The Places You’ll Go – James Fallows – The Atlantic 2013-01-09 The major change in mapping in the past decade, as opposed to in the previous 6,000 to 10,000 years, is that mapping has become personal. There’s an Android app we’ve released called Field Trip. You download it, and it says, “I don’t want to bother you, so how often should I talk to you?” You tell it ...

2013: The year of the Internet of Things | MIT Technology Review 2013-01-09 Each year in Australia, for example, biologists plant a million or so plots of different types of grain to see which grow best in a wide variety of conditions. These plots are situated all over the country and create a logistical nightmare for the relatively small team who must monitor both the environmental conditions and ...

Avis to buy Zipcar, enter car-sharing business 2013-01-02 Avis’ purchase, which is expected to be completed in the spring, will expand Zipcar’s fleet. That will likely improve the chances that members can get a car on the weekends, when demand can outstrip availability. It also increases the number of locations that customers can pick up a car, Avis said. via Avis to buy Zipcar, ...

Is Apple Plotting A Route To A Waze Acquisition? Rumours On The Road Point To Yes | TechCrunch 2013-01-02 Another source confirms that negotiations are advanced, but Waze wants $750M and Apple is willing to do $400M plus $100m in incentives. Waze had less than $1M in revenues last year primarily from ads. Negotiations may take awhile. via Is Apple Plotting A Route To A Waze Acquisition? Rumours On The Road Point To Yes | ...

Why the future of urban transit might be a taxi – The Globe and Mail 2012-12-29 You will be able to summon an autonomous taxicab (AT) using your smart phone, and direct it to leave you at your desired location, at a cost that is about a third of current taxi fares and thus comparable to the user cost of public transit. (AT services will normally not need government subsidy.) However, an ...

How does a traffic cop ticket a driverless car? – opinion – 24 December 2012 – New Scientist 2012-12-29 Granted, such vehicles must have drivers, and drivers must be able to control their vehicles – these are international requirements that date back to 1926, when horses and cattle were far more likely to be “driverless” than cars. Regardless, these rules, and many others that assume a human presence, do not necessarily prohibit vehicles from ...

Pollution from car emissions killing millions in China and India | Environment | guardian.co.uk 2012-12-29 Worldwide, a record 3.2m people a year died from air pollution in 2010, compared with 800,000 in 2000. It now ranks for the first time in the world’s top 10 list of killer diseases, says the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study. via Pollution from car emissions killing millions in China and India | ...