MapForums

Inca Mobile is rolling out some interesting technology to simultaneously stream video from a mobile phone while leveraging the onboard GPS to track position of where a user is and is moving to and from. The software, called Live Media GPS, currently in beta, runs on Windows Mobile 5 and 6 on phones (with GPS and camera) and is available for free download. You can then watch the video in real time, tracking the position of the camera on Microsoft Virtual Earth.

The application above embeds a Silverlight Streaming video with a Virtual Earth map to show the video coming across the wire side-by-side with the camera geolocation in real time. So, while you're watching the video you can still navigate the map, switch to the aerial photo map style or even 3D. There are a couple other videos you can watch which illustrate highlighting the GPS trail of the route, positioning starting and current position points, and visualizing, rotating and navigating the map using the Virtual Earth 3D interface. The videos are (1) Motorbike GPS tracking with video - with a bad ass, rock soundtrack to go with it; and, (2) Cowed Week Regatta 2008 - video and GPS by sea!

I'm going to use my military voice to describe a scenario, because this is one of the most applicable scenarios in my puny head (dismissing obvious military security concerns). The software allows you to turn your phone into a mobile reconnaissance unit with mobile tracking capabilities. So, while your phone is broadcasting video and location information in real time, your base station can be tracking your location and watching real time streaming video of your position. And...scene. Now, for enterprise scenarios. How about fleet tracking? Picture this software installed on a FedEx, UPS or DHL truck? At any time you see the location of the truck, the surrounding area, what the driver is seeing (or the inside of the truck) all in one nice little package from a mobile phone! With that scenario it's pretty much a real time street view photography collector. Niiiice!

Download it. It's free.

CP