Tech Scrape

Companies are working to add value to geospatial information. Thanks to smart phones and other mobile devices, the number of applications that make use of geolocation data is exploding. But developers and device makers face new challenges that include determining physical location accurately, turning coordinates into meaningful information, and protecting users’ privacy.

Google’s first phone is a superfast, elegant device with a few privacy problems. Google’s Nexus One is an astonishingly fast phone. Use it for more than a few minutes and you’ll see that much of the slowness we’ve learned to associate with smart phones is not the fault of the network but of the phones themselves–specifically, their processors.

Wireless optical networks could provide gigabit-per-second data transfer. A wireless network that uses reflected infrared light instead of radio waves has transmitted data through the air at a speed of one gigabit per second–six to 14 times faster than the fastest Wi-Fi network. Such optical networks could provide faster, more secure communications and would be especially suitable for use in hospitals, aircraft, and factories, where radio-frequency transmission can interfere with navigation equipment, medical devices, or control systems. Another possible application is wireless networking for home theaters; a system that transmits data at 1.6 gigabits per second could broadcast two separate high-definition TV channels across a room, a capacity that exceeds the bandwidth of any existing radio system.

New systems could improve service for those with old and new smart phones.

The Web giant launches an online store to distribute Android-based cell phones.

VoIP does for voice what cloud computing did for the Web, experts say.

As smart phones become smarter, malicious code will find a friendlier home.