Nokia collaboration may keep you out= of traffic jams

By David Chartier | Published: November 23, 2008 - 05:30PM CT

= =20

GPS-enabled gadgets, from dedicated units to mobile phones, hold the promis= e of helping their users dodge bad traffic. Unfortunately, they'= re often hamstrung by the information backing them; many of the most popula= r traffic monitoring systems, including Google Maps, simply don't have= sufficiently refined real-time traffic data. A new project, backed by Noki= a, NAVTEQ, and UC Berkeley, hopes to alter this by making your mobile phone= part of a two-way conversation about traffic conditions.

The collaboration, dubbed "Mobile Millennium" by the California Center for Innovative Transportation (whe= re it is based), seeks to create a more useful traffic monitoring system us= ing software that can be installed on a variety of Java-enabled consumer mo= bile phones, including various models from Nokia, BlackBerry, and other han= dset manufacturers. It anonymously collects data from these phones to creat= e an early version of what will probably be the most accurate traffic monit= oring system yet.= =20

One of the few times I have needed
a bad traffic report, and Chicago
fails me

When it's running, the software displays a basic map on the phone usin= g the typical color codes that denote different traffic speeds. It also all= ows a user to alert the system if, as often occurs with most current consum= er traffic tools, the on-screen traffic conditions are not reflective of th= e gridlock that the user is currently stuck in.

The software, made available in a "pilot" version, can be downloaded for compatible phone= s by handing over some basic information at the Mobile Millennium site.

The Mobile Millennium project is certainly pacing itself, though, as the si= te indicates that this initial public testing period will extend for 18 mo= nths. The system was tested privately for the last six months, during which= the tracking algorithms were refined in various experiments. As recently a= s July, 20 cars were driven on a specific looping route through downtown Be= rkeley, CA to test the project's urban tracking abilities. In August, = the team expanded tests to the I-80 highway corridor that extends between S= an Francisco, CA and Lake Tahoe, NV.

Naturally, Mobile Millennium's early public testing has some significa= nt limits. The projec= t's FAQs, for example, note that traffic routes may not always ali= gn with map information due to both internal discrepancies and a desire to = minimize the amount of data transferred to and from devices. Plus, due to t= he privacy rules that limit the sharing customers' GPS data by carrier= s, the software needs to be actively running on the phone for it to transmi= t the data that Mobile Millennium's developers need. And let's no= t forget that the mobile phone market is made up of quite a few phones that= aren't from Nokia and RIM, though versions for other platforms that c= annot run Java apps, such as Apple's iPhone, are on their way.

The project's site does not mention what will eventually become of thi= s technology, and no one from Mobile Millennium responded to Ars Technica&#= x27;s request for comment in time for publication. The tech will likely be = licensed or otherwise made available to both the businesses sector. Compani= es like Microsoft and Inrix, a traffic information aggregator that reportedly powers the tra= ffic products of Google (the search giant is strangely quiet on the topic),= are undoubtedly interested in getting their hands on it.= =20

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by name, however it does see the= m just fine by tag name...= =20 FindTagsByName(elements, name, 'pre'); FindTagsByName(elements, name, 'textarea'); if(elements.length =3D=3D 0) return; // register all brushes for(var brush in dp.sh.Brushes) { var aliases =3D dp.sh.Brushes[brush].Aliases; if(aliases =3D=3D null) continue; = =09 for(var i =3D 0; i < aliases.length; i++) registered[aliases[i]] =3D brush; } for(var i =3D 0; i < elements.length; i++) { var element =3D elements[i]; var options =3D FindValue( element.attributes['class'], element.className,= =20 element.attributes['language'], element.language ); var language =3D ''; = =09 if(options =3D=3D null) continue; = =09 options =3D options.split(':'); = =09 language =3D options[0].toLowerCase(); if(registered[language] =3D=3D null) continue; = =09 // instantiate a brush highlighter =3D new dp.sh.Brushes[registered[language]](); = =09 // hide the original element element.style.display =3D 'none'; highlighter.noGutter =3D (showGutter =3D=3D null) ? 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Alsup (malsup at gmail dot com) * @version: 1.0.2 * http://www.malsup.com/jquery/media/ * Free beer and free speech. Enjoy! * * This plugin converts anchor tags into flash objects. * Demos can be found at: http://malsup.com/jquery/media/ * * NOTE: This plugin uses (and requires) swfobject.js for proper flash de= tection. * You must include swfobjects.js on any page that uses this plugin= . * @see http://blog.deconcept.com/swfobject/ * * * Sample HTML: * before: Watch my movie! * * after:

Nokia collaboration may keep you out= of traffic jams

Report: Second-gen iPod touc= h faster than your iPhone