GPS (with navigation through water "highways"), Bluetooth and more were on display at the recent annual mecca for boating enthusiasts.
Couple that caught my attention from Cruising World
a) Standard Horizon's floating radios: "The HX750S floats faceup, and when it hits the water, a strobe light
mounted on its face starts blinking. Once recovered, the 750S even
tells you the water temperature.
Next in the lineup is the HX760S,
which has all the features of the HX750S but includes a wireless
headset that communicates with the HX760S via Bluetooth 2, a wireless
radio frequency. The company's third floater is the HX850S; in addition to being encased
in rubber armor, it has a GPS receiver. The combination of GPS and VHF
is ideal for taking advantage of digital selective calling, which is
useful in distress situations."
b) Garmin's Colorado 400c: "Preloaded with BlueChart® g2 coastal charts, Colorado is made with the
saltwater mariner in mind. Packed with features, it includes a
high-sensitivity receiver, barometric altimeter, electronic compass,
SD™ card slot, color display, picture viewer and more."
Using the web to track teen habits
"Nearly 59,000 captive teens might seem like every parent's worst nightmare. But for Helsinki (Finland)-based Sulake, such a group provided a pain-free way to gain valuable insight into what "kids these days" really care about"
"Pain-free because Sulake runs Habbo, the nine-year-old virtual world that as of early June had some 100 million avatars, 9.5 million of them active on the site each month. And because Sulake could use the world as a platform to question the teens—virtually. Habbo's second Global Youth Survey features the results of a two-month-long poll conducted at the end of last year, which surveyed 58,486 teens in 31 countries. The findings were recently published in a 255-page report targeted at companies looking to market to the lucrative demographic."
BusinessWeek
June 30, 2008 in Industry Commentary | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)