The Competition of Indoor Navigation

I believe most of you have the same experience that I have. When you fist step in a new building, airport or school, you will feel loss and do not know what to do first and where to go. For example, you are in a hospital. It is difficult for you to find the place you want to go. Many hospital use a not that effective way to solve this problem, of course, it does not work at most of the time. They just set different kinds of sign post or just use different colors to guide people. However, now we have a really nice way to solve this problem, using intelligent map system in mobile phone. It makes it's easy to find some places in a building and other indoor places.

In the latest Android map, it includes US IKEA and Macy's and other 18 airport's detailed layout. Almost at the same time, Nokia announced they will release indoor map suing Bluetooth 4.0. Although use two totally different technology, we can smell that the war of indoor map is already begin.

For a long time, Bluetooth has a poor reputation. It maybe because that the headphone looks not like a human or something else. It makes people feel weird. However, Bluetooth is actually a really nice technology: powerful, simple, cheap. And it will be much more smart after the release of Bluetooth 4.0. Nokia's Location Extension Protocol uses the connection of locator transmitter on the ceiling and Bluetooth 4.0. And triangulation method that is similar to GPS. Through this way, your mobile phone can find the place you want to go accurately. It is said that the degree of precision is less than 8 inches.

Nokia has spent over one billion euros and hope this breakthrough technology will bring superority in the competiton of indoor map. They have also discovered the different application of this tech, from game to indoor navigation. Nokia is now trying their best to persuade Bluetooth SIG to make one uniform standard and hope this kind of mobile phone can come out into market in 2013.

Just like that if there is no specific map, GPS can not work, the indoor navigation system can not work without a detailed architectural and structural drawings. Now Google allows uses to upload or add architectural and structural drawings to Google Maps as they do the same to SketchUp. This is a simple process, users just need upload the picture of the floor's layout and then connect with satellite images of Google Maps. Through this way, Google not only gets many users' support, uploading indoor maps data day and night, they also uses the data for other users, such as services based on location and ads based on location.

What I have said above is not considering the crime, privacy and other safe question. People are now really sensitive to Google Street View. I believe this kind of indoor map data will bring bigger controversy. In conclusion, we need indoor navigation when we are in a strange building to find places fast. However, we need to use it carefully. Hope Google and Nokia will solve these problems and provide us indoor navigation one day.

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New Beginning of Nokia: Lumia 800 and Lumia 710

Nokia released its first Meego smart phone Nokia N9 at Nikia Connection 2011, Singapore, 21^st June, 2011. Four monthes later, at London, Nokia introduced its first two smart phone using Windows Phone, which named after lumia series at Nokia World 2011. The Nokia Lumia 800 is for high-end market and Nokia lumia 710 is for young people with low price of course. This aritcle aims to introduce this two new Nokia products to you and hope you can give Nokia a reunderstanding after its cooperation with Microsoft.

Lumia 800 is the first Nokia cell phone using Windows Phone Mango system and its appearance is almost the same as Nokia N9 with Meego: curved screen, one piecce polycarbonate technology, 16GB memory space and 1540 mAh battery. Lumia 800 has a 8 megapixel camera, the same as N9. The different with Nokia N9 is the Lumia 800 has a 3.7 inches screen with a resolution of 480*800 and has a 1.4 Ghz single-core Qualcomm MSM8255 processor and its RAM is 512MB.

It is difficult to identify lumia 800 and N9 from outside appearance. It is understandable that N9's unique sliding operation and polycarbonate technology received the world's attention, but the sales performance is not that good. Nokia will not waste this nice design, it is a nice idea to combine the appearance of N9 and the new smart phone platform.

First let us talk about Lumia 800's screen. Its 3.7 inches AMOLED screen is the best one that I have ever seen on WP7 mobile phones. In the dark room, it is still colorful, real and without many rendering. Nokia 800's shell is one piece polycabonate and its color is the material's color. It is impossible for Nokia 800 to loose color. The curved screen design of N9 helps Nokia 800's sliding operation. People who use mobile phones with Windows Phone know that you needs to slide to switch the main screen and the menu. Nokia lumia 800's screen is much better than other manufactures.

Nokia 800 does not use the 3 interface of N9 and they just use the Microsoft Metro interface without any change. I believe that Nokia does not want their first cell phone with WP7 has too many differences with other phones with WP7 from other manufactures, that avoid the division of Android. Altough the UI has no big difference with other WP7 phones, Nokia 800 is much better on operate effect and full touch operation because of the 1.4 GHz CPU.

All the Windows Phone products has a physical camera shortcuts button on the right side of the body, so does Nokia lumia 800. And the resolution, 480*800, is also set by Microsoft. I think Microsoft does not want their products as division as Android. So they set a series of settings for Windows Phone 7 and the camera shortcuts button and screen's resolution are listed.

Talking about the hardware, we need to notice that the three button under the screen. They have nothing special but because of them, the camera of N9 disappear. This is also because the system's limitation, WP7 Mango does not support video call.

The same outside appearance as N9, Nokia lumia 800 has a totally different system with it. As a strategic partnership of Microsoft, Nokia's Windows Phone 7 mobile phone has some special features of course. To users, Nokia car is one of these features. Nokia Public Transport app provides more than 430 cities' bus information around the world, including 45 cities' to-the minute updates of bus and train lines.

Nokia 800 presets ESPN program, which can show the time, schedule and results, etc. It can also be fixed on the strat screen and refresh the results easily.

Another features is about the music: Mix Radio, Nokia's music service. It is a kind of radio app. You can enjoy the free music on line without register or subscribe. However, Mix Radio is only available in few countries.

In addition, Nokia also published Nokia Pulse, Nokia users can share location and photos privitely and add location info to important contact. Nokia also showed us Nokia Live View. It allows Nokia users to point a building and street and the name of the building and street will appear on the map, users can get the information of the shop, restaurant and other info once they click the name.

In the system, we also see that Nokia's contact move function. It is a app that first appear on Symbian, now they brings it to its Windows Phone mobile phone. Compare with other WP7 phones, Nokia's has not many differences and the combine of Nokia software store and Microsoft Marketplace was not mentioned, also Wifi Hotspot was not appear in this system.

Although we believe that Windows Phone system, one day, will match google android and apple iOS, now Windows Phone's system is still not complete. The cooperation of Nokia and Microsoft will speed up the process, but two mobile phones can not do all the tings. Just like Nokia's saying on the conference, it is a new beginning and they need time to solve problems from all aspects.

Hello, my name is Pele. I'm interested in mobile phones and other electronic devices such as Apple iPod, iPhone, iPad. I am also a software editor about Video Converter for Mac, iPhone Ringtone Maker. Hope my article can help you. Thanks.