Bhuvan is ready to beat Google Earth

 

After the launch of Bhuvan by ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation), the undeniable hierarchy of Google Earth can be put to the questions. ISRO is on the way to give a pretty fine competition to Google Earth. Bhuvan is a geoportal of ISRO and a satellite mapping tool launched about one and half years ago but the geoportal was facing few hurdles as Union Cabinet requires the approval of remote sensing data policy 2011 replacing the norms of 2001.

Bhuvan might reach the image resolution of up to 40 cm that is provided by Google Earth and offer the better image quality with clarity, after getting the approval of Union Cabinet. Bhuvan can produce the images up to 80 cm but it may not be available to the public domain because of the data policy norms.

Bhuvan is going to project the satellite images of the Indian Landscape within the resolution of 5.8 m – 55 m. It can allow the people to look many various places and cities of their choices from an angular view or perpendicular view.  The most important and best part of it is the 3D navigation of the places can be possible using Bhuvan.  Although the view of hotels and other business establishments night not be possible through Bhuvan that can be viewed as a drawback of it, since it is already present in Google Earth as well as the in-built weather application that is also not in Bhuvan.

However as Bhuvan is very new and lots of improvements are to be done and also it is not a runway success since it has poor image quality. But with the time, it can definitely beat the Google Earth once it is extended by the experts beyond the Indian political boundaries. Therefore, lets pray and hope for its faster approval.

Never lose your cell phone or keys again

 

This year’s winner in the “Best of Innovations” category at the 2010 International CES show was The Cell phone Watchdog. It’s definitely a gadget I will be purchasing as I can totally relate to the problem it attempts to prevent. Specifically, whenever I am going anywhere I always take my keys and my phone, however the amount of times I forget one or the other is unbelievable.

The Cell Phone Watchdog aims to prevent this by using wireless technology to sound an alarm when your cell phone and keys are more than 30 feet apart.  The technology being used is Bluetooth, when both the keys and cell phone are within 30 feet then the nothing happens, however separate the two more than 30 feet and the key ring comes alive by vibrating, beeping, and flashing its LED light. These signals act as a warning, i.e. you are about to leave one of them behind, however this still does not help you if you tend to forget both your keys and cell phone.

One extra feature of the Cell Phone Watchdog is that it doubles up as a panic alarm, simply use the settings and an autodialer can be initiated when the panic alarm is set off. Powered by Lithium-ion battery, the poker sized unit can last up to two hours talk time or three days of standby time.

Available: Hammacher

Price: $59.95

 

 

Tracking your run

 

One has always been able to track someone running through a sensor in the shoe and an iPhone or iPad that can do the trick. However this latest gadget allows us to do away with the sensor.

With the Nike+ GPS app, the GPS device in your iPhone can now be used to follow the runner along the roads through a map, tracking his path, speed and timing. These can be recorded and you can compare it to your previous running timings and rhythm, as it can compare even sections of the race that are in progress.

If this doesn’t succeed in getting you out on the track with those shoes on, I don’t believe anything else will.

Available: iTunes

Price: $1.99

The Compass Phone

 

Who says life cannot be a fairy tale?

Here is an interesting gadget that helps you live that fairy tale life or a typical screen play from a clichéd romantic movie.

Boy and girl like each. One of them moves away. The other uses the Compass Phone to track down the lover.

Well… it’s not quite like this, but it could. This Compass Phone points towards the direction of the person you are trying to track through an in-built GPS receiver. This makes locating someone you are supposed to meet a whole lot easier.

GPS Homing Device

 

I am only posting this gadget because I feel I could have done with it today when I was out shopping.  Have you ever been out to a large shopping complex and completely forgotten where you parked you car, then having to spend the next 20 minutes walking round (with your shopping bags) looking like a complete idiot? Well I have. This GPS tracking device could have saved me so much time and hassle.

Utilizing an advanced GPS receiver chipset which provides the high degree of accuracy required for GPS systems, the GPS navigation device is able to guide you to a predetermined location. On the face of the device is an easy to read digital compass directing you along with providing the distance to end point in yards, miles, meters or kilometers.

How could I use this? Well if I had parked my car I could have plotted the location and the GPS homing device would have shown me the way; OR I could have looked at the “memorize the car park number”.

Available: Hammacher

Price: $79.95