From: Subject: =?iso-2022-jp?B?UHJvamVjdCB0dXJucyBHUFMgcGhvbmVzIGludG8gdHJhZmZpYyByZXBvcnRlcnM=?= Date: Wed, Nov 12 2008 17:44:44 GMT-0800 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/related; boundary="----=_NextPart_000_0000_2BD0071D.84379751"; type="text/html" ------=_NextPart_000_0000_2BD0071D.84379751 Content-Type: text/html; charset="UTF-8" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Location: http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&taxonomyName=wireless_trends_and_technologies&articleId=9119521&taxonomyId=78&intsrc=kc_top =EF=BB=BF = =20 = =09 Project turns GPS phones into traffic reporters = =09
= =09 = =09
= =09 = =20 = =20 = =09 = =09 = =09 = =20 3D"Click = =09 = =09 = =09 = =20 = =3D"Click = =20 = =20 = =20 = =09
= =09 = =09 = =20 3D"Click = =09 = =09 3D"Co=
3D"IDG
= =20
3D"Quick
3D"Search"

= =09
= =20
= =09 = =20

=

Check Out IT = Certification Preparation Materials
Sign Up With SkillSoft & Get= Access to Training Materials for Over 50 Professional Certifications.

=

Get Top Project Management Resources-SkillSoft<= /a>
Sign Up & Get Access To White Papers, and Webinars. Over 300 Pro= ject Management Online Books.

NewsGator Enterprise RSS
Improve Corporat= e Communication via Web 2.0, RSS, and Social Computing.

Microsoft Visual Studio 2008<= br>Visual Studio=C2=AE 2008 enables you to create outstanding user experien= ces. Download 90-day free trial!

Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 SP1
New Exchange= Server 07 SP1 delivers the advanced protection your company demands. Evalu= ate today!

3D"Ads

See your link here


3D""

Subscribe to our e-mail ne= wsletters
For more info on a specific newsletter, click the title. D= etails will be displayed in a new window.
Mobile/Wireless Computi= ng
= Computerworld Daily News (First Look and Wr= ap-Up)
Computerworld Blogs Newsletter
The Weekly Top 1= 0
More E-Mail Newsletter= s 3D""
= =09

3D""

3D"Computer=Subsc= ribe to Computerworld
40 years of the most authoritative source of news and information for IT le= aders.
= =20 = =20 = =20
= =09
= =20 3D"" = =09 = =09 = =20 = =09

Project turns GPS phones into traffic reporters

Opens to the public on Monday

= =20
By Robert McMillan
Com= ments
1
Recommended
6
Share
= =09 = =09 = =09
= =20
= =09 = =09
= =09 = =09 = =09 = =09
= =09 = =09 = =09 = =20 = =20 = =09
= =09 = =09 = =09
= =09 = =09 = =09 = =09

November 6, 2008 (IDG= News Service) = =20 Researchers from Nokia Corp. a= nd the = University of California, Berkeley, will go live with a new project nex= t week that aims to cull GPS data from thousands of mobile phones in order = to tell drivers which San Francisco Bay Area roads are backed up and which = are moving along.

Called Mo= bile Millennium, the project will be opened to the public on Monday.

Researchers hope that thousands of volunteers will download a free Jav= a program that figures out by their movement and location when they are dri= ving and then transmits that information to the project's servers, whi= ch then crunch it into a Bay Area traffic map. The software uses algorithms= to determine when people are moving, stuck in traffic or stopped by the ro= adside, for example.

California has already invested heavily in sens= ors that help monitor traffic conditions on major roadways, but they'r= e not everywhere. By collecting traffic information from GPS phones on road= s that don't have sensors, the team hopes to gain insight into places = that are now blind spots for most commuters.

Researchers will start = by looking for data on heavily trafficked commutes such as Page Mill Road a= nd the Oregon Expressway, which cut through the heart of Palo Alto, Calif. = If enough volunteers download the software, the researchers could eventuall= y build a comprehensive picture of Bay Area traffic conditions.

&qu= ot;The whole concept here is that if everyone shares just a little bit of w= hat they're seeing ... then everyone can benefit by seeing the conditi= ons ahead of them," said Quinn Jacobson, a research leader at Nokia in= Palo Alto.

The system doesn't require many users, but it helps= if they're spread out, as researchers will need the right concentrati= on of reports. The Mobile Millennium team expects to have 10,000 participan= ts by April. "At that rate, we'll see many of these arterial road= s with accurate, real-time data," Jacobson said.

While the idea= of streaming data about their whereabouts may make some people uneasy, res= earchers say they've taken steps to keep the system anonymous. None of= the data in the system can be tied to a particular mobile phone, they said= .

The researchers have been testing the traffic reporting system eve= ry few weeks over the past year, including a large field test in February.

Mobil= e Millennium's data will be available on the Web, but users who want t= he best data will have to download the Java software, Jacobson said. The so= ftware will eventually work on most GPS-enabled phones that run on GSM (Glo= bal System for Mobile communications) networks, such as those from T-Mobi= le and AT&T. On Monday, the software will run on Nokia and BlackBer= ry phones, but the team expects to add many other devices to the list.

<= p>The team is discussing an iPhone port as we= ll, although this will not be available on Monday, Jacobson said.

Be= cause Mobile Millennium phones do a lot of traffic reporting, only users wi= th unlimited data plans are advised to sign up.

= =20

Reprinted with permission from

= IDG.net
Story copyright 2008 International Data Group. Al= l rights reserved.

= =09
Make a Comment Recommend Story Slashdot this Digg this
Print Story Send Feedback<= /span> Email this Reprints
= =20 3D"Click
 

= =20
= =20 = =09

Sponsored Links

= =09