GPS Integrated Camera's

Photographs, as some one said, are memories frozen in time & space, if there is a way to add accurate location dimension to the photograph, it definitely adds value to the cherished memories.

Digital cameras, whether it’s a point- and –shoot, prosumer or professional variants, all have a possibility of a very interesting integration of location technologies called GPS

(Global Positioning Systems), simply put, GPS chipsets receive signals from the GPS satellites and subsequently calculate accurate locations (Latitude & Longitude) , incredibly at an accuracy’s of 5 to 10 meters, now, if the GPS derived location information (Latitude & Longitude) is tagged to your digital image which you have taken, you can add that important 3^rd location dimension.

All digital images taken from a digital camera have metatags in EXIF (Exchangeable Image File Format) embedded into it. This EXIF format is a standard format for digital images taken by all digital cameras irrespective of its make and model, this means that all digital images taken by digital cameras will have some information embedded into it, this information is that of the aperture, shutter speed, focal length, metering mode, and ISO speed information etc. while you take that snap. Outwardly, you would not see this information from the image you have taken, but when the image is viewed in an appropriate image processing tool, you could see the information which is embedded into the digital image you have taken, now, when you take images from a GPS embedded digital camera, the location information (Latitude & Longitude) is also written/embedded in the image additionally along the usual aperture, shutter speed, focal length information.

The process of adding the location information into the digital image is known as geotagging, when this location embedded image is supplied to appropriate applications, they will read the location information from the image metatags and points the location on a map precisely on where this image is taken. All photo sharing websites like locr, panoramio picasa, flickr etc. instantly recognize the geotagged photos and put them on the map precisely, this way, you and your friends know where on the earth you have taken that excellent snap.

Other than recreation and viewing, geotagging of photos have serious application usefulness to photo journalists, media, law enforcement agencies, infrastructure industry, defence, forestry & environment, public utilities, disaster management, utilities, local government’s agencies, the list can go on.

Surprisingly, the technology of integrating Camera with GPS is not new, we now see that the every other high-end phone worth its salt has a camera and a GPS embedded to it, this means that you can already take geotagged images from your high-end phone, digital camera OEM’s have recognized the usage and value of embedding a GPS into their cameras, the intent can be gauged by the fact that you see a steady proliferation of GPS embedded cameras in the market place, digital camera biggies like Nikon, Canon, Sony & Samsung have started introducing models with embedded GPS chipsets, with a GPS chipset costing less than $10, its not that hurting to OEM’s as well. If you plan to buy your next digital camera it’s a good idea to look for a GPS integrated feature.

Terrace Garden

A farmer at heart, my father, Sri Ramana Reddy, retried academician, started a Terrace Garden at his independent home ( Lat 17.325268, Long 78.555264), a variety of vegetables & fruits are grown organically for personal consumption. He gets me supplies when ever he visits me, organic produces taste and smells different (better) than the mainstream ones. For a how-to question, It’s- not- at- all- complicated is his answer, interested can contact him at 040-20060100 for a free phone consultation.

Car Black Box

Got this cute little device which the manufacturers call Road Memory installed in my car, the device is a video camera with GPS chip set integrated, some call it car black box, for the reason that when you install and allow it to run, it would record all the audio, video & G Force variables of the car and is tagged to the geographic location which makes it an interesting tool to look and review historical activities of the car; drawing analogies to aircraft black boxes.

The device opens interesting possibilities for personal and commercial usage. Simply put, when you play archived video files generated by the camera over a computer, you can view all the video with the exact location coordinates, date, time and the path traversed on a goggle map, along with a graph of G-forces which were at play precisely at that instant. An intuitive light weight application is provided along with the CD to view these video files generated in travel.

The device is essentially a plug and play device, you just need to stick this device to windshield of your car, connect power to car’s cigarette lighter charger, you are up and running. The device has a 1.3 mega pixel VGA camera with a provision to tilt to a suitable angle and positioning, has an SD slot which will store all the files which will be generated while on move.

My friend in Korea says that, insurance companies offer substantial discounts on insurance premiums for vehicles which have these devices installed. The video, he says, submitted as evidence for litigation is permissible in courts, should hold good in India too.

Ideally 2 hours of video data takes 1GB space, the data is recorded in a continuous loop, and this means that you will never miss the freshest data. The device has an internal memory and an emergency battery which lasts for 20 seconds, which will ensure the capture of a video of any accident incident, that’s even when there’s no power.

On the desktop application part, its simple and intuitive, just copy the video files from the SD card and open with this desktop application, you should be connected to the internet to see the location on the google map though; sample video file of me driving in Hyderabad and surroundings is below. The device cost me 150$, should be definitely a useful for fleets, if not for personal transport vehicles.

GPS/GSM Child Phone for Talking & Tracking

It’s satisfying to see a good review of the product which I have authored in My Mobile magazine, arguably an authoritative Indian mobile magazine. In print form, I could see the product rubbing shoulders with Nokia’s & Samsung’s of the world .SatNav being a GPS products company always wanted to ride the mobile wave with carrier agnostic value added GPS location based services. We did make some forays in GPS location based mobile apps but with limited success. Carriers were not keen to give a push as they are not seeing big monies, comparable to their ring tone revenues.

The GPS child phone is a niche product targeted towards anxious parents. The child phone is tightly integrated with an effective LBS (location Based Service) platform, definitely a higher entry barrier for any one to just come in and offer these services. A very good start I should say for a small and medium company like us. We don’t know of any competitive product currently available in India, which translates to a very favorable first mover advantage scenario. We are making efforts to capitalize this situation swiftly.

Risking repetition of what the reviewer said, I would say that it’s a useful gadget for anxious parents, gives a near absolute locational control on their wards. Due to our limited resources we are currently focusing only on BTL marketing activities, which are showing some good results. I should say we are finding difficult to defend price points, and challenging margin structures prevailing in the distributor/ dealer supply chain.

My daughter goes to HPS School with this GPS child phone device, a functional demo to the primary school principal convinced her to allow this device inside of the school. I was told that no wearable gadgets, including wrist watches, are allowed inside of the school. I congratulated my self for the job done there J