Looks like Europe’s GPS System, Galileo, finally managed to get a few doors opened up for themselves.  This could not have come at a better time, as the struggling competitor to the U.S.’s GPS system was facing some pretty serious financial trouble.
According to the article I just read, “The US and EU yesterday agreed to use an improved design for their respective Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signals. The signals will be implemented on the Galileo Open Service and the GPS IIIA new civil signal.” 

What does this mean to you and I?  It means things should work a whole heck of a lot better is what it means.  Simply speaking, it means, “greater positional precision, better reception and greater coverage from any GPS or Galileo satellite, thanks to a 2004 deal to ensure compatibility and interoperability at the user level.”  Nice.  Anytime I hear that something is going to be simpler to use, more compatible than before, and get better reception, I get a little excited.  Call me crazy.

So, better GPS reception is obviously a great thing for all us WHERE users, don’t you think?

Working over here at WHERE the word GPS is thrown around quite a bit.  After all, our companies goal, product and innovation all centers around GPS Widgets for your mobile phones.  Today, however, the word GPS is being thrown around in a not-so-positive light, a light that might just leave a whole group of New Yorkers walking to and from work for awhile.

That’s right, New York Cabbies are actually considering striking based on the fact that the Taxi & Limousine Commission wants to make it mandatory to put GPS Tracking devices in their cabs, at their expense.  Cab drivers all over the city are complaining that not only can they not afford the expected $3000-$5000 cost to install these systems, but they don’t want to be tracked at all.

The TLC is claiming it won’t use the information to track the drivers whereabouts, speeds, etc. but just be used to better serve the customers, and in the event of leaving things behind in cabs, make it easier to return people their belongings.  Add this to the TLC’s desire to switch all cabs to hybrid vehicles and you have one powerful change-a-brewing.

Stay tuned to this one, it could get very interesting.  In the meantime, for a more positive spin on GPS, head over to WHERE and check out some widgets!

What do you call it when industry analysts predict you’re going to sell anywhere from 500,000 to 1 million units of something in the first two days, and then, when the data rolls in, you find out you only actually sold 146,000?  That, is the tricky question Apple is going to have to ask itself as the numbers come in from AT&T showing just how many iPhones were activated during the first 2 days it was available.

On the one hand, 146,000 in two days is a lot, on the other hand, it’s a whole heck of a lot less than the 500,000 to 1 million.  The fact that the sales slowed way down after the first day should also be cause for some alarm.  Is demand for this new, cool product dwindling?  The article I read did offer a caveat however, “Analysts cautioned against reading too much into AT&T’s activation numbers, saying the actual number of iPhones sold may be much higher but was not reflected in the figure because many users had activation problems and couldn’t sign up for a few days.”

True.  Bottom line, there’s a lot of cool phones out there, and while they might not have the slick interface that the iPhone has, if you pop WHERE on the phone, add some sweet GPS widgets, trust me, you won’t miss the touch screen.  You’ll be too busy knowing exactly where things are, exactly what things are going to be like, and exactly, well, a whole bunch of other things.

Man, how many times do I need to say it?!  If we really wanna get fully immersed in the future being now, we need to start creating “mashups” of technology.  Imagine if AT&T got ahold of all of us at WHERE and with their sweet (reportedly) new “Video Share” technology, decided to add GPS tagging to it, allowing us to actually see WHERE our friends and family are while we’re seeing what they’re seeing live and in color on those tiny little screens.

That’s right, AT&T has officially launched their Video Share service and for $4.99 a month you can subscribe and see your friends, family members, enemies videos live.  Cool.  I’ve mentioned it before, and I’ll mention it again, this seriously feels like we’re taking giant strides towards a cool Jetsons type future.  Mmm, future.

That brings up an interesting question that I hope to get some answers on:  I’d love to hear what other kind of futuristic things YOU are excited for.  What don’t we have that we should?  What things are we drastically missing?  What things make no sense?  Let me know!

Good news for WHERE Widget users around the country, the startup time for Nokia’s GPS services has been cut down to about a minute, a huge improvement of the over 3 minute previous start up time.

More good news, Nokia plans on including this GPS service on all future GPS-enabled cell phones. This clearly opens the door WIDE open for GPS services just like WHERE. After all, without the GPS on the phone, what good is a GPS service? According to the article I just read, “This service has the ability to reduce the time a connected mobile device with built in GPS needs to find its current position, known as time to first fix (TTFF) for most geographical locations worldwide. The reduced fix times can increase and improve the usability for all Nokia location-based experiences. ”

Groovy. By fixing this, all GPS services will get an increased boost as well. Head over to WHERE to start finding Widgets that excite you so when the switch comes, you’re more than prepared. My advice, check out the Weather Widget, just to see how excruciatingly hot it’s going to be where YOU are today.

No, not the lame movie with Bette Midler and the crazy girl from Blossom who wore the big hats with big flowers on them. We’re not talking about some “Wind Beneath My Wings” sappy nonsense here, we’re talking about the coolest WHERE Widget of the week, nay, Summer.

What is it? Simple as it sounds friends, simple as it sounds. The Beaches Widget shows you exactly that, Beaches that are closest to you. If you’re at all like me, this is going to just be music to your ears. I love to Surf, Love it, and I don’t always know where I am in the country, so it’s really sweet for me to be able to have a Widget that would enable me to simply open my phone and see where the closest place to dip my fins in would be. The good thing is, if Al Gore is anywhere close to right, we’re going to have a whole heck of a lot more beaches before you know it, so this WHERE Widget will come in handy for quite sometime.

What’s YOUR favorite WHERE widget, and why? I’d love to hear which are tickling your fancy at the present time. Sound off readers, but just make sure you sound off from the closest beach to YOU.

Well I’ll be.  Sorry for another iPhone post, but it’s current, it’s popular, and it’s certainly all over the news as of late. That said, as I mentioned Monday, one of the biggest gripes people had with the iPhone was the lack of GPS.  Previously, it was thought that the only way to GET GPS on the phone was to seriously dismantled the thing, solder some wires, crank some screws and MacGyver your way through it.

Not so, according to the article I just read.  Some new French company claims to have found a way to include a GPS module on a SIM card, and by simply adding the card you’re getting GPS capability.  While the cards are still in the development phase, I’m curious to see how Apple handles this one.  I do know one thing, WHERE Widgets would look pretty freaking sweet on an iPhone, wouldn’t they?

I guess we’ll see, so stay tuned to this one.  In the meantime, I want to hear from YOU, what is YOUR favorite WHERE Widget and why?  Got ideas for new widgets?  Sound off!

I know, and I do say KNOW, that you at some point heard of, witnessed or otherwise got caught up in the hoopla surrounding the new Apple iPhone.  I do not doubt this, at all.  That said, move over hoopla, because a lot more companies just opened their loving doors to providing the ability to use YouTube on their cell phones.

That’s right, the iPhone dropped, and now scattered reviews are finding their way out and a lot of people aren’t terribly impressed.  The startling lack of GPS is one of the many gripes new owners have.  *Cough*WHERE Widgets on GPS Enabled Phones Are Better*Cough*.  One feature that people DID like, was the access to YouTube on the phone.  Now, the iPhone is far from alone with that capability.  New reports are showing that in addition to LG and Helio announcing future YouTube phones, Samsung is also in the works to develop some as well.

The phone is in Europe right now, but no doubt will make its way over to the States before too long.  Keep your eye out, and imagine the possibilities of a WHERE Widget that automatically tagged your new YouTube videos with the exact geographical location of where you shot it.  Hmm, I like it!

Don’t you hate it when you go into your local mobile phone store and they show you that big, strangely colored “coverage map” that looks more like a kid with ADD’s crayon book than anything else?  You really have no idea how all those jagged color boundaries translate into real-world coverage.  Lucky for you and me, that might be changing with this new idea, SignalMap.

The service relies on, well, Us, to make it work, so be sure to see how you can contribute.  Bottom line, SignalMap shows you a Google Maps mash-up of your location, overlayed with inputs of reported signal strength in each area.  Live in a big enough area, with enough contributors, and you can see exactly how strong a signal you’ll be getting before you even go to where you’re going.  Smooth.

This makes me think we need to see this as a WHERE Widget.  Any developers want to tackle this one?  Methinks you could get pretty darn popular, pretty darn fast!

Today, my loyal readers, is Independence Day!  That said, I just want to take this moment to wish ALL of you a very, very Happy 4th of July from everyone here at WHERE!  I know I speak for us all when I say I hope you have a safe, happy, relaxed and entertaining holiday!

Set off as many fireworks as you can afford.  When that’s over, rest assured we’ll be here Friday morning, ready to give you the hip, the current and the cool in the wireless and Mobile GPS world!