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Rosum’s Alloy chip promises ‘precise’ location using TV signals

Posted on 01. Mar, 2010 by IBM.

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Though plenty of firms (including some big ones) have been trying to commercialize consumer-facing indoor positioning technologies for years, none have succeeded on a wide scale — which certainly seems to leave the door wide open for a system that actually works to be wildly successful, doesn’t it? Rosum has been toying with the idea of using plain old TV signals to accurately locate people and objects within GPS-hating structures for years, and with today’s launch of its so-called Alloy system with partner Siano, the company could be closer to wide-scale deployment. Basically, Alloy combines AGPS (for maximum precision outdoors and in marginal areas) with support for a variety of types of TV signals to enhance coverage and provide <150 meter accuracy even in the deepest, darkest, dankest corners of your home where traditional GPS would never dream of going. What’s more, Rosum touts that TV positioning is several orders of magnitude more power-efficient than AGPS, music to the ears of anyone who’s struggling to get a full day’s battery out of their phone. They’re sampling chipsets beginning this month, but don’t expect it in handsets right away — Rosum’s primary target appears to be femtocell makers. The devices traditionally require GPS reception, requiring unsightly remote GPS antennas if you’re not interested in balancing the cell on a window sill, so a technology like this should let you properly bury that network extender behind a bookshelf where it belongs. Follow the break for Rosum’s press release.

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Rosum’s Alloy chip promises ‘precise’ location using TV signals originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 01 Mar 2010 17:09:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sony Ericsson Aspen: first with Windows Mobile 6.5.3

Posted on 02. Feb, 2010 by IBM.

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It’s finally here: Windows Mobile 6.5.3, the iterative finger-friendly Windows Mobile release that should have been wrapped into 6.5.0. The latest mobile wares from Microsoft come wrapped inside the Sony Ericsson Aspen (aka, Faith); a business-focused QWERTY candybar with 2.4-inch QVGA TFT touchscreen LCD, 3.2 megapixel camera, A-GPS with Google Maps, 3.5-mm audio jack, WiFi, and microSD expansion. This latest addition to Sony Ericsson’s GreenHeart portfolio comes in black or white silver and packs quad-band GSM/EDGE with either HSPA 900/2100 or 850/900/2100 radios (depending on region). Available in Q2.

Back to Windows Mobile 6.5.3 for a second, although this is a .dot.dot update it’s actually a fairly significant move for Microsoft. For starters, this release now includes a more finger-friendly layout (no stylus needed even when digging deep into the OS), support for capacitive touchscreens (huzzah!), and acts as a platform to enable multitouch. Microsoft has also improved browser performance with faster page load times and better memory management while improving the pan and flick gestures and zoom and rotational speeds. Sounds like somebody is getting ready for Mobile World Congress.

Sony Ericsson Aspen: first with Windows Mobile 6.5.3 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 02 Feb 2010 03:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Palm Pre Plus MMS and GPS issues crop up, webOS update can’t come soon enough

Posted on 01. Feb, 2010 by IBM.

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It doesn’t look like we’ve got any showstoppers here — but just as with any major new smartphone release, Verizon’s Pre Plus is starting to take some lumps after romping in the field for a week since its retail availability kicked off. Of the two biggies being cited so far, one is of particular concern: apps other than VZ Navigator don’t seem to take advantage of GPS augmentation, meaning they’re relying on a straight-up GPS signal alone to get a location lock — something that often doesn’t work on a phone (a reliable workaround seems to be to open VZ Navigator before you open the app you really need, but still, not an optimal situation). The second, less troublesome issue involves sending MMS messages over WiFi; basically, you can’t. The phone forgets to fire up cellular data to send the message and tries to route it over the WiFi connection instead, which inevitably fails. What’s odd about both of these is that they seem like regressions from the software already rolled out to Sprint (and other) Pres, and a surprising lack of rigor from a carrier known for putting its phones through the gauntlet prior to release. Let’s hope we see an over-the-air update in short order, shall we?