Microsoft Research Explores Location Technologies
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Microsoft researchers talk about a variety of location-based tools they are developing.
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Satellite-enabled turn-by-turn navigation, whether you're in a car or on foot
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(InfoWorld) - Microsoft Research workers showed off some of their projects, including several that find new uses for mobile phones, on Monday at a summit in Redmond, Wash. Eric Chang, director of incubation at Microsoft's Advanced Technology Center in Beijing, described Fone+, a product that lets users connect their mobile phones to a TV, a keyboard, and a mouse. Fone+ would let users take advantage of the growing processing power in mobile phones that enables more computing functions but would allow them to use phones to access the Internet with a full keyboard and on a larger screen. The product would be aimed at regionsÂ such asÂ China, where PC penetration is still quite low but mobile phone ownership is high. Users could also connect other devices, such as external storage, to the phone through the cradle. The phone could connect to the Internet either wirelessly or through broadband wired connections, Chang said. While some parts of China have broadband, others are covered by at best GPRS or EDGE, relatively slow mobile connections, he said. Chang expects to demonstrate the application Tuesday at the summit. The application appears to have caught the eye of Microsoft executives such as Craig Mundie, chief research and strategy officer, who mentioned Fone+ at a conference earlier this year. Another researcher showed off applications that combine physiological sensors with mobile phones. One application developed and tested by Nuria Oliver, a researcher at Microsoft Research, combines a heart-rate sensor with a music-tempo analyzer to let runners use music players in their mobile phones to set their workouts. With MPTrain, a user first chooses a workout on the phone that might include two 10-minute periods of intense exercise interspersed with periods of slower exercise. The application then analyzes the music in the user's phone to choose songs based on their tempo and length, matching the chosen workout. "The phone knows where your heart rate should be based on the workout you want to do," Oliver said. "It determines whether you need to slow down, speed up, or keep the same pace and based on that selects the right song to induce you to run at the right pace," she said. She tested how well a song encourages a runner to change pace and found that music works remarkably well, compared to runners trying to pace their workout on their own without music. Oliver has also developed and tested an application that can be used by people who suffer from or think they might suffer from sleep apnea. People with sleep apnea repeatedly stop breathing as they sleep, often many times a night, and perhaps for a minute or longer. Wearing a small sensor on a toe that communicates with a mobile phone over Bluetooth, a user could sleep at home and monitor their heart rate and level of oxygen in their blood. Most people with sleep apnea undergo tests when they are hooked up to many sensors on their bodies and must sleep in a hospital for one or two nights. Oliver's application would allow users to remain in the comfort of their own homes and monitor their sleep for longer periods of time, allowing them to note how different factorsÂ such asÂ food or stress may affect their sleep, she said. The researchers showed off their projects at the Microsoft Research Faculty Summit, a conference where Microsoft invites members of academia to discuss issues in computer science research. Microsoft Research, a group comprising 700 researchers in five labs around the world, works on a variety of projects that may ultimately become Microsoft products or be sold to external sources.
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InfoWorld - Location-based services appeared here, there, and everywhere at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this week, as service providers maneuvered to take advantage of the increasing number of mobile phones shipping with integrated GPS (Global Positioning System) modules. Many of the services put the emphasis on finding your friends, not finding your way, as GPS evolves into more of a social tool.
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HotPads combines map data from Microsoft's Visual Earth with real estate listings to help you find a place to live -- whether you're interested in buying or renting, or need help deciding.
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InfoWorld - Researchers at Mitsubishi Electric have developed a location finding and ranging system based on an emerging short-range wireless technology.
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Attaching location data to images enables new ways to search photos, give slide shows or be a virtual tourist. For now, early adopters only need apply.Photos: A look at geotagging technology
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The convergence of desktop and mobile phones into a single, go-anywhere gadget that works on multiple wireless networks may seem just around the corner, but large-scale deployments are still a long way off, said IT professionals and vendors at Interop.
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European study reveals extent of Microsoft 'ecosystem
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Looks to commercial surveillance tools
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Microsoft releases Windows mapping, search, functions for phones.
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The company seems to be focused on developing a solution that would enable users to access complete directions and maps using a portable device.
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Analysis Prospects bright in the Wi-Fi arena
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Microsoft plans to release in December new software that secures instant messaging and other communications within big companies. The Redmond, Wash.
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Users of social network sites like Facebook will soon be sharing their exact whereabouts with their friends in real-time, owing to new technology that uses the mobile phone as a tracking device, experts say.
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We just published my high-level look at the nascent technology of geotagging, the incorporation of GPS-based location data into digital photos.
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Mobile computers could provide customized information or perform specialized functions based on their changing locations.