traffic
Latest
LED traffic lights don't melt snow, do cause accidents
A number of cold weather American states are reporting their dismay at finding out that LED traffic lights are so energy efficient that they do not produce enough excess heat to dissipate any snow that covers them. It turns out, perhaps in an homage to bad engineering everywhere, that the inefficiency of incandescent light bulbs was previously relied upon to keep traffic signals unimpeded. The new LEDs do not achieve the same effect, which has resulted in a few accidents and even a death being blamed on obstructed traffic lights. Feel free to apply palm to face now. It's not all gloomy, though, as the majority of people are said to treat a dysfunctional traffic light as a stop sign (how clever of them), and a tech fix is being worked on as we speak.
MMO teaches kids all about road safety ... by keeping them safely indoors
Edutainment title Code of Everand is the UK Department of Transport's effort to teach children road safety. The free MMO is targeted at 9-13 year olds and attempts to "encourage and reward" repetition of good behaviors for the real world. The premise is actually surprisingly clever, with players taking the role of the Pathfinders and endeavoring to safely cross "the Spirit Channels," which are glowing streams, laid out like roads filled with monsters. On that note, if children from almost any other country play the game, remember to first look left before crossing the Spirit Channels and not right -- that's a free protip. Check out the Everand trailer after the break. [Via Edge]
A trip around town with Traffic Live from Navigon
I've already reported on the updated Navigon iPhone app, [iTunes link] and noted that live traffic info was now included as an in-app purchase. I've spent the last 2 days driving around town testing it, and it works as advertised -- but perhaps in not as many places as I would have hoped. Here in Southern Arizona, there were very few traffic updates, so I set a destination for Phoenix and had lots of information. Clearly, Navigon is not always sourcing information from smaller U.S. cities. As a comparison, I tried the traffic info built into my car nav system, and it displayed 9 nearby traffic incidents, some as close as 4 miles away. At the same time, the nearest traffic incident I got from Navigon was 94 miles away in the Phoenix metro area. It was odd, because both systems source a lot of the same places (like Clear Channel Radio) for information. On the other hand, the traffic info from Navigon was more detailed, with nice close-up maps of the trouble areas. I like everything about the Navigon app. The graphics are first rate. It automatically changes to night view, the text to speech voice is very clear in a noisy car, and the map doesn't lag from my actual position. The traffic option is US$19.99 as a one time payment, and not overpriced in my view. My only caution is you may not get much information if you are not in the large metro areas, and it would be nice if Navigon posted where good traffic information is available. For those in the bigger cities, it's a nice addition at a reasonable price.
Navigon updates US iPhone navigation app, live traffic updates are a go
A little later than previously alluded to, but Navigon's finally rolling out live traffic update to its MobileNavigator iPhone app. Same prices as mentioned before, it'll regularly be $24.99, but for the next four weeks, it's only gonna ring up at $19.99 for lifetime use, no monthly fees. Not that TomTom needed anything else to think about, of course. Full presser after the break.
World of Warcraft in the 'net's traffic patterns
Arbor Networks is a company that continually monitors the Internet and its usage -- they keep track of Internet outages and site visits on a global scale. They just recently released a report of when traffic peaks in the evenings around the world, and at least one of their results is about the game we're all playing, none other than World of Warcraft. In terms of just general consumer traffic online, the numbers tend to peak, according to the report, at around 8-11pm -- the time right before bed when most Americans are done with dinner, and have a little free time to jump online and browse around. In terms of what they're doing when online, simple web browsing makes up most of that traffic (52%), what's the rest of it? Gaming, including WoW.More than any other gaming service (they also take a look at Steam), WoW's chart is extremely interesting -- it peaks solidly at 8pm every night, and then falls back down just as sharply around 11pm. In other words, the biggest audience for WoW (during this time period -- this is over ten days in July of this year) is raiders, who show up on time at 8 and end the raid around 3 hours later. In other words, if you want to avoid the crowd, show up after 11. Or even better, raid in the mornings. Interesting stuff -- certainly Blizzard has much more detailed information on when people log into the game (and where they go when they do), but as an overview of traffic patterns, Arbor's research all makes sense.[via Network World]
Laughably large Red Light Camera Detector proves that you should just drive safely
Just a hunch here, but we get the feeling that you've gone one step too far when you decide to install a red light camera detector in your vehicle that's larger than a) your GPS unit and b) the bag phone you used between the years 1991 and 1994. For those bold enough to disagree, there's the wild and wacky device pictured above, delivered to you by none other than Hammacher Schlemmer. Packing an internal database of 6,000 red light and speed cameras across the US and Canada, the GPS-enabled device also boasts a 1.6-inch OLED screen to show your position in relation to upcoming cameras, and of course it'll belt out all sorts of warnings to help you avoid the inevitable. Of course, you could just follow the rules of the road, but then you'd have no excuse to burn $199.95 up front and $19.95 annually on this heap. Tough call, no?[Via NaviGadget]
YANA - Yet another navigation app (MapQuest Navigator)
If choice is a good thing, iPhone owners have a veritable bounty of navigation apps in all price ranges and features. MapQuest has now released their own navigation app, and frankly it's a mixed bag.Like the AT&T nav app, MapQuest Navigator [iTunes link] needs the internet for its data, so if you frequently drive where even the Edge network is a sometime visitor, forget using this app.If you are more of an urban driver or stick to Interstates, the app has some promise.Here are some of the touted features: Streamlined 3D Interface: Features voice-guided, turn-by-turn navigation that speaks directions and street names. Regular Data Updates: Search 16+ million points of interest and utilize up-to-date street maps. Full Route Corridor Download: Quick route re-calculation for missed turns as well provides continued service in areas of no cellular coverage. Traffic Incident Based Routing: U.S. routes are optimized to avoid traffic incidents that might delay your travel. A MapQuest Place Carousel: Easily displays locations for hotels, movie theaters, gas stations, and more with a single tap. The interface is different from almost all the other GPS apps I've used. There is a ribbon, or Carousel as MapQuest calls it, lets you click on hotels, gas stations, food, etc.., and see icons where these points of interest are. To get to one of these places, you have to click on the destination icon, which often requires enlarging the map. I would have preferred a list, because clicking on a map icon can be some extra trouble when various icons are close together.
Garmin's nuLink! service powered by AT&T -- more connected nuvis to come?
Connected PNDs have it rough. Ever since Dash folded, the future has been murky at best for any GPS company hoping to rope consumers in by promising real-time information on the face of their navigator. Garmin, however, is hoping to get folks hooked by avoiding that awful monthly fee for the first two years on its nüvi 1690, and it's using AT&T's network in order to do so. Today, the carrier proudly announced that it would be the one providing service to the device, giving users within range of an AT&T tower access to Google Local search, updated fuel prices, white page listings and Garmin's own Ciao! social networking system. What's interesting, however, is the high-profile nature of the partnership. We'd hate to speak too soon, but would we be nuts to think a whole cadre of AT&T connected GPS units were on tap for, say, CES 2010? Guess only time -- and sales data from the 1690 -- will tell.
Navigon adding live traffic to iPhone navigation app, asks 'TomTom who?'
Practically all summer, the buzz surrounding TomTom's forthcoming iPhone GPS app was near deafening. But said noise apparently didn't penetrate the labs at Navigon, as that very outfit has produced what's easily the most full-featured option on the market today. Just a week after updating the already-great app with text-to-speech, iPod controls and location sharing, the company is now proclaiming that live traffic will splash down in October (at least in North America). The update will enable the software to utilize real-time speed data from drivers currently en route as well as historical information in order to alert you of slow-downs and re-route you when necessary. We've personally seen live traffic functions fail more often than not, but we're giving Navigon the benefit of the doubt here until we can test it ourselves. Best of all, it'll only cost MobileNavigator users (priced at $89.99) a one-time fee of $24.99 for lifetime traffic, and if you snag it within the first four weeks after it goes on sale, that rate drops to $19.99. So, TomTom -- what now?
GPS study finds that real-time traffic updates save drivers four days per year
You know what we hate? Sitting in gridlock when we could be, you know, out doin' stuff. At the very least, it's the antithesis of the "wind in your hair," Dean Moriarty-esque image we've carefully cultivated over the years. "If only," we say to ourselves, "there was a way to find routes that were free of congestion." Sure, we've heard all about your fancy real-time traffic updates -- but how well do they actually work? According to a study by the GIS data and services company NAVTEQ (so, you know, take it with a grain of salt), drivers that use GPS systems with real-time traffic info spend 18% less time behind the wheel than those who do not (that's a whopping four days over the course of a single year, or enough time to watch 1 1/2 Peter Watkins films). In addition, the company says that smarter navigation has been shown to lower CO2 output by 21 percent -- which is a good deal, no matter how you slice it. There's been no study yet to determine how drastically driver performance would decrease if Bob Dylan was the voice of your PND, but we'll definitely keep our eyes out for that one.
Second Life parcel-traffic scoring to change at the end of the month
Ever notice that the Second Life grid's performance tends to suddenly drop at midnight, Pacific time? That's the hurly-burly of batch processing. Stipend payments, group disbursements and traffic calculations. In fact, some parts of the traffic calculations system is so dense and arcane that processing the previous 24 hours worth of data doesn't always even finish within 24 hours. Linden Lab have been making noises about simplifying the traffic system for about three years, and there have been a number of under-the-hood tweaks to the algorithms during that time. In fact, the majority of Second Life users believe that the new system that has been announced has actually already been in place since 2006 (partly because the existing system can appear that way, as an edge-case of some overly-simplistic testing methodology).
Garmin's connected nuvi 1690 and browser / camera-equipped nuvi 1860 leak out
Garmin already had a little fun at CeBIT this year, but it looks as if the PND maker is gearing up for quite a thrilling IFA, too. For starters, we've confirmed that the nüvi 1690 you've seen floating about is legitimate, and if Garmin prices those connected services right (read: gives them away), it stands a chance of being a real winner. Slated to launch on September 3rd just as IFA kicks off, the 1690 will pack a 4.3-inch WVGA display, North American maps, text-to-speech, Bluetooth handsfree support and EDGE data for pulling down weather, flight statuses, fuel prices, movie times, traffic and Google-powered local search results. It should be available at the tail end of Q3 for $499.99, though there's no word on how pricey the connected services will be. If you're looking for even bigger and better things, there's the nüvi 1800 family. The nüvi 1820 checks in with a 4.8-inch WVGA panel, a Linux-based OS, Bluetooth handsfree support, WiFi, lane assist, a traffic receiver, text-to-speech and a few features not found on your common PND. We're talking about a full-fledged web browser (with YouTube support), multimedia player, access to email, internet radio streaming and even video streaming. Of course, you'll have to provide the web access, but if you've got a MiFi or the like riding shotgun in your ride, you can keep this bad boy connected throughout the trip. Also of note, the nüvi 1860 packs all of the aforementioned goodies but throws in a 3 megapixel camera with geotagging for good measure. Garmin doesn't bother to mention pricing details on either of the 18xx units, but we get the impression that both will sticker for well over the $500 mark.Update: That $500 sticker on the 1690 will include two years of connected services -- not perfect, but a solid gesture nonetheless.[Thanks, Anonymous]
No need for an app with Sig Alert's maps
As TUAW's own Steve Sande noted, one of the neat features of Safari on iPhone OS 3.0 is its ability to leverage the HTML 5 geolocation API. One of the more prominent web-based services to use geolocation is Google's Latitude, which allows one to see where their friends are located and what they're currently up to. Whereas Latitude provides you updates on where your friends are and what they're up to, Sigalert.com provides you updates on what's holding up all the traffic at your current location (for California and Arizona only) as well as when you should be expecting it to loosen up. During a recent weekend afternoon drive from Los Angeles to San Diego, I was stuck in heavy traffic -- unusually heavy considering the day and time I was traveling. Sure, I could have relied on dedicated apps, such as iPhone's built-in map app or MapQuest 4 Mobile, to see exactly where the traffic would loosen up, but I wanted to know exactly what was causing the traffic. So I turned to sigalert.com instead.
Verizon offering up anonymous data to improve real-time traffic information
AirSage has been working on the whole cellular data-traffic flow interconnection thing for a while now, and the company has just landed itself a whale of a partner for collecting that data: Verizon. It's said that the integration of anonymous cellular signaling data from Verizon's network will quadruple the number of messages AirSage is receiving, covering 200,000 miles of roadway across the country with improved information on just how screwed you are by that lane-widening project right now. The companies aren't saying how long it'll take to fully integrate the additional data, so in the meantime, just go ahead and give yourself the extra 15 minutes to get to work -- something tells us you'll need it.
Apple blows past other hardware web sites in May
Wow. It isn't even close. Apple blew by HP, Dell and even MagicJack (!) with the most visits to a website in May. According to the people who compile such statistics at Nielsen, Apple drew 55.7 million unique viewers, more than double what next ranked HP did. Much of that may have been driven by anticipation of the new iPhone. Here's the chart. Also interesting is that Nielsen computes the average visitor stayed on the Apple site an average of 1 hour and 14 minutes. That's a lot of reading and watching demo videos.Nielsen also took a look at blog mentions of the iPhone in early June, and the numbers are pretty striking there too. You can see the peak as the release date approached, with another peak on release day June 19. They say if people are talking about you it's a good thing. By that measure things are really great at Apple.
Preparing for BlizzCon: Getting there by car or rail
BlizzCon approaches! Preparing for BlizzCon is your regular source for tips on how best to prepare for Blizzard's gaming extravaganza.On Friday, we talked about getting to BlizzCon by air. Until teleportation technology is invented (and not deadly) or "The Big One" hits causing Anaheim to become coastal, the only other two ways to get to BlizzCon are by train or car. (Edit: Ok, there is the bus, but yeah, ugh. AishaLove is right. I can't recommend it.)Trains: Anaheim is a stop on the Pacific Surfliner route. Amtrak can be pricey, but with a membership in AAA and a watchful eye on their specials, you may be able to come up with a price that is comparable to flying. The train stop is just down the road from the Anaheim Convention Center and is close to most of the hotels. Of course, trains take much longer than planes, but the trip can be part of your vacation fun.
Second Life traffic gaming: A chat with a bot-operator, and dire portents for Lucky Chairs
The store is a fairly ordinary store in Second Life terms, except that it appears to sell objects that are mostly available for free elsewhere in the virtual environment. Reselling 'freebies' in Second Life is generally considered to be a reprehensible practice, but it does happen. This particular store is one of the places we routinely check out to evaluate the effectiveness of Linden Lab's harder-line policies on gaming traffic (and thus search-rankings) within Second Life. In front of us are a row of 53 avatars, camping out. The provision of such camping facilities being one of the things that are prohibited under the new policy. We tried for a little while to get the attention of one of the camping avatars to see what they might think, and finally succeeded. As it happens, the avatar who responded was a bot – actually one of 70 bots being controlled by a single user who declined to give us a name. The bot-operator was, however, happy to answer a few questions for us, through the remotely-controlled avatar.
iPhone nabs 59% of smartphone 'net traffic, 43% of mobile web traffic
Fortune has the results of an AdMob survey up, and they're pretty surprising -- Apple has apparently taken over 59% of smartphone traffic on the Internet, and in the mobile category in general, they've got a giant 43% of 'net traffic surveyed. But there's another side here: the report doesn't just point out that Apple accounts for the lion's share of mobile 'net traffic, but it states that smartphone traffic, and specifically the iPhone in general, hugely overshadows the actual sales numbers. The iPhone has 8% global market share, but accounts for 65% of HTML traffic. And smartphones in general overshadow their sales to a lesser degree: smartphones represent about 12% of mobile device sales, but AdMob calculates them at around 35% of their traffic last month.What does this mean? AdMob suggests it's a phase -- right now, because we're so early in the development stages of this platform, mobile web makes up the main chunk of traffic. But in the future, we may go through applications to get data, or use push notifications, and/or come up with other, more streamlined ways to get information out to mobile devices. But for now, iPhone and iPod touch users are still browsing the web, and as a result, they are accounting for way more traffic than their sales hint at.
Linden Lab expands Second Life traffic gaming policy
Linden Lab, as you probably already know, has started to take action against the use of bots to game Second Life traffic (which is still the most influential of the sorting criteria in in-world search results), although with somewhat lackluster results so far. Yesterday, it was indicated that the action would be extended to other means of artificially boosting traffic figures, such as camping-chair installations.
TomTom brings costly connected services to mid-range XL LIVE
In theory, we've no qualms with TomTom's LIVE services. Sure, they're over-hyped, overpriced and generally slow to react, but they're definitely nice extras on an otherwise vanilla PND. That said, we simply can't (and won't, ever) justify the crazy monthly rates for having access to basic information that even a dumb smartphone could find. Nevertheless, TomTom's doing its darnedest to push those very services to the masses by trickling 'em down from the GO 740 LIVE to its popular XL model. Folks across the pond can pick one up next month for €219 ($301) or €249 ($342) depending on whether you need a regional model or one with 42 European nations, but you'll still be asked to shell out €9.95 ($14) per month if you want those LIVE services.
