While tablet computing may in future transform the whole computer industry, it is already changing the way we look at augmented reality. And this is not only because of the big display. More and more different devices for multiple OS platforms are expected to appear on the market, equipped with advanced sensors such as high-resolution cameras. The cost of data roaming is likely to drop and considering the millions of people expected to buy such a device in the next few years, there are incentives enough for optimizing augmented reality (AR) tablet software and to start creating really useful and fascinating applications taking full advantage of the promising, new capabilities. metaio, with its junaio 2.6 release, a junaio plug-in for third party app integration, and the revised mobile AR SDK Unifeye 2.5, is well prepared and ready to go for the next generation of AR applications. If you want to learn more about mobile AR in general and on tablets, everything is summed up here: http://www.metaio.com/specials/augmented-reality-on-tablets/ And here you can find a movie with almost everything we´re working on: 3D tracking, markerless 2D tracking and image processing, virtual manuals, interactive TV, smart packaging, advertising as a service, context sensitive product visualization, AR gaming and so on. By the way: to my knowledge it´s the first AR demos running on the Android 3.0 based Xoom!

If you are already familiar with AR you’ll notice that String lives somewhere in middle of fiduciary markers and natural feature tracking. Tracking images combines the high contrast black border of a marker and a complex natural image in the centre. This mix actually works well. With a marker users can identify it as having special significance when presented to a camera (much the same way users identify QR Codes as having significance). With NTF images the challenge is telling the user that the image as has significance without providing a large amount of instructions. Combining the two therefore goes someway to solve the identification problem. The String SDK which is currently available for iOS with an Android version in the works is powerful enough to build some pretty amazing solutions. I normally say that any AR demo is only as good as its 3D objects, that’s still true as eye candy sells, but String does an amazing job of recognising the markers even in poor lighting.

the Ctrip team has once again delivered the strong results in the first quarter, marking an encouraging start to the year 2011. Our net revenues grew 30% year-over-year and net income grew 23% year-over-year. With the solid execution, Ctrip has further enhanced its strategic partnerships, improved operating efficiency and elevated its customer service level. The Ctrip team has continued to build the brand’s strength and demonstrate industry leadership. Our hotel [ph] supply network continues to expand to satisfy the growing needs of travelers, reaching approximately 18,000 hotels by the end of March 2011 compared to 10,600 hotels at the same time in 2010. The number of hotels with guaranteed allotment rooms accounted for approximately 75% of the total hotel supply. We rolled out more options for making hotel reservations to keep for different needs of our customers. For example, Ctrip has launched the most expensive hotel group buying platform in China, with the daily participants reaching over 100 hotels. Our hotel group buying 2.0 platform features the most convenient booking process elevating service levels industry wide. Thanks to the great effort and strong execution on the product of IT, Ctrip has continued to outpace industry growth in the air ticketing sector growing far ahead of the industry average.

Ituran Location and Control Ltd. (NASDAQ: ITRN, TASE: ITRN), today announced its consolidated financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2011. Highlights of the First quarter - A 40 thousand year-over-year increase in net subscribers to a record of 615 thousand as of March 31, 2011; - Gross margin at 49.3% and operating margin at 21.8%; - EBITDA of $13.4 million or 33.1% of revenues; - Generated $10.1 million in operating cash flow; ended the quarter with $66.1 million in net cash (including marketable securities and deposits for short and long term); First quarter 2011 Results Revenues for the first quarter of 2011 reached $40.4 million, representing 15% growth over revenues of $35.0 million in the first quarter of 2010. 75% of revenues were from location based service subscription fees and 25% from product revenues. Revenues from subscription fees grew by 16% over the same period last year. The increase in subscription fees was mainly due to the increase in the subscriber base, which grew to 615,000 as of March 31, 2011, as compared with 575,000 at the end of March 31, 2010. Product revenues grew 15% compared with the same period last year. This increase was driven primarily by the increased sales of products in Israel.

AND Chief Executive Officer Maarten Oldenhof says the company experienced a challenging start of 2011. “We are in close contact with various big companies, however we depend on the decisions of these parties and their long approval procedures. We see opportunities in the strong growing Smartphone market and social networks, such as Facebook, Groupon and Twitter. Social media on the smartphone is very powerful and location-based services are a must.” Revenue in the first four months of 2011 has declined, which has led to a loss in the first four months of 2011. Given the current size of AND, the development in revenue and results are greatly influenced by whether or not closing orders in a given period, both large and small. Further, big companies in the market are very careful with making decisions because of quickly changing market developments and especially the influence on their business models.

Outlook for 2011 The economic climate, market developments and business models are all very uncertain in the market for digital maps. The development of the results in 2011 will depend on the strength of the economic recovery and developments in the market for navigation and location based services. Therefore, AND is not in the position to provide an outlook for the full year 2011.

(http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/f92935/global_mobile_br) has announced the addition of the "Global - Mobile Broadband - Location Based Services Insights" report to their offering. Despite the hype regarding this technology since around the year 2000; we have just recently begun to see applications for this technology become available to mass audiences. This is thanks to services like FourSquare and Facebook Places offering users the ability to check-in. The future of mobile Location Based Services will continue to emerge as handsets with smarter capabilities, new apps and user interfaces continue to permeate the market. This report provides a broad global overview of trends and developments in the mobile location based services industry, including a brief overview of GPS.

For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/f92935/global_mobile_br

One in five smartphone users currently use location-based "check-in" services on their phones, representing 16.7 million U.S. mobile subscribers, or about 7 percent of the nation's total mobile phone population, according to a recent study from comScore, a Reston, Va., audience measurement service. That's quite a jump from the piddling 4 percent figure announced after the results of a Pew Research Center survey were released just last November. But for small business owners who've been looking to geolocation services to put them on the map in front of new customers, that growing propensity for check-ins is certainly welcome. The comScore study found that 16.7 million mobile phone subscribers accessed retail sites and shopping guides on their phones during the one-month test period. Further, 12.7 million of those participants said they did so on a smartphone -- a figure that represents 17.6 percent of the nation's smartphone users. That's an impressive growth statistic when you consider that companies like Foursquare and Gowalla launched in 2009 and 2007, respectively.

Sen. Patrick Leahy on Tuesday unveiled an overhaul to a 25-year-old digital privacy law that would require the government to obtain warrants before accesssing email and other cloud-based data. The update to the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA), would also extend to location-based data, and allow private companies to collaborate with the government in the event of a cyber attack. The ECPA was first enacted in 1986, well before the Internet, email, or smartphones. As a result, it is "significantly outdated and out-paced by rapid changes in technology and the changing mission of our law enforcement agencies after September 11," said Leahy, a Vermont Democrat. As a result, Leahy's updated 2011 version of the ECPA would apply to technologies like email, cloud services, and location data on smartphones. If the government wanted an ISP to hand over emails on a particular customer, for example, they would need to first obtain a warrant. At this point, the government abides by a rule that provides access to email after 180 days, depending on the circumstance.

his ongoing flurry of activity is underpinned by a common desire to conquer three important cat

This ongoing flurry of activity is underpinned by a common desire to conquer three important categories of growth for consumer-oriented Internet companies: mobile, social and local commerce. The race to find the right mix is crucial for capturing revenues and the loyalty of consumers whose sources for information and entertainment are becoming increasingly fragmented.

some members of the startup and funding communities are looking for the next wave. “I’m really searching far and wide for new ideas,” Rosa said. “There seem to be a lot of clones. ... There’s this behemoth ball of social and apps and mobile, and they’re just tacking onto this ball and rolling along. We’d like to see some more snowballs.”

The series of events will be launching in Paris, Brussels, Madrid, London, Milan and Berlin on the 18th of May, the aim of this high-tech outdoor treasure hunt is to encourage people to rediscover the environmental treasures hidden in these great cities by harnessing every day technology in their search for geocaches, rewards and fun. For all those taking part the rewards are multiple: besides the satisfaction of discovering beautiful outdoor locations, the geocaches, the give-aways and the joy of adventure, Timberland is offering a hiking trip to Iceland

Nearly one in five smartphone users are tapping into check-in services like Foursquare and Gowalla, according to a ComScore report released yesterday. A total of 16.7 million mobile-phone subscribers used location-based services on their phones in March. That amounts to about 7.1 percent of the entire population of mobile users. But among smartphone users specifically, 12.7 million checked in with such sites during the month, representing 17.6 percent of all smartphone owners, ComScore said. For the purposes of its study, ComScore included such location-based check-in services as Foursquare, Gowalla, and Facebook Places.

Compared with most smartphone owners, those who used location-based sites on their phones also proved more likely to access other types of mobile content. More than 95 percent of them used their mobile browsers or mobile apps. Almost 62 percent grabbed the news on their mobile devices. And in a stat that will make retailers happy, almost one third of the users browsed to online retail sites on their phones, while one fourth accessed online shopping guides. Users of check-in sites also got a heavier dose of advertising. Almost 40 percent of respondents said they remembered seeing an online ad during March, compared with just 27.5 percent of all smartphone users who said the same thing.

Described as a location-based, real-time commerce platform that “makes the buying and selling of g

How Zaarly Works • According to the company, consumers can post what they're looking for on Zaarly, describe how much they're willing to pay for it, and announce how soon they need it. • Zaarly will immediately share that request in the local community through the Zaarly platform. Users may also use Facebook, Twitter and other social media channels to find what they're looking for. • Nearby people or businesses will see what you want and connect to Zaarly to fulfill your request. • Zaarly allows buyers and sellers to “anonymously message and talk on the phone to facilitate the logistics of a transaction, enabling an in-person or virtual meeting to complete the transaction,” the company says.

• To pay for the transaction, Zaarly features an integrated credit card payment system, “all within a safe and secure platform.” Users can also pay with cash

Apple has not removed any apps from its App Store for violations related to location-based services, Apple executive Guy Tribble told a Senate subcommittee Tuesday. In most cases, Apple tries to identify potentially troublesome apps before they are admitted into the App Store or work with the developer to resolve any issues that arise, Tribble told the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology and the Law during a hearing on cell phone location services.

At the close of an almost three-hour hearing on cell-phone tracking, Sen. Al Franken said Tuesday that he still has "serious doubts" that consumers' privacy rights are being respected when it comes to location-based services via iOS and Android. "I think that people have a right to know who is getting their information, and a right to decide how that information is shared and used," said Franken. "After having heard today's testimony, I have serious doubts that those rights are being respected in law or in practice."

"We need to think seriously about how to address this problem, [especially since] mobile devices are only going to become more and more popular," he continued. "This is an urgent issue we'll be dealing with." Franken, a Minnesota Democrat who chairs the new Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology and the Law, heard testimony from Apple and Google executives today about how their mobile platforms collect and use location-based data, and what type of control users have over that information. Google said that any location-based data it collects via its Android mobile operating system is anonymous in nature and the majority of that information is deleted after one week. "The location information sent to Google servers when users opt in to location services on Android is anonymized and stored in the aggregate and is not tied or traceable to a specific user," said Alan Davidson, director of public policy at Google. "The collected information is stored with a hashed version of an anonymous token, which is deleted after approximately one week."

SHAPE Services, a leading mobile app developer best known for its IM+ All-in-One Mobile Messenger app, today announced that their new location-based messaging service, named “Neighbors,” is now available as a free update to its IM+ Mobile Messenger.With “Neighbors”, user can now find new real life connections and friends, buy and sell local services and goods using an interactive map, chat with local friends as well as initiate conversations with other people who are nearby, and publish and view local offers and announcements as status updates on their profiles.

Features:Location-Based Messaging Functionality – Allows users to find real people in their local area and easily initiate conversations, catch up with local friends and post local announcements.Location Privacy – Easy-to-understand privacy settings for disclosing user location, which includes the user’s ability to define their location as wide as their house, street or city.Interactive Map – With just a tap of the finger users can see the person’s profile and status, allowing the user to visually identify people around them.

SHAPE Services also plans to incorporate a unique patent pending augmented reality interface that will let the users look around with a 360 degree camera view.

The initial set of documents from the Skyhook trial (which I analyzed here last week) gave a quick flash of Google's gamesmanship. But examining the larger set of documents from the initial phase of the Skyhook trial against Google is opening a window into Google executives' views on how they sought to reinforce Google's monopoly and collect personal information from its users. These  other batches of documents (see these PDFs here and here from the trial) highlight how Google both recognizes the monopoly nature of location-based services on smartphones and how it can keep extracting private information from users while maintaining a figleaf of "consent." As the New York Times noted in a story over the weekend, the emails flying back-and-forth give an almost minute-by-minute window into the workings of high-tech negotiations-- at least until some legal-aware top managers abruptly killed email exchanges with messages like "Thread-kill and talk to me off-line with any questions."  But in the meantime, we get some quite damning admissions by Google execs on their internal practices.

When Motorola and Samsung announced they were going to use Google-rival Skyhook for their location-based services on their Android smartphones, Google on one hand responded in these internal emails by noting the superiority of Google location information precisely because they were maintaining constant surveillance on customers and local wi-fi spots to update their location maps. "We are constantlyre-mapping through our users, which keeps the data re-refreshed," said one email (see p. 44) or, from another manager, the advantage of "the large volume of device distribution that helps the data collection. (see p. 32) Conversely, the managers bemoan the doom if Skyhook gets the business from manufacturers like Motorola and Samsung and Google loses the ability to spy on customer locations through the smartphones. "It will cut off our ability to continue collecting data to maintain and improve our location database.  If that happens, we can easily wind up in a situation we were in before creating our own location database and that is (a) having no access at all or (b) paying exorbitant costs for access."

Google managers recognize this market as a classic winner-take-all monopoly situation where controlling more devices let's you control more data which in turn gives you such an overwhelming advantage in providing location-based services that manufacturers will have to use your service.  With Android phones beginning to take off strongly in early 2010, who controlled those location-based services would create a tipping point for control into the future.

We observed the emerging trend of online dating among today’s tech savvy generation and in order to simplify it, we decided to launch Dates Near Me, a free mobile dating service which caters towards the requirements of today’s generation. The iPhone dating application works by broadcasting the location of users based on GPS signals that permit them to find nearby singles and meet up right away if they desire. “Begin your search to find a like-minded companion, friend, lover or date using DatesNearMe mobile phone dating application on your iPhone and Google Android. With the singles showing an ever increasing desire for on the spot gratification, we realized the importance of mobile dating technology”, remarked the CEO of DatesNearMe.com Few reasons that make DatesNearMe better than any other mobile dating application are: 1. Highest level of privacy and security settings so that you can flirt with comfort. 2. Find singles around you with the help of our map view or list view. 3. 100% Free. Definitely no charges or catches. 4. Filled of features with high user friendliness. 5. Create your profile in less than no time. Just a few clicks if you update from Facebook. 6. Add users to your hot List, and see who has added you to theirs. 7. Easily flirt with hotties with winks, smiles and live messages.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) is calling for laws requiring wireless carriers to store user location data that could be helpful to criminal investigations in which a person's location is critical to solving the crime. The request came, ironically enough, in the middle of a Senate hearing at which lawmakers grilled Apple and Google executives over their collection and use of location-based data from iPad, iPhone, and Android devices

Jason Weinstein, deputy assistant attorney general for the Criminal Division of the DOJ, Tuesday testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology and the Law that it would be useful if companies that have access to smartphone location data could provide that information lawfully to criminal investigators. The DOJ is particularly interested in the data as it pertains to investigations about cyber crimes that target mobile devices, child abductions, and others in which a mobile phone user's location is crucial, he said.

The latest wave of social networks document, photograph and broadcast your every move, opening an unprecedented opportunity for small businesses and big brands alike to target consumers based on their whereabouts and activities.Local Response wants to help businesses collect and respond to their customers’ public posts. The platform scans Twitter for explicit checkins to locations, like on Foursquare, as well as natural language that indicates location (ex. “I’m going to…”), and responds with Twitter @mentions on behalf of businesses. Messages most often include a coupon or offer in a bit.ly link.In other words, when customers check into a store on Foursquare, the store can send them a coupon while they are there. If customers tweet a photo through Instragram from a competing store, they might get the same coupon.