From the Google Lat Long blog:

We’ve made a lot of adjustments under the hood, like improving memory utilization so we can show more buildings, layers, and user content. We improved our shaders (that’s graphics-speak for small programs that run inside your graphics processor) to make the atmosphere draw faster. We also worked to reduce stuttering (known as frame drops) to provide an even smoother experience as you fly around the globe. When we draw imagery, we now use compression technology to use less memory and graphics resources. We know that waiting for a program to start-up can be really frustrating, so we improved our start-up time by 25%. In our Google Earth API (which allows developers to include Google Earth right in their websites), we have made API calls significantly faster, which means that our developers can now do even more.

photo credit: Michel Filion

Often, during large-scale construction projects heavy equipment such as bulldozers or front-end loaders are left on site overnight or after hours. It simply does not make sense to move them back and forth. Unfortunately, this can make your construction equipment a target for theft costing tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Luckily, any vehicle or piece of construction equipment can be tracked and monitored in real-time using the RavTrack AVL tracking solutions from Raveon Technologies. With RavTrack, you know with certainty where all your work site assets and equipment are located; all in real-time and without the expensive recurring fees that accompany most other AVL systems. Using RavTrack AVL, you can monitor your job site and keep an eye on how your equipment is being used, even in remote areas where other products fail.

Sandia said hopping has “shown to be five times more fuel-efficient than hovering,” when it comes to getting around obstacles less than 30 feet tall. (Via CNET)

Don’t miss the video.

It is likely that state and local governments will increase their use of GPS to support pay-as-you-go taxation paradigms.

While it seems like a difficult task to calculate your fuel taxes, GPS tracking of your fleet can only make it easier. Consider this description:

This can be an onerous administrative task.  If you have a fleet of over 50 trucks, there is a good chance you have one person, perhaps making $40,000 annually, focused solely on this paper-intensive task.  But the process can be automated if a company uses GPS/telematics devices in its trucks, along with fuel cards and IFTA tax reporting software (or a tax service provider that uses this kind of software).  Then the mileage driven in each state and fuel expenditures for a particular vehicle can be automatically loaded into the software and the proper IFTA reports can be printed.  The process becomes much less paper intensive.  While a fleet operator would probably never buy a telematics solution solely to eliminate a clerical position, it can contribute to the ROI offered by telematics solutions.

What the culprits didn’t know was that the Ford F-450s were equipped with high-end GPS tracking systems that would chart their every move over the next 36 hours.

Fort Lauderdale police arrested two men for the theft of the wreckers, which had wireless GPS tracking hardware installed on them. Police used GPS position reporting to capture the suspects.

Jason Parrett, owner of the Fort Lauderdale repossession truck company First Response Towing and Recovery, said the Global Positioning System units were crucial to finding the missing wreckers.

“Without it we wouldn’t have found the trucks,” said Parrett, who has equipped all three trucks in his fleet with GPS technology.

Parrett said an employee called him early Saturday to tell him the two trucks were missing.

Once Parrett figured out which two trucks were gone, he asked his wife to pull up their locations on her BlackBerry, which is linked to their GPS units.

When the police arrived, the owner provided the GPS system’s activity report, which showed where the trucks had been, places where they had been parked for extended periods and how fast they had been driven. The police later arrested the two men at one of the locations listed on the GPS report.

“The detailed activity reports in these are disgustingly accurate,” Parrett said of the system.

(Via Miami Herald)

photo credit: bengt-re

In Washington, D.C., the traffic authorities responsible for the local commuter bus system there have developed a new service for sharing the position of each bus in real-time. The new service is quaintly called “Where’s my Bus?” and displays the GPS position of your bus. The service is viewable via the web or from any Internet-enabled smartphone such as the iPhone or Blackberry. Obviously, this improves the service in a significant way in that riders no longer have to worry where the bus is and can use the bus system more efficiently. We expect the trend of sharing GPS position data for individual vehicles to continue, especially in consumer-focused services such as commuter transport or car services and limousines. It is easier to be patient when you know exactly where your bus or taxi is located at any time while you wait.

The District Department of Transportation’s Gabe Klein explains the value of the “Where’s my Bus?” service:

DDOT Director Gabe Klein says it’s a new world. “I think smart phones are becoming the norm for people in urban environments.”

Customers now want information, on demand, any time and anywhere. “In the winter, it’s cold. Wouldn’t you rather be waiting in your office for 9 or 10 minutes?”

Using GPS technology, DDOT’s application allows riders to track each bus down to a tenth of a mile. From Klein’s office at 14th and U Streets, he tests the programs accuracy. “I’m going to hit refresh and sure enough, it’s at 14th and T.”

Officers found at least 12 of the 25 vehicles have been reported stolen. Authorities are calling it a major auto theft operation.

Authorities spent most of the afternoon and evening hauling away stolen vehicles that were to be stripped and sold for parts. Authorities also seized two guard dogs that were on short chains.

In the future, we can expect that all assets of significant value will include a GPS tracking device. Not only could it help you track down your stolen property, but it might also help you remember which neighbor borrowed your tools.

The system is being currently tested in Finland. In fact, it is not the first indoor system but the others have mostly been for specialist uses, such as helping firefighters find colleagues in smoke-filled buildings. This system, developed by Nokia, will work with existing handsets and infrastructure, according to the scientists.

One thing it does need, however, is access to maps of the inside of buildings. This may not be feasible for private homes, but many public sites such as big sports centres and universities already make maps available.

Perhaps as building information modeling becomes standard, public spaces will be able to submit mapping data to GPS mapping data providers or through a distributed system of mapping data?