trafficjam
Latest
BMW unveils prototype self-driving car platform, i Remote app for Samsung Galaxy Gear and driver assistance technology
Automobile manufacturers, long laggard in the ways of technology, have been making a push in recent years to catch up with consumer expectations. BMW is one such car maker, and it's rolling out a suite of new technologies to improve its cars at CES 2014. First up is an improvement to its suite of driver-assistance technology -- ActiveAssist -- that's been built into a new prototype car. Generally speaking, it's a series of control systems that allow the car to react "to fluctuating grip levels" like during hydroplaning to react and bring the car back under control precisely, automatically and without driver input. It accomplishes this by both braking individual wheels (like existing systems) and adjusting steering input in response to its active monitoring of road conditions using lidar, radar, ultrasound and optical cameras.
Apple wants to make your calendar sensitive to location and traffic, get you there on time
As Apple rushed to allay privacy concerns over its handling of location data, it also let slip that it was working on a "crowd-sourced traffic database". Now a patent application dating from 2009 has been made public which suggests Apple is thinking of this technology not merely as an add-on to iOS Maps, but as something which could feed into other areas such as calendars and alarms. The implicit suggestion is that if Apple can figure out how long it will take you to get from A to B, then it should be able to adjust your appointments to make sure you get there on time without having to go on a rampage. Until then, if everyone just stays out of the way, then no one will get hurt.
NAVTEQ Shocker! New York City, other populated places have terrible traffic problems
Do you enjoy driving? Do you adore the open road? Are you willing to do anything and everything to avoid being patted down by Patrick Downy of the TSA? Well by Golly, you might just need yourself a GPS! But look out! If you're headed to New York City, you might run into a small amount of "traffic," and that could very well cause an unwanted, but not at all unexpected, delay. Other North American spots -- most of which are "densely populated" -- just so happened to make the cut in a new traffic study from NAVTEQ, a respected leader in the navigation industry. Best steer clear of Denver, Houston, Dallas, Chicago, Philly, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington D.C. if you're looking to keep the wheels moving this Thanksgiving, and we're totally under the assumption that you actually needed a research project to inform you of that. Consider yourself schooled!
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.
Microsoft's desktop-equipped mass transit bus is a boss' dream
Those 45 to 90 minutes you spend stuck in traffic each day, inhaling noxious fumes and watching your paycheck dwindle in the form of consumed gasoline, are about to get a lot more nightmarish should you choose to ride this. Though the origin of these images are unknown, we're assuming they were snapped somewhere in Asia (or the ninth circle of Hades); essentially, this here public transportation option enables riders to login via a connected PC and get to work before work technically begins. Of course, we've all ideas most riders just fire up Quake III and get a little LAN action going, but seriously, what kind of torturous mind thought this up? Ever heard of telecommuting?Update: Seems these buses are all about bringing technology to rural areas that might not otherwise have access. Killer!
Los Angeles Traffic Cam brings live gridlocks to your cellphone
We have all ideas (okay, so we know it for a fact) that the Los Angeles Traffic Cam was designed for those living in LA, but we can't help but imagine how drivers in less congested cities could use this to make their own daily commute not seem so bad. NBC4 and 3rd Dimension have teamed up to beam out live video and nearly live still shots from some 270 LA-area traffic cameras to those with compatible mobiles, and being that it's ad-supported, the whole thing is completely free to end users. Of course, for all you know, they could just loop a clip of gridlocked traffic during rush hour and call it reality. Sadly, said idea would almost work.
Inrix announces "third generation" traffic routing system for GPS devices
It looks like those relying on GPS to find the quickest route possible could soon be getting a boost, with Inrix now touting its new "third generation" routing platform, which promises to bring with it all sorts of new traffic jam avoidance measures. One of the key components of that, it seems, is Inrix's so-called Total Fusion system, which the company claims to be the very first traffic data service that "intelligently combines real-time, predictive and historical traffic information for over 800,000 miles of roadways across the U.S." That gets backed up by Inrix's Connected Services platform, which'll let navigation companies integrate all sorts of other aggregated data, including weather information, fuel prices, and movie times, to name a few. There's no word as to when we'll actually see any of that in an actual product, however, although Inrix has apparently already signed up at least one automaker that'll apparently remain nameless until later this year.[Via Autoblog]
Traffic reports to derive from cellphone location data
Intelligent roadways and traffic monitoring systems have been available (albeit not always entirely accurate) for some time now, but if IntelliOne and AirSage have their way, finding out about real-time roadblocks (and voyeurism lawsuits) could become a more fleshed-out reality. The firms are looking to utilize that oh-so-telling "anonymous" location data from each traveler's cellphone to pinpoint locations and overlay that information with maps. If wireless companies open up that data at a rate of "twice per second" while users are conversing and "once every 30 seconds" when not on a call, the entrepreneurial duo hopes to offer more detailed information and pragmatic advice than "radar, helicopters or cameras" currently do. While keeping a keen eye on traffic developments certainly has its benefits, the real issue here is privacy (or the lack thereof); while government uses have already been in place, carriers are (understandably) more hesitant to turn over consumer data for locating purposes. While the service would be marketed free of charge to wireless carriers, interested customers not enraged by such intrusions could purchase the data for a monthly fee, and if all goes as planned, the Tampa pilot that is currently ongoing will lead to "40 other markets" being invaded by this time next year.[Via The Wireless Report]
