Nick Carroll

I know of a few people that religiously carry a Global Positioning System (GPS) with them everywhere they go.  They use the device to log their locations, and then overlay their tracks onto Google Maps.  They find this quite useful when they go on their weekly bike ride around Sydney.  Furthermore the geo data that the GPS unit logs can be used to associate photos with a set of coordinates.  This allows photos to be searched by location.

The problem with GPS units is that they are big and bulky, and they have the form factor of a brick.  However, geek demand for these gadgets is obviously on the rise, as we are starting to see a new generation of GPS units that are smaller and more portable.  The TrackStick is the first I’ve seen of a GPS unit packed into the form factor of a USB stick.  The TrackStick is simply a GPS unit with a USB interface, and costs around USD300.  It records up to about 1MB of data (location, speed, heading), and can export the data to a number of formats for use with Google Earth,  Google Maps, etc.

What I want to see is the convergence of GPS and other portable consumer goods such as digital cameras, music players, and watches.  I’ve already mentioned that photos can be organised according to location, therefore geo data would be an excellent feature for for next generation digital cameras, especially since EXIM metadata supports location information.

Personal music players would be able to use GPS data to play certain tracks depending on where you are and how fast you are moving.  The GPS enabled music player might detect that you are moving at about 8 km/h, which is about jogging speed, and will play tracks that you have marked for your exercise routine.  If you are travelling faster, then you might be driving around town, in which case tunes that you have selected for such an occasion will be pumped through the speakers of your car.

We should be able to expect this technology built into our mobile phones.  The mobile phone is the ultimate convergent technology, with some models that look more like cameras or music players than mobile phones.  I for one would like to be able to track my phone on Google Maps, especially if it ever were to be stolen!