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Switched On: Abbott and Costello meet HP's board
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about technology, multimedia, and digital entertainment:Lou: Hey, Abbott, there's sure been a lot of hullabaloo around HP's board of directors lately.Bud: That's right, Costello. I've been reading all about it.Lou: Ah, then maybe you can help sort it all out for me. Now, the person who used to be HP's chairman, what's her name? Bud: Dunn.Lou: What do you mean, done? You didn't tell me!Bud: I just did. Dunn!Lou: You just did it again!Bud: Did what?Lou: Not tell me her name before you finished!Bud: Oh, sure I did. Stop being ridiculous.Lou: You're not very nice to me, Abbott. Why can't I be heard?Bud: Because he's the CEO.
Switched On: Dashing through the slow
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about technology, multimedia, and digital entertainment: Last week's Switched On explained how Dash Navigation's use of wireless technology intends to teach the GPS bloodhound some new tricks, but the company plans to primarily use its new design to tackle two of the hottest trends in portable navigation. Many GPS units now offer real-time traffic information based only on incident reporting, and the devices are not very intelligent about weighing the traffic in alternative routes to determine the fastest path. As a result, you could drive off of the freeway and into the fire. In contrast, Dash's traffic esimates are based on traffic flow. It begins with a historical database of what traffic speeds are like for sections of highways at specific times of the day. Beyond that, Dash GPS units act as probes, reporting back on actual speed of cars on those segments. This clues in those who come after them about construction and other aberrations from traffic patterns. To do this effectively, though, Dash must take advantage of a network effect; the company estimates that a few thousand Dash units should provide good coverage of major roadways within large cities. While the Dash unit includes a point of interest database, it can use its connectivity to query a local search engine such as those offered by Yahoo! and Google, leveraging the efficient if fallible semantic categorizations that these Web-based local search engines offer. Typing in practically any word will return listings, even if they are not in the title of the business. For example, typing "burrito" might return local Mexican restaurants that have them on the menu. Dash is also exploring RSS feeds -- a natural fit for this kind of device -- as well as enhanced business listings that might include, for example, hours of operation.
Switched On: Dash puts wireless in the driver's seat
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about technology, multimedia, and digital entertainment: No one would ever accuse the Dash team of low self-esteem. "What the TV did for entertainment and the cell phone did for communication, Dash will do for driving." the company's Web site crows, A more accurate analogy for Dash, though, would be what TiVo did for television, that is, give consumers a greater degree of control over the media or information they're trying to manage in a contextually relevant way. Dash plans to achieve its five-star impact rating via a portable GPS device. The portable GPS market shifted into high gear a few years ago when Magellan offered a hard disk inside of its Roadmate 700 units. Consumers no longer had to deal with cumbersome PC downloads; street-level maps of the whole country could be pre-loaded. A year later, a gigabyte or two of flash memory is enough to include street-level maps for the United States. Magellan representatives recently noted that it plans to switch completely from hard drives to flash in the next generation. The TomTom Go 910 can even hold maps of the U.S. and Europe for those leisurely drives across the Atlantic Ocean.
Switched On: Why XM should nab Napster
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about technology, multimedia, and digital entertainment:
