5 Things To Love About Nokia’s New Maps

Nokia's rebranded mapping service will soon arrive on iPhones and and Android devices, under the moniker of Here. For Android users this isn't a huge deal, but for iPhone owners living in the age of iOS 6, it could change a lot. Nokia's maps, on other platforms, have been fantastic.

The apps aren't quite available yet, but the web-based version of Here is functional on mobile browsers, offering a glimpse of what we can expect. What's so great about it? Quite a bit, actually.

Full size

Cached Maps: Here will allow you to select a zone and zoom level for any given locale, and then the app will download all the data it needs so that you can access the maps offline. I chose lower mahattan at the setting which just starts to detail streets, and it cached a ~35 megabyte map for me. This is a feature I can see myself using on a regular basis.

Full size

Smart Traffic Routing: Unfortunately, the web version of Here does not have turn-by-turn, but its static driving directions do make up for that some. You see, there happens to be an option to select the time of day you'll be driving, and it will determine the most efficient route from point A to point B based on the normalized traffic data it has collected in the past for any given time of day.

Full size

Public Transit

: Yes, public transit is a prominent part of Here. But more than just giving you subway directions when you ask for them, it displays the name of each metro station on the map and gives you the option of overlaying train maps on top of the standard map (see top image).

Full size

Collections: Going on a trip and want to bookmark all the places you've researched on a map? Wandering around randomly one day and want to remember that shop you stepped into? Collections is a quick and easy way to plot points on a map. It's like a more functional Google Custom Map.

Full size

Points of Interest: If you search for a business, restaurant, or anything else using Here, it will automatically generate a list of nearby spots that you might also be interested in. Handy if the place you're trying to travel to is closed, or fully booked.

Of course, this is still just a web app, so it's a little lacking when it comes to beauty and polish. But if Here can combine the functionality of the web app with the perks of a natively coded app, it could be really awesome. We'll find out in a few weeks.

Big Data + Smart Thermostats Shaves Peak Load

A smart thermostat driven by cloud data analytics from startup EcoFactor will shave peak demand and improve efficiency year round.

One of the advantages to consumers of a smart thermostat is the ability to remotely control temperature settings. Credit: EcoFactor.

A deal between startup EcoFactor and a Nevada utility shows the potential of coupling data analytics with smart thermostats to make the grid more efficient and reliable.

NV Energy plans to install 10,000 smart thermostats at homes in Las Vegas area for its demand response program to cut the power load on the grid during peak times. As with other demand-response programs, consumers receive a discount for agreeing to let the utility raise air conditioner temperature settings during very hot days.

What sets this apart from most other utility demand-response programs is EcoFactor’s cloud-based data analytics software. In addition to controlling thermostats during peak events, which occur only during the hottest days of the year, the software will make minor adjustments to thermostats all year round. By analyzing consumer actions and individual building performance, EcoFactor says it can lower heating and cooling load by 13 percent on average.

The company’s software continually gathers data from the thermostat, such building temperature, local weather and when consumers adjust settings. Based on an analysis of the data, it sends out instructions to the thermostat to improve efficiency. The thermostat communicates with the home WiFi network and EcoFactor connects to the thermostat over a home broadband connection.

The changes are typically very minor adjustments so people’s comfort isn’t affected. But over the course of the month, several one degree set point changes add up to significant energy savings, says John Steinberg, EcoFactor’s executive vice president of business development. The system also does things such precooling a building before a demand response event to avoid discomfort, he added.

NV Energy, which did two pilots before this program, expects it can shave 25 megawatts of peak load during hot summer days when the air conditioning load is very high.

That’s a minor reduction in the utility’s peak load demand, which was over 4.5 gigawatts in southern Nevada last year. But it’s a system that has the potential to scale to many residential customers and significantly reduce peak demand from residential buildings. The year-round energy efficiency improvements are scalable as well since it’s a cloud based service that doesn’t require consumers to change their behavior.

EcoFactor’s deal with NV Energy is its largest to date and is expected to be expanded. Early next year, cable provider Comcast is planning on rolling out an energy management service that uses smart thermostats and EcoFactor’s software, an offering which could have a far broader reach.

Nokia's Apple attack: A better Maps app for iPhone

“One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.” -- Henry Miller.

Nokia is battling back at Apple's [AAPL] weakest point, launching a superior location and mapping app for iOS, reaching a browser map deal with Google competitor Mozilla and promising reference systems for Android developers as it fights for a place in the smartphone biz.

Nokia is HERE for iPhone

Nokia is launching its maps application for iOS under the HERE brand. The app is based on HTML5 and boasts some cool offline capabilities you just won’t find on Apple Maps: voice-guided walk navigation, and public transport directions. 

Announcing the app, Nokia’s head of user experience design, Peter Skillman,said the release was partially at least: “On the chance that there might be a few iPhone users that want a different map.”

Nokia CEO Stephen Elop said the move would let his firm: "...extend our 20 years of location expertise to new devices and operating systems that reach beyond Nokia. As a result, we believe that more people benefit from and contribute to our leading mapping and location service."

The company has seen its marketshare slide in recent years, battered by the twin smartphone giants of Apple and Google.

Taking steps to proliferate its brand across other platforms may help it retain a connection with users, perhaps drawing them back to its products on strength of positive user experiences.

It doesn’t hurt that Nokia’s mapping services are widely seen as being better than Google’s offering or Apple’s attempt.

Digging the earthmine

One feature Nokia doesn’t yet have is Flyover -- the clever 3D city simulation Apple users enjoy on iOS 6. In order to overtake its Californian rival, Nokia will acquire earthmine, whose reality capture and processing technologies will become integral parts of HERE's 3D map making capabilities. 

The company also took a bite at augmented reality with the release of Livesight, which is the tech behind Nokia City Lens as developed for the Nokia Lumia. “LiveSight provides the most precise and intuitive augmented reality experience and uses a phone's camera viewfinder to make discovering the world as easy as lifting up a phone,” the company said.

The company will next year introduce reference tools third party developers can use to pop Nokia Maps inside of Google’s mobile OS.

CCS Insight analyst, Martin Garner, told the Financial Times: “Nokia is now in head-on competition with Google across the major smartphone platforms. This is a logical extension of its strategy to make Maps a horizontal technology, similar to Google’s approach with search.”

Nokia’s move to take on Apple with an iOS app is pretty shrewd. The company recognizes Apple’s brand loyalty is teetering as consumers grow tired of the constant litigation and confused by the regularity with which the iconic company now attracts bad press. 

iPhone losing luster?

A recent poll from Harris Interactive suggested young consumers and early adopters in the UK are now more willing than before to switch from iPhone to other brands. “25 per cent of current iPhone users are anticipating the release of other smartphones more.”

Nokia also knows that should Apple refuses to carry its mapping app on the App Store, then it should benefit from the inevitable outburst of criticism of such a step.

The company has had to go through painful internal reorganization to reach this point, following CEO Stephen Elop’s warning last year that: “The first iPhone shipped in 2007, and we still don’t have a product that is close to their experience. Android came on the scene just over 2 years ago, and this week they took our leadership position in smartphone volumes. Unbelievable.”

“This is Nokia finally realizing a vision they’ve been working on for a long time,” Gartner analyst, Van Baker, told Businessweek. “They’ve probably got the best maps on the market, and they’re a lot further down the road” in terms of delivering user-specific relevant information.

The move to offer up maps for competing platforms means the company is now playing to its strengths. 

It’s open to question whether it will succeed in regaining momentum in the smartphone sector, but it’s pretty certain its mapping app will be firmly put through its paces by iPhone users, pending major improvements in Apple Maps. 

Got a story? Drop me a line via Twitter or in comments below and let me know. I'd like it if you chose to follow me on Twitter so I can let you knowwhen these items are published here first on Computerworld.

Nokia Unveils a Map Service that Lives in the Cloud

With a new mapping service, called Here, Nokia hopes to get smartphone users hooked on its mapping technology.

Nokia introduced a new cloud-optimized version of its mapping technology on Tuesday. The company hopes the Web service and associated apps, rebranded as Here, will be a hit across different devices and software platforms—including on the iPhone and Android phones.The company’s CEO, Stephen Elop, introduced Here at an event in San Francisco on Tuesday morning. Here is available through a Web browser and as an iPhone app. It includes directions, 3-D city views, the ability to create and save a collection of destinations, and live traffic data. The same technology is already built into Windows Phone 8, the software that powers Nokia’s smartphones.

The announcement comes about a month after Apple launched its own mapping app to replace Google Maps as the default navigation tool on its devices. Apple’s app was widely criticized for being buggy and incomplete (see “Is Apple Losing Its Way?”), and the controversy highlighted the importance of quality mapping technology to mobile users.

Here includes technology from Nokia-owned Navteq, as well as Earthmine, a 3-D imaging company that Nokia announced it is acquiring. Elop said Nokia hopes developers will create new location-enabled services on top of Here.

Nokia already provides mapping technology to Microsoft’s Bing search engine, Yahoo Maps, and others. But the success of Here could be crucial if Nokia is to regain favor in the smartphone market, where Apple’s iPhone and smartphones running Android dominate.

Michael Halbherr, executive vice president of Nokia’s location and commerce business and the head of Here, said that Here offloads many tasks to the cloud so that it doesn’t require much bandwidth to load and its maps can be downloaded to a smartphone without taking up much storage space.

Peter Skillman, head of design for location and commerce at Nokia, demonstrated Here on the Web, zooming in from a large 3-D map of the world to a vivid 3-D map of San Francisco and down to the city’s streets. Searching for Greek restaurants yielded a number of results and little blue arrows peppering the map; you can pick any of the results and drop them into personal “collections” of destinations you plan to visit (these collections can be viewed with any device on which you’re using Here).

Skillman also showed off the iPhone version of Here, which will be available as a free app in the next several weeks and will include features like turn-by-turn driving directions and voice-guided walking directions.

Nokia is rolling it out “on the off chance that there may be some iPhone users that want a different map,” he said, taking a shot at rival Apple over its mapping application. The company says it will make a Here software tool kit for Android smartphone makers available during the first quarter of next year.

Additionally, Nokia is partnering with Mozilla to make Here available on the browser maker’s forthcoming smartphone operating software, Firefox OS.

Top Ten Smartphones

Here at BestTechnology we care what is and what isn’t the best of the best. One of today’s most used pieces of technology that practically everyone has on them right at this very moment is a smartphone of some type, whether it is a iPhone or Blackbery.

We want to hear from you, the audience, what you think are the top ten best smartphones of today’s time. Submit your opinion in the comments below, and we will take them under review and compose a list, were the audience will be able to vote on what they think is the best based out of the submissions. The final list will be posted after all the votes are throug

MAY BE YOR PHONE PLEASE COMMENT 

Temple Run Training Game iPhone App Review

Temple Run Training App ReviewTemple Run Training Game is a free application in the games category, with a 3 out of 5appstore rating. This game is supposed to help you get a better score in the super popular game called “Temple Run”.

The games physics are simple: You basically have to slide your finger in the direction given by falling arrows, the only way this works though is by sliding your finger while it is on the arrow is in the range of two glowing lines. Once you miss the arrow you will be flashed a notification saying that you have lost, giving you two options; Try again, or More Games.

After playing this game numerous time my score in temple run improved by 10,000 points in 2 days time. This app defiantly helps you improve your score and is worth checking out.

Check out my video review at : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZg7grXWE08

N.O.V.A. 3 Availible for IOS and Andriod

Although many people will argue, first person shooters have grown immensely for both IOS and Android devices. Gameloft has been a symbol of mobile gaming with hugely popular titles such as Modern Combat and N.O.V.A (Near Orbit Vanguard Alliance). N.O.V.A. is a science fiction based first person shooter which greatly resembles the highly popular Xbox gameHalo. With N.O.V.A and N.O.V.A 2 being big hits on the app store, it is time for another N.O.V.A in the series.

Gameloft has released a trailer for N.O.V.A 3 and is being expected to be full released onto the app store at around midnighttonight (5/9/12). The price for the game is estimated to be $6.99 and will be released in both US and UK app stores.

N.O.V.A 3 is already stunning people in the trailers with the looks of the multilayer experience. With folks already stunned by the multiplayer experience given to them from incredibly popular modern first person shooter Modern Combat 3: Fallen Nation, N.O.V.A 3 is said to be no different. With the game now using the Unreal engine as the main building base, the physics and special effects should bring the “WOW” the audience has been looking for. The multiplayer aspect of the game features 12 player battles, 6 massive maps, a large array of vehicles for you and your team-mates to use in battles, and a ton of new weapons and abilities for your customizable character.

As for the campaign mode of the game, it will pick up were it was left off in N.O.V.A 2 as the main character Kal Warden battles to fight for Earth and her people.

How To Jailbreak IOS 5.1.1

Here is iTechNewsDaily bringing to you a tutorial on jailbreaking IOS 5.1.1 with the new Redsn0w B8

Works for devices:

iPhone 4

iPhone 3GS

iPod Touch 4th Generation

iPod Touch 3ed Generation

iPad 1

If your device is not listed this jailbreak will not work for you.

This Jailbreak is currently a Teathered jailbreak, such saying if your iDevice looses power due to a dead battery or rebooting it, you will need to re-boot into the jailbroken state using the Redsn0w tool.

Steps:

1. Download Redsn0w 0.9.10 B8

Redsn0w for Windows

Redsn0w for Mac

Redsnow for Mac: https://sites.google.com/a/iphone-dev.com/files/home/redsn0w_mac_0.9.10b8.zip?attredirects=0&d=1

2. Download the IOS 5.1.1 IPSW for your device

All firmwares can be found on this website. Download the 5.1 IPSW for your iDevice here

Note for iPhone Users: Be sure to download either the GSM or CDMA IPSW Depending on your iPhone

3. Launch Redsn0w and load your IPSW. Go to extras, select IPSW and point it to the location of the IPSW for your device.

Note: If you are on Windows 7 or Windows Vista, right click on Redsn0w and select properties, compatibility, and set the compatibility to Windows XP and run Redsn0w as administrator

4. Go back to the main screen and click jailbreak, and put your iDevice in DFU mode by following these steps.

Plug your iDevice into the computer and power it off

Press and hold the home button and the lock button for 10 seconds

Release lock button, continue to hold the home button for 30 seconds or until Redsn0w recognizes DFU and continues to jailbreak your device.

5. Select “Install Cydia” and any other options that you would like (except install custom bundle)

6. Wait for device to fully reboot, and close outRedsn0w. It is very important that you close out Redsn0w after your device reboots!

7. Re-open Redsn0w, go to extras and click select IPSW, and locate the same IPSW. Go back to the extras screen and click just boot. Place your device into DFU mode again and let Redsn0w do its job.

Congratulations! You are now jailbroken on IOS 5.1.1!

Remember that every time you reboot your device, you need to repeat step 7 each time.

Samsung Galaxy S3

Waiting for Galaxy series? Now end up your waiting with the new Samsung Galaxy S3. It is the latest smart phone of Galaxy Series. Its awesome features with the help of android operating system will totally amaze you. Samsung Galaxy S3 was previewed publicly on Thursday, 3rd May in London. It will be available in Europe market from 29 May, 2012.

Its eye dashing design will freak everybody and the internal power is totally mind blowing. Its-

Network system: 2.5G[GSM/GPRS/EDGE]-850/900/1800/1900 MHz

3G [HSPA+21 Mbps]-850, 900, 1900, 2100 MHZ

4G system will be depending on Market.

Operating System-ANDROID 4.0[Ice cream sandwich]

Display- 4.8”HD super Amoled (1280×720) display.

Cameras are divided in two parts. First one is rear and the second one is front. Its 8 Mega pixel Auto focus camera with zero shutter lag and flash, will capture your every moment. We will found IS on rear part. We can also do HD recording @30fps with zero shutters Lag, BSI. Also you can play full high definition movie (1080) on it. Its front camera is 1.9 Mega Pixels. Other features, just check it out.

Audio Codec System: AMR-NB/WB, MP3, WMA, AAC/AAC+/eAAC+, FLAC, AC-3, apt-X

Video Codes system: H.264, Mpeg4, DivX, H.263, DivX3.11, VP8, VC-1 Sorenson Spark, WMVP7/8.

Sensor: Accelerometer, Digital Compass, RGB light, Gyro, Proximity, Barometer

Connectivity: Wi-Fi HT40, Wi-Fi a/b/g/n, GPS/GLONASS, NFC and Bluetooth 4.0 le

Memory: 16 or 32 GB user memory 4 GB will available soon]

Battery: 2.100mAh

Dimension: 136.6×70.6×8.6 mm, 133g.

Color: Marble white or pebble blue.

Processor: Exynos 4 Quad [1.4 GHz]

This smart phone has Pentile Matrix displays. This display uses a good combination of green, red and blue sub pixels to from a pixel on the screen lieu of the regular pixels. As a result it makes the screen brighter and Crisper and clear colorswhite the HD finer. Amoled takes care of energy efficiency. It has graphics processing unit withARM’s mali-400/Mp4. But the company has not informed about this speed. It has Dual channel LPDDR 2 memory as like Axinous Dual core. This is enough for SOC. The combination of these hopes they will work better from NVIDIA Ter3.Hope Samsung Galaxy S3 will be successfully run in Smart phone Market. What do you think?

Yahoo! Launches Apps for Mobile

Yahoo! today announced the availability of Yahoo! Mobile, an open and highly-personalized mobile starting point to the Internet, on both the mobile Web and as an Apple iPhone app. Both are currently available in eight countries across Europe, Asia and the Americas, including the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Germany, France, India, Indonesia and the Philippines, with additional localized versions expected to launch over the next several months.

Users can use Yahoo! search on their mobiles, stay connected through through access to email and social network accounts. Instant messaging, address book and calendar tools are offered as well