Street View breaches Canada's privacy

Earlier this month, Canadian privacy commissioner Jennifer Stoddart raised concerns with Google and Calgary-based Immersive Media, that the Street View service unveiled in the United States could breach Canada's Privacy Act if employed in Canada, says RedOrbit.

Street View uses street-level imagery to give viewers a 360-degree, sequential view of areas surrounding street addresses they are searching for. Google offers streetscape images for seven US cities. The service has yet to be launched in Canada.

Commission spokesman Colin McKay says the two companies have yet to respond formally to a request for information. But Google has publicly stated the search engine firm is looking into ways to appease Canada's concerns, including blurring or lowering the resolution of some images to prevent identification of individuals.

Barcoding.co.uk has announced a PDA-type smartphone with integrated bar code scanning, according to Wireless Developer Network.

Offering mobile, WiFi and Bluetooth communication, the device has a 2.8-inch liquid-crystal screen and bar code scanner which can be used for automatic data collection and proof-of-delivery applications.

Weighing 250 grams, the H-19 is manufactured in Japan by Opticon and uses the Microsoft Windows Mobile 5.0 operating system. Users can run the mobile versions of Microsoft Word, Excel and Outlook as well as bar code data capture applications supplied by Barcoding.co.uk.

Flir Systems, a Billerica-based imaging technology company, has won a $47.6 million contract with the US Navy, reports Mass High Tech.

Flir is expected to develop up to 700 handheld imagers for US Special Operations forces, according to the US Department of Defence. The contract, which was commissioned by the Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane, is scheduled to be completed by September 2012.

Flir specialises in thermal imaging and broadcast camera systems for surveillance, airborne broadcasting and search-and-rescue government operations.