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78 items tagged "gps"

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AnyGeo - Anything Geospatial

Cracking open the Nokia 6210 Navigator

Posted: December 3rd, 2008, 4:08am CET by Glenn

Tags: gps

A special treat as a Nokia 6210 Symbian S60 smart phone (test unit) showed up on the doorstep today. Watch this video to get an idea what functionality you get from this GPS-enabled smart phone...

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All Points Blog

Qualcomm/Skyhook Deal: Exit Strategy?

Posted: November 18th, 2008, 2:03pm CET

Tags: gps

You probably saw the PR on Qualcomm's announcement yesterday that it would put Skyhook's locating technology into its location platform. Silicon Insider suggest if things work out it could be a fine exit strategy. Skyhook's funding comes from Bain Capital, RRE Ventures, and Intel Capital.
Geomagnetic sensor for "underground GPS"

Posted: November 14th, 2008, 3:25pm CET

Tags: gps

Achi Steel, a steel company in Japan, is testing a new location solution that uses a geomagnetic sensor and an acceleration sensor to determine location underground. The first use? Navigation in underground shopping malls. On the drawing board: very accurate in-car navigation.

- TechRadar
TeleNav offers Connected GPS; Berkeley/Nokia Work Traffic via Cell Phones

Posted: November 10th, 2008, 1:00pm CET

Tags: gps

TeleNav is known as the company that provides voice directions on your cell phone. Now it's in the hardware business with the $300 TeleNav Shotgun. That includes 3 months of service - monthly service starts at $11 and packages are available. It's a connected solution, not using wi-fi, as the Dash Express (the company is now out of the hardware biz) did but rather GPRS (cell network).

Continue reading "TeleNav offers Connected GPS; Berkeley/Nokia Work Traffic via Cell Phones"

AnyGeo - Anything Geospatial

I’m missing but Nokia Research is helping to locate me using Indoor Positioning!

Posted: November 5th, 2008, 4:49pm CET by Glenn

Tags: gps

An innovative Indoor positioning location system is being designed by Nokia (Research). Via way of the way cool Legends promotion, I was notified of some cool research being conducted by the Nokia...

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GISUser.com

Sharing your Nokia Sports Tracker trips with the Nseries Widget

Posted: November 3rd, 2008, 7:31pm CET

Tags: Articles - Mobile, gps &

Ive been a long-time fan and user of Nokia Sports Tracker. Infact, Ive considered it to be one of the...

AnyGeo - Anything Geospatial

Sharing your Nokia Sports Tracker trips with the Nseries Widget

Posted: November 3rd, 2008, 6:47pm CET by Glenn

Tags: gps

I’ve been a long-time fan and user of Nokia Sports Tracker. Infact, I’ve considered it to be one of the best location-aware mobile apps anywhere… hands-down! To date the app has...

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Sanoodi, location-based social networking and much more

Posted: October 30th, 2008, 6:34pm CET by Glenn

Tags: gps

Got mobile GPS? Here’s another great app to consider! I’m just checking out Sanoodi, another social networking app for outdoor enthusiasts - rather similar to Nokia Sports Tracker but...

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Slashgeo

Do It Yourself GPS Jammer and GPS Shield

Posted: October 24th, 2008, 6:40pm CEST by Satri

Tags: gps

We discussed GPS spoofing, but never GPS signal jamming. A Slashdot story made me aware of this do it yourself open source GPS jammer named Wave Bubble and the DIY GPS Shield. For the Wave Bubble: "This website details the design and construction Wave Bubble: a self-tuning, wide-bandwidth portable RF jammer. The device is lightweight and small for easy camouflaging: it is the size of a pack of cigarettes. An internal lithium-ion battery provides up to 2 hours of jamming (two bands, such as cell) or 4 hours (single band, such as cordless phone, GPS, WiFi, bluetooth, etc). The battery is rechargeable via a mini-USB connector or 4mm DC jack (a common size). Alternately, 3 AAA batteries may also be used."
Read more of this story at Slashgeo.
Prune 6.0 Released

Posted: October 21st, 2008, 8:44pm CEST by Satri

Tags: gps

Mentioned last February, the Free Geography Tools website informs us that Prune 6.0, an open source GPS data manager, is now available. The new features according to FGT: "- Map view using OpenStreetMap images is now integrated in the main window, with control for map transparency; you can open up an OSM map or Google Map for the track location in a browser as well. -Pov export has a new option to use sphere sweeps for better appearance. -New function to check online for a newer version of Prune. -New function to take a section of track and cut/paste it to another position. -New function to add or subtract a time offset from point timestamps to correct for time shifts between a GPS track -and camera time. -New function to call gpsbabel to load data directly from GPS receiver. -Additional file filter options on load and save. -Italian language support."
Read more of this story at Slashgeo.

All Points Blog

Russia May Ban GPS

Posted: October 21st, 2008, 3:44pm CEST

Tags: gps

Use of the system is not currently banned. Though it was until Dec 2006 for security reasons. But the law was ignored, so it was dropped. (Moscow Times)

Two years later, the officials are reconsidering:

However, during recent meeting on space industry, government representatives said that they planned to ban GPS navigation system from being used on municipal and public means of transportation.

The "why" of the proposed ban was not addressed in any coverage I found.

- Russia IC

GISUser.com

We Cant Forget the L in LBS

Posted: October 14th, 2008, 4:00pm CEST

Tags: Articles - Mobile, gps &

Location needs to be accurately determined to within tens of meters, have a Time to First Fix (TTFF) of less...
We Cant Forget the L in LBS

Posted: October 14th, 2008, 3:00pm CEST

Tags: Articles - Mobile, gps &

Location needs to be accurately determined to within tens of meters, have a Time to First Fix (TTFF) of less...
We Can't Forget the L in LBS

Posted: October 14th, 2008, 3:00pm CEST

Tags: Articles - Mobile, gps &

Location needs to be accurately determined to within tens of meters, have a Time to First Fix (TTFF) of less...

All Points Blog

ITC Confirms SiRF Infringement on Three Patents

Posted: October 10th, 2008, 2:04pm CEST

Tags: gps

Broadcom Corp. whose Global Locate Inc. holds the three patents in question stated that that the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) confirmed its initial finding of SiRF Technology Holdings Inc. (SIRF) infringement. There are three other patents that also need to be reviewed. It sounds like the court will soon impose remediation which may include a ban on imports and/or sales and use in the U.S.

- RTT News
Quiz: Which Three Countries Ban GPS?

Posted: October 10th, 2008, 1:00pm CEST

Tags: gps

Answer below, but one is Egypt. The Daily News Egypt explains how getting a license for its use is possible, but that most people simply live with the ban. That includes mapping companies, those who wish to sell GPS-enabled cell phones and others.

The official word from Sherif Guinena, vice chairman of the National Telecommunication Regulator Agency (NTRA):

GPS is allowed in Egypt but you must have a license after getting approval from security authorities. No doubt this technology is very important, brand new service and a big advantage if it is allowed, but we have to abide to security laws; because when we give a license to any new communication device we need the approval of the board which represents all state agencies.

Continue reading "Quiz: Which Three Countries Ban GPS?"

Slashgeo

New FOSS-GPS Mailing List

Posted: October 8th, 2008, 7:16pm CEST by Satri

Tags: gps

To those interested in GPS software development, about a month ago there was an invitation for all Open Source GPS software developers and users to join FOSS-GPS mailing list under the umbrella of the OSGeo. From the info wiki page: "It’s vital for an open source project to communicate with the community - the end users of your software. It’s useless for all projects to have their own mailing list so this FOSS-GPS is a nice tool for you to get in contact with the community. Join the list to hear what the users think of your software. Ask them what kind of features they would like to to see in the following releases. Encourage skilled users to send patches. Release alpha and beta versions to be tested and get your feedback. Share ideas and solutions with other developers to get the most out of GPS. Let the community know how your project is doing, where would a path or two be needed and so on. Maybe you need a translation."
Read more of this story at Slashgeo.
"First" Directions App for iPhone

Posted: October 7th, 2008, 3:14pm CEST by lxnyce

Tags: gps

All Points Blog is reporting that the first iPhone GPS turn by turn application is available. Here is their summary : "It's from XRoad and covers only a few U.S. cities, but apparently G-Map (unfortunate name, I'll offer) is ok by Apple as it's said to be available via the AppStore. It's a large download (700 Mb free space needed) and apparently downloads all the data so there's no need for a connection to do a search or get directions."
Read more of this story at Slashgeo.

AnyGeo - Anything Geospatial

Team Garmin Edition of Edge 705 GPS-Enabled Cycling Computer

Posted: September 29th, 2008, 5:13pm CEST

Tags: gps

Now here's a nifty device for you cyclists... a Team Garmin model! Some specs and details: The Edge 705 represents several breakthroughs in cycling technology, including power compatibility, wireless...

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Slashgeo

GPS for Spacecraft and Sensor Technologies NASA Patent To Be Auctioned

Posted: September 19th, 2008, 10:17pm CEST by Satri

Tags: gps

Slashdot discussed a story about NASA patents to be auctioned, including GPS for spacecraft and sensor technologies. Their summary: "Presto Vivace writes to tell us that as a continuing push to commercialize NASA-funded technology a group of 25 NASA patents will be auctioned off this coming October. "The sale, which will include rights to signal processing, GPS for spacecraft and sensor technologies, is the first auction under a partnership announced earlier this month between Goddard's Innovative Partnerships Program (IPP) and Ocean Tomo Federal Services LLC. Ocean Tomo provides a marketplace for intellectual property, which NASA wants to leverage in commercializing its technology" Yes, patents matter sometimes.
Read more of this story at Slashgeo.
GPS Game Shows Live Player Positions

Posted: September 16th, 2008, 2:38pm CEST by Satri

Tags: gps

Following the funding news in June, drrkmill writes "Looks like the location-based game GPS Mission has started publishing live-player GPS-tracks on the internet. Activities are at max one day old. I don’t know the update time but it “looks” live (whatever that may mean). And it is an online game, so players don't upload these positions themselves — they are transmitted from the cell phone. There is an anonymous mode (signified by a shades-symbol) and a mode that shows the user name. Clicking users shows a popup with tracks. Most are really short, but some look quite nice. May be this might serve as an interesting annex to the DOJ-story from a few days ago." If you're looking for games, there are about 20 geospatial games related stories here.
Read more of this story at Slashgeo.

Topix.net

New Trimble Reference Receiver Raises the Bar for GNSS Cors Infrastructure and Network Applications

Posted: September 16th, 2008, 2:31pm CEST

Tags: gps

Trimble today introduced an innovative Global Navigation Satellite System reference receiver for precise scientific and network infrastructure applications -- the Trimble NetR8 GNSS reference receiver.
New Trimble Reference Receiver Raises the Bar for GNSS Cors Infrastructure and Network Applications

Posted: September 16th, 2008, 1:56pm CEST

Tags: gps

SAVANNAH, Ga., Sept. 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Trimble today introduced an innovative Global Navigation Satellite System reference receiver for precise scientific and network infrastructure applications -- ...

All Points Blog

Podcast: Three LBS Events, One Takeaway: One Device for Work and Play

Posted: September 16th, 2008, 8:00am CEST

Enclosure: [download]

Tags: gps

Editor in Chief Joe Francica ran the LBS gauntlet last week by attending NAVTEQ Connections, CTIA and the SiRF Location 2.0 Summit. The big takeaway is the power of a single device to manage one business and personal life on a single location-enabled device. In the last year, Francica explains, LBS has become part of the enterprise. He and Executive Editor Adena Schutzberg explore the changes that have come with this growth.

Subscribe to Podcast RSS

Listen Now (to download, right click on the link at left and choose "save target as")

Read the show notes

Missed any podcasts? Want to subscribe via iTunes, Yahoo, etc? Here's the index with all the info.

Slashgeo

Your Phone, Your GPS

Posted: September 9th, 2008, 7:03pm CEST by Satri

Tags: gps

APB links to a Forbes article on mobile phones and GPS integration. From the article: "As more people rely on their phones for mapping and driving directions, global positioning systems are fast becoming killer mobile applications. Spying an opportunity, Apple, Google and Nokia are priming sophisticated location-based services for launch. [...] The winner's circle shows just how serious Google is about mapping. Forty of the 50 finalist applications--including all 10 first-prize winners--integrate Google Maps and Android's other location-based tools. At least two finalists also make use of Android's compass sensor, which adjusts the phone's screen to reflect the direction the user is facing." See also related stories below.
Read more of this story at Slashgeo.

Topix.net

Real-time location systems: Can you find me now?

Posted: September 2nd, 2008, 4:22pm CEST

Tags: gps

Real-time location systems have been around for years. Retailers use these systems to track inventory, and trucking companies use them for fleet tracking.

Slashgeo

Nikon D90 SLR with GPS Support

Posted: August 29th, 2008, 11:25pm CEST by Satri

Tags: gps

Via KW, I learned that the new Nikon D90 announced this week, the first DSLR (digital single lense reflex camera) to offer video recording, will also support an external GPS unit. From the blog entry: "And if video wasn't a big enough bell and whistle for you it also includes GPS geotagging. As far as I know, this is the first DSLR to include both video and geotagging on the market today."
Read more of this story at Slashgeo.

All Points Blog

GPS Impacts to the Portable Device Market: An Update

Posted: August 21st, 2008, 10:10pm CEST

Tags: gps

I attended a webinar today conducted by Park Associates on how GPS is influencing the portable device market and specifically the personal navigation device (PND) market. As we are constantly being asked how big any particular segment of the geospatial and LBS martkets are, I wanted to share some of their insights with you:
Continue reading "GPS Impacts to the Portable Device Market: An Update"

Slashgeo

Turn by Turn GPS Navigation for iPhone Coming?

Posted: August 19th, 2008, 10:46pm CEST by Satri

Tags: gps

MacRumors.com offers a nice summary on the development of turn by turn GPS navigation software for the iPhone. From MR: " MSNBC recently spoke (via MacDailyNews) with several GPS manufacturers about their plans to develop a turn-by-turn GPS solution for the iPhone. While the manufacturers were unable to provide many details about their plans, TomTom reasserted that they do have GPS navigation working on the iPhone and that it works well [...]" See also some selected previous iPhone stories below.
Read more of this story at Slashgeo.
Police Secretly Planting GPS Devices On Cars

Posted: August 14th, 2008, 2:16am CEST by lxnyce

Tags: gps

Slashdot is currently having a discussion about this article from the Washington Post. Here is their summary : "The Washington Post has a long investigative article on how more and more police departments are secretly planting GPS tracking devices on the cars of people they are investigating — usually without a warrant. After-the-fact court challenges on this technique have largely upheld such use of a GPS device, though the Washington State Supreme Court has ruled that a warrant is required."
Read more of this story at Slashgeo.
Garmin nuvi 255W Focuses on Navigation

Posted: August 12th, 2008, 11:14pm CEST by Satri

Tags: gps

Tidbits offers a review of Garmin's nuvi 255W. The introduction: "As I've reviewed more car navigation GPS units (see our "Find Yourself with GPS" series), it has become clear that the manufacturers have succumbed to feature creep - just because you have a device with a color LCD screen and a speaker doesn't mean you should shoehorn photo slideshow and MP3 player capabilities into the unit. And similarly, even though every GPS is essentially a tiny computer, giving the user the ability to customize nearly every option isn't always desirable - geeks might like it, but many other people will be confused and simply stick with the defaults. My latest test unit, Garmin's $349.95 nuvi 255W, sits near the low end of the company's product line but does a bang-up job of providing just the features necessary for a successful car navigation device, eschewing many inessential items on the feature checklists in favor of a lower price and simpler usage. As a result, this unit ranks highly among the units I've used so far." See also some related stories below.
Read more of this story at Slashgeo.

All Points Blog

SiRF Plummets on Patent Suit Ruling

Posted: August 12th, 2008, 1:00pm CEST

Tags: gps

Shares of Sirf plunged 24% to $2.44 Monday after word spread that the U.S. International Trade Commission ruled its chips infringed on several Broadcom patents. The Street notes this is just one in a number challenges in recent years:

According to iSuppli, an industry research firm, Sirf had more than a 90% share of the market for GPS chips in cell phones in 2006. In the first quarter of 2008, Sirf's share had dwindled to 36%, while Texas Instruments(TXN - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) had grabbed 35% and Infineon(IFX - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) had 21%.

SiRF now has little to offer a buyer and the analysis seems to point straight down for the GPS chip maker.
Garmin Misses Expectations, Delays Nuviphone

Posted: July 30th, 2008, 5:06pm CEST

Tags: gps

The basics, from Bloomberg:

Profit, excluding a gain from a sale of Tele Atlas NV shares, was 94 cents a share, compared with the $1.01 average analyst estimate in a Bloomberg survey. Sales rose 23 percent to $911.7 million, Garmin said in a statement today, falling short of the $959.1 million analysts had projected.

Sales expectations were cut in half to 23% based on consumers holding back. Further, with so many PNDs already in the market, competition from TomTom, prices have dropped to encourage those without a device to buy.

Shares fell $5.91, or 13 percent, to $39.15 this morning, the largest drop in five years.

The Nuvifone will be delayed for at least 6 months until the first half of 2009; it was originally to be out this fall and account for 10% of sales. There's also speculation the proposed sale price of the Nuvifone, about $300, will drop to match the new iPhone.

Slashgeo

GPS Tracking Device Beats Radar Gun in Court

Posted: July 18th, 2008, 3:15pm CEST by lxnyce

Tags: gps

SlashDot is currently discussing an article about this. Here is their summary : "According to a release issued by Rocky Mountain Tracking, an 18-year old man, Shaun Malone, was able to successfully contest a speeding ticket in court using the data from a GPS device installed in his car. This wasn't just any old make-a-left-turn-100-feet-ahead-onto-Maple-Street GPS; this was a vehicle-tracking GPS device — the kind used by trucking fleets — or in this case, overprotective parents. The device was installed in Malone's car by his parents, and the press release makes no mention if the teenager knew that the device was installed in his vehicle at the time."
Read more of this story at Slashgeo.

All Points Blog

GPS for Dummies

Posted: July 15th, 2008, 1:00pm CEST

Tags: gps

The ad for my local drugstore (CVS) includes a $119 GPS system called GPS Navigation for Dummies. It has, per the ad:

3.5" touch screen
Familiar, easy-to-use For Dummies style
Visual and voice turn-by-turn navigation
Pre loaded U.S. maps

It includes a suction cup mounting kit, car charger, SD memory card and "For Dummies" user's manual. The ad doesn't say it, but the box in the picture says "powered by MAYLONG." That company, based in Rochester, Michigan, proudly states it's behind the offering on its website. The product website notes it's "The easiest and most intuitive PND on the market!" and is appropriate for car, purse or bicycle.

There are actually a few different models; CVS sells the lowest priced ones; the more expensive ones are sold by Dell, Amazon, HSN and others. The product was announced at CES last year.

So, we have GIS for Dummies, GPS for Dummies, what's next?
Pogue on iPhone GPS

Posted: July 9th, 2008, 1:00pm CEST

Tags: gps

The New York Times tech guru is not impressed:

The new iPhone has true G.P.S. now, too, in addition to the fake G.P.S. of its predecessor an ingenious system that shows your location on a map by analyzing nearby cellphone towers and Wi-Fi hot spots.

Unfortunately, theres not much you can do with the G.P.S. According to Apple, the iPhones G.P.S. antenna is much too small to emulate the turn-by-turn navigation of a G.P.S. unit for a vehicle, for example.

Instead, all it can do at this point is track your position as you drive along, representing you as a blue dot sliding along the roads of the map. Even then, the metal of a car or the buildings of Manhattan are often enough to block the iPhones view of the sky, leaving it just as confused as you are.

On the whole he says it's a nice upgrade, but much of it comes from the new apps, which can run on the old device.

Slashgeo

Positioning: improved, enhanced

Posted: July 1st, 2008, 4:49pm CEST by jeppedy

Tags: gps

GPS Business News reports on an upgrade to SkyHook Wireless' mobile positioning engine, XPS 2.0. "The original XPS was switching between Wi-Fi and GPS; now XPS 2.0 combines raw Wi-Fi, GPS and cell tower readings to produce a single hybrid calculation. In difficult indoor and urban environments, XPS can, for example, leverage signals from just two GPS satellites to improve Wi-Fi location accuracy by 35%+, said Skyhook. ... The addition of cell tower positioning also increases availability so that users at least get a fallback location regardless of environment." SkyHook also seems to be licensing its technology to chipset manufacturers, as reported here "CSR offers a Wi-Fi chipset and a Bluetooth/FM/software GPS chipset as well as its own eGPS software that reads cell tower signal to augment the GPS positioning." Indoors or out, I can determine my position and not miss a beat (but might miss a little accuracy...)
Read more of this story at Slashgeo.

All Points Blog

Radar used to keep runways clean and safe

Posted: June 30th, 2008, 4:58pm CEST

Tags: gps

C|net describes the use of radar to find "junk" on runways. The idea is to keep runways clean and reduce damage and loss of life. The technology is from QinetiQ

... Heathrow International Airport, the world's busiest, has now installed a permanent dual radar system called the Tarsier, which scans 3,658 meters of runway in search of junk 24 hours a day.

The Tarsier uses networked high-frequency, high-resolution radar and integrated digital signal processing to pinpoint anything from a pigeon to a cellophane sandwich wrapper (PDF).

Foreign object damage, or "FOD," is responsible for $60 million worth of damage a year, an average of $15,000 per aircraft for each major airline in the U.S. alone, according to the FAA (PDF).

...
The smallest item detected to date is a 10-millimeter metal fitting in an area the size of 30 football fields, the company says. Once an object is found, Tarsier reports its latitude and longitude to within 3 meters via GPS.

Slashgeo

Cell Phones Tracking Nightlife Activity

Posted: June 29th, 2008, 10:50pm CEST by lxnyce

Tags: gps

Slashdot is currently discussing an article on Citysense, which is used to track users actions by their cell phones. Here is their summary : "A Columbia University computer science professor has co-founded a New York-based company named Sense Networks to sell tracking software to other companies. It is also distributing a free version of this software, named Citysense, which shows on your cell phone where the wild things are happening in your own town. Citysense 'uses advanced machine learning techniques to number crunch vast amounts of data emanating from thousands of cell-phones, GPS-equipped cabs and other data devices to paint live pictures of where people are gathering.' Citysense is available today in San Francisco, before being soon deployed in Chicago and five other U.S. cities."
Read more of this story at Slashgeo.
GPS Camera Now Comes With Compass

Posted: June 27th, 2008, 3:39pm CEST by lxnyce

Tags: gps

CNET News has an article about this interesting camera. From their summary : "The Ricoh 500SE GPS camera now includes something called an SE-3 GPS module, a three-axis compass developed by Honeywell that nails down position and direction (azimuth), then displays it on the camera's LCD. The data, in the form of point coordinates, are embedded into an image as it is captured. This gives the user a 3D "cones-of-view" perspective indicating the direction the camera was facing. It comes ready to use with mapping applications such as Google Earth and ESRI's ArcGIS (PDF.) A laser rangefinder connected to the camera via Bluetooth allows the user to enter accurate distances. "
Read more of this story at Slashgeo.
Single-chip GPS, GLONASS, Galileo receivers coming

Posted: June 17th, 2008, 3:05pm CEST by lxnyce

Tags: gps

pmarc writes "From engadget: NemeriX scores patent for single-chip GPS, GLONASS, Galileo receiver by Donald Melanson, posted May 28th 2008 at 3:56PM It looks like NemeriX is doing its part to bridge the GPS, GLONASS, Galileo divide, with it proudly announcing today that it's received a patent for a single-chip RF receiver technology that'll accommodate all three satellite navigation systems (China's Compass will apparently have to go it alone). Among other things, the single-chip solution will allow for manufacturers to reduce the size of their navigation devices by not having to include three parallel receivers, as well as allow them to market the same device to various markets around the world. Of course, there are scant few details about when we can actually expect to see the technology put to use, but NemeriX sees no shortage of potential applications, with it boasting that it'll provide customers with a "future-proof platform" that'll increase the availability and accuracy of "emerging location based services such as pedestrian navigation and mobile social-based networking.""
Read more of this story at Slashgeo.
Geohashing Meets an Angry Rancher With Firearms

Posted: June 16th, 2008, 3:19pm CEST by lxnyce

Tags: gps

From the weird news department, we have a case of geohashing gone wrong. Not quite sure this is GIS related, but here is the summary from SlashDot. "Geohashing, an obscure xkcd pastime which involves going to random coordinates generated by md5 hashing, the date, and the opening status of the stock market, appears to have just gotten far more interesting. The official wiki reports a warning for other geohashers intending to go to the spot designated for June 14th in the San Francisco area, as several avid fans of xkcd were met by an angry rancher and firearms."
Read more of this story at Slashgeo.
GPS Based Racing Games

Posted: June 16th, 2008, 3:16pm CEST by lxnyce

Tags: gps

SlashDot is currently discussing an article which attempts to use GPS data collected from real racing cars, and ingest them into video games to allow gamers to race against real race car drivers. From their summary : "The BBC has a story about a company aiming to pit gamers against the professionals. iOpener Media has a patented system that sucks in real-time GPS data from racing events and pumps it out to compatible games consoles and PCs. This means you can race in real-time against the like of Lewis Hamilton, Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen. The company also claims to have an AI that solves the problem of overtaking and crashes." For more information and the community reactions, please visit the slashdot article link above.
Read more of this story at Slashgeo.

GIS Lounge - Geographic Information Systems

GPS Your Way to Cheaper Gas

Posted: June 11th, 2008, 8:16pm CEST by Caitlin

Tags: gps

A couple of GPS companies are offering services to help drivers find the cheapest local gas available. Garmin has teamed up with MSN direct to alert drivers where the cheapest gas is on some of their GPS models. TomTom offers a $14.95 yearly subscription that pulls gas rates from their website and provides directions to the cheapest [...]

All Points Blog

If geo is the best thing about the new iPhone...

Posted: June 11th, 2008, 1:00pm CEST

Tags: gps

as Stan Schroeder at Mashable argues, will it be the phone that GIS software developers support? While Schroeder is quick to point other phones have had 3G, GPS, etc. for some time, the ease of use and openness of the new iPhone breaks ranks. Will we be doing analytical mobile GIS on these devices? Capturing data?

Slashgeo

GPS on the iPhone

Posted: June 11th, 2008, 12:22pm CEST by lxnyce

Tags: gps

The Map Room blog brings us some detail information about the new built in iPhone 3G gps functionality. I believe they're calling it AGPS, but here is an excerpt from their blog : "iPhone 3G uses signals from GPS satellites, Wi-Fi hot spots, and cellular towers to get the most accurate location fast. If GPS is available, iPhone displays a blue GPS indicator. But if you’re inside — without a clear line of sight to a GPS satellite — iPhone finds you via Wi-Fi. If you’re not in range of a Wi-Fi hot spot, iPhone finds you using cellular towers. And the size of a location circle tells you how accurately iPhone is able to calculate that location: The smaller the circle, the more accurate the location." For more information as well as some sample links, please visit the blog link above.
Read more of this story at Slashgeo.

Topix.net

Wirelessly networking cows

Posted: June 9th, 2008, 1:58am CEST

Tags: gps

U.S. researchers have developed a Walkman-like headset for cows . This device enables them to 'whisper wireless commands to cows to control their movements across a landscape - and even remotely gather them ...
Wirelessly networking cows

Posted: June 8th, 2008, 8:43pm CEST

Tags: gps

U.S. researchers have developed a Walkman-like headset for cows . This device enables them to 'whisper wireless commands to cows to control their movements across a landscape - and even remotely gather them ...
Wirelessly networking cows

Posted: June 8th, 2008, 5:52pm CEST

Tags: gps

U.S. researchers have developed a Walkman-like headset for cows . This device enables them to 'whisper wireless commands to cows to control their movements across a landscape -- and even remotely gather them ...

All Points Blog

Quote of the Week

Posted: June 2nd, 2008, 12:44pm CEST

Tags: gps

"The first thing people should do is look at a map. GPS (global positioning systems) and the Internet do not give you sufficient information."

- PennDOT spokeswoman Karen Dussinger providing suggestions on how to avoid traffic delays while the organization does roadwork this summer, in the Scranton, PA Times Tribune

Slashgeo

Stealing Cars with GPS

Posted: May 26th, 2008, 5:19pm CEST by Satri

Tags: gps

SEWilco writes "A trio in Japan has been caught stealing cars. They would rent a car, attach a GPS tracking device, return the car, and later steal it with a duplicate key."
Read more of this story at Slashgeo.

Mapperz - The Mapping News Blog

Biggest GPS Self Portrait in the World

Posted: May 25th, 2008, 7:52pm CEST

Tags: gps

Biggest GPS Self Portrait in the World 55 days,over 100,000 km and 62 countries later... "Artist Erik Nordenankar says he has created the Biggest Drawing In The World. He says he gave DHL a case...

Map and GIS News finding blog. With so many Maps and GIS sites online now it is hard to find the good from the not so good. This blog tries to cut the cream and provide you with the newest, fastest, cleanest and most user friendly maps that are available online. News has location and it is mapped.

All Points Blog

Lockheed Beats Boeing for GPS Contract

Posted: May 16th, 2008, 3:07pm CEST

Tags: gps

In big hardware news...The Air Force awarded Lockheed Martin a $1.5 billion contract to build the military's next generation of navigation satellites. The deal is for two satellites and perhaps 10 more, though the ultimate plan is for 32, per the Pentagon. So, that's a fine income stream for Lockheed Martin.

Boeing is not doing so well on the Air Force front. Boeing ran into delays and cost overruns in building 12 earlier GPS satellites and was not expected to take this contract. Further, Boeing lost the $40 billion deal to build refueling tankers to Northrop Grummand and EADS.

- Washington Post
Dash Opens API

Posted: May 14th, 2008, 3:16pm CEST

Tags: gps

It'll be announced this morning at Where, but there's a blog post about first set of apps. Only a few are particularly spatial - WeatherBug weater, Caldwell Banker home search and speed traps from Trapster. As TechCrunch notes, it's odd that to get info on the API you must send e-mail rather than say read all the details then apply for a code or something. I guess Dash hasn't been watching how the rest of the tech community is doing APIs.
SPOT Beacon Used Successfully; Interesting Message Sent

Posted: May 13th, 2008, 3:57pm CEST

Tags: gps

The Herald (UK) tells the story of a senior walking in Scotland. He got sick and used his SPOT beacon, a satellite communications device that sends the location and asks for help. The plea was heard in Houston, TX and help was sent. The walker is in the hospital and doing well. Great story and use of technology.

The interesting part for me is the text of the message sent: "Help message. I'm immobilised but okay and cannot reach you by phone. Find GEOS on Google map and send help."

I did what it said - tried to find GEOS on Google maps - but found nothing relevant. Hmmm.

A bit of research shows that GEOS, actually the GEOS Alliance, is the name of the response company that receives the alert messages from SPOT. It's in Houston. Without searching on GEOS 911 or GEOS Alliance, I'd never have found it. The help messages sent from SPOT, like the one above, are sent to GEOS who in turn contact those people you've asked to be contacted with the message. In this case, the idea would be to confirm there is an emergency (that the person is indeed in the wild and subject to using the device, I guess). So, I guess the "find GEOS on Google maps" is redundant. BTW, if there's no answer from the contacts "at home" the service will contact emergency response personnel.

Slashgeo

China to Deploy Secure GPS by 2010

Posted: May 8th, 2008, 3:12pm CEST by Satri

Tags: gps

Slashdot discuss a Space.com article on the upcoming Chinese GPS/Glonass/Galileo competition named Beidou. Their summary: "Unsatisfied by the reliance of American GPS navigation system and not feeling much security joining the European Galileo system, China will expand its 4-satellite Beidou navigation system to a full-fledged, competitive, and encrypted system by 2010." See related stories below, Beidou, also known as Compass, was discussed several times before.
Read more of this story at Slashgeo.

Topix.net

You are a potential bomber too

Posted: May 1st, 2008, 1:46am CEST

Tags: gps

Thursday, May 01, 2008 By Shahid Shah Karachi A chilling new threat is giving nightmares to security experts across the country.

All Points Blog

Despite Slowing Economy Trimble Hits Home Run in Q1

Posted: April 25th, 2008, 8:21pm CEST

Tags: gps

When word first started trickling in that the U.S. and global economies were slowing, Trimble (TRMB) saw its stock begin to slide and shed almost 46% of its value since its high of $43/share in the fall of 2007. But on news of its Q1 numbers, the company hit a home run showing a 24% gain over Q1 last year. Diving into the press release shows that indeed its engineering and construction business has shown some weakness but still grew 11%. Its mobile and field divisions saw the most impressive gains with 47% and 73%, respectively, two of the sweet spots for geospatial technology. The best news was that it is not forecasting any change to its original 2008 outlook.
SiRF Ripe for Acquisition?

Posted: April 22nd, 2008, 4:57pm CEST

Tags: gps

SiRF's CEO left last week, prompting Vijay Nagarajan at Seeking Alpha to wonder about it's future. He has and continues to believe that future is merger/acquisition. But with many GPS players already pairing up, it's options are somewhat limited. He points to Intel and Marvell as potential buyers. Intel we all know, but who is Marvell? It's best known for wi-fi and chips. In the past it's said it would develop GPS internally.

Slashgeo

GPS Trackers Find Novel Applications

Posted: April 15th, 2008, 11:43pm CEST by Satri

Tags: gps

Slashdot runs a discussion nourished by a NYTimes article on novel applications using GPS tracking. Personally, I wonder why some of these applications are not driven by RFID instead, which would probably be more economic (despite the range limitation). Their summary: "Inexpensive GPS devices like the Zoombak (which costs just $200 plus $10 a month) have becomes so prevalent that some people are using them routinely to keep tabs on their most precious possessions. Kathy Besa has a Zoombak attached to the collar of her 5-year-old beagle, Buddy. If Buddy wanders more than 20 feet from the house, she gets a text message on her phone that says, 'Buddy has left the premises.' The small size made possible by chip advances over the last two or three years is enabling many novel uses of GPS tracking. An art collector in New York uses one when he transports million-dollar pieces, a home builder is putting them on expensive appliances to track them if they disappear from construction sites, a drug company is using them after millions of dollars in inventory turned up missing, and a mobile phone company is hiding them in some cellphone boxes to catch thieves." See also below numerous related previous stories.
Read more of this story at Slashgeo.

All Points Blog

SatNav: Don't Park Here!

Posted: April 10th, 2008, 2:56pm CEST

Tags: gps

The latest dataset to appear on satnav? High car crime areas. Basically, it's a warning about where NOT to park your car. The feature is currently available from Sanyo one of its Gorilla branded devices. Alas, so far data is only available for Osaka. Interestingly, there almost no car crime in Japan, but elsewhere...

- Tech Radar

GIS Lounge - Geographic Information Systems

Equipment - GIS and GPS

Posted: April 5th, 2008, 6:27pm CEST by Caitlin

Tags: gps

Links to sites that sell GIS and GPS related equipment. Most commonly GIS users look to purchase plotters, GPS units and digitizers. Look here to find the tools of the trade. BlueGlen Technology Provider of spatial video software and solutions. BlueGlen systems integrate a wide variety of sensors, such as digital cameras, video, speech, laser and [...]

All Points Blog

Quote of the Week

Posted: April 4th, 2008, 2:28pm CEST

Tags: gps

PC World has a reasonably useful article on How to Buy a GPS. I give the author much credit for noting at the outset that if you don't go anywhere, you should go cheap, but if you travel to many different places regularly (salesperson) go big.

Which brings me to the quote - it relates to the timeliness of map updates for different units.

If you expect to use your GPS device primarily to find convenient java shops during occasional travels--or retail outlets that you've never visited before--working with less-than-up-to-the-minute mapping data is probably okay. And you can always turn to MapQuest for more-recent information.

No disrespect to MapQuest; I just find it amusing that the author assumes MapQuest (or likely any online site) will necessarily have more up-to-date information.

Slashgeo

Dash Express Now Shipping: As cool as it sounded!

Posted: March 27th, 2008, 7:34pm CET by jeppedy

Tags: gps

Engadget has a great review on the now shipping Dash Express portable GPS unit. It seems every bit as cool as it sounds, but the price may leave your pocketbook a little light. Will the Community features and Internet connectivity cause you to open your wallet? "Just like TiVo, the Dash Express is best-in-class at what it does, but that monthly fee is going to be a deal-breaker for a lot of people. If $600 bought you the Express and lifetime service, we'd be all over this thing; for now, we're going to say that it's revolutionary enough for road warriors and golden-pocketed early adopters to buy immediately, but we'll eagerly await the day when the power of the Dash community makes us willingly pay to join the club."
Read more of this story at Slashgeo.

All Points Blog

SiRF Cuts, Stock Falls

Posted: March 25th, 2008, 10:57pm CET

Tags: gps

Expect upturns after the holidays in GPS sales never came and thus Tuesday GPS chip maker SiRF announced that it would lay off 7 percent of its 753 member workforce and close offices in South San Francisco and Stockholm, Sweden .

The company expects to report revenues of between $60 million to $62 million, compared to the prior expected range of $71 million to $77 million. A planned move into mobile TV will dropped. The market responded to the bad news: stock fell by about 27 percent to $5.00 by noon

- PC Magazine
Survey Puts Garmin Out Ahead in US GPS Marketshare

Posted: March 14th, 2008, 2:41pm CET

Tags: gps

The survey by ChangeWave lays out the market this way:

Garmin - 56 percent market share in the U.S. consumer market, 58 percent market share in the corporate market

Magellan - 12 percent share of the consumer market

TomTom - 9 percent share of the U.S. market (consumer I believe)

The economic downturn may hurt them all!

- press release
- Kansas City Star
Garmin Sued Ove

GISWiki.NEWS.Reader » Tags » gps

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78 items tagged "gps"

Posted: December 3rd, 2008, 4:08am CET by Glenn

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Posted: November 18th, 2008, 2:03pm CET

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Posted: November 14th, 2008, 3:25pm CET

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Posted: November 10th, 2008, 1:00pm CET

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Posted: November 5th, 2008, 4:49pm CET by Glenn

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Posted: November 3rd, 2008, 7:31pm CET

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Posted: November 3rd, 2008, 6:47pm CET by Glenn

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Posted: October 30th, 2008, 6:34pm CET by Glenn

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Posted: October 24th, 2008, 6:40pm CEST by Satri

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Posted: October 21st, 2008, 8:44pm CEST by Satri

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Posted: October 21st, 2008, 3:44pm CEST

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Posted: October 14th, 2008, 4:00pm CEST

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Posted: October 14th, 2008, 3:00pm CEST

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Posted: October 14th, 2008, 3:00pm CEST

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Posted: October 10th, 2008, 2:04pm CEST

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Posted: October 10th, 2008, 1:00pm CEST

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Posted: October 8th, 2008, 7:16pm CEST by Satri

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Posted: October 7th, 2008, 3:14pm CEST by lxnyce

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Posted: September 29th, 2008, 5:13pm CEST

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Posted: September 19th, 2008, 10:17pm CEST by Satri

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Posted: September 16th, 2008, 2:38pm CEST by Satri

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Posted: September 16th, 2008, 2:31pm CEST

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Posted: September 16th, 2008, 1:56pm CEST

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Posted: September 16th, 2008, 8:00am CEST

Enclosure: [download]

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Posted: September 9th, 2008, 7:03pm CEST by Satri

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Posted: September 2nd, 2008, 4:22pm CEST

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Posted: August 29th, 2008, 11:25pm CEST by Satri

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Posted: August 21st, 2008, 10:10pm CEST

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Posted: August 19th, 2008, 10:46pm CEST by Satri

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Posted: August 14th, 2008, 2:16am CEST by lxnyce

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Posted: August 12th, 2008, 11:14pm CEST by Satri

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Posted: August 12th, 2008, 1:00pm CEST

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Posted: July 30th, 2008, 5:06pm CEST

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Posted: July 18th, 2008, 3:15pm CEST by lxnyce

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Posted: July 15th, 2008, 1:00pm CEST

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Posted: July 9th, 2008, 1:00pm CEST

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Posted: July 1st, 2008, 4:49pm CEST by jeppedy

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Posted: June 30th, 2008, 4:58pm CEST

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