geo-tagging

Microsoft, Google challenge GeoTag patent

Microsoft and Google have teamed up to challenge a patent held by GeoTag--a geolocation technology company--that has been used to sue more than 300 other businesses.

The technology giants said the lawsuit, filed in District Court of Delaware earlier this week, is a result of the hundreds of suits GeoTag has lodged claiming those businesses infringe on the patent, which relates to geotagging technology. Many of the existing lawsuits are with customers of the Bing Maps and Google Maps services, the filing said.

"The suits have placed a cloud on Plaintiffs' web mapping services, have caused customers to … Read more

Geotagging in Flickr now faster, simpler

On Friday, photo host Flickr introduced a slight tweak to the way users are able to geotag their photos.

Clicking on the "add to your map" option on the right side of any photo now pops up a mini Yahoo Map with an address finder. Previously, users were required to go into Flickr's somewhat complicated Organizr tool and add geotags en masse. If it's your first time using the Flickr map to geotag your photos, you'll still need to hit the Organizr, but only to change the initial privacy settings.

I've already used the … Read more

Sony Ericsson C905 Cyber-shot snags and tags

Always pushing the limits of camera phones, Sony Ericsson has done it again. Today, the company announced the Sony Ericsson C905 Cyber-shot, a slider phone equipped with an impressive 8.1-megapixel camera. (As far as we know, the Samsung SCH-B600 is the only mobile to have a higher lens at 10 megapixels.) But it's not all about the megapixels as the C905 has a Xenon flash, an image stabilizer, face detection, and autofocus, to name just a few of the camera options available to you.

The C905 Cyber-shot also follows in the footsteps of the Nokia N78 by adding … Read more

Nearbie: social bookmarking for real life

Nearbie is a new social bookmarking service that lets users broadcast status updates, and keep tabs on friends. Nearbie goes one step further than some other sites that do this (see Dodgeball, Groovr and Jaiku) to show you how user-submitted material is connected to people or places in your geographical location. Users can submit all sorts of things such as event notices, local landmarks, personal stories, and pictures. It's a lot like a blog, but with far more structure. The hope is that when enough people begin to use the service, users will be able to discover more about … Read more

Locr: Geo-tagged photo browser and hosting solution

Locr is a new photo hosting service that promises to make geo-tagging your photos a little easier. After uploading photos, users need to simply add a zip code or city name to set a longitude and latitude for their shots. Users can then browse other geo-tagged photos by click-dragging a Google Map.

Is this different from what Flickr offers? Yes, but without a Web-based batch uploader or a way to tag landmarks, Locr comes up short.

Locr's Web interface is really easy to use for individual uploading and geo-tagging, but it just doesn't work with multiple photos. That … Read more

TagMaps makes geo-tagging useful

TagMaps is an exploratory mashup/science project from Yahoo Research Berkeley that mixes Yahoo Maps with Flickr's geo-tagging features to create a neat-looking photo browser. Locations show up on the map as large tags, and mousing over one will populate the corresponding Flickr photos to the right. Clicking any of these photos will give you the title and photographer information, along with the option to visit the photo page on Flickr.

What's really cool is that you can toggle between day and night modes. Both the map and the photos change dramatically depending on which mode you're … Read more