GPS Determines Car's Speed Limit

In Japan the new Nissan GT-R is speed-limited by its location. As Motor Trend explains:

Japanese GT-Rs are speed-limited for the street: As has been widely reported, unless it's driven on a preapproved racetrack, a stock Japanese-spec GT-R is limited to 180 kph (111.8 mph) with the factory settings. GPS sensors in the navigation system track vehicle position and communicate with the ECU. Try to exceed 180 kph, and a warning light will appear on the instrument panel. Only shutting the car off and restarting it will get the light to disappear.

But can be run all-out at the track: Running a GT-R at the track requires scrolling through menus in the on-board computer and selecting the racetrack option that bypasses the speed limiter. Only then can the car be run to its full potential.

This is really interesting to see. I wonder how soon til the speed-limiter is hacked. I also wonder if Nissan is going to add expansion race tracks -- making the car more like a video game. I wonder if there are insurance savings. It reminds me of the UK's Norwich "Pay as you drive" Car Insurance, which bills you based on your driving as determined by a GPS. GPSs are not accurate enough to drive by yet (you'd need sub-meter accuracy to do that), but it is really interesting to track how location determines law (or rates) and how the GPS is becoming the arbiter of that.

(Thanks for the tip, Niall!)

Garmin Nuvifone Videos and Screenshots Make It Look Great

Navigadget has found two videos of Garmin's upcoming Nuvifone. They offer lots of hints at the services the iPhone-like device will offer. The scenario video (below) focuses on navigation, photos, web browsing, phone and media. The intro video (above) lets us know that it'll also have BlueTooth, calendaring, NAVTEQ maps (touting their long-term geo-data partner), Google, email, MSN Direct (for map overlays of gas prices, movie listings, news, stocks, local events, yellow pages), and search (I assume from the spyglass icon they show. The video makes it clear that the Nuvifone is a direct descendant of the Nuvi GPS line and not just an evolutionary namesake.

Garmin is definitely showing it's GPS background in the feature set. It seems that you'll be able to use the GPS while you are on the phone (not something you can do with the iPhone and Google Maps). Also their seems to be some location integration with email. A woman is shown taking a picture of a cafe and emailing it. Her date is shown recieving the photo and clicking a "Go" button on the image. Assuming it's easy to do and those are real, production screens, this will be a slick feature (both of these features are shown in the second video). The Google app looks very slick and easy to use.

One thing the video doesn't show is the multi-touch interactions with the device. There are zoom-in/zoom-out buttons on the map, camera and web screens (see this gallery of nuvifone screens) which I assume means no pinching action (like on the iPhone). The keyboard does not have the letters pop-up as you type them either.

It definitely seems like a great device. I haven't heard about the data plan yet and that can always be a deal killer. My other big concern is syncing. Garmin is a device manufacturer. Their PC/Mac software is OK, but not a big wow. What type of options will their be? Is it all custom? Will the device plug into the native Mac apps and popular PC apps? This is the biggest wait-and-see in my book. The unsung hero of the iPod/iPhone family is their desktop integration.

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DIY Bullet Time, Calling Business Cards and Build Your Own Laser Cutter

Instructables (Disclosure: an OATV investment) held a contest for a laser cutter and announced the winner on Monday. Graffiti Research Lab handily won with a DIY Bullet Time camera system (ala the Matrix). They built the system with 24 digital cameras (all with a remote cable release shutter cable), compact light stands and wood and steel structure. Instead of renting a bullet-time camera system for $100,000 they built one for $8,000 in two days. I've included some samples of the DIY Bullet Time System after the jump.

You can see a list of the other contestants on Instructables. Here are some of my personal favorites:

Under Fifty Dollar Laser Cutter
I would love to have my own laser cutter. Sounds like it could be a good substitute. Here's the materials list:

This project demonstrates a simple hack to create a large format laser cutter utilizing all the scrap electronics you may have lying around. If you have a broken scanner or two, the cost can be just about 30 dollars for the entire project.

Extreme Business Cards
These cards have a chip in them and will dial your phone number into a waiting phone (using DTMF tones). I really like the concept though I would not want to be the person behind that much waste.

The MadyLight
A very cool lamp that uses an LED color changing light bulb to make a very cool looking TRON-style lamp.

Sprial Data Tato
This is very cool origami CD-holder. As they describe it:

The Spiral Data Tato is an origami CD or DVD case of the origata or tsutsumi ilk, that is, a complicated presentation model, intended as a gift for an honored recipient. Tato is a Japanese word that means purse or wallet.
The Spiral Data Tato opens and closes, using a charming innovation we like to call The Origami Zipper. It is available in American letter paper and in A4 versions and I have made some .DOC files (editable in MS Word or in OO Writer), in case you want to make a mix CD or display the contents of the disk on the outside of the model.

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Web 2.0 Expo Launchpad is Open

Got a new product or a launch coming up? Hold it until late April and tell the world at the Web 2.0 Expo's Launchpad.

For 2008, we continue the tradition of Launch Pad at Web 2.0 Expo, but with some important changes, based on a program we test-drove at Web 2.0 Summit in October 2007. While it’s great to be chosen to launch your new company at a major event, the reality of the market is that the majority of successful Web 2.0 companies do more than just launch products. They also have to pass the test of VC scrutiny—that's how the market determines who wins and loses in the world of startups. To that end, this year there is no fee for companies to submit a proposal, and we are soliciting Launch Pad sponsorships from VCs.

The VC-style of Launchpad made for some great commentary at the Summit (Radar post 1 & 2). I hope that we'll have a similar performance at the Expo.

Submit your application. Submissions must be in by February 29th.

Steamworks: Produce Games on Valve's Platform

Valve (creators of Half-Life 2, Counter-Strike, and the amazingly awesome Portal) just announced the release of Steamworks, a set of services for game developers. The services include distribution, development and administration for PC games. They can be used ala carte (with any game engine) or as a package. A press release lists the available services:

• Real-time stats on sales, gameplay, and product activation: Know exactly how well your title is selling before the charts are released. Find out how much of your game is being played. Login into your Steamworks account pages and view up to the hour information regarding worldwide product activations and player data.
• State of the art encryption system: Stop paying to have your game pirated before it’s released. Steamworks takes anti-piracy to a new level with strong encryption that keeps your game locked until the moment it is released.
• Territory/version control: The key-based authentication provided in Steamworks also provides territory/version controls to help curb gray market importing and deliver territory-specific content to any given country or region.
• Auto updating: Ensures all customers are playing the latest and greatest version of your games.
• Voice chat: Available for use both in and out of game.
• Multiplayer matchmaking: Steamworks offers you all the multiplayer backend and matchmaking services that have been created to support Counter-Strike and Team Fortress 2, the most played action games in the world.
• Social networking services: With support for achievements, leaderboards, and avatars, Steamworks allows you to give your gamers as many rewards as you would like, plus support for tracking the world’s best professional and amateur players of your game.
• Development tools: Steamworks allows you to administer private betas which can be updated multiple times each day. Also includes data collection tools for QA, play testing, and usability studies.

The press release is light on the financials, but I would assume that is a rev-share deal through the Steam marketplace.

Microsoft has also been making strides with games developer tools and platforms with XNA. XNA also offers development (through XNA Game Studio - recently updated) and distribution and rev-share through XBox Live Marketplace (and lots of tutorials).

I've been playing Portal (slowly) and find the Steam user-experience to be a good one. I think that the most compelling aspects of both XNA and Steampowerd are distribution. There are other game development platforms available, but only so many ways to find the right gamer audience. I look forward to seeing what comes of these platforms.

(via Brian Jepson via Geek.com)

Ignite Seattle on 2/19; Ignite Portland on 2/5!

The next Ignite Seattle is February 19th at the CHAC. It's great to be back! At the last one we had over 350 people watch 15 great talks (all of which can be found online). Watch the videos (courtesy of Bryan Zug) to see some excellent talks like Shawn Murphy's Hacking Chocolate, Elan Lee's LIFE: If you're bored, you're doing it wrong, and Dan Shapiro's Ten valuable lessons you shouldn't learn.

On the 19th we are going to have 16 Ask Later talks. These talks will each be 5 minutes long with 20 slides and only 15 seconds a slide. Anyone who did not speak at the last Ignite is welcome to speak. Topics should fall in the realm of web 2.0 technology, entrepreneurship, life hacks, or something else that you think a room full of internet junkies will appreciate. Stories and lessons work better than product demos. Submit your talk by 2/10 (talks are selected on a rolling basis; you're more likely to get in if you beat the rush that comes at the end). RSVP at Upcoming.

This isn't the only NW Ignite event. Ignite Portland is nearly upon us. It takes place Tuesday, February 5th, from 6-9pm at the Bagdad Theatrer on 3702 S.E. Hawthorne Blvd. As you can see from the image they've been getting some press. The talks look great. I would love to learn more about Why Deutschland Loves David Hasselhoff from Mario Schulzkeand or How to be an Undercover Hooker from my friend Jessica Bruder (author of the excellent Burning Book -- the only Burning Man book that I've gone past just flipping through to actually reading). RSVP at Upcoming.

If you happen to be in Helsinki on February 22nd you can catch the city's first Ignite.

We're going to have an Ignite on the opening night at ETech. You have to be attending to speak; submission information will be sent to attendees. Scotto Moore is the only speaker so far; he'll have a brand-new talk for us. You can see his talk from Ignite Seattle 4, Make Art Not Content, after the jump (it was one of the crowd favorites).

If you want to start your own Ignite go check out our community site. It will get you started.

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Location-Based Content Platform: Wherigo on the Garmin Colorado

Groundspeak, the company behind Geocaching, and Garmin, the GPS manufacturer, have teamed up to bring games to handheld GPS units (hopefully the car units come next!). For the past year Groundspeak has been developing Wherigo, a flexible gaming platform. Garmin included an embedded version in their new GPS, the Colorado.

Wherigo lets anyone build games (or tour guides or local reviews or real estate apps) using the Lua programming language. The games can be tied to a specific location or they can be "play anywhere". The games are generally task-based. As you are given tasks you move from location to location and pick up items (inventory). Your inventory is used to complete other tasks (such as disable an evil robot or a fix a virtual spaceship). Wherigo games can also be played on the PocketPC platform (other platforms coming in the future). You can also download the Wherigo builder (windows-only, requires .NET) and use the emulator to try out the games (screenshot after the jump). You can use the Builder or their webservice to compile games.

Revenue will come from a games marketplace. Currently most of the games are free; many are open-source (for learning purposes). The challenge for Groundspeak is to get more people making games for them. For this to happen they'll have add platforms (GPS-enabled (future) iPhone and RIMs are two obvious ones) to increase the likelihood of a developer being able to gain a large audience with an app.

I got the chance to play some Wherigo games last week on the new Garmin Colorado (wide-release in Feb; REI exclusively for the next couple of weeks). As you can see in the image above there are two buttons and a large dial at the top on the device (there are none at the bottom). The dial makes for a really quick way to navigate the around the device with one-hand. It's very slick. The screen is bright and the maps look great. It has an SD slot which can be used for loading Wherigo games and maps (I wish that slot could be used to write geotags to photos -- like the Photofinder does).

For Mac users, you can now use Bobcat to unload GPS tracks and get new maps (though it is great that Garmin is supporting the Mac, the app is lacking. There is no KML support, the the GPS trace UI is clunky, and there is no support for geotagging photos -- an up-in-coming area that is sorely in need of some simple software). I have posted shots of the device on Flickr.

The Wherigo platform was designed for games, specifically GeoCaching-esque games. It allows Wherigo's fanbase (one-million strong) to create virtual caches in parks and residential neighborhoods (places where physical caches weren't desired or safe). If you're wondering who will play these games look no further than the Garmin blog. Garmin and Groundspeak threw an event on Saturday to show off their new platform. When I stopped by the large room was packed and the crowd couldn't wait to try the tutorials.

Where I think Wherigo will gain the broadest appeal is for more general content delivery. As I was playing with the demo game I kept thinking how useful Wikipedia would be on this platform (there are thousands of geo-tagged pages). Groundspeak is also thinking this way. On a hidden part of the site you can create games via wizards. The current games use the Waymarking API (to find local geocaches) or the Yelp API (to find local reviews). The apps are buggy, but they show great promise for the Wherigo platform by demonstrating both the compiling webservice, and the ability to take webservices off-line (but maintain the ability to do local queries). Wherigo was built for location-based games, but I predict it will find its true calling as a location-based content platform.

Jeremy Irish, CEO will bespeakingat Where 2.0 this year. We also plan to have a Wherigo game on site.

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