Google Enterprise about to go Uber-Secure?

Google experiments with hardware-based authentication, envisions passwordless future

from Engadget by Terrence O'Brien

2012 was not a great year for security. From the "epic hack" of Wired's Mat Honan to the breach of Dropbox and the breakdown of barriers at Blizzard (not to mention countless smaller incidents), last year held frequent reminders that what you put online is never truly safe. Google has, in the wake of such public failings, began pushing its two-factor authentication with a pretty heavy hand. But even that system has its short comings, and Mountain View is looking for ways to shore up users' accounts. In particular the web giant is exploring hardware authentication options and experimenting with a device called YubiKey -- a USB-based token system. The research will be unveiled in a paper being published later this month in IEEE Security & Privacy Magazine, and includes preliminary work on a protocol for using a hardware device to unlock an online account. If carrying around and jacking in a USB key sounds too cumbersome, fear not. Google is also working on a wireless version of the platform that could be embedded in a cellphone or even a piece of jewelry like a ring. We may never ditch the password entirely, but we can hope.

Garmin about to get out of Asus Jail?

From GPS Tracklog About Rich Owings

Rich is the owner, editor and chief bottle-washer for GPS Tracklog. Connect with him on Twitter, Facebook or Google Plus.

Screenshots from Garmin Navigator for Australia

When Garmin and Asus ended their ill-fated nuvifone partnership, Garmin gave Asus an exclusive for any preloaded navigation apps through the end of 2012. Because of this, quite a few Garmin watchers expect an announcement of a Garmin navigation app for Android early this year. But that may not happen.

A tough market and another option

The market for Android navigation apps is challenging; the developers must compete with the free and always improving Google Maps Navigation app that comes preloaded on Android handsets. Not that is isn’t without significant flaws, but at free, it’s good enough for most folks. The TomTom USA app has sold less than 1,000 units to date. Garmin has had more luck down under, with over 100,000 installs. Even so, when I saw this morning that Garmin had swung a deal with Samsung for preloading their Navgon app on the Galaxy Note 2, it made me wonder if Garmin wouldn’t be better off striking such deals with manufacturers. This would be a good differentiator for companies in the hyper-competitive mobile market.

We should know soon

Regardless, the picture should be clearer by the end of February, as I’m expecting an announcement one way or the other at Mobile World Congress. Which way do you think they will go – an app you can buy or a deal with a manufacturer?

ESRI treadmill... a Micorsoft Key -"BING"

Image from Spatiallay Consnscious

Just when you thought you might be getting your value out of the "next" version from ESRI...

Bing Maps Use in ArcGIS Has Changed

If you are using Bing Maps, please read the following changes that will 

affect your use of Bing Maps.

Complimentary use of Microsoft's Bing Maps with ArcGIS will begin to be 

phased out as of February 28, 2013, and will be phased out completely by 

September 30, 2013. ArcGIS will continue to be Bing Maps ready, but 

you will have to obtain your own Bing Maps key directly from Microsoft 

and input the key into your ArcGIS products. Once you input the new 

key, you will be able to use Bing Maps in your ArcGIS products. 

How This Will Affect Use of Bing Maps with ArcGIS

Once you obtain a key from Microsoft, you will be able to use Bing Maps 

in your web and mobile applications, including ArcGIS for Server, 

ArcGIS Web APIs, and all ArcGIS Mobile SDKs.

ArcGIS for Desktop will be affected in different ways depending on 

the version you have: 

• ArcGIS 10.1 for Desktop users will have to install ArcGIS 10.1.2 before being able to input a Bing Maps key. ArcGIS 10.1.2 is currently scheduled to be available in late Q1 2013. 
• ArcGIS 10 for Desktop users will have to install a patch to use their Bing Maps key. The patch will be available in late Q1 2013. 
• ArcGIS Desktop 9.3.1 will no longer support the use of Bing Maps. 

ArcGIS Online will be Bing Maps ready at the next release, scheduled for t

he end of Q1 2013. At that time, customers who have an ArcGIS Online 

subscription will be able to input a Bing Maps key and continue to add 

Bing Maps to their web maps. However, customers who have an ArcGIS 

Online personal account will no longer be able to use Bing Maps after 

March 31, 2013. For both subscribers and personal account holders, web 

maps that already include Bing Maps will continue to function.

HelpBridge

micorsoft.com/helpbridge

Microsoft Launches HelpBridge For iOS, Windows Phone And Android, Lets You Alert Friends And Family When Disasters Strike

from TechCrunch by Frederic Lardinois

When a disaster happens, chances are you want to get in touch with your loved ones as soon as possible, either to tell them that you’re fine or to make sure they are. To make this easier, Microsoft is launching HelpBridge today, a mobile app for iOS, Android and Windows Phone. HelpBridge, which is based on Microsoft’s Windows Azure platform, lets you notify your friends and family by SMS, email or a message to your Facebook wall that you are okay when a disaster happens. Those messages can include your location, too.

For the time being, HelpBridge is only available in the U.S.

“When disasters occur, the first thing people who were impacted want to do is to reach friends and family,” said James Rooney, program manager for Microsoft Citizenship’s Technology for Good program, in a statement today. Rooney also noted that while technology was instrumental in helping people connect with friends, family and relief efforts after the recent disasters in Haiti and Japan, those efforts were very specific to the disaster region and quickly become obsolete in the time after the diaster.

That’s only one layer of the app, though. In addition, Microsoft partnered with a number of organizations like Aidmatrix,GuideStar, Mobile Giving Foundation, Network for Good and VolunteerMatch to make it easier for people to help after a disaster strikes. The app, for example, allows you to quickly send a text message to donate money to relief efforts and to make larger donations via PayPal. You can also use the app to donate goods and to find volunteer opportunities (both in your vicinity and nationwide).

This obviously isn’t the first app to try to solve this problem. There are various “panic button” apps for all the major mobile platforms that perform many of the same functions, though none of the ones that I’m aware of also include the ability to donate and volunteer.

This, by the way, isn’t Microsoft’s first foray in this area. A few years ago, the company also offered the Vine.net emergency broadcast system, though it’s not clear what happened to this project.

Key Features and Technologies

HelpBridge enables you to:

• Create and manage your emergency contact lists.
• Communicate quickly and easily via e-mail, SMS, and Facebook with those you care about most in times of disaster.
• Donate money or requested goods to the top organizations engaged in disaster relief work.
• Discover volunteer opportunities for relevant disaster relief efforts.
• Share your location with friends and family.

HelpBridge uses:

• Windows Azure for cloud-based services.
• Aidmatrix RSS feed of goods donation opportunities.
• GuideStar API that provides the listing of organizations for credit card donations.
• Mobile Giving Foundation API to allow text-to-give donations.
• Network for Good API that works in partnership with GuideStar and PayPal to allow for credit card donations.
• VolunteerMatch API that showcases relevant volunteer opportunities.

Google Glass still fragile?

Google Glass to Hold Developer Events in Two Weeks

from All Things Digital by Liz Gannes

Google today invited the people who signed up for the $1,500 developer edition of its Project Glass wearable computing device to a set of developer events in San Francisco and New York City.

The company didn’t give a terrific amount of notice; the events are at the end of January and beginning of February, respectively. But developers will “have a device to use while on-site,” which is the real attraction.

The company said each Glass Foundry event will include “two days of full-on hacking” for people who have already signed up for the Glass Explorer Edition.

There’s still no release date for that device, nor a later product for the general public.

A Google spokesperson said of the event, “We’re looking forward to what developers will do with Glass, but we don’t have more details to share at this time.”

The Glass “Mirror API” is supposed to be a familiar environment for developers of RESTful Web services. Here’s avideo explaining a bit about that:

And here’s the email:

Join us for an early look at Glass and two full days of hacking on the upcoming Google Mirror API in San Francisco or New York. These hackathons are just for developers in the Explorer program and we’re calling them the Glass Foundry. It’s the first opportunity for a group of developers to get together and develop for Glass.


We’ll begin the first day with an introduction to Glass. You’l have a device to use while on-site. Next we’ll take a look at the Mirror API, which gives you the ability to exchange data and interact with the user over REST. We’ll then dive into development with Google engineers on site to help you at any point. At the end of the second day we’ll have a lively round of demos with some special guest judges.

If you’d like to attend this first Glass Foundry, please choose and register by Friday, January 18th at 4pm PT. There is limited space. If you are accepted, you will receive a confirmation letter with additional details and required terms after registration closes. Please don’t make any travel arrangements until your attendance is confirmed.

Glass Foundry San Francisco
January 28th & 29th at Google SF

Glass Foundry New York
February 1st & 2nd and Google NYC

Google Glass Feature Set Still in Flux Says Project Head

• Written by  Abhishek Gohel 
• Tuesday, 01 January 2013 01:26 

Babak Parviz, the founder and head of Project Glass at Google, has revealed that the feature set of Google Glass and state of apps is still in flux and that there is a lot of testing going on at the moment.

In an interview with IEEE Spectrum, Parviz provided insights into Project Glass, the reasons behind having such a gadget and what’s there for the project in near future. Parviz revealed that there were two reasons behind Project Glass – one being the need for “a device that would see the world through your eyes and allow you to share that view with other people” and the second being “to have a technology that would allow people to access information very, very quickly.”

When asked on the Project Glass and augmented reality, Parviz said that augmented reality wasn’t the ‘immediate’ goal of Project Glass but, he didn’t rule out the possibility. “…I think in the future that augmented reality will also come into the picture.”

Google’s advert about Project Glass showcases use of quite a few apps and Parviz, when asked about them, stated that they are trying out new ideas and ways in which the platform can be used while also trying to make the platform more robust. There is no specific feature set that Google has been talking about and “It is still in flux.”

Advertising and Google almost go hand in hand and one wouldn’t be wrong to assume that the search engine giant would want to earn more ad dollars from this gadget as well. But, contrary to this, Parviz revealed that there were no plans for advertising on Google Glass.

If things go as per Google’s plans, developers may expect these gadgets delivered to them early this year.

Classifying Smartphones

Plethora of communications options compound challenges at the tactical edge

The quest for comprehensive situational awareness leads to a burgeoning array of communications technologies

By John Edwards Oct 01, 2012

With comprehensive situational awareness the goal, the Defense Department is constantly seeking and evaluating new combat radios and other wireless communications systems, looking for technologies that offer cost savings, wide coverage, interoperability, and maximum size, weight and power (SWaP) benefits.

Yet as the search for effective systems continues, shrinking budgets, rapid technology turnover and a bewildering array of new communication modes are challenging DOD’s effort to equip troops and their leaders with the best possible situational awareness capabilities. "Certainly times are changing, and budgets are shrinking," said Capt. Joe Matkins, C4 branch head of the Marine Corps Warfighting Lab's technology division, based in Quantico, Va.

Matkins noted that the Warfighting Lab, like its counterparts throughout DOD, is constantly working to be more efficient and effective. "Primarily, we need to meet the ever-growing information security requirements while attempting to address warfighting capability gaps that adversely impact our operations overseas."

Coping With Change

Matkins says that one of the biggest challenges he faces is evaluating a stream of different commercial off the shelf technology (COTS) communications technologies that fail to meet even minimal military standards for ruggedization and encryption. "Based upon our recent testing, we have found that most commercial off-the-shelf technology does not take into consideration Information Assurance (IA) or Certification and Accreditation (C&A) requirements," he explained. "Although they may seem technologically promising, current policy prohibits their use for official unclassified or classified information exchange on the equivalent networks."

Current acceptance requirements are both specific and demanding, Matkins said. "Industry products, to be Type I or SAB approved, are required to have a government sponsor and meet specified National Security Agency (NSA) requirements," Matkins observed. "The process can become quite lengthy, and as a result, the technology becomes obsolete before it is fielded."

Perhaps an even more pressing challenge facing both troops and military leaders is maintaining communication and situational awareness capabilities across communications systems using different operating modes, frequencies and technical standards. "There is a growing demand for interoperability," Matkins said. "Regardless of the system, we have to be able to communicate: proprietary software, hardware, and operating characteristics impede our ability to examine and experiment with emerging technology.

AT&T has a small heap of insights...

Extend the cyber defense perimeter to your warfighter with AT&T Mobile Security. Multi-layered mobile security from AT&T helps defend your agency from web attacks by delivering centralized policy controls for wireless and wireline infrastructure, highly secure mobile device remote access, and integration with enterprise and cloud-based resources.
A Comprehensive Approach to Mobile Security

The use of wireless mobile devices to access an organization’s private network has become standard practice across all industries. As the number of mobile and un-tethered devices accessing network applications continues to grow, so does the security risk. To fulfill their mission, agencies must implement a comprehensive security strategy to safeguard information assets. AT&T can help your agency defend both the device and the network, remain productive and head off security threats posed by malicious mobile applications before they cause irreversible damage such as breaches of valuable data.

AT&T Mobile Security is available as a stand alone mobile application or as Feature 9 of AT&T Managed Trusted Internet Protocol Service (MTIPS). Even if your employees aren't AT&T wireless customers, they can still sign on for AT&T Mobile Security. Once users download and activate the AT&T Mobile Security application, the device and your network are covered.

A holistic approach to device and network-based protection

For virtually anytime, anywhere access to applications and data, you need elevated levels of laptop, tablet and mobile phone security – especially with the wide adoption of the "bring your own device (BYOD) to work" policy throughout government. AT&T Mobile Security supports personal and agency-owned mobile devices by:

• Scanning device and memory cards to alert users of viruses and malware
• Detecting malicious applications and compromised devices
• Providing remote location, lock, wipe, backup and restore services to decrease risks associated with lost or stolen assets

Extend mobile security into the network

To help safeguard data as it travels the Internet, AT&T Mobile Security:

• Provides SSL mobile device termination to the AT&T network security infrastructure
• Routes mobile device traffic to the AT&T public or private cloud in a highly secure manner
• Detects and blocks access to known botnet and malware locations
• Filters SMS, MMS and email message content
• Offers optional access to the AT&T Secure Network Gateway platform for network-based firewall, URL filtering and intrusion detection

Enforce common security policies across mobile users

AT&T Mobile Security helps to protect not just mobile devices, but also the AT&T Virtual Private Network (VPN) that the devices are accessing and enables you to synchronize your security policies between the two. It activates device-level security features and connects to the AT&T virtual private gateway where the network security features and policies applicable to your organization are enabled. AT&T Mobile Security also provides a web-based administrative console that allows organizations to set common security policies across users, and thereby better manage and control your wireless assets.

Defend your agency

AT&T has harnessed the power of its network, its strength in network security, and its access to world-class processes, tools and people to develop security services that answer the need for a defense-in-depth architecture. AT&T Mobile Security delivers some of today's most powerful weapons to fortify laptop, mobile phone, tablet and network security.

Let AT&T help you combat cyber security attacks and better protect your agency. To help further your agency’s key initiatives, make AT&T Mobile Security an integral part of your total security solution. Ask your mobility representative about AT&T Mobile Security, network security, remote access VPN and mobile device management.

Agencies trust AT&T for mobile security. Find out how your defense agency can do the same!

AT&T Mobile Security with AT&T Managed Trusted Internet Protocol Service (MTIPS)

Dirty Dishes and Java?

Government Computer News Jan 15, 2013

Here we go again: A new exploit for Java and a new call to disable it in your browser, at least until a fix is issued.

The U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT) released the advisory Jan. 10. Oracle released the fix three days later, but the issue is not dead. The CERT of Carnegie Mellon’s Software Engineering Institute advises that “unless it is absolutely necessary to run Java in Web browsers, disable it as described below, even after updating.”

But the solution notes that because of a potential bug in the Java installer, the necessary control panel could be missing in some Windows systems. Also, “we have encountered situations where Java will crash if it has been disabled in the Web browser as described above and then subsequently re-enabled,” the institute’s advisory says. “Reinstalling Java appears to correct this situation.”

So you have to ask yourself, is Java absolutely necessary to my mission? And you have to decide what the pros and cons are of disabling it in your enterprise. It might not be a simple decision.

Java is a widely used programming language for client-server Web applications, and has been a common target since 2010. Exploits are significant concerns because Java runs on so many computers whether or not users are aware of it. If users aren’t aware, it might not be updated regularly.

Oracle issued an out-of-cycle patch in August for a serious vulnerability that resulted in calls to disable Java. The most recent vulnerability was found in Java 7 Update 10, which could allow unauthenticated attackers to remotely execute code. Update 11, released Jan. 13, sets default Java security settings to “high” so that users are prompted before running unsigned or self-signed applets.

“The fix, from our testing, works, so it’s not an issue,” said Gavin O’Gorman, senior threat intelligence analyst at Symantec Security Response. But O’Gorman agrees that disabling Java, and all other browser plug-ins is a good policy, except on trusted sites. “You’re opening yourself up to exploits with any plug-in you enable on your browser,” he said.

What do you lose by disabling Java? “Personally, I don’t see much of a difference,” he said.

But Java is useful. “It is deeply embedded in enterprise applications,” said A.N. Ananth, CEO of Prism Microsystems.

The government has established a Federal Desktop Core Configuration baseline for a variety of operating systems that originally called for disabling Java for all zones. But when it was found that needed Java-based applications failed, this was amended to allow Java at a “high security” (the new default) setting for intranet and trusted-site zones.

“I hesitate to say that government can afford” to turn Java off, although it might be easier for an agency than for a business, said Ananth.

“I’m not for whacking Java completely,” he said. Getting rid of it might eliminate Java-specific vulnerabilities, but new vulnerabilities will come along in whatever replaces it. “The emperor has no clothes,” he said. “Everything you turn on proves to be vulnerable at some point.”

So turn off Java if you don’t need it, but first decide whether or not you need it. And while you’re at it, evaluate all the other tools that could introduce vulnerabilities into your enterprise because nothing is invulnerable.

Posted by William Jackson on Jan 14, 2013 at 1:52 PM

Immersion of Less... how much cooler?

Well it had to come... Dodechedrial is just so fossil... IMC is finished

A few hundred bucks 

or

http://immersivevideosolutions.com/

$80,000?

Whoops ?

My prediction is more frames of 360 immersion will be capture3d in one quater once the GeoNaute camera hits the road... than IMC captured in a decade of waste...  More GeoNaute will be posted on YouTube in one year that IMC ever sent to Google StreeView.

Gosh Miles... whoops lost again? And Miles, faster, cheaper and "simply" better 

Garmin Oregon 2013

4K - Just what we need... more data that does not stream

Last, the Tegra also supports 4K ultra-high-definition video output and 4G LTE. Huang mentioned that their LTE modems are sampling now, so it sounds like the chip is not quite ready for smartphones. He did, however, show off a preview for Will Smith’s new movie “After Earth” in 4K, streaming from the Project Shield device to an LG 4K TV.

No availability was mentioned at all other than parts being sampled. The prototype tablet they showed was actually a Windows tablet running stock Android. It’s pretty clear that the T4 is fresh out of development and could take some time before it’s ready for prime time.


You never know, we may see it in a device at MWC in February, but don’t be surprised if it takes a bit longer.

NVIDIA Introduces World’s Fastest Mobile Processor

Tegra 4 Features 72 Custom GPU Cores, Quad-Core Cortex-A15 CPU for Superb Performance and Efficiency; LTE Enabled With Optional Chipset

LAS VEGAS, NV–(Marketwire – Jan 7, 2013) - CES – NVIDIA today introduced NVIDIA® Tegra® 4, the world’s fastest mobile processor, with record-setting performance and battery life to flawlessly power smartphones and tablets, gaming devices, auto infotainment and navigation systems, and PCs.

Tegra 4 offers exceptional graphics processing, with lightning-fast web browsing, stunning visuals and new camera capabilities through computational photography.

Previously codenamed “Wayne,” Tegra 4 features 72 custom NVIDIA GeForce™ GPU cores — or six times the GPU horsepower of Tegra 3 — which deliver more realistic gaming experiences and higher resolution displays. It includes the first quad-core application of ARM’s most advanced CPU core, the Cortex-A15, which delivers 2.6x faster web browsing and breakthrough performance for apps.

Tegra 4 also enables worldwide 4G LTE voice and data support through an optional chipset, the fifth-generation NVIDIA Icera® i500 processor. More efficient and 40 percent the size of conventional modems, i500 delivers four times the processing capability of its predecessor.

“Tegra 4 provides enormous processing power and efficiency to power smartphones and tablets, gaming devices, auto systems and PCs,” said Phil Carmack, senior vice president of the Tegra business at NVIDIA. “Its new capabilities, particularly in the area of computational photography, will help improve a whole range of existing products and lead to the creation of exciting new ones.”

Computational Photography CapabilityAmong the Tegra 4 processor’s breakthroughs is its Computational Photography Architecture, which automatically delivers high dynamic range (HDR) photos and video by fusing together the processing power of the GPU, CPU and the camera’s image-signal processor.

Its HDR capability captures images, including those taken with a flash, the way they are seen by the human eye — with detail in both bright and dark areas.

Global Shutter versus Rolling Shutter

Moto-Glass?

http://www.engadget.com/gallery/motorola-solutions-hc1-headset-computer-hands-on/5551149/



One of the more entertaining posts we wrote up at last year's CES was for the Golden-i, a head-mounted computer that lets field workers control their machines using voice commands and by moving their heads. The idea being: technicians, soldiers and other hands-on types ought to have their hands free if they're going to do their jobs safely.

Since then, the Golden-i has been replaced by the Motorola Solutions HC1, which uses the same technology but is now rugged enough to withstand four-foot drops. It also has a much more comfortable, modular design. So comfortable, in fact, that you have to wonder why the original wasn't designed this way. Now the padded inner lining is velcro-attached, so workers can adjust it about as easily as they would a bike helmet. That's convenient for people who live in their headgear 40 hours a week, but it's also nice for companies where employees share helmets -- after all, it'd be nice to take out your own lining so that you're not sharing the same sweat-soaked padding with someone else.

Additionally, workers can remove components like the speaker module, which they might need to if the headset's in need of cleaning. There's now a user-programmable button, which you can do to turn off features like voice commands. The eyepiece, too, is now attached to a sturdy, flexible boom, which lets you adjust the LCD position just so.

In terms of actual functionality, the core technology hasn't changed much: this is still a heads-up display that allows you to control things using your voice or by moving your head. However, the software has been improved in such a way that you can now share your screen -- or rather, your field of vision. So, for example, if a field worker is having trouble repairing something, he can have a distant colleague remote in and offer help -- sort of the virtual equivalent of looking over someone's shoulder. That's it in a nutshell, but we've got photo and video of the hardware below. Apologies if you have a fear of mannequins.

High Spped Slooooo-Motion 600fps

JVC Procision GC-PX100 Camera 600fps For $1000 Perfect For Coaches:

January 11, 2013
11tweetsRetweet

JVC have announced the new Procision GC-PX100 camera which shoots Full HD 1920 x 1080/60p video at 36Mbps, a bit rate that allows Full HD slow-motion playback, perfect for motion analysis or special effects. The slow motion ability of the Procision JVC GC-PX100 makes it a perfect camera for sports coaches that need to analyze and improve their athletes techniques.

Premium performance is further assured by the fast F1.2 lens, 1/2.3” 12.8 megapixel back-illuminated CMOS sensor and optical image stabilization. Five shooting speeds are available, ranging from 120fps to 600fps, easily selected using a dial conveniently located next to the lens. It’s also possible to grab bursts of nine still images from video at the touch of a button, similar to what can be done using the motor drive on an SLR still camera. Other shooting modes for capturing action include high-speed digital still recording at up to 60fps and variable speed time-lapse recording. Zoom Position Memory, ideal for analyzing sports plays, allows quick switching among three angles of view — Full Wide, Full Tele, and a user-settable position in between. Go from full field team formation analysis to a tight shot of a goal being scored, with instant switching of focus, zoom and exposure.

With Wi-Fi connectivity, video and images can be wirelessly sent to and viewed on a smartphone or tablet. And for coaches and others with an interest in analyzing an athlete’s performance, the free “JVC CAM Coach” app for iOS and Android allow annotations to be made on the playback image. Flaws in an athlete’s form can be noted by drawing on the screen and easily seen by both coach and athlete using the large screen a tablet provides, and without the need to disturb the camera setup. There’s also Twin View, which enables simultaneous side-by-side playback of two different video clips after they’re transferred to a tablet, for comparative viewing.

"A Tagging function allows scenes to be tagged for easy access at any time, and the Scoring function allows the user to record a running tally of a game score as it progresses by tapping on a smartphone."

The GC-PX100 was designed for fast, easy handling, with an SLR-type body and all key controls and functions conveniently placed for intuitive operation. A three-inch tiltable LCD monitor allows high and low angle recording, and an LCD monitor hood is included. An optional color viewfinder is available.

The JVC GC-PX100 will be available in March for $999.95. Keep an eye on the JVC website for more information.
Read more: http://cinescopophilia.com/jvc-procision-gc-px100-camera-600fps-for-1000-perfect-for-coaches/#ixzz2HoTstAW4

Point-and-Shoot with GPS and Compass

Want a really great point and shoot with GPS and compass...  MidNight suggests one of SONY's HX models as a point-and-shoot camera.  Each has an 18Mp sensor, GPS, and a compass.  All also have the ability to record video as well.  Main difference is an extra digital zoom and WiFi.  Generally lenses are quite good.  Try to avoid the use of software zoom – use only optical zoom.

B&H Sony CyberShor DSc-HX Point and shoot  COMPARISON

 

B&H Comparison – My suggestion for value and feature would be the DSC-HX20V/B – for an extra $40 the HX30V offers digital zoom and WiFi. All have panograph automations... very cool

 

The combination of compass and GPS is a good choice and my experience with these series is they are quite good.  You will need to add memory card.  I suggest considering a 32GB - Type 6 or better because these cameras can also record 1080p60 full motion video.

  

The PHODARs - PhotoSynth, Pix4D - Some very cool ideas...

I really like Microsoft's Photosynth product. I have been experimenting with it from the first time I was introduced to at an 4thsight.

From a set of images made in over the course of minutes and submission to a tool like Microsoft's Photosynth images are systematically organized into sets that organize through their 3D relatonships to each other.  Image sets can be purposely taken or they can be disassociated in time, camera, and photographer.  What is especially exciting is that the process also creates a point cloud that can offer quite magical 3D point clouds that can spun and inspected.  And if there are geotagged images in these raw image sets, the entire point-cloud might become geotagged as well as  images that may not have such image geoposition? (There was another form of Photosynth, GeoSynth, that was a bit too powerful for private sector use and resides within a workstation in special places).

The Photosynth above was created from taking 88 images/clips of Uluru (Ayres Rock, Australia) from Google Earth. As you will see all 88 images become properly orientated to the object and each other.   In creating this 3D indexing, a number of camera position orientations are discovered for each image and added to their individual metadata sets. These qualities are valuable to spatial media explorations and include: Image ID, Camera position X, Y, and Z, Camera rotation about X,Y, and Z axis, Image aspect ratio, ans Focal length (relative to the size of the CCD)

The example in the YouTube video was created from grabbing screen from a Gooogle Earth visit to Uluru or Ayres Rock in Australia.  What I was interested  in is the 3D point cloud that can be generated from a set of images... a poor-mans LIDAR solution.  I believe this sort of PHODAR (Photo Light Detections and Ranging) is going to be a significant utility that may render LIDAR solutions as simply too-expensive and too-low resolution. 

The Photosysth Point-Cloud to DEM Tutorial

SynthExport can export this data as a CSV as well as the point cloud. SynthExport allows you to extract the point cloud as well as camera parameter data of a synth on Photosynth. Point clouds are downloaded automatically and converted to formats that are compatible with most 3D graphics applications. Camera information such as position, focal length and lens distortion of each image is stored as a CSV file.   MeshLab and others can load these sets of files and create more dense rendering of the Photosynth magic-data.  And yet another solution VisualSFM that pulls these generalized tools together with a GUI interface.  

The systematization of DEM surfaces from imagery sets  is a hot topic. PhotoModeler is a commercial product that costs between $1,200 to $2,600 The team at 2D3 has something cooking as does Pix4D.  The 2D3 Sensing team is both US and England based and recently Englsnd's DSTL funded 2d3 Sensing to further refine a real-time 3D scene generator to provide rich scene understanding from stereo imagery.  Pix4D is another design supported by Swiss defense interests and is designed to 3D-ize aerial imagery taken from popular, small, and limited range UAVs.  Pix4D is priced on the number of images submitted and the desired resolution of the final 3D model.

One piece of this quest was to discover if these tools might also support and refine the generalized DEM that Google Earth rely on.  What I was able to find is that 3D models generated from these several tools can be converted into a SketchUp form.  SketchUp was once a Google product that was sold to Trimble.  The Trimble version of SketchUp remains compaible to Google Earth; it can absorb Google Earth to its rendings or be sent into Google Earth for that display rendering. Trimble maintains a free version as well as a $495 SketchUp Pro price.

There are several interesting aspects of use of Photosynth derived point clouds is that even though the point cloud that is derived from "your" photos, it is copyrighted / licensed from Micorsoft and can not apparently be used in a commercial manner?  But interesting there may a way around this as the Photosynth Silverlight viewer has a JavaScript API which allows whatever program the synth is embedded in to continually check what the camera angle inside the synth is, so you could match Google Earth's viewpoint to match.

Getting the Best Point Clouds Getting the Best Point Clouds.  There has been debate on the topic.  If you inspect the three comparisons of method - normal (hand-held), Leveled, and All-sorts I sort of fall on the side of Intentionally Crooked.

Stones:
Normal: http://photosynth.net/view.aspx?cid=3034f0ff-0084-45f6-9688-3bc82bf2b958
Leveled: http://photosynth.net/view.aspx?cid=fed01de7-4ad9-432b-8977-ab60f93c521c
Intentionally Crooked: http://photosynth.net/view.aspx?cid=46664b9b-13e6-4f41-a5dc-0256316d7d42

There is an excellent users form that can be found at - http://photosynth.net/forum.aspx. Many of these tools noted above were found from Microsoft by one of the scientists there...

Nathanael Lawrence over 2 years agoThere are actually easier ways to export Photosynth point clouds now.

Almost a year ago, Photosynth user, Christoph Hausner, gave us his SynthExport app.
Kean Walmsley from Autodesk then wrote an import plugin for AutoCAD 2011 called BrowsePhotosynth.

Henri Astre has given us his PhotosynthToolkit, which not only downloads the Photosynth point cloud, but will also download small versions of the photos and camera positions in a synth to use in conjunction with Yasutaka Furukawa's PMVS2 for dense reconstruction of any synth.

Josh Harle has provided a tutorial on how to use PhotosynthToolkit.

If you'd like to use the full resolution photos from a synth (fair warning: you're going to need a heap of RAM to use them in PMVS2 if you have very many), use Henri'sPhotosynthTileDownloader to save them.

Recently, Josh Harle has modified Christoph's SynthExport to export the camera positions to use your photos with 3D Studio Max. His fork of SynthExport is named CameraExport. His results are very similar to the work that Greg Downing from xRez studios demonstrated near the end of November.

Field Pulse and Oxisensors

Masimo iSpO2 hands-on: track your pulse and blood oxygen with your iPhone

from Engadget by Terrence O'Brien

Pulse Oximeters are an essential hospital tool and serious athletes rely on them to track the efficiency with which they pump oxygen into their blood stream. Masimo's new iSpO2 puts these rather important health metrics within reach of the consumer by tying the sensor to your favorite iOS device through an app. The device, available now for $249 through Amazon, feeds your blood oxygen level, pulse rate and perfusion index (the rate of blood flow to your finger) to an easy-to-read app. In addition to just large raw numbers, the app also offers a history-tracking graph, along with a confidence rating for the reading -- so you know when the data coming in and out is reliable. The device itself is primarily light soft-touch plastic and rubber, with a slightly glossier clip that goes over your finger. At the opposite end of the device is the standard 30-pin connector for plugging into your old-school iOS devices. Though, frequent upgraders will be happy to hear that Lightning adapters work perfectly fine with the iSpO2.

Primarily the monitor is aimed at athletes and aviators who tend to find themselves in unpressurized aircraft. Beyond that, there could be general health applications for those with chronic circulation issues or other blood-related health problems. The sensor even works when under stress from constant movement -- an important feature since Masimo expects runners and hikers are expected actually wear the device when active. For a bit more, check out the gallery below and the video after the break.

Fisheye Corrections

Got fisheye? proDAD Debuts Defishr

from (title unknown) by Paul Worthington

Slight curvature can be overlooked in a still image — but it can make me nauseous in a moving video. Thankfully digital video effects developer proDAD has come out with the Defishr — an automatic video fisheye corrector application for Windows.

The $79 software removes the warp and perspective distortion caused by very wide angle camera lenses. Simply drag a video clip into the Defishr app, select the camera model that recorded the video from a drop-down list, and the fisheye distortion is instantly corrected, the company says. If your camera & lens combination is not in the list of camera profiles, the calibrator tool, can create a custom camera profile.

Defishr also includes manual lens correction tools to fine-tune the lens angle and zoom, or to rotate the video and correct minor camera placement problems.

Smartphone IR

Smartphone Thermal Imaging Attachment Becomes a Reality

• DL Cade · Dec 29, 2012

 

A few months ago, we told you about a neat, open-source attachment created by modder Andy Rawson that could instantly turn your smartphone into a thermal imaging camera. At the time, Rawson was intending to sell the production models for $150 and otherwise open source the project for the DIYers out there. Well, add about $25 to the price tag and a ridiculously successful Kickstarter campaign and you’ve got the IR-Blue.

As with the original version, the IR-Blue uses a 64 zone non-contact InfraRed sensor array to sense the temperature of whatever you’re pointing your phone at. Unlike the original, this version did away with the dock connection in favor of Bluetooth.

Both the iPhone and Android apps will be a free download, and then you’ve got a few options. You can pledge $12 and get a plain, printed IR-Blue circuit board — hardcore DIYers only. You can pledge $145 and get all of the parts you’ll need to build your own — beginner and intermediate DIYers who own a soldering iron are welcome. Or you can pledge $175 and get a fully put together and tested IR-Blue,

Here’s what the system looks like for iPhone and Android:

There’s no need to worry about the possibility that the IR-Blue won’t come to fruition — Rawson’s campaign has already hit $105K, more than quintupling his original $20K goal — but if he hits $150K in the next 15 days, the IR-Blue will come equipped with dual-mode Bluetooth 2.0 and 4.0 built right in.

To add your pledge to the pot or turn your smartphone into a thermal camera for cheap (the suggested retail price is $195), head over to Kickstarter and check out the IR-Blue for yourself.

Magic Button

locate your goods with a smartphone (hands-on video)
By Zach Honig posted Jan 2nd, 2013 at 4:20 PM

We've all misplaced keys, gadgets and occasionally even children.
Well, no more. StickNFind is a nifty, inexpensive solution for tagging
and locating electronics, keys and pets. For roughly $25 a pop
(estimated retail), you get a small adhesive disk that can be affixed
to any flat surface or attached to a keychain. Inside, there's a
replaceable CR2016 watch battery that's said to last more than a
year, a Bluetooth module and antenna, an LED-lit ring and a
iezoelectric speaker. A free Android or iOS app then lets you hone
in on any stickers within a roughly 100-foot (line of sight) range.
The current version can only display distance, but an update, set to
hit before StickNFind ships, will add direction, leading you directly
o your target. You can also activate a (fairly faint) beeper, and an
LED ring around the perimeter of the sticker, further helping you to
ind the device, even in a dark room. The app will offer several other
eatures, including a "Virtual Leash" that alerts you when the sticker
goes out of range -- a "Reverse Virtual Leash" will make the device
(perhaps attached to your keys) beep, letting you know you've left
your smartphone behind.

The product designers will also be offering an SDK, so developerscan 

even create their own apps for StickNFind. For example, you could 

write an app that uses the stickers as triggers -- apparently one museum 

plans to affix the device to art, so as visitors approach, a text notification 

will pop up describing the piece. Another company is considering using 

stickers at an upcoming conference, and with Bluetooth transmitters 

laced around a venue, they can track the precise location of attendee 

badges (and the individuals wearing them), and even send "pages" by 

riggering the beeper and light. During our hands-on, StickNFind worked 

quite well, though as we mentioned, the current alpha version of the 

app only displays distance, not direction. The device is currently 

available for "pre-order" on Indiegogo, with an estimated March s

hip date. You can snag a sneak peek of it in action though, in our h

ands-on video after the break.

StickNFind Bluetooth Location Stickers hands-on

See all photos