The saga continues for Google’s voyeuristic mapping service, but this time Microsoft Streetside and Aol’s MapQuest 360 View may be the Bonnie to Street View’s Clyde. Transcenic, Inc. is suing the tech giants for acquiring the tools necessary to offer 3D mapping by less-than-legitimate means. The Louisiana-based company alleges that all named parties borrowed, without permission, a bit from a patent it owns on a 3D cartography technology that captures spatial reference images and uses a database to navigate them on command. Read more…
Computers-Plus
More than simple IT news!
Another day, another flying car. Yes, we have covered flying cars like the Terrafugia Transition before, and the Transition has just received clearance from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
So are we really prepared for an era of flying cars, otherwise known as Personal Air Vehicles (PAVs)? That depends on whether or not people are going to be responsible flyers. Yeah, right. Do we really think that air-related injuries wont spike exponentially with the advent of PAVs?
After all, I can easily see a group of teenagers out on a joyride and crash a flying car.
PowerSkin the name that is a godsend for those who make heavy use of their iPhones, has now opened the door for owners of the HTC Sensation and HTC ThunderBolt to enjoy an additional boost of power as well as protection from the daily rigors of portable use. The HTC ThunderBolt is one of the first few 4G/LTE handsets out there, and one of its major drawbacks would be the huge power drain on its battery when on 4G networks.
Lately, I have been teaching my son to ride a bicycle, and it reminds me of my days of awkward bike riding. I remember that I had a hard time with changing the gears, but what if I could do it with my mind?
Parlee Cycles is apparently working on a concept bicycle made of carbon fiber that does just that. It is part of Toyota Prius Projects, and it uses a helmet equipped with neurotransmitters to read a wearers brainwaves. A wireless transmitter attached to the bikes seat post gets the signal, and changes the gear.
As you might of guessed, this is still a concept.
Is the end near for clunky, heavy industrial tablets?
Construction may be one of those fields where tablet computers were actually used, back when they were little more than laptops without a keyboard. The new, semi-rugged GD3015 from General Dynamics does almost nothing to acknowledge the huge changes in the tablet market over the past year, and offers little more than a specialized netbook without a keyboard.
The GD3015 is designed for public safety, utilities, transportation, and warehousing workers.