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Indian Railways launches RailRadar, lets you track trains via Google Maps
Indian Railways has just made it a little easier for rail travelers with a new web app called RailRadar, which uses Google Maps to track trains on a real-time basis. This is certainly welcome on one of the largest rail networks in the world -- it operates more than 10,000 trains everyday -- though the service is only available on 6,500 trains for now. To find out where your train is, simply search for its name or number and RailRadar will spot it for you. You can also find trains by entering the name of the station. Blue highlights indicate trains that are on time while red means it's behind schedule. If you click on a train, it'll show its entire route from start to finish. The logical next step would be for this to be on smartphones like how it is in Japan, though we're not sure if that's in the cards just yet. [Thanks, dil]
Transit apps from Embark and Tapone see big boost in users with iOS 6 launch
Apple's had all kinds of unexpected issues with its brand new Maps app, but when it comes to transit directions we knew well in advance that they wouldn't be included in Maps; when the new app was announced at WWDC, it was clear that third parties would be expected to pick up the slack via iOS's new Routing API. Already, a few other companies are stepping in for iOS 6 users to take over that responsibility. The Maps app now automatically searches for transit-aware apps that cover your geography, and links you to the App Store to download or buy relevant tools when you ask for transit directions. Given that, it's probably a good idea to preload a transit app for a new city if you're expecting to need directions when you get there, especially if you have a slow or pricey data connection. Of course, that geographic app matching isn't quite perfect yet: last week our colleague Rich Gaywood asked Maps to give him transit info near his home in Wales, and it came back with Navigon (mostly thought of as a driving nav app) plus transit apps for London. (London's about 140 miles away from him.) The developers behind many transit-related iOS apps have been happy to provide options for iOS 6 users, and CNET notes that they've seen big increases in their user base. Embark, the publisher of 12 local transit apps covering eight metro areas, has seen huge growth in the last week, hitting over 40 million trips so far and over 100,000 downloads since the launch of iOS 6. When we spoke to Embark founder David Hodge last week, he emphasized that his company's approach to transit directions differed from Google's mostly data-driven tactics. "We want to understand the local nuances... We go to New York and say 'How fast do people walk here? What are the transfer times [in a station]?'" Google's transit routing teams aren't able to spend enough time in each city they cover to get the granular info needed, he says. This emphasis on real-world, locally gathered routing support helps Embark's apps gain in accuracy. The trade-off is that if there's no Embark app for your town, they can't help you (although Hodge hints that many more cities are on the way). Embark's philosophy is to cloak the complexity of transit routing and the elaborate back-end scheduling tech with a simple interface that puts the busy commuter in control. "In the age of the smartphone, it should be much easier to get around," says Hodge. One key to making it easy is making sure that the apps work equally well offline as online. Unlike Google Maps's online-only transit routing -- which is pretty much useless once you're underground in a subway system like New York or Boston's and lose your cellular data -- the Embark apps are engineered to handle point to point routing without needing a data connection. "We'll plan a trip even if you're sitting inside a submarine," Hodge jokes. Above ground, if you run into a situation that the Embark app can't handle (bus directions in New York City, for instance), then of course the web version of Google Maps is only a Safari tap away. Tapone's Transit also saw a big spike in downloads, users and subscribers. Presumably almost all these new downloads were coming from folks who upgraded to iOS 6, and were forced to go in search of new transit directions because the new Maps app couldn't provide them. As to why Apple chose to hand off the transit piece of the puzzle to third parties this time around: it's apparently harder than it looks to get accurate, effective transit directions rolled into Maps, and even Google's effort didn't provide universal or completely accurate coverage. Giving local "best of breed" apps the chance to handle their specific transit systems seems to be the most effective way to keep providing those directions to users, and it's definitely giving a boost to these developers. Based on all the work Apple has to do to get the rest of Maps into shape, it's unlikely the company will try to "Sherlock" these apps and reintroduce its own form of transit directions, at least during the lifetime of iOS 6. With the tight integration of transit directions into Google Maps, however, the extra click of having to launch an external app does seem to be a drag on usability. There may come a point where Apple considers the usability tradeoff to be too much, and tries to bring transit directions back under the Maps umbrella. For now, however, the third-party transit apps are where it's at. And there's always the chance that Apple could acquire one or more of these companies -- most of its map division is made up of technology from companies like Placebase, Poly9, and C3, all of which it acquired while putting the new app together. Whether it's from third-party apps or an official solution, however, it's good to know that most users will still have access to their directions no matter what.
MBTA and Masabi team up for first smartphone rail ticketing system in the US, launching in Boston this fall
In Boston this fall, you won't need to keep up with your train ticket anymore -- as long as you don't leave your smartphone at home. The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) and Masabi have joined forces to bring a rail ticketing to handheld devices via iPhone, Android and BlackBerry apps. Headquartered in London, Masabi has launched similar tech for transit companies in the UK, eliminating ticket lines for many smartphone-wielding passengers. Software will allow riders to purchase tickets and passes that are validated with a barcode scan by conductors equipped with mobile devices of their own. MBTA is looking to cut costs and provide added convenience with the new system instead of adding more ticketing kiosks to its stations. The aforementioned apps will be developed alongside focus groups and a small pilot group this summer with a full rollout to all MBTA customers expected to happen this fall. Looking for a bit more info? Hit the coverage and source links below to read on. [Image credit: Masabi on Flickr]
Hacker builds allegedly pointless data network out of Lego train set
How can we appreciate bullet-quick SSDs and fiber networks without pausing -- at the year's end -- to appreciate where it all came from? We should think back to before the birth of modern computing, even before the telegraph, to a time when bits of data were forced to travel everywhere by train. A hacker named Maximilien has now recreated that locomotive golden era using Lego, Arduino and Linux, and what his system lacks in bandwidth it more than makes up for in historical relevance. A USB flash key is borne by miniature railway carriage from station to station, stopping at each one to unload or pickup information and thus creating its own barebones networking protocol. Click the source link to appreciate the full museum piece.
Google's Street View takes to the rails in Switzerland
Google's Street View has made its way around the world and gone off the beaten path in a few places, but until now it hasn't hitched a ride to capture some scenery by rail. That picturesque view above comes from a section of the Albula / Bernina railway in Switzerland -- a UNESCO World Heritage site -- all 122 kilometers of which were recently mapped out and photographed by Google using its usual Street View camera gear. Unfortunately, while that part of the process is done, the results haven't yet made their way onto the internet -- you can apparently look for that to hit Google Maps in the coming months. In the meantime, you can check out the source link below for some more shots of the capturing in progress. [Thanks, Hanspeter]
Inhabitat's Week in Green: rocket fuel, recycled jeans, and the electric eel powered Christmas tree
Each week our friends at Inhabitat recap the week's most interesting green developments and clean tech news for us -- it's the Week in Green. Eco transportation took off this week as researchers in Sweden discovered a new molecule that could make rocket fuel 30 percent more efficient. We also caught up with Russia's plans to construct a new high-speed rail system for the 2018 World Cup, and we saw several major auto manufacturers give their vehicles green upgrades - Ford announced it will insulate its 2010 Focus with recycled jeans, and Chevrolet launched plans to transform 100,000 pounds of used oil booms into parts for the Volt. The past week also saw bright horizons dawn for renewable energy as the world's largest parabolic trough solar plant received a $1.5 billion DOE loan. The world of consumer tech was energized by the sun's rays as Toshiba unveiled a new solar-powered e-book reader and one designer developed a solar-powered desalination system that could keep shipwrecked survivors alive at sea. We also brought you artist Michael McKean's plan to shoot rainbows across the sky at will with his solar-powered rainbow generator. Speaking of spreading renewable cheer, this month Japan's Enoshima Aquarium unveiled the world's first Christmas tree powered by an electric eel. The FAA also got into the holiday spirit as they approved a next-gen Santa sleigh that delivers gifts 53% faster, and if you unwrapped a new video game system this year, you may be interested to know that the Nintendo Wii was recently crowned the most energy-efficient next-gen gaming console. Finally, if the wintry weather has you feeling down, just take a peek inside this supermassive airship hangar, transformed into a year-round tropical island getaway.
Chinese passenger train reaches 302mph, claims speed record for unmodified trains
Did you find the 262mph record that China scooped up only two months ago impressive? Well, add another 40mph to that number as today Xinhua News has revealed China's claim to the new speed record for unmodified commercial trains. The new line presently being tested between Beijing and Shanghai has delivered a mind-warping 302mph (486kph) top speed, which is projected to help cut down travel times between the two cities in half, down to a mere five hours. As with the Shanghai-Hangzhou connection that held the record previously, speeds with actual passengers on board will probably be limited to more moderate levels when this connections opens up in 2012, but the Chinese government's goal is still that magical 312mph (500kph) mark -- at this pace, they should be there by Tuesday.
World's longest railway tunnel sees completion, should be zipping beneath the Alps in 2017
While a few nations in Asia battle it out for the world's fastest maglev train, some cool cats in Switzerland are cutting up the Alps in order to make North America's railway system look even more inadequate. According to AlpTransit, the longest railway tunnel in the world has just been completed, with the final drilling of the Gotthard wrapping up today. Miners drilled 30km from the north and 27km from the south, with the breakthrough point being just over 6km south of Sedrum. Granted, these miners aren't getting nearly the attention of a crew in Chile, but transport officials in Europe are still pretty stoked about this here accomplishment. In fact, it's also being described as the most deeply set rail tunnel in the world (there's a rock overburden of up to 2500 meters), with the Gotthard base tunnel aiming to provide a level track through the Alps that should become operational by 2017. When it's humming along, it'll shorten the Zurich-Milan journey time from 3 hours 40 minutes to 2 hours 50 minutes, not to mention make every rider feel as if they've truly traversed the ultimate Bat Cave. And that, friends, is worth the seven year wait. [Thanks, Fabrice]
Giant touchscreen vending machine at CEATEC stares us down, offers us a frosty beverage
So we tracked down one of those crazy new touchscreen- and camera-enabled vending machines being deployed across Japan's mass transit stations at CEATEC today; one of their claims to fame is that they're WiMAX-enabled in order to receive ads and other high-bandwidth content, so local WiMAX provider UQ installed one of the units in its booth as a showcase of the kinds of wild and crazy things you can do with ludicrous speed. As much as we hate to admit it, we're pretty sure we'd be consuming more overpriced juice, soda, tea, coffee, and water if we had one of these near our homes -- seriously, how can you resist those cute rectangular eyes staring at you, slowly stealing your soul while asking you to "come by?" Of course, the scary part about that is that the machine really can see you -- it's got a camera right above the display that detects your presence, makes some snap judgments about you based on largely accurate stereotypes, and recommends certain beverages (though you're still free to choose whatever you like). The machine supports Suica payments -- a popular NFC system in these parts -- using either a Suica card or your appropriately-enabled phone, which makes blowing hundreds of yen on cans of Georgia Vintage coffee frighteningly simple. Follow the break for some video of the machine in action... or if you're planning a trip to Japan in the next couple years, expect to see these around town in some of the high-traffic train stations. %Gallery-104494%
NYFI aims to implement free WiFi on Long Island Rail Road and Metro
Mmm... the smell of gratis wireless broadband in morning. Even Starbucks agrees, you just can't beat it. One smell we could stand to live without is the stench left on the Long Island Rail Road and Metro after a few too many party people hitch a ride following a long Sunday in the city pub, but having free access to the world wide web while riding will make the act of dealing a whole lot easier. All jesting aside, NYFI (described as a "well financed neutral host WiFi provider"), has recently submitted a proposal to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority of New York (MTA) to "build and operate a new WiFi network on Metro-North and Long Island Rail Road trains." Unlike similar ideas thrown around in the Big Apple, this setup won't require users to be subscribers of a cable service or any of the many religious cults going around these days. Head on past the break if you actually care to know how it'll be financed (hint: you don't), and be sure to push whoever you have to push to ensure this gets passed. Got it?
New Mexico Rail Runner train gets lit with WiMAX, sets a good example
Oh sure, we've seen the occasional big city train get their own WiFi / WiMAX installation, but when a state like New Mexico steps up and does it, we take notice. The New Mexico Rail Runner, which travels some 95 miles between Santa Fe and Albuquerque, is now lit with WiMAX along the entire route, and the service is being provided gratis for all who ride. Better still, the New Mexico Mid-Region Council of Governments has no intentions of ever charging patrons in order to recoup the $2.4 million investment. We're told that users can expect download rates of up to 6Mbps and upload speeds nearing 4Mbps, and we're desperately hopeful that other states will take notice and attempt to get with the program. America's already way behind most every European nation when it comes to rail travel, but toss a "free WiMAX!" sign on the door and you just might coax these car-lovin' Yanks into going mass transit. [Thanks, Ben]
The RailPod is one track short of a train car, the future of transportation?
Think the PRT podcar is the pod that will re-invent transportation? Prepare to get those opinions railed, as the RailPod is on its way to get you where you're going -- and to put all those striking cabbies out of work. The idea is that unused (or underused) railway lines can be turned into bi-directional traffic routes, with the RailPod using gyros to balance precariously on a single strip of iron, taking up only half the width of the line. Two passengers can ride facing away from each other on this car of the future (presumably to discourage any hanky-panky of the future), whisked away after swiping a credit card and punching in a destination. The Boston-based startup is still in the "please oh please give us money" phase, but hope to have a working prototype ready by the end of the year. Until then you'll have to simply enjoy the video after the break, which you might be surprised to learn was created entirely using computer graphics.[Via Mass High Tech]
California high-speed train system to link NorCal and SoCal at 220mph
Like it or not California, it's about time you folks ponied up for a serious rail system. With the recent passage of Proposition 1A, the wheels have started to churn on a sophisticated bullet train system that will eventually link San Diego in the south with Sacramento in the north, with stops at most every major city in between (LA and San Francisco included). The 800-mile network of trains would operate at upwards of 220mph and cost around $45 billion to construct, but it'll create 320,000 permanent jobs by 2030 and reduce the state's reliance on fossil fuel by 12.7 million barrels of oil per year. Unfortunately, there's no set time frame for completion just yet, but we wouldn't be surprised to see this one finished before that Anaheim - Las Vegas maglev project even gets off the ground.[Via BoingBoing]
Power-sipping Eco Ride urban transportation system to hit Japan
Japan's not hurting for trains, but what's the addition of another going to hurt? Senyo Kogyo and Senyo Kiko have jointly announced plans to construct a test line for an energy-saving urban transportation system this October. Dubbed Eco Ride, the "roller coaster-like" system in Chiba Prefecture will operate "using the height difference on the railway," and furthermore, there will be drive units (complete with clanks and clangs, we bet) "installed at various points on the railway so that the Eco Ride can obtain the potential energy to run." Reportedly, Eco Ride would likely remain just a short-distance transportation system even if expanded, but no matter how you slice it, it sure beats taking the Segway to work.
RE: Umbrella Chronicles trailer, now in the English
Like shooting games on rails? Like shooting games with zombies? Like shooting games on rails with zombies? Sadly, it's not Typing of the Dead 2, but Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles. The video above, freshly ripped from Resident Wii-vil 4, gives an English preview of the rail-shooter releasing some time this year.Although our hands-on time with the title wasn't exactly pleasurable, maybe Capcom has fixed some of the game's issues in the meantime (like using a waggle of the nunchuk to reload instead of the Wiimote you're trying to aim with). It's no RE5, but it might make a lazy afternoon go by with a buddy and some drinks.[Thanks Will]
The "correct" Dead 'n' Furious trailer
Are you among the chosen few who laid eyes on the "leaked" footage earlier this year from Dead 'n' Furious? You remember that little debacle, with the hair-raising video. Oh, not hair-raising scary. It was just ... shall we say ... not so good? But Dream On Studio promised a "real" video later this year, and here it is. Tell us what you think. The video is nestled away after the jump.And here's a question -- if you're a convict and you pick up a buddy (via WiFi coop mode, which does sound like an awesome feature), just what exactly is your friend? A prison guard? Serial molester? Do you get to pick? These questions are totally valid ....
