geotag

Remove your location data from photos with PhotoInfoEraser

When you upload photos to Facebook, Twitter, or elsewhere on the Internet, you may be sharing more information than you know. Your photos can have hidden data in them, like exact location data. If it's a well-known public location, like Disneyland, you might not mind sharing that, but what if it's your home, or where your kids go to school?

The easiest way to avoid sharing location data on your photos is by turning off geotagging in your Android camera's settings. But maybe you've already taken photos that have location data on them. Or maybe you … Read more

Startup Banjo looks to help you connect with folks in real world

Imagine this scenario: You're on a business trip in another city, where you just wrapped up your last meeting of the day in a coffee shop. Since you're a proper digital nomad, you fire off a tweet announcing that you're done for the day and ready to grab a drink.

Meanwhile, an old friend from college updates his Facebook status to say he's just arrived at a bar (a few blocks away) where he's meeting friends. Like your tweet, his status is embedded with a geographic tag (geotag), signaling the location of the message. If … Read more

Reporters' Roundtable: The location-tracking dilemma

Today we are talking about the fallout from the research reported on April 20 at the Where 2.0 conference that Apple iPhones and iPads keep detailed logs of their locations, and that this information is potentially viewable by Apple, the police, or hackers.

Roundup: Geotracking controversy homes in on iPhone

Since that story broke, it's been revealed that Google Android and Microsoft Windows 7 phones also log user location as well. In a related development, GPS maker TomTom was revealed to be sending location and speed data to police departments to enable them to install red-light cameras where they'll be most effective. That wouldn't be so bad, perhaps, if TomTom didn't also sell its users GPS map updates that included the locations of those cameras.

So location recording is in the news, and that's what we're talking about today. What's recording your data, why devices need this information, who's getting it, why you might care, and what you can do about it if you do.

Our guests are:

Declan McCullagh, who's been reporting on this issue for CNET News. Ted Morgan, CEO of Skyhook Wireless. Ted's company is in the very business of determining location data on mobile devices, and his technology has been used by many manufacturers.

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Some of our discussion points… Read more

How to disable mobile geotagging

Before you tweet a photo of your delicious, homemade dish, check your settings--your phone might be embedding coordinates in your photos, leaving your location open to prying eyes.

Using the built-in GPS, phone camera applications can embed the latitude and longitude of a location in photos. Coordinates aren't shown in your photo library, but if you post a geotagged pic online, someone with an evil motive can easily extract the photo's EXIF data and find out where you live, eat, or hang out.

Creepy, right? This is a big security risk, especially for parents who post photos of … Read more

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

Optio WG-1 adds GPS, crushproofing to Pentax rugged cameras

The Pentax Optio WG-1 follows in the design footprint set by the W90. The WG-1 breaks new ground, though, by being crushproof; it's a first for Pentax and only Olympus offered that protection previously in a point-and-shoot.

The crushproofing allows the WG-1 to survive a weight force up to 220 pounds. It's also dustproof, waterproof down to 33 feet, and freezeproof down to 14 degrees Fahrenheit. It's shockproof, too, able to take a 5-foot drop.

Like the W90, Pentax circles the 5x f3.5-5.5 28-140mm-equivalent lens of the WG-1 with five LED lamps used for macro … Read more

Apple Aperture 3.1 gets fixes, iPhoto '11 features

Riding on the coattails of yesterday's MacBook Air and iLife '11 announcements, Apple also updated its high-end Aperture photo editing and management software with bug fixes, performance improvements, and updates to match features in iPhoto '11.

iPhoto is geared for consumers, while Aperture is aimed at photo enthusiasts and professionals who want more sophisticated controls for editing and cataloging. There's a lot of overlap, though, and one is the ability to create themed slideshows. All six of the new iPhoto '11 slideshow themes also arrive in Aperture 3.1

That includes the new Places theme that's specifically … Read more

The Web service that points you towards the ladies

Men are misunderstood.

The media, Hollywood, and various other pressure groups have painted them as feral beasts, moved to action and emotion only by the prospect of their target gender's proximity.

Two enterprising tech beings--men, as it happens--decided at South by Southwest Interactive to further this perception of male neanderthalia. Jeff Hodsdon and Danny Trinh, then both at Digg, created a service that collated all those useful Foursquare check-ins in order to inform those who might be interested of the volume of women in any one place.

They did it as a joke. They were mocking all the … Read more

Casio's H20G megazoom does geotagging indoors

Having tested all the latest GPS-enabled compact megazooms, I can tell you that holding onto a signal isn't easy, particularly in a city. Casio's Hybrid GPS in its Exilim EX-H20G announced today looks like it is up to task, though.

The Hybrid GPS system combines a GPS receiver with a motion sensor that allows for autonomic positioning. Should you lose your signal, a three-way accelerometer and a three-way direction sensor combine to keep track of your movements in relation to the last coordinate received. The camera can then continue to track and geotag your photos even if you'… Read more