Google/Motorola Moves One Step Closer to Modular Smartphones

As reported by Mashable: Google released its first set of guidelines for developers hoping to participate in Project Ara, the company's platform for building modular smartphones. The first version of Project Ara's Module Development Kit was released Wednesday.

The idea behind Project Ara, first unveiled in October by the company's Advanced Technology and Projects (ATAP) Group, which is technically still part of Motorola, is to create a platform where any given part of a smartphone is its own module that can be replaced independently so users can completely customize the look of their device.

Google has already revealed the modular phones will come in small, medium and large sizes. The development kit includes guidelines detailing the requirements for individual components of the phones like processors and batteries.

"This is a very early version, but our goals are to give the developer community an opportunity to provide feedback and input, and to help us ensure that the final MDK — anticipated at the end of 2014 — is elegant, flexible and complete," Paul Eremenko, Google's head of Project Ara, said in a blog post.

The release comes just ahead of the first Project Ara Developer's Conference, which will be held next week in Mountain View, Calif. At the conference, developers will have a chance to provide feedback on the development kit and learn more about what features Google has planned for the platform.

The entire conference will also be live streamed for developers who wish to participate remotely.

Solar Impulse Unveils New Plane Designed To Fly Around The World Using Only Sunlight

As reported by The Verge: Solar Impulse has unveiled the plane that it hopes will be able to take its pilots all the way around the world using only solar energy. 

The Solar Impulse 2 weighs just 5,000 pounds and has a 236-foot wingspan covered entirely in solar cells, more than 17,000 of which are on the plane in total. 

Its creators say that the single-seat aircraft is also more efficient and generally better built than its predecessor — a necessity for making the approximately five-day-long flights across the Pacific and Atlantic oceans without running into problems.

The previous Solar Impulse completed a solar-powered flight across the US last year by hopping city to city, and the organization behind it hopes to begin its journey across the world in the new plane next year. The plan is to start in the Middle East in March of 2015, with landings made every few days to change pilots and hold local events. Solar Impulse will begin test flights and training this May.

Communication Benefits of GPS Fleet Tracking Solutions

As reported by Utility Products: Many utility business operators and fleet managers are aware of the need for efficient oversight and simplified communication between the office and the field. It is a necessary task that businesses in the utility industry face on a daily basis. While fleet and asset tracking are becoming more common than ever, many managers do not realize these fleet-tracking solutions can do much more than simply pinpoint a vehicle's location on a map. These solutions can also simplify the lines of communication and make communication between home base and the fleet safer and more efficient.

At the basic level, telematics solutions provide simple track and trace options, allowing fleet managers to locate a vehicle or asset on a map. Global positioning system (GPS) fleet management solutions, however, can streamline communications in the field, allowing for increased driver productivity, increased fleet efficiency and other benefits, including fuel savings. By providing a fleet management solution, you are connecting the employees at the office to the employees in the field. Enabling fleet managers to track the vehicles in their fleet provides them with a wealth of information regarding the drivers' activities and eliminates the need for unnecessary cell phone usage while behind the wheel.

Though communication is a metric that is difficult to measure, business owners and fleet managers see the return on their investment through increased productivity and fleet utilization. According to a survey by Aberdeen, extremely efficient fleet operations have a vehicle utilization time of 80 percent or above, compared to 55 percent of other respondents. A consistent characteristic among those best-in-class organizations is the integration of a GPS fleet tracking solution into their operations. Streamlining communication between the main office and the field is the first step to realize those results.

Dispatching and Routing Capabilities
When selecting a GPS fleet management solution, ensure your options offer dispatching as a feature. This powerful tool allows fleet managers or any other operations personnel to easily schedule jobs and dispatch vehicles to the appropriate site while also sending messages to and from the workers in the field. Some solutions offer advanced dispatching solutions that are automated, allowing for maximum efficiency. Whether automated or done manually, dispatching field workers directly to sites allows the fleet manager to be sure the vehicle closest to the site is assigned to it. Dispatching should be offered in an intuitive, easy-to-use display, ensuring it can be completed in an efficient manner.

Routing goes hand-in-hand with dispatching and is another important feature that increases communication between drivers and the main office. The GPS fleet tracking solution you consider should offer a route planning feature that optimizes routes for field workers. This ensures your business is not losing revenue because of excessive driving and stops that are out of the way. Optimized routing takes all locations and stops in a vehicle's route and orders them to create the shortest route, saving time and money.

The benefits of an effective communication tool are measured through driver productivity and fleet efficiency. A Georgia-based utility provider improves driver productivity by 15 percent by being able to communicate to the closest driver when a service call is received. This not only increases productivity but also improves customer satisfaction, enabling field workers to handle meter reading and other meter services efficiently and in a timely manner.

The most useful fleet tracking solutions allow dispatching capabilities to integrate with personal navigation devices (PNDs) used in vehicles, such as a Magellan Navigation system, Garmin or mobile application. This enables optimized routes to be sent to the driver's in-vehicle PND, saving time for the dispatcher and the driver. These features ultimately mean more jobs can be completed in one day, which increases service revenue and driver productivity, while also decreasing fuel costs. Western Monmouth Utilities Authority increased fleet productivity by 25 percent with a GPS fleet tracking solution, allowing more work to be done in a day and eliminating excessive driving. Routing and dispatching integration also eliminates the risk for communication errors that might occur through texting or other cell phone communication.

Western Monmouth also discovered dramatic fuel savings after implementing the GPS fleet tracking solution. Through the available reporting features, the fleet manager noted that fuel costs were reduced by 10 percent. By allowing the fleet manager to locate the closest vehicle to the site, no fuel was burned because of excessive driving. Eliminating unnecessary fuel usage is an easy away to better your business' bottom line.

Driver Safety
By using a GPS fleet tracking solution that integrates with in-vehicle technology, drivers no longer need to communicate through cell phones with their dispatchers or fleet managers. Awareness surrounding the dangers of distracted driving is increasing and cell phones are a major part of the concern. Currently, 41 states ban text messaging while driving for all motorists. Not only does eliminating the need for cell phone use while driving keep your drivers and others on the road safe, but it could also potentially save your business from being the target of a lawsuit if your driver is responsible for an accident.

According to the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA), distracted driving is a factor in 25 to 30 percent of all traffic crashes. In addition, 28 percent of all accidents are caused by mobile devices. Companies spend significant funds on branding and logo development, which is often showcased on fleet vehicles, essentially transforming these vehicles into moving billboards for the companies they represent. If your driver is behind the wheel and is using a cell phone to get an update on his or her next route, it could hurt your business' reputation, turning that investment into a poor company image.

In addition, with a GPS fleet tracking solution, businesses can prove where a vehicle is located, reducing liability. With the large risk of accidents or other safety issues while driving, a GPS fleet tracking solution can provide assurance that you know where your drivers are and how they are driving.

Additional Benefits
Although simplified communication is a main reason to implement a GPS fleet management solution, many utility companies have found added benefits once the solution was introduced.

One of the greatest benefits experienced by a Georgia-based utility company after implementing a GPS fleet tracking solution was a 25 percent increase in preventative maintenance tickets. Some solutions allow fleet managers to receive automated email notifications when a vehicle is due for maintenance. Whether a fleet is large or small, this benefit is helpful in many ways. It reduces the need to manually keep track of vehicle maintenance schedules and increases productivity. The fleet manager noted that after implementing a preventative maintenance feature, his fleet experienced less vehicle downtime, which resulted in a more productive fleet operation.

In addition to the basic tracking features, GPS fleet management solutions provide many benefits to utility companies. By implementing a GPS fleet management solution, fleet managers can streamline communications between the office and the field, providing a safe and simple way to speak with workers on sites. The dispatching and routing features of these solutions eliminate the need for excessive cell phone use while a worker is behind the wheel, while also providing added benefits such as increased efficiency, improved productivity, decreased fuel costs and maintenance savings.

Land Rover's Transparent Hood Is Technology From The Future

As reported by Motor Authority: If you've been feeling like us, like you've been shortchanged by the promises of your childhood and the under-delivery of the modern era—at least when it comes to cars—look no further than this innovation from Land Rover. It’s not The Jetsons, but it’s something those bleebling little space car drivers never even thought of. It’s the Transparent Bonnet.

Here in the U.S., we’d call it (and Land Rover USA does, too) a Transparent Hood. But that unassuming name doesn't quite convey the simple brilliance and complex technology behind it.

Using a web of camera images and projectors, the Transparent Hood system projects the area just in front of and underneath the nose of the Land Rover concept car onto a head-up display along the lower portion of the windshield. The effect is breathtaking, offering the ability to see obstacles and terrain that would otherwise be hidden, and to allow precise placement of the vehicle’s front wheels—both key improvements to the off-roading experience.

Part of a suite of new technologies to be showcased on the Land Rover Discovery Vision concept car at the 2014 New York Auto Show, the Transparent Hood is a demonstration of what’s possible today using the thinking of tomorrow.

In addition to the unprecedented view of the terrain under the nose, the system also relays a head-up display of key vehicle data, including speed, incline, roll angle, steering position, and drive mode.

The solution isn’t solely intended for the expedition off-roader, either. It’s thought to be useful in an urban environment, too. “As our vehicles become more capable and offer increasing autonomy off-road, we will ensure the driver has the confidence to progress over any terrain,” says Dr. Wolfgang Epple, director of research and technology for Jaguar Land Rover. “We are developing new technologies including the Transparent Hood to give drivers an augmented view of reality to help them tackle anything from the toughest off-road route to the tight confines of urban parking.”

Look for more details on the technology inside the Discovery Vision concept, including live photos and more, from the 2014 New York Auto Show next week.

Boeing Hands GPS 2F-5 to the Air Force

As reported by SpaceNews: Boeing Space and Intelligence Systems of El Segundo, Calif., has handed over the fifth satellite in the GPS 2F series of positioning, navigation and timing satellites to the U.S. Air Force, according to an April 8 press release from the company.

The GPS 2F-5 satellite launched Feb. 20 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida aboard a Delta 4 rocket after a five-month delay prompted by questions about the rocket’s upper stage engine.
  
The Air Force has validated the satellite’s systems and activated the navigation payload, the release said.

The GPS 2F satellites provide better accuracy and resistance to jamming than the previous generation of GPS satellites, most of which are still in operation. The launch also helps bolster a GPS fleet whose satellites are beginning to show their age, Air Force officials say.


“As each GPS IIF joins the fleet, we are sustaining and modernizing the constellation for years to come,” Craig Cooning, vice president and general manager of Boeing Space and Intelligence Systems, said in the release. “With this latest successful handover, Boeing is maintaining a robust operating rhythm this year to support the GPS program.”

The next satellite in the series, the GPS 2F-6, is expected to launch May 15 from Cape Canaveral aboard a Delta 4, according to an unofficial NASA launch manifest.

Airpooler Wants To Let You Hitch A Ride On Private Planes

As reported by Beta Boston: Hate the endless car trip to Bar Harbor, the car-plus-ferry trip to the Vineyard, or the pokey Amtrak to Albany? A startup called Airpooler is launching in Boston this week with a speedier solution: hitch a ride on a private plane.

Airpooler is working with local flying clubs like the East Coast Aero Club to help pilots fill empty seats with riders who can share expenses, whether they’re heading to the Berkshires for the weekend or just doing a quick flight up to Jaffrey, New Hampshire, to grab a burger and shake at Kimball Farm.

Co-founder Steve Lewis says that about 20 to 25 percent of private pilots are doing some sort of sightseeing trip, and the rest have a specific destination in mind. “We estimate that there are about 20,000 to 30,000 pilots flying recreationally in New England, and we think that’s a conservative number,” says Lewis. “It could be as high as 40,000 to 50,000.” Lewis is a former marketing exec at ITA Software, a Cambridge travel software firm that is now part of Google.

Andrew Finke, the other co-founder of Airpooler, adds that if pilots had a way to share fuel costs and aircraft rental fees — most or Airpoolers’ target pilots rent instead of own their planes — they would fly more often. “Cost is a big blocker to their flying more,” says Finke. More pilots flying to more places could create a nice network effect for Airpooler, making it easy to grab a lift for that day trip to Block Island or a weekend in Stowe.

But Lewis expects that at least 90 percent of the planes listing empty seats through Airpooler will be single-engine, piston-powered planes, flown by one pilot. Not everyone is game for that kind of travel experience — which can be cramped, bouncy, and hindered by bad weather. (There’s also no bathroom, and you've got to be completely honest about how much you weigh, since the plane’s take-off weight is an important safety issue.)

But Lewis says that Airpooler, at the outset, is only working with pilots who are members of flying clubs like East Coast or Associated Pilots. “They have processes in place for vetting pilots, and ensuring the airworthiness of the planes,” he explains. They also have insurance policies for the pilots who rent their planes, which typically cover the passengers as well as damage to the airplane, says Lewis, pictured at right.

Because Airpooler is facilitating flights with private pilots, and isn't a certified charter operator or scheduled airline, FAA rules strictly state that the pilot can’t be paid — only reimbursed for certain expenses, on a pro rata basis. So if there’s one pilot and one passenger in the plane, the passenger can’t pay more than 50 percent of costs like fuel, aircraft rental, and airport landing or parking fees. (If the pilot owns the plane, the passenger can’t chip in for maintenance or other costs related to its operation.) So Airpooler’s system calculates the allowable shared cost for each flight, bills the passenger, and passes the money on to the pilot after the flight — minus a transaction fee. Lewis says they’re still experimenting with that amount, but it will likely be in the 10 to 15 percent range.

New Better-Than-Radar Technology Will Boost Aircraft Tracking

As reported by GigaOm: As aircraft from more than a dozen countries continue to search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, technology already being rolled out in the U.S., Canada and elsewhere could prevent a recurrence of a “lost” jet airliner.

Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) technology will provide more detailed tracking of planes than radar, even over water when planes are outside the scope of traditional radar. The Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) has mandated that all aircraft flying over the continental U.S. be equipped with ADS-B  by 2020 — many newer planes already have it – and has deployed more than 600 ADS-B enabled ground stations nationwide.  But it takes time to retrofit existing gear and to build infrastructure, and ADS-B is still wending its way through the certification — a process some ADS-B  proponents hope will now be speeded up.

And some companies, including Globalstar, are pushing for adoption of “space-based” ADS-B which would send the signal up  – to a satellite network — as well as down, for continuous global monitoring.

“There is no way a Boeing 777 should be able to go missing in this day and age,” said Skip Nelson, CEO of Anchorage-based ADS-B Technologies. His company has developed technology called ALAS or the ADS-B Link Augmentation System. With ALAS, the ADS-B signal is basically copied and forwarded to a satellite system so that an airliner would be visible even over the ocean, mountainous terrain, or other places where there are no ADS-B ground antennas.

Radar bounces energy off a plane and interprets the return to determine basic information about the aircraft. With ADS-B, the plane has a transceiver or transponder that gets global navigation or GPS position data and combines it with the plane’s side number, airline, heading, altitude, and airspeed,” he said. In the future ADS-B equipped jets would be signaling data to a set of ground stations — and to other planes — throughout their journeys.

“In the case of the Malaysian Airlines jet,  we would have known that it was MA 370, a Boeing 777 and the ADS-B unit on the plane would be giving someone its information within 30 meters every second,” he said. ADS-B makes the plane “an active participant yelling its position to ground stations.”

Ah yes. Ground stations  – there can’t be many of them in the open ocean, right? Well, Globalstar says it could provide coverage worldwide with additional ground stations, each of which can cover a million square miles, according to Barbee Ponder, general counsel and VP of regulatory affairs for Globalstar.  ADS-B utilizes Globalstar for its work.

As Kevin Fitchard has written,  Globalstar and Iridium are pushing their respective satellite networks for use as consumer hotspots and now for air traffic control.

Aireon, a joint venture of Iridium Communications, and civil aviation bodies in Canada, Italy, Ireland and Denmark are also aboard the ADS-B bandwagon using Iridium’s satellite network and ground stations. Over open oceans, Aireon’s service will “piggy back”on aircraft transponders in the area to extend coverage in remote areas, said Don Thoma, Aireon CEO.

One issue in dispute following Malaysia 370′s disappearance is the cost of equipping planes with this gear, and here estimates vary wildly. Most published reports have put the cost at a rather nebulous several hundred thousand dollars per plane, but some disagree. Barbee said most planes can be retrofitted for $10,000 to $15,000 per plane for on-board gear, not including cost of the service. Aireon’s Thoma puts the price tag higher — to update an old plane, ADS-B enablement could cost $350,000 to $500,000 per aircraft, he said. Much depends on the age of the aircraft, and the higher numbers factor in costs of the data service as well.

Either way, as Nelson said,  it’s all relative.”It can cost $10 million to $20 million to build a radar installation. With ADS-B, we get the same information at one-twentieth the cost,” he said. In his view, ADS-B provides better, more detailed plane tracking, which means planes can be more closely spaced on takeoff and landing and routing can be better. That could mean huge fuel cost savings.  

And, while we’re talking cost, how much is this multi-nation search over vast expanses of the ocean costing? No one’s saying.

For more on ADS-B, check out this FAA video: