Toronto, Canada, NAC Geographic Products Inc. is a world's leading company in geographic technologies and geo-services, developing GIS/GPS software products and providing APIs for real-time geo-services (geocoding addresses, reverse-geocoding, mapping, routing, etc.) for web applications and wireless location based services, etc.

CONTACT
Lixin Zhou
PR Manager
Tel: +1 416 496 6110
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.nacgeo.com

A story discussed over Slashdot during the weekend, named DARPA Develops Non-GPS Navigation Chip.

Their summary: "The Global Positioning System (GPS) has proved a boon for those with a bad sense of direction, but the satellite-based system isn't without its shortcomings. Something as simple as going indoors or entering a tunnel can render the system useless. That might be inconvenient for civilians, but it's potentially disastrous to military users, for whom the system was originally built. DARPA is addressing such concerns with the development of a self-sufficient navigation system that can aid navigation when GPS is temporarily unavailable."

Apple Maps continues to get attention, here's a MacRumors story named Australian Police Warn Against Use of Apple Maps Due to Safety Concerns. As they say, never trust a single source when you're heading somewhere remote that is new to you.

From the Police warning: "Tests on the mapping system by police confirm the mapping systems lists Mildura in the middle of the Murray Sunset National Park, approximately 70km away from the actual location of Mildura. Police are extremely concerned as there is no water supply within the Park and temperatures can reach as high as 46 degrees, making this a potentially life threatening issue. Some of the motorists located by police have been stranded for up to 24 hours without food or water and have walked long distances through dangerous terrain to get phone reception."

Slashdot also discusses the same news in a story named Australian Police Warn That Apple Maps Could Get Someone Killed.

Slowly starting to catch up mid-August geonews, here's the associated recent Google ones.

From official sources:

• Bikers rejoice, biking navigation in 12 countries in Google Maps for Android: "That’s why today we’re bringing mobile biking directions and navigation to the 10 countries [...]. Plus, we’re adding turn-by-turn, voice-guided biking navigation to Google Maps Navigation (beta) in every country with biking directions."
• There's Map Maker updates for Lesotho, Oman and Trinidad & Tobago and Detroit, Michigan
• Street View:
  • Google Maps and Street View are going to Canada's far north
  • Street View is also much improved in Brazil and prehispanic Mexican cities
  • You can See Rebuilding in New Orleans Through Updated Street View Imagery
• As a public transport daily user, I'm happy that Google Maps now has schedules for more than one million public transit stops worldwide
• We did mention geo-wiki.org last February, and now Google shares an entry named Validating Land Cover Datasets with Geo-Wiki.org, using a blend of Google tools and open source ones (e.g. MapServer, PostGIS)

From other sources:

• The GEB links to 'A New Life' new country generator in Google Earth for use in education and fun
• APB mentioned Google acquired 7 deCarta LBS patents
• There's still much left to discover on this planet, New Egyptian pyramids found using Google Earth?
• There's Mars' Curiosity rover imagery in Google Mars now

24 hours ago Apple announced  the new 'Maps' app for iOS 6, which includes turn-by-turn navigation, real-time traffic and 3D maps: "Designed by Apple from the ground up, Maps gives you turn-by-turn spoken directions, interactive 3D views, and the stunning Flyover feature. All of which may just make this app the most beautiful, powerful mapping service ever."

Here's the reactions on the geoblogs and other sources:

• Let's start with MacRumors which were amongst the first to let us know about it
• Spatially Adjusted links to the Apple attribution page for the Maps app, and it's TomTom data for navigation amongst other sources, and not surprisingly, there's still OpenStreetMap data in there like for the latest Photo app

• Spatially Adjusted also shares an interesting entry named Will Apple Maps Impact Web Mapping? "Thus in the short term, it becomes one more API we must learn if we are deploying to Apple devices. [...] Second, it might not be useful for GIS applications. [...] Third, if you are already using Google or Mapbox, do you really need to switch?"
• Peter Batty also shares an interesting reaction: "Another interesting development is that a good number of major car manufacturers have committed to adding a button on their steering wheel within the next 12 months that will activate Siri on your iOS device, which will make iOS devices even more attractive as in car devices. [...] The most obvious thing missing from Apple Maps that Google Maps has is Street View. They also didn't mention anything about an offline mode, which Google announced last week. [...]  Another thing missing, which I use a lot on Google Maps on my iPhone, is routing using public transit."
• Adena at APB is collecting 'facts' about Apple's new Maps app

• The Map Room links to Cult of Mac's 4-minutes hands-on demonstration of the Apple Maps app
• You can read more on The Verge, Gizmodo, and several other generic sources 
• If you want to see the 10-minutes video announcement and demo of the Maps app, fast forward to about 98 minutes into the talk

I expect more Apple Maps information and analysis in the coming weeks, and by the time it becomes available as part of iOS 6 "next Fall".

OpenCPN Version 3.0.0 Release

ANNOUNCEMENT:

OpenCPN Version 3.0 is released, and available for immediate download.
The version is a major feature upgrade and maintenance release of OpenCPN.

OpenCPN is a free and OpenSource navigation package running on Windows, Linux, and Macintosh computers.

Some features of OpenCPN include:
- Quilted Raster(RNC) and Vector(ENC) digital chart display
- Industry standard GPS receiver interfacing, with "moving map" on-screen vessel tracking.
- AIS receiver interfacing with configurable target safety monitoring
- Integrated Route, Track, and Waypoint database, with industry standard Import/Export capabilities
- Tide and Current prediction, with on-screen overlay of predicted data.
- Broad International Language support

OpenCPN is designed to be easy to install, configure, and use daily.
OpenCPN may be freely downloaded and installed without cost, registration, or time limits.

New and Enhanced Features for OpenCPN Version 3.0

1. OpenGL support, for enhanced graphics performance and functionality.
2. Improved ENC object Query interface
3. Portable execution option, allowing easy migration to new systems.
4. Upgrade to wxWidgets 2.8.12.
5. Support ENC Overlay cells.
6. Upgrade gpsd support to Version 2.96
7. Implement enhanced PlugIn system, enabling a wide variety of PlugIn types.
8. Implement DSC and GPS_Gate Buddy tracking.
9. Implement user defined Chart Groups.
10. Implement AIS SART transponder display and tracking.
11. Improved ENC object rendering and display.
12. Implement user definable Tide/Current datasets.
13. Full conformance for all platforms, especially including Macintosh OS X.
14. Greatly improved stability on all platforms, as a result of extended Beta testing.
15. Many, many improvements in the basic User Interface, while maintaining the ease-of-use that OpenCPN is widely known for.

Extended Release Notes for OpenCPN Version 3.0 may be found at
http://opencpn.org/ocpn/node/189

We hope you enjoy the new features of OpenCPN Version 3.0, and look forward to your continued feedback.

Download OpenCPN Version 3.0 at
http://sourceforge.net/projects/opencpn/

For PlugIns and other useful information, visit our support website at
http://opencpn.org

The OpenCPN Development Team
Dave Register, Lead Developer
__________________

Slashdot is discussing a story named NHTSA Suggestion Would Cripple In-Car GPS Displays.

​Their summary: "The recently issued National Highway Transportation Safety Agency guidelines for automakers to minimize distraction for in-vehicle electronics included a proposal to freeze maps on navigation systems. No more scrolling maps... just static pictures. 'Every current installed navigation system uses the car as a fixed point, and shows the map moving around it. NHTSA wants that changed so as to keep the map fixed. Even showing the position of the car moving on the map could be considered a dynamic image. The recommendation seems to suggest that the position of the car could only be updated every couple of seconds. Likewise, the map could be refreshed once the car has left the currently displayed area. This recommendation would essentially make navigation unusable. The system could still give an auditory warning for the next turn, but without being able to glance down at the map and see how close the next street is would likely lead to a lot of missed turns and resultant frustration.'"

Streamline Postal And Courier Services With Global Postal Codes

November 15, 2011, Toronto, Canada, NAC Geographic Products Inc. announced the release of NAC Sorter - a software module for mail sorting systems to sort all mail automatically from world level to final household mail boxes, thanks to the power of the Universal Address (also called the Global Postal Code).

Though it has been a long time effort of the Universal Postal Union (UPU) to standardize mailing addresses for international mail, it has little success as traditional addresses evolved from history have deep roots in languages and cultures and are difficult to be translated into standard addresses in the UPU suggested formats, not to mention that 60% of the world population do not have addresses yet.These lead to limited automation in mail sorting and no postal and courier services to many households.

This situation now can be changed with the introduction of the Universal Address that can be used to globalize all addresses. The Universal Address is a highly efficient and human-friendly code mathematically equivalent to longitude/latitude coordinates and available at every location in the world, including locations of all houses, buildings and even temporary camps, and can be instantly obtained with a GPS device such as a smartphone or an online high resolution satellite image map such as NAC Locator. Here are some examples of the Universal Addresses:

NAC: JZ9G P9TP (Acropolis, Greece)
NAC: H5SX R497 (Arch of Triumph, Paris, France)
NAC: 9F3J L1PL (Arecibo Observatory, Puerto Rico)
NAC: GZM7 RKH3 (Buckingham Palace, UK)
NAC: 57WF NSBR (CACTUS Site, USA)
NAC: 8CHZ Q86C (CN Tower, Toronto, Canada)
NAC: J16W PZFH (Colosseum, Rome, Italy)
NAC: H5Q2 R48Q (Eiffel Tower, Paris, France)
NAC: SNZ PMK (Forbidden City, Beijing, China)
NAC: J3 RQ (Berlin, Germany)

Here NAC stands for Natural Area Code, a four character NAC represents a 30x24 square kilometer area like a city, a six character NAC represents roughly a square kilometer like a street block, an eight character one a 35x25 square meter area like a house and a ten character one is one square meter like a door anywhere on the earth. Since an eight or ten character NAC is able to uniquely specify a house or building anywhere in the world, it is also called a Universal Address.

Sorting mail based on the Universal Address is just a simple mathematical problem: finding the area containing the location of the Universal Address from a series of areas defined by the company according to its own transportation and delivery structure, which is independent from languages, cultures and the definition of the postal zones.

For countries with traditional addresses, the suggested globalized address is the traditional address embedded with the Universal Address, for example,

〒106-0031
日本国東京都港区西麻布3-16-30
NAC: VM9F NX8Q

Thus, it avoids the difficult translation of the address so that people used to the tranditional address can still use it as usual, while machines, tourists and people unfamiliar with the language and the traditional address can use the language-independent digital Universal Address as it has a distinct format and can be easily recognized no matter where it is embedded in the address block.

For countries without traditional addresses, the globalized address can be the Universal Address only or the place names plus the Universal Address such as:

سفارة كاليفورنيا
ربع الدبلوماسية
الرياض، المملكة العربية السعودية
NAC: LVK1 M3D7

Then, all homes in the world have their own globalized addresses. With the globalized addresses on mail and parcels,

1. all houdeholds, cottages and even temporary camps in the world can get postal and courier services delivered to their doors no matter whether they have traditional addresses or not as they can be uniquely specified by Universal Addresses.
2. all international mail and parcels can be automatically sorted as the Universal Addresses are worldwide valid.
3. all courier companies can sort and transport parcels according to their own needs without concerns in changes of postal codes due to the changes of postal services, thanks to the independency of the Universal Addresses from postal services.
4. mail and parcels in all countries, especially those without postal code systems or without address systems can be sorted automatically, thanks to the pure mathematic sorting algorithm of the Universal Addresses independent from languages and cultures.
5. postal and courier companies can extend the automation in mail sorting all the way to final mail boxes of individual houses, thanks to the unique Universal Addresses available to all households in the world.

"The release of NAC Sorter represents another milestone in the digital and globalization revolution, " said Dr. Xinhang Shen, president of NAC Geographic Products Inc., "Postal and courier companies now can automatically sort all mail and parcels at all levels with the same algorithm based on the same kind of codes no matter where they are and no matter where the mail and parcels are sent to, eliminating barriers from hundreds of different languages, traditions, postal code systems of the addresses."

Actually, Universal Addresses can be used for all location related applications (postal and couriers services, taxi services, emergency services, maps, navigation, local search, travel guides, geographic information systems, cadastre, land planning, management of roadside objects, etc) with significantly improved efficiency, interoperability and reliability. For example, if you use the Universal Address instead of the traditional address to specify the destination on a navigation system, you can save 80% of key input, avoid difficulty in inputting foreign characters if it is a foreign address, eliminate errors from the outdated, duplicated or missing address and extend the navigation to locations without traditional addresses.

Currently, NAC Sorter is delivered as an ActiveX control for Microsoft Windows based mail sorting software and has been released to two major manufacturers for the integration with their mail sorting systems. We also welcome other manufacturers of mail sorting systems to do the integration to speed up the revolution of the postal and courier services in the world. The software module can be downloaded here. For more information about NAC Sorter, please check http://www.nacgeo.com/nacsorter.asp.

About NAC Geographic Products Inc.
Incorporated in 1995 in Toronto, Canada, NAC Geographic Products Inc. is a world's leading company in geographic technologies and geo-services, developing GIS/GPS software products and providing APIs for real-time geo-services (geocoding addresses, reverse-geocoding, mapping, routing, etc.) for web applications and wireless location based services, etc.

CONTACT
Lixin Zhou
PR Manager
Tel: +1 416 496 6110
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.nacgeo.com

Keywords
Mail Sorting, Postal Code, Postcode, Globap Postal Code, Universal Address, Natural Area Code, NAC, NAC Locator, Google Maps, Satellite Image Maps, Local Search, Navigation, Search Engine, Mapping, Street Address, Geocode, Geocoding, LBS, GPS, Location Based Service, Locating, Tracking, Searching, Wireless, Cellphone, Map Grid, Geography, Geographic Technology, Geographic Coordinates, Longitude, Latitude, Property Identifier, Emergency Service, 911

Google announced a new feature of Google Maps Navigation (Beta) which now routes you around traffic.

From the announcement: "So we’re happy to announce that Google Maps Navigation (Beta) will now automatically route you around traffic. With more than 35 million miles driven by Navigation users every day, this should add up to quite a bit of time saved! [...] You don’t have to do anything to be routed around traffic; just start Navigation like you normally would, either from the Navigation app or from within Google Maps. [...] Starting today, our routing algorithms will also apply our knowledge of current and historical traffic to select the fastest route from those alternates."

The first ever free-navigation in the Italian market

LONDON, 24.02.2011 – Vodafone Italy announced today that it now provides all its prepaid and post-paid iPhone users with a free mobile location companion, Vodafone Find & Go, powered by Telmap, specially designed to enrich users’ on-the-go experiences, beyond in-car and pedestrian navigation.

Vodafone Find & Go will be free to all iPhone users who purchase a data package, and represents the first time such a service is offered in Italy for free. It will enable users to search for and access up-to-date location-based information and will include:

• A winning application: All-in-one solution including real-time turn-by-turn navigation with 3D moving maps, voice and text instructions announcing street names, dedicated pedestrian navigation, local search and content

• Points of Interests information such as gas stations and parking lots along the way

• Full maps of Italy

Vodafone Italy says: “We are excited to launch Vodafone Find & Go in Italy, following many successful launches in other Vodafone op-cos. We view this as just the beginning, and we plan on continuously enhancing and expanding the service, adding access to many additional content providers, devices and mobile platforms, to create a real valuable proposition for our subscribers”.

“Following Telmap’s successful launches with Vodafone op-cos and Vodafone partner operators across EMEA, we are proud to start working with Vodafone Italy, bringing unique on-the-go experiences to Italian users. We are confident that this partnership will flourish and expand over time, and in the near future we plan on adding more local content that’s relevant to the Italian market, starting with real time traffic and speed cameras information, for an even richer, more valuable user experience”, says Oren Nissim, Telmap CEO.

VF Italy iPhone users can download Vodafone Find & Go here: http://itunes.apple.com/it/app/vodafone-find-go/id413989142?mt=8