News devices

Pseudolite Applications in Positioning and Navigation: Terminology and Technical Challenges

2012-01-31T16:02:00.001-08:00

Problems with existing GNSS systems can be addressed by the inclusion of additional ranging signals transmitted from ground-based “pseudo-satellites” (pseudolites). Pseudolites are an exciting technology that can be used for a wide range of positioning and navigation applications, either as a substantial augmentation tool of space-borne systems, or as an independent system for indoor positioning applications, or as a component to be integrated with inertial/vision sensors. (more…)

In-Vehicle Speech Recognition for Route Navigation

2012-01-29T16:02:00.001-08:00

I cannot exactly remember whether I lost my faith in the navigation systems…in Van Wyck or Brooklyn/Queens Express highway? It was a hot summer day, and my friend just picked me up from the JFK airport; she had to get back to her teaching at City College, so, we were in a hurry. Needless to say, it was her first time at the JFK airport, so, we relied on her GPS navigator to take us to Manhattan. We effortlessly got on the Long Island Expressway, and almost passed the toll booth, but since we did not have enough change, we got booked by a cop. Passing a toll booth to enter Long Island Expressway seemed quite normal for the first time, but when we got back to the same toll booth for the second time, and got fined by the same cop, things became a bit surreal. (more…)

Wide-Area RTK Using Data from Internet NTRIP Streams

2012-01-27T16:02:00.001-08:00

At present, data from Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) such as GPS and GLONASS are being streamed over the Internet from receivers at base stations all over the globe. Anyone can receive many of these streams for free. While the quality and availability of the service at any given time is not always guaranteed, many streams have good data available most of the time. Whether their subscription is free or for a fee, the data streams can help a great diversity of users find their precise position in real time. (more…)

Location Privacy: Who Knows Where You Are?

2012-01-25T16:02:00.001-08:00

Engineering advances, like precise and accurate personal positioning systems, are helping to enable a wide range of commercially and socially beneficial information services. In this context, location privacy (the right of individuals to control information about their personal location) can seem a peripheral or puzzling issue for many engineers. As one engineering colleague put it to me: “If you have nothing to hide, why should you be concerned about location privacy?” However, location privacy is increasingly becoming a vital function of any location-based service, and a function that presents spatial information engineers with interesting new challenges. (more…)

Real-time performance of independent GNSS integrity monitoring system

2012-01-23T16:03:00.001-08:00

The performance requirements expected from the Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) are very high. One of the most important demands is effective integrity monitoring. The definition I use here is that integrity is the measure of trust to the computed results, described by the probability that the position error caused by malfunctioning of one of the GNSS components is smaller than expected. (more…)

Alignment of a Portable Navigation System

2012-01-21T16:02:00.001-08:00

GPS-based navigation is quick, drift free, and readily available most of the time. However, as GPS requires direct line of sight signals from at least four GPS satellites, navigation can be frequently interrupted in land based applications. For such situations when the GPS signals are not available, relative navigation can be performed using autonomous sensors. (more…)

Typhoons Watch in Taiwan Region Using Precise Point Positioning Technique

2012-01-19T16:03:00.001-08:00

The Objective

Typhoons are the most serious weather systems that threaten Taiwan. On average, about four to five typhoons in the western North Pacific affect the island every year, bringing destructive winds and a large amount of rainfall. The economic loss every year due to typhoons could be up to $20 billion. Many meteorological sensors are available for studying the patterns and characteristics of a typhoon. Recently, many studies have used GPS as an alternative meteorological sensor due to the devastating impact of the global climate change. The distributed GPS stations around the earth can serve as a near real-time meteorological sensor network that can be used to detect the potential threats. (more…)

Triple-Frequency Carrier Phase Linear Combinations for GNSS

2012-01-17T16:03:00.001-08:00

The GPS modernization program is now in full swing. The benefits of the program have already been seen with the launch of six Block IIR-M satellites transmitting the L2C signal and there is more to come. The next milestone will be the launch of Block IIR-M (20), also known as SVN49, which will carry with it a demonstration payload of the highly anticipated L5 signal. This addition to the GPS constellation will have a significant impact on the number of linear combinations which can be formed from carrier phase observations. (more…)

Vodafone kindly make their tariffs simpler and more expensive at the same time

2011-09-14T11:20:00.001-07:00

Those lovely people at Vodafone have only gone and rejigged their pricing tariffs. What does this mean? Well, for all of you who have been on a contract since before Feb 2011, you will have to pay more for you calls. Well, that is if you don't leave Vodafone. This is the perfect opportunity for all, including mobile broadband users, to re-evaluate your contract and it is now void. When the networks change their pricing whilst you are in contact then the contract becomes void.

Vodafone have made it very easy to see the differences, as in the table below. Questionably referred to as 'simplifying tariffs,' Vodafone have rounded some rates up to the nearest 50p. Making it, I guess, simpler to count up. However, if paying more is simpler then I guess we are all wanting the wrong thing.

Source from Tracy and Matt's Blog.

Sony Ericsson Xperia ray now available on Vodafone

2011-09-13T11:20:00.001-07:00

The Sony Ericsson Xperia ray is a brilliant multimedia Android smartphone with a super-slim 9.4mm body and aluminium frame.

Available in a gold coloured finish from Vodafone, the Xperia ray is free on £26, 24 month price plans, including 300 minutes, unlimited texts, 500MB of data and 1GB of BT Openzone WiFi allowance when purchased through Vodafone's online shop.
The 3.3" state-of-the-art Reality Display with Mobile BRAVIA Engine delivers sharp, bright, vivid pictures.  With Exmor R for mobile image sensor, also used in
Sony's Cyber-shot cameras and Handycams, you can shoot stills and HD videos on the 8.1 megapixel camera, even in low light.  And with Facebook inside Xperia you can share photos, status, likes, recommendations and more.

Specifications:

Dimensions (mm) - 111 x 53 x 9.4mm
Weight (g) - 100
TouchScreen  - 3.3" capacitive multi-touch Reality Display with Mobile BRAVIA Engine, 854 x 480 pixels (FWVGA), 16 million colours, scratch-resistant mineral glass
Camera - 8.1 megapixel auto focus camera, Exmor RT for mobile image sensor, aperture f/2.4, LED flash, front-facing camera
Internal memory  = Up to 300MB user-free, 4GB microSDT card included, up to 32GB microSD support
Connectivity 3.5 mm audio jack, aGPS, Bluetooth (A2DP), DLNA, Wi-Fi

For more information on pricing, visit the Vodafone online shop.

Posted by: James

[ Post Tags: tracyandmatt.co.uk,Vodafone,Xperia ray ]

Source from Tracy and Matt's Blog.

RoadMate 5175T-LM GPS

2011-08-05T11:20:00.001-07:00

Magellan just introduced a new RoadMate GPS with WiFi, called the Magellan RoadMate 5175T-LM GPS navigation device.

The new GPS navigation system is already available for purchase for $300. It comes with a 5″ touch screen and WiFi connectivity. With the Wifi you get a built-in internet browser that lets you search for destinations on popular social travel sites or points of interest. You can also check for software or map updates and download them right there and then.

Another cool feature for 5175-LM GPS is that you can hold the device in portrait mode to enjoy the hi-def screen vertical if that’s what you prefer.

It comes with maps of USA, Canada, and Puerto Rico, and you get free updates for the lifetime of the device up to four times a year. A few other features of Magellan RoadMate 5175T-LM include subscription-free lifetime traffic alerts, highway lane assist, and spoken street names.

From NaviGadget

Knowing the Advantages of GPS Navigation before Buying Garmin Units

2011-06-04T21:45:00.001-07:00

Most people will buy a GPS unit sight unseen because their friends may have one of the seen a fancy commercial about them. Do you really know the advantages of a GPS navigation system though? Most people do not and this is why many of these units just sitting around collecting dust. Do not let yours be added to this pile in the coming months. Read further and you will discover the advantages of owning a GPS unit and how to use it to your advantage.

No, doubt in the last few years GPS technology has really become a part of our everyday lives no matter if we like it or not. GPS systems are constantly changing and being updated all the time. Most people will change their unit once a year anymore as they see new extras that they want. People who are just entering the market for the most part really do not understand the kind of product they need or what advantages they are getting from GPS. Let us look at some of those advantages in-depth so you can make a more informed decision about the product that you will want to purchase.

Location is one of the big advantages that make GPS so popular. Most people sometime during their travels will get lost and will have no clue where they are at. With this GPS technology, you can find out where exactly you’re at and how to map a plan to get out of it right away. This unit will even give you a route to get your trip back on track. It does this by locking on many satellites that orbit the earth give you precise information.

Navigation is the second main thing that a GPS unit will do for you. A lot of the time people know where they are, but not the best way to get to their next destination. This is where the GPS navigation system really excels. It will show you the quickest route from Point A to Point B without any problem at all and this will keep you on the right track through your whole trip.

Tracking is the next advantage that you will get with a new GPS navigation system. You can actually check the movement of objects and people in the world. Tracking varies widely on many models, but it is a big advantage that you can use to help you out when it is needed.

Mapping is our last advantage and this one could be one of the most important ones that you will have. If you travel in many remote areas than you will know that, no maps are really available which means the GPS unit is really the only way to go. It will be able to show you what to avoid and what direction you need to be heading. Without these units that would not be possible and you would just have to go it alone and hope you make the right decision. That will be a thing of the past as long as you have one of these units.

As you can see, many different advantages make up what a GPS unit can do for you. Most people do not realize all the things these electronic gadgets can do. Sure, they will give you directions and help you find your way, but they also do so much more. From mapping to navigation and tracking, you will find out these are very valuable to you no matter if you’re on a very long trip or just going across town.

If you are looking to purchase a GPS unit real soon you should weigh the advantages so you will be more informed about the decision you will be making. With all the advantages that these units give you, I cannot understand why anyone would not grab this new emerging technology as it is going to get much better in the future. GPS they say will be as commonplace as the television and telephone in the not so distant future. I hope that you can see the advantages to and will grab one as well.

GPS Navigation systems basically sells themselves as with the rising gas prices we need every advantage we can get and GPS technology also will help save you fuel as well. No more running around lost you will always being on the right route and thus saving you gas as well? The money you save can be put to better use doing things you want to do instead of putting it in the gas tank.

Why a Handheld GPS Unit Maybe a great Deal

2011-06-03T21:45:00.001-07:00

It seems these days GPS systems come in all sizes, prices, and designs. You can get them for a vehicle or your wrist and even to hold in your hand. The real question though, which is really best for you. We have looked at all three different types and we have come up with why the handheld is really your best option. Read further to find out why the handheld GPS system is the way to go.

Handheld GPS systems are very popular these days and in my opinion probably, your best buy right now. Let us look a little closer and see why that is. First most handhelds are so portable that you can toss them in your pocket, purse, or even briefcase. These are much tougher to steal as you can hide them where a car unit that is mounted many ties cannot be.

Do you love to hike? Ride a bike? Or even go fishing? Than the handheld is the model for you. Most handheld GPS systems now can be used for a variety of different applications. This means no matter where you are or what you want to do just toss it in your pocket and you are ready to go. Other portable units do not let you do that.

Handheld portable GPS systems are fast becoming the units of choice. There use to be a time when the screens on these models were small and ugly looking, but that has really changed. The Screen resolutions are much better and many models have introduced color, which have been big selling points for these units, but it does not stop there. Map selection in many of these models also has improved and you can almost get any map you want. This means no matter if you’re traveling on the highway or deep into the mountains, you can access the map that you need.

Other big changes that have come to the handheld GPS unit are the SD memory card slot. This means you will be able to add more things to the unit as well. You can actually change memory cards and have certain data on each one. This means you no longer have to worry about searching all the time or running out of room on a certain memory card. Battery life is something else that a handheld has a big advantage over. Most portable units have a real short battery life while these units have a much longer time. This is very important as you need them to last a long time especially if you’re away from home or have no way to charge your battery.

Many of the newer handhelds also now use replaceable AAA or AA batteries so you can carry extra ones with you and never have to worry about your unit going dead. Prices are another area that has really seen a drop recently. When handhelds first came out they were on the expensive end, but that has change and they are much cheaper than ever before. I think that has a lot to do with the popularity of handheld GPS systems these days.

As you can see, handhelds have really changed since you first looked at them. They are much cheaper than when they first came out. You get many more extras than you can imagine. Battery life is also much longer so you can spend even more time wherever you are at. Lighted display even lets you do things at night without any worries about ever getting lost. Toss in SD memory cards and you can see why the handheld GPS system probably is the best deal for your money.

It is true that portable GPS systems have bigger screens and maybe able to do some really nice things, but short battery life really makes these not practical for long time use outdoors. This is why more people are turning to handheld units than ever before. The ability of these to do so many things make them very enticing for people and that is why sales are really taking off for these types of models.

Overall, if you want the best product for your dollar than probably the handheld is the way to go. You get so much for your money they are really hard to beat these days. As more features are added to them, they will just become even more popular. Grab yours today and you will see why people love the portable electronic powerhouses.

Benefits of a Portable GPS Vehicle Tracking Device

2011-06-02T21:45:00.001-07:00

The advance of technology, miniaturization, more powerful GSM networks and the implementation of high sensitivity GPS has prompted the development of a new breed of portable vehicle tracking system.

The tracking devices for these systems are truly portable and will work anywhere in the world, which basically means you can now track anything, anywhere!

Portable GPS Tracking will Operate Anywhere!

The integrated high sensitivity GPS ensures that these devices will operate in places where previous GPS units did not, such as in urban canyons, in natural canyons, under heavy foliage and even indoors.

These compact devices can be easily attached to any tracking subject as they are so small and can utilize a magnetic mount. The units have a long lasting rechargeable built-in battery for their own power source and an integrated antenna system and therefore don’t need to be wired in to anything else. They are highly reliable, completely independent and portable units with no installation costs.

Because of the highly sensitive nature of the internal antenna these units permit installation in locations where a direct sky view is not actually available. This makes them particularly suitable for operation in and under vehicles.

Some can even be remotely configured from a PC using a web site interface on the Internet.

A web interface is also the normal way for viewing and monitoring the current location and status of the device and to look at historical data on when the unit (or vehicle) has moved, stopped, started and where.

Applications for a Portable GPS Vehicle Tracking System

Vehicle Tracking is easy as these devices allow you to monitor the location of vehicles and other moveable assets of all kinds.

Asset Tracking by using the units hidden in valuable goods to track them when out for delivery or transfer.

Theft Prevention by using the tracking device to monitor the position of valuable items like cars, autos, vans, trucks, boats and trailers for long periods and be informed when they start to move.

Covert Surveillance on-demand by quickly attaching units to targets which can now be tracked in difficult environments.

New Business Concepts can be designed and realized because each unit is compact and totally self-contained.

Your imagination is the only limit on what you will be able to do with a portable GPS Vehicle Tracking System.

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Tell us about Pet GPS and What It Is All About

2011-06-01T21:45:00.001-07:00

Many people every year lose their pets to thefts, runaways or just a dog that has wandered away for a few minutes. Finding your pet is sometimes tough especially if you have no tracking device at all. This is where Pet GPS can really help. Most people have not even been shown what this emerging technology can really do. We have looked it over and it looks very promising to a certain extent. Read a little further to discover what we have learned about Pet GPS.

Pet GPS is the latest wave of technology that is being used to track dogs and reunite them with their owners. More than 2 million pets are lost or stolen in the USA every year. Pet owners are looking for ways to slow this trend down and they are turning to GPS to help lower these numbers. Let us look deeper into GPS for Pets and also the types of tracking available.

Most of the systems in use microchips that are developed into tags. Microchips circuits contain information about the owner and the dog. These are usually implanted under the skin of the pet under the shoulder region. The pet once found than can be scanned and the information can be accessed. Other tracking devices are available as well. One of those is a harness or collar is attached to the pet. This is widely used in hunting and research. Usually a transmitter is in the collar or harness so you can find the pet. It emits a pinging sound and as you point the transmitter in a certain direction, it gets much louder.

Pet GPS is much more detailed than the devices that we have mentioned above. They can pinpoint the location of your pet with relative accuracy. They can also reveal the velocity and the direction your pet maybe traveling in. This is very valuable information especially if your pet maybe heading for highways where he or she could get killed. This is why this technology is so important to pet owners. It really cuts down the time it takes to find your pet. Now some pet GPS sends the information to a central station and this information is then sent to you by an email, sms text message, or a website that you can visit. Other applications can actually send the information to a hand held receiver, which will make it much easier for you to find your pet. The main problem though with these types of tracking devices is if the transmitters do; get detached it is possible all you will find it the pet’s collar. Even with that, though it is still a much better way to find a pet than to just walk around or ride in a vehicle trying to find your pet.

Pet GPS is not perfect my any stretch of the imagination but right now it is one of the best things we have. Losing your pet can be a very painful experience this is why more people are looking towards this type of technology. No matter what anyone tells you for many a pet is a vital part of their family. Losing a pet really hurts deep and owners will do whatever it takes to be reunited with the animal that they love. This means even greater demand for this type of service.

Overall the Pet GPS system is getting much more press than ever before as it really does work. It has drawbacks, but it is better to have some kind of chance to get your pet back than nothing at all. It gives owners another hope to find their lost pet, which is something that we are all looking for right now. Pets are becoming more expensive and people want to protect their investments. One way they are doing that right now is through Pet GPS and most like the results they see from it. It gives pets owners a sense of security that they normally would not have.

Finding a lost pet is also a very rewarding experience and anything that helps you do that will be embraced by the public and Pets GPS does that. In the future, the technology should get much better and thus more pets will be recovered over time. The technology still is fairly new so problems still exist, but companies are really looking hard on that. I see Pets GPS being a very big part of dog owners must have gift anymore.

Different Uses of Laptop GPS

2011-05-31T21:45:00.001-07:00

Most people do not even realize that laptop GPS units are available and the wide array of uses that they can do. Even though this technology is fairly new it is being accepted by many more people than ever before. What is laptop GPS and how does it really help you? Read a little further and discover why your laptop can do more than just send email, play games, and look up different information.

People sometimes worry if their laptop computer will work with a GPS unit, but most of them do and work very well indeed. One of the biggest advantages that a laptop unit gives you over most is it is very cost effective. Most of the laptop GPS systems are much cheaper than any other type of unit that you could be looking for. Many of these are actually smaller than a matchbox and plug into your USB ports, which make your life so much easier. Ease of operation is something these units bring us and that is why people love them. Most people are not tech savvy so anything that is easy to understand and gives you quick learning as well will be a big seller. This is why the laptop GPS units are growing in popularity. Let us look now at some of the biggest advantages to the users of this new product.

One thing that the laptop unit will let you do that most units will not is let you download many maps. Sure, other GPS units will let you download maps, but are usually limited because of lack of memory and space. This usually is not a problem with a laptop as they have plenty of room. This means you can have everything at a click of the mouse, which makes traveling so much easier. Screen size is much bigger on your laptop than handheld and in-dash car models as well. This means you will get more detail and will be easier for you to follow. Portable computers also have buttons that give you shortcuts to get the information you need. This means accessing the information can be much quicker than normal because the speed of the computer processor is much faster. That gives you information quicker so you can process and be on your way much quicker as well.

Travel planners are something more and more of us are using than ever before. Time is becoming something that we have less of so anything that can save us time we will use very often. The laptop GPS unit makes travel planning much easier in various ways. One of those is you can preplan your trips and keep it on the computer until you want to erase it. With the tons of memory on a laptop, you can make almost an indefinite amount of travel plans. The other big thing about this is you can access individual travel plans at any time, which is something that a laptop gives you. Sure, you can do it with handhelds and portable units, but you can never add as many as a laptop affords you.

Most people who travel will at one point want to visit another country. This sometimes could be a problem especially if you did not preload your handheld or portable GPS unit. With these laptop units, though it is much easier to do. The main reason for that is Internet connections are almost everywhere so hooking up is relatively easy. No matter if it is a business or personal trip finding your way around a foreign country can be tough. The easiest way to save yourself some money, know where your going is getting a laptop GPS unit, and download any map you need.

If you are, traveling abroad or even local getting the most accurate information is the key. Laptop GPS units are just another way to do it. As more people find out that the laptop computer that they use for everyday things can also give them directions the demand, will really pickup for these units. GPS units are very popular today and one of the hottest items right now, but few actually know that the laptop computer is an option that they have. Overall, this could very well be the best option that you have right now. More memory, more space, and easier to operate makes the laptop an option that you will want to consider. GPS units are constantly changing and so are the applications and this is just a very good extension of that.

BlackBerry PlayBook Arriving At The Carphone Warehouse and Best Buy

2011-05-18T21:45:00.001-07:00

At last it looks like we have some pricing and a release date for the BlackBerry PlayBook here in the UK. Carphone Warehouse and Best Buy will be stocking RIM's first tablet which they say will be in store on June 16th,

Pricing is pretty much as I expected with the 16GB at from £399; a 32 GB model will be available from £479; and a 64 GB model will be available from £559.

You can see the full press release below:

from Tracy and Matt's Blog.

GPS integrated hedgehogs in New Zealand

2011-05-17T21:45:00.001-07:00

Researchers in New Zealand are tracking movements of hedgehogs using GPS receivers to see how well they are adapting to their environment and what kind of effects they are having on native fauna.

These animals were brought to the island back in 19th century by Europeans and they seem to have no natural predators to control their numbers which poses a threat to local insects, lizards, and ground nesting birds.

These little GPS backpacks seem to big and clumsy but researchers claim they don’t get in the way of natural behavior such as defensive rolling and nesting. This particular receiver can record location every five minutes for five days. It’s been discovered that they could travel as far as 1.5km in a day but usually they chill out at specific locations…

via

HTC Incredible S Unboxing Video

2011-03-14T21:45:00.001-07:00

Announced at Mobile World congress last month the HTC Incredible S has launched running Android 2.2 but with a promised upgrade to 2.3 coming very soon. The device looks great in black and with it sporting a 4-inch WVGA Super LCD display it is somewhat easier to handle in my opinion than the 4.3 inch Desire HD.

Spec wise the HTC Incredible S does not bring us anything new and amazing that we have not seen on other devices but with the specs it has, bundled with great build quality and HTC's Sense UI it sure looks to be a big seller.

You can see the unboxing video below along with the Incredible S's full spec.

Oh, and ignore the part in the video when I say it has a 4.3 inch screen. I got over excited and my mind played tricks on me!

Original post.

Sony Ericsson Xperia X8 review

2011-02-21T20:40:00.001-08:00

The Xperia X8 was unboxed a good few months ago, but now here is the review with one small but important difference. It's now running the 2.1 Éclair update which may not be the latest but it's still better than 1.6 was. That has now brought it up to scratch with other options for cheapish midrange Android handsets, but it's not alone - the likes of the Wildfire and the San Francisco sell like hotcakes, a trend which Sony Ericsson would no doubt like the X8 to follow.

The X8 slots in somewhere in-between the daddy X10 and the X10 mini & mini pro but with specs more like the minis, its actually a very similar experience but in a slightly larger form factor and that could well be a good thing. The X10 minis received excellent reviews with the main criticism that it was too small - but the X8 is the answer to that call.

Does it have enough to compete? Read on to find out!

Original post.

Russia Loses Contact with Military Satellite

2011-02-14T20:40:00.001-08:00

Russia said it lost contact Tuesday with a military satellite launched that morning. The incident follows on the heels of Russia's failed launch of three GLONASS-M satellites in December.

Update: GPS Testing off Southeast Atlantic Coast

2011-02-13T20:40:00.001-08:00

FAA and Coast Guard advisories about GPS testing by the Department of Defense, which advised "During testing, the GPS signal may be unreliable or unavailable," turn out to be, if not routine, at least fairly frequent, and not a cause for great concern. Richard Langley investigates.

giveaway: Enzym 3D GPS navigation system

2011-02-12T20:40:00.001-08:00

We’re giving away this week a GPS navigation system that we’ve had in our garage for a long time now. The device is called Enzym 3D SG-350 and we’re not even sure they have a presence in the U.S. market any longer. We’ve used this many times before and it still works quite well but like we said before but we’re clearing out the garage so it must go. This GPS navigation system has a 3.5″ screen, touch screen display, text-to-speech engine, SD card slot, ability to play MP3 and video files. It even comes with a car kit which includes a car charger and a windshield mount.

How to enter? Really easy. 1) Follow our RSS feed and then 2) leave a comment below. That is all. Do make sure you enter a valid email so we can contact you back.

We will ship this out to a U.S. address only. Sorry rest of the world. Also duplicate entries, emails, IP addresses will be disqualified.

One week from now we’ll announce the winner.

Brought to you by your GPS navigation site

Fleetmatics Closes Investment Deal

2011-01-10T20:35:00.003-08:00

FleetMatics, which provides GPS tracking applications for commercial fleets, has closed a $68 million growth equity financing deal. As part of the round, Institutional Venture Partners (IVP), one of the premier later-stage venture capital and growth equity firms, invested with Investcorp Technology Partners, FleetMatics’ majority owner. New World Ventures also participated as a new investor.

Spirent Solution Identifies Smartphone Performance Issues from Voice, Data and Location Service Interaction

2011-01-10T20:35:00.001-08:00

Spirent Communications announced the availability of the industry’s first automated R&D solution for testing smartphone performance in the presence of simultaneous voice, data and location-based services (LBS).

GLONASS Vows Return to 24 by March

2011-01-09T20:35:00.003-08:00

Anatoly Perminov, the head of Roscosmos, the Russian Federal Space Agency, has given several interviews to news organizations in the past few days following the failed launch of three GLONASS-M satellites last Sunday. If the launch had been successful, the new satellites could have returned GLONASS to a full 24-satellite constellation with continuous global coverage, something it only briefly...

Compass Rising: New IGSO Launch

2011-01-09T20:35:00.001-08:00

Fleetly following an October 31 launch of the first inclined geosynchronous orbit (IGSO) satellite in its Compass/Beidou-2 constellation, China thrust a second IGSO vehicle into orbit on December 17. This makes five new satellites in space this year alone for the rapidly expanding system.

Russia’s First Hybrid Car Has GLONASS Navigation, Standard Feature

2011-01-08T20:35:00.003-08:00

The Yo, Russia’s first hybrid concept car goes through its paces this week in a Yo-mobile pavilion in downtown Moscow. All Yo models carry a smart-car system featuring a data panel, GLONASS navigation devices, air conditioning, a telephone with a keyboard, and a system controlling all functions, including the Internet and multimedia.

Russian Space Officials Fired Over Satellite Crash

2011-01-08T20:35:00.001-08:00

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev fired two senior Russian space officials Wednesday over the loss of three navigation satellites that crashed into the sea this month.

Escort Passport iQ: GPS radar detector and navigation

2010-11-06T14:20:00.001-07:00

Escort has been designing radar detectors and other rear view mirror with GPS navigation systems. Now we get the news that they came out with a new GPS navigation system called Escort Passport iQ that combines turn by turn directions with radar detection.

The radar detector is based on the Escort 9500i which gives you protection against radar, laser, red light and speed camera ticketing while utilizing a 5″ touch screen display and a newly designed antenna:

…engineers were able to change the standard radar detector form by designing a radically new microwave antenna assembly,” said Tim Coomer, ESCORT’s vice president of New Product Development. “Until the merging of these two major mobile technologies by ESCORT, drivers had no choice but to purchase and connect separate driving devices at the same time….

Are you ready for the price though? $650! Yes, The PASSPORT iQ Radar/Laser Detector with GPS navigation starts at $649.95. What do you think? Is it worth it?

Brought to you by your GPS navigation site NaviGadget.

Escort Passport iQ: GPS radar detector and navigation

iPhone software 3.0 video walkthrough

2010-10-29T14:10:00.001-07:00

GPS Tuner Atlas for offroad navigation

2010-10-27T14:10:00.001-07:00

GPS Tuner just recently announced their latest generation of its off-road navigation software, developed specially for mobile devices. GPS Tuner Atlas is a must-have for anyone who needs an off-road navigation solution for geocaching, biking, touring, extreme sports, and even hunting.

GPS Tuner Atlas is available at their website and the innovations include fast graphics, real satellite imagery with a global coverage by DigitalGlobe, 3D digital elevation, custom map calibration, street level basic map data by TeleAtlas.

There’s also a simple trip computer that is flexible thanks to its many specialized functions. The North American version is $57, same for Europe, and South America too. If you want the whole globe you’ll need to say goodbye to $124.

GPS Tuner Atlas for offroad navigation

HTC Snap video product tour

2010-10-26T14:10:00.001-07:00

After the HTC Snap was announced earlier today, HTC have wasted no time providing us with a video. Its only a short one but quickly explains how the inner circle works and a look at the rather functional front facing QWERTY keyboard. The videos after the break.

Samsung S7220

2010-10-25T14:10:00.001-07:00

Samsung just recently announced the new Samsung S7220 in the U.K. with the name “Samsung Lucido“.

The device is a quad-band GSM, dual band (900/2100MHz) 3G phone with integrated A-GPS receiver getting ready to be released in the U.K. first.

It has a 2.2? AMOLED screen, storage that can go up to 8GB with the microSD card slot, 5MP, auto-focus, face detection, Smile-Shot camera, bluetooth 2.1, and an FM radio as well as a media player to keep you entertained when bored. It kinda resembles the Samsung Ultra S730… via

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Broadcom Introduces PND on a Chip

2010-10-24T14:10:00.001-07:00

Broadcom announced what it calls "the first PND on a chip," a new navigation processor and power management unit (PMU) designed for personal navigation devices (PNDs). The BCM4760 system-on-a-chip (SoC) includes a GPS baseband, radio frequency (RF) circuitry, low noise amplifier (LNA), and high-powered applications and graphics processors to drive 3D user interfaces.[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Review: Nokia MD-8 portable speakers

2010-10-23T14:10:00.001-07:00

Matthew Miller from Nokia Experts checks out the Nokia MD-8 speaker set that was included with the Nokia 5530 XM evaluation unit. The Nokia MD-8 speakers have a £20 retail value, although you can pick them up for £5 at Amazon, until now I never had a chance to check them out. As a person who travels on the road for my company, I can truly appreciate having a set of speakers like this to enjoy my music content and podcasts in my hotel room and rental car.

The retail package includes the Nokia MD-8 speakers, Nokia Audio Adaptor AD-52 (2.5mm adapter), 3-AAA batteries, and User Guide. The audio adapter is present so you can use the speakers with a phone that has a 2.5mm headset port. The end of the 29.5 inch cable contains a 3.5mm headset jack so you can plug in the speakers to just about every MP3 player and most new Nokia Smartphone’s. I tested the speakers with the N97, Nokia 5530 XM, and my new Zune HD.

There are two speakers in this unit with a bright white indicator light in between them and a power switch on the top. The whole unit is white (black is also available) and feels very solid in your hand. On the bottom you will find small rubber feet that do an amazing job at keeping the MD-8 speakers from sliding on the table. On the back you will find the cable wraps around a slot with a place to secure the 3.5mm headset male end in the center.

The speakers are powered by 3-AAA batteries (included) and you just pull out one end of the back and swivel it around (the other end is attached) to access the battery compartment. The Nokia site states you get up to 40 hours of playing time with the three AAA batteries. The MD-8 measures 4.76 x 1.65 x 1.14 inches and weighs in at 4.2 ounces.

For you audiophiles out there, here are some stats on the sound from the speakers:

You can hear samples from the speakers in my video. If you are looking for a set of portable speakers, these appear to be a nice set to consider.

Via

News devices

Devs

waze demo video

2010-10-22T14:06:00.001-07:00

As you know we talked about Waze a while ago – and if you read that review you might know that our trial didn’t go that well. Well they now have a demo video up and of course it works flawlessly there. Waze provides crowd sourced maps, and traffic information. Of course it provides voice guided GPS navigation too.

Check out the video if you want to know more about Waze.

Brought to you by your GPS navigation site NaviGadget.

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Magellan SE4

2010-10-21T14:05:00.001-07:00

We’re not used to this naming convention from Magellan. Their newest model that showed up on Best Buy’s website is called Magellan SE4.

Magellan SE4 is a GPS navigation system with a 4.3″ screen, preloaded with Navteq maps that includes 48 contiguous states, Hawaii and Puerto Rico, text-to-speech, 6 million points of interests, and multidestination routing.

How much? $180.

Magellan SE4

Unlocked iPhone 3G now on sale in UK

2010-10-19T14:05:00.001-07:00

Play.com are now offering the iPhone 3G for sale without any simlock. That’s right you can buy the phone from them and use it with any UK sim card that you have like Vodafone, T-Mobile etc as it is officially unlocked and ready to use. This is not a software unlock so updating the phone will not break the unlock.

This is a genuine Sim Free mobile phone and therefore unlocked to all UK networks.
It is not unlocked from a UK or European network and is available due to EU legislation ensuring the sale of sim free mobile phones.

Now the downside is the price, a whopping £549.99 for an 8 Gig model and £599.99 for the 16 Gig, that’s pretty steep but at least there is now a way to use the phone legitimately on with your current network. One word of caution, a new model is rumoured to be just around the corner.

TomTom XXL 540S

2010-10-18T14:01:00.001-07:00

At the same time XXL 530S was announced, the company also announced TomTom XXL 540S GPS navigation system.

TomTom XXL 540S differs from 530S by offering US and Canada AND Mexico maps, lane guidance feature, seven millions points of interests, and a fancier shiny black finish.

These extras will set you back an extra $20, putting the price of TomTom XXL 540S at $300. It is probably worth it.

And yes, the ginormous 5″ is on this model too.

Brought to you by your GPS navigation site NaviGadget.

News of devices

Mivvy One

2010-10-17T14:00:00.001-07:00

Mivvy, a mobile phone makes from the Czech Republic just announced a new smartphone called Mivvy One.

Mivvy One runs on WinMo 6.1 with a custom user interface but offers no 3G support. What good is that?

Some specs include 3.2″ TFT display with 240×400 resolution, GPS receiver, WiFi, Bluetooth, and FM antennas, 3MP camera, and a microSD card slot.

Mivvy One will be available for 6700CZK in Czech Land which is about $380… via

Brought to you by your GPS navigation site NaviGadget.

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get topo maps on your iPhone

2010-10-15T14:00:00.001-07:00

TopoPointUSA is a new application for iPhone by Ebranta Technologies. Apparently it’s worlds only GPS enabled application for displaying United States Geological Survey (USGS) high resolution topographical map images and your GPS position whether you are online or not. It costs $10.

Here are the features of TopoPointUSA:

Complete USGS Map coverage of the USA, including Alaska and Hawaii
Offline Map availability when located outside cellular service
Scrolling map with current GPS or browse location display
Automatic offline or online operation
GPS Position with accuracy and map scale information
Powerful Browsing capabilities with position display
Fully featured Waypoint capabilities

Brought to you by your GPS navigation site NaviGadget.

ViewRanger maps for Nokia 5800

2010-10-13T14:00:00.001-07:00

Cambridge, UK based Augmentra just announced that their mapping, navigation, and tracking software ViewRanger is now available for Nokia 5800 and other Symbian S60 touch screen mobile phones.

ViewRanger is an off-road satellite navigation application that provides detailed topographic maps across Europe with points-of-interests and leisure route guides. Maps can be downloaded directly to the handset using WiFi or 3G, downloaded to an SD memory-cards to put onto the device.

Nokia 5800 XpressMusic is a great device for running ViewRanger with its 3.2″ widescreen display, fingertip and stylus control, automatic screen rotation, and tactile feedback. In addition the 3.2MP camera is ideal for geo-recording your outdoor photos and locating and sharing them with ViewRanger’s TravelLog capability.

Detailed topographic maps, sourced from national mapping agencies, and other content is available for a growing global community including Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Holland, Ireland, parts of Italy, Norway, Slovenia and Switzerland.

Pricing depends on what you need…

This was a guest post by Warren who normally blogs about mobile phones at DAP. Subscribe to the RSS feed for daily updates.

Brought to you by your GPS navigation site NaviGadget.

Broadcom, SiRF Top ABI's GPS Chip Vendor Ranking

2010-10-12T14:00:00.001-07:00

Broadcom has been ranked at the top of the latest Vendor Matrix released by ABI Research. SiRF and Texas Instruments claimed the second and third spots in the company's most recent evaluation of worldwide GPS chip vendors.br/br/[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]img src="http://feeds2.feedburner.com/~r/GpsWorld-LatestNews/~4/tJsNrObH-jE" height="1" width="1"/

Sony GPS-CS3KA

2010-10-11T13:56:00.001-07:00

Sony has quietly revealed a brand new photo tagger called Sony GPS-CS3KA. We came across the new Sony GPS-CS3KA on Amazon where it is available for pre-order for $150. The new Sony CS3 is obviously the successor to the popular Sony CS1 that was released about two years ago.

Sony GPS-CS3KA can identify location of both photos and videos in addition to their date, accepts both MS and SD memory cards, and has a battery life of up to 15 hours.

This GPS image tracker is compatible with most Cyber-shot digital cameras and camcorders.

The smart thing Sony engineers did with CS3 was to give you the ability to use Alkaline or Ni-Mh batteries so hopefully you’ll always be able to find a way to power your device.

Expect the new Sony GPS-CS3KA to ship on March 29th.

Brought to you by your GPS navigation site NaviGadget.

JAVAD GNSS Customers Now Track GPS L5 Signal

2010-10-09T13:50:00.001-07:00

JAVAD GNSS has announced that its customers with JAVAD GNSS "triple-frequency" type OEM boards (TR-G2T, TR-G3T, TRE-G2T, TRE-G3T, TRE-G3TAJ) and receivers (TRIUMPH-1, Alpha TR-G2T/TR-G3T, DeltaS TRE-G2T/TRE-G3T/TRE-G3TAJ, SigmaS TRE-G2T/TRE-G3T/TRE-G3TAJ) can now track the L5 demonstration signal.[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

garmin nuvi 1300 series

2010-10-07T13:46:00.001-07:00

Garmin just unveiled a new addition to the nuvi series. The 1300’s. There are currently five models in the series, all of which have an ultra thin body, and support pedestrian navigation thanks to CityXplorer maps.

…these new multi-mode navigators feature a public transit mode supporting optional CityXplorer content. Available as a download for select cities, CityXplorer allows the user to plan and use routes that can include public transit options such as bus, tramway, metro and suburban rail systems. With CityXplorer, users can get the most out of their navigation experience to many exciting cities across North America and Europe. The thinner and lighter form factor of these new products allows the unit to be more easily carried in a pocket or purse – making it ideal for pedestrian navigation. Content from CityXplorer varies in cost from $9.99 - $14.99, depending on the city.

nüvi 1300 ($249.99)

4.3? screen
text-to-speech
maps of lower 48 states, Hawaii and Puerto Rico

nüvi 1350 ($299.99)

add lane assist
add comprehensive map coverage of North America

nüvi 1350T ($349.99)

add lifetime traffic alerts from Navteq

nüvi 1370T ($449.99)

add maps of Europe
add Bluetooth connectivity

nüvi 1390T ($399.99)

add junction view
subtract maps of Europe

Brought to you by your GPS navigation site mobile devices.

Blue GPS shoes

2010-10-06T13:45:00.001-07:00

Isaac Daniel – the people who brought you GPS shoes have a new model called Blue GPS shoes. What you have here is a pair of shoes with a GPS receiver and it can talk to your bluetooth capable phone to update your Facebook with your position – or it can text up to 5 other mobile devices. What can we say – great for stalkers; bad for privacy. The good news is of course nobody is forcing you wear one of these – yet.

It should be available before the end of the year and cost somewhere around $150 – can’t wait? Pre-order them.

Brought to you by your GPS navigation site NaviGadget.

bookmarks

ATT Breaks the E71x, then delays it.

2010-10-05T13:45:00.001-07:00

Over the weekend there was a lot of excitement over the fact that this was going to be the week that AT&T would finally start selling Nokia’s masterpiece, the E71x, but alas the news was too good to be true. With today being the scheduled release date, and no E71x in sight qwerty loving S60 fans across the country had their dreams smashed. According to BGR the trouble comes from a bug in the email or exchange synching software. I find this pretty hard to believe, I have been using an unlocked E71 with exchange since Thanksgiving (late November for those of you outside the U.S.) and have never had a problem with synching at all, and on top of that Nokia has sold millions of these phones around the world for nearly a year. If there was a problem with something as vital as email synch, I’m sure someone besides the guys at AT&T would have spotted it by now. While I am disappointed that my fellow countrymen will be denied such a great phone for an extra few weeks, this really questions what AT&T did to this great phone that would break it.

Mobile Tech Addicts Podcast No 34

2010-09-27T13:26:00.001-07:00

Are We There Yet?

2010-09-26T13:24:00.001-07:00

Finding the ideal way to use GPS technology in tourism can be as tricky as booking the perfect vacation. Useful devices for visitors being offered at popular tourist attractions come in many forms, from handhelds that trigger to specific sites to three-wheeled mini-cars with programmed tours on board.

Location Based Tech. Inks Distribution Deal with SED

2010-09-25T11:50:00.001-07:00

Location Based Technologies Inc. has signed a distribution and fulfillment agreement for its PocketFinder product line with SED International being responsible for fulfillment and logistics for the PocketFinder Affiliate program through the Google Affiliate Network.

CES: Xact Uses U-blox 5 for Trax GPS Tracker

2010-09-24T11:45:00.001-07:00

Xact Technology LLC is using GPS receivers with u-blox 5 positioning engines from Swiss GPS chip maker u-blox for its new line of portable personal tracking devices called Xact|Trax.

A-GPS Chip Maker eRide Turns to Synopsis for EDA

2010-09-23T11:45:00.001-07:00

Privately held assisted-GPS chip designer eRide has adopted Synopsys' Design Compiler Ultra electronic design automation (EDA) software to design its next-generation Opus GPS chips.

Getac's Rugged GPS Comes with Camera, Altimeter, E-compass

2010-09-22T11:45:00.001-07:00

MiTAC's new Getac PS535F GPS has an autofocus camera, altimeter, and E-compass. Its features are designed so field-based employees can capture field data on site and transmit data back to headquarters in real-time, as well as provide pinpoint navigation support to improve location-based productivity.img src="http://feeds2.feedburner.com/~r/GpsUtilitiesCommunications/~4/YLmQz1n_n4I" height="1" width="1"/

Mobile Time and Frequency Receiver

2010-09-21T11:45:00.001-07:00

The mobile version of the PTF GlobalTyme GPS receivers provides the same functionality as the static version, with the added feature of being able to operate in mobile mode for both ground and airborne applications.

Out in Front: Raise a Red Flag

2010-09-20T11:45:00.001-07:00

Young GNSS scientists and graduate students from Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, China, and Myanmar who attended the International Symposium on GPS/GNSS 2008 impressed me with their enthusiasm, energy, creativity, and, well, youth. Satellite navigation has a very bright future in the Far East.br/br/[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]img src="http://feeds2.feedburner.com/~r/GpsWorld-LatestNews/~4/8N_-Mckbvfg" height="1" width="1"/

Lockheed Martin GPS III Team on Schedule in Design Review Stage

2010-09-19T11:42:00.001-07:00

The Lockheed Martin team developing GPS III is progressing on-schedule, achieving key milestones in the Preliminary Design Review (PDR) phase with the U.S. Air Force.br/br/[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]img src="http://feeds2.feedburner.com/~r/GpsWorld-LatestNews/~4/f0bOjS4tMHo" height="1" width="1"/

Waze aims to create a live map

2010-09-18T11:36:00.001-07:00

Starting in San Francisco, Boston and Chicago today, T-Mobile G1 users can download the Android application and begin contributing to the project. Akin to the crowdsourced Open Street Map project, Waze picks up GPS points as you drive and automatically and anonymously submits them to the dynamically-generated map of each city. With one click, you’re also able to report road problems such as traffic jams and fix map inaccuracies on the fly. Over time Waze will hopefully become a comprehensive, ‘live’ map of the United States, augmented by driving directions, road changes, speed trap locations and real-time traffic information. As more data is collected, included speed limits, Waze will be able to become predictive and find the best driving route for you based on historical data. You’ll also be able to contribute larger amounts of map information through the Waze website.Waze, which will open in public beta in a few months for the iPhone, Android and Windows Mobile, has already had substantial success in Israel. Over 80, 000 drivers currently use the map and it is the most popular navigation application in the country. As an example of its success, Waze claims “real-time traffic information reached approximately 90 percent coverage wazeand over 85 percent ‘estimated time of arrival’ accuracy” within less than a year.However, the United States will be a much tougher market to conquer. Google Maps has huge mindshare in the US even though it’s in no way dynamic. And PND makers like TomTom and Garmin offer real-time traffic information. But key to Waze’s business model is that it is free for consumers to use unlike established competitors. After all, it’s being built by them. And as Open Street Map has demonstrated, when consumers and companies don’t have to license mapping data, they’ll be more than happy to contribute new stuff to the overall map. Just look at the huge data sets a variety of African-based non-profits have contributed to OSM in recent months.Like all LBS applications though, mass adoption will be required for Waze to succeed, especially given its user-generated model. And in the case of iPhone users, background processing will be a definite requirement for Waze to be of any use. I think for now the choice of a soft launch in three cities is smart. It gives Waze a chance to really focus on areas where adoption will be likely and spread out from there. And with a cost structure that doesn’t amount to much, Waze should be able to move quickly once in public beta.The company also plans to open a variety of APIs to developers which is a great idea. If Waze can pull this off, it could become a platform for all kinds of real-time navigation applications. And for end consumers it’ll be a boon because it’ll all be free.

Mobile Tech Addicts Podcast No 29

2010-09-17T11:35:00.001-07:00

Vixxi Provides E911 Address Support with Reverse Geo-Coder

2010-09-16T11:32:00.001-07:00

Vixxi Solutions has concluded testing of its Reverse Geo-Coder technology, which it says can pinpoint the nearest physical address of a mobile emergency caller based on coordinates derived from GPS or position determination equipment (PDE).

U&C Insights — August 2007

2010-09-15T11:24:00.001-07:00

In June I wrote about telecom ignoring vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to- infrastructure communication efforts. Of course, as the winds of fate have my name and Social Security Number, one company made an interesting announcement just as my finger left the Send button. OKI Electric of Japan is starting trials of the first Dedicated Short-Range Communication (DSRC)-equipped cell phone that communicates automated warnings between vehicles and pedestrians.

Leadership Talks: GNSS Election '08, Part 1

2010-09-13T07:15:00.001-07:00

GPS World's Leadership Dinner convoked a lively debate: Would the community gain more from new signals, or from more satellites? A made-up scenario that elicited important insights.br/br/[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]img src="http://feeds2.feedburner.com/~r/GpsWorld-LatestNews/~4/dqzQKBhFQek" height="1" width="1"/

Vodafone’s twitter exploits

2010-09-12T07:16:00.001-07:00

  With O2 customers receiving free SMS alerts from Twitter, it’s understandable that Vodafone wants to offer a perk for Twitter users. We’re not sure that the "first interactive real time top 40 for music lovers" is the way forward, however.

Vodafone commissioned developer Ben Marsh to "create a live top 40 chart of what people are listening to on Twitter, to promote the Vodafone Music store", he wrote on his blog. Using the #RealTimeTop40 hashtag, Twitter users can enter the artist and song they’re listening to and then check out www.realtimetop40.com to view what the most listened-to songs are right now.

It’s not exclusive to Vodafone customers, however if you want to purchase one of the songs currently riding high on the chart, you’ll have to be a paid-up customer to do so.

If Vodafone created an app for mobile phones we can see more use out of this scheme, but for now it’s just another way for Twitter users to pat themselves on the back that they all have such terrific musical taste. If Patrick Swayze’s ‘She’s Like The Wind’ can be considered taste.

Link: Real Time Top 40

[Source T3]

GIS

When Satellites Collide: Iridium 33 Strikes Defunct Russian Sat in Unprecedented Accident

2010-09-10T07:11:00.001-07:00

On February 10, the Iridium 33 and Cosmos 2251 communications satellites collided over northern Siberia, at approximately 1656 GMT. The impact between the Iridium Satellite LLC-owned satellite and the 16-year-old defunct Russian military satellite occurred at a closing speed of well over 15,000 mph, 490 miles above the face of the Earth.br/br/[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/GpsWorld-LatestNews/~4/538336450" height="1" width="1"/

Magellan Seeks Growth in the Great White North

2010-09-08T07:10:00.001-07:00

Magellan is looking to the Canadian market for growth. The company announced today it has teamed with ReSource Group Canada, a sales and marketing firm, to strengthen and expand the sat nav provider's sales support to retailers and distributors across Canada.

IGS Ponders the Implications of a Multiple GNSS World

2010-09-07T07:08:00.001-07:00

What does the rise of European GNSS Galileo, along with other systems coming online, such as China's Beidou, mean for GNSS users? The International GNSS Service (IGS) is considering that very question, and anybody interested in the future use of GNSS for observing for high-accuracy applications will want to review its white paper on the subject.

glympse goes live on Android

2010-09-06T07:02:00.001-07:00

Glympse is a service that lets you share your location for a specified amount of time from an instant, to 2 minutes, or to a few hours. It really is a good alternative to those short phone conversations updating multiple people where you are and even easier than texting. What you do with glympse is either “send” or “receive” one. The good part is the receiver never has to install any applications - they just need to click on a URL sent out by the service. Being constantly watched is a scary idea but the timer function of glympse should give you a bit of a peace of mind knowing any glympse you sent will eventually expire.

Currently it only works on Android - mainly T-Mobile’s G1.

The video is pretty good:

Brought to you by your GPS navigation site GPS.

Tracy and Matt’s huge Christmas giveaway

2010-09-05T06:57:00.001-07:00

Check out this Christmas competition combining some swish prizes from the top UK mobile websites including Clove. Our pals over at www.tracyandmatt.co.uk have combined a number of impressive treats and it’s very much worth your while to enter as there are enough prizes to give you a decent chance. Up for grabs are an Xbox 360, HTC Diamond2, HTC Tattoo and several other goodies.

Check out how to enter at Tracy and Matt.

Technorati Tags: www.tracyandmatt.co.uk,expansys,Clove,devicewire,orange,superetrader,HTC

GPSDO Frequency Standard

2010-09-04T06:52:00.001-07:00

Fury is a 10 MHz GPS disciplined oscillator (GPSDO) that requires no calibration, delivers higher stability than typical rubidium clock references, and meets the requirements of a Stratum 1 frequency standard.

SiRF and CSR to Merge

2010-09-02T17:36:00.001-07:00

SiRF Technology Holdings, Inc., based in San Jose, California, and CSR plc, formerly Cambridge Silicon Radio, headquartered in of the UK will merge in a stock-for-stock transaction to create a new company, which will automatically assume a leading position in global connectivity and location markets. The companies expect the transaction to close in the second quarter of 2009.br/br/[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/GpsWorld-LatestNews/~4/536629848" height="1" width="1"/

U&C Insights — November 2007

2010-09-01T15:15:00.001-07:00

EU's eCall System Gains Speed Implementing an accident-triggered call system that comprises every new vehicle in the European Union is an impressive goal-but it depends on successfully instituting 112 as the EU's universal emergency number.

PNT Advisory Board Meeting Highlights

2010-08-31T15:00:00.001-07:00

This article presents selective passages from the just-published minutes of the National Space-Based Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) Advisory Board, Third Meeting, Washington, D.C., March 27-28, 2008. Most presentations have been abridged, and many of the ensuing discussions among the Board members have been shortened or eliminated in this rundown. Thus, many items of critical interest have been passed over in the name of brevity. Interested readers are encouraged to peruse the full meeting minutes posted at www.pnt.gov.

Topcon GRS-1

2010-08-29T15:00:00.001-07:00

If you need up to 1cm accuracy from a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) Topcon GRS-1 is for you. This is a GPS network rover receiver, and the small, lightweight form factor combined with a relatively small price tag makes it quite attractive. It has DGPS capability with a regular L1 antenna for GIS and navigation and a the PGA-1 external antenna for your local GNSS network. The GRS-1 uses Windows Mobile 6.1 OS, has a 3.7 inch, touch screen display and a rugged construction that can stand a one meter drop.

Other features of the Topcon GRS-1 also include SD memory card slot, optional internal GSM or CDMA modem, built-in 2 MP camera, internal magnetic compass and wireless connectivity via Wi-Fi and Bluetooth technology.

Brought to you by your GPS navigation

HKC Mopad 8E

2010-08-28T14:55:00.001-07:00

What we’re looking at here is the new HKC Mopad 8E. It looks a like sexy device with attractive curves that remind us of another highly popular device :)

Mopad 8E specializes with its ability to receive digital TV channels (DVB-H). But that’s not why we’re talking abou it here at Navigadget. HKC Mopad 8E also integrates an GPS receiver for navigation - but like most other device from far east we don’t have any clue about the software that works with this GPS receiver.

We do know all the other specs though:

3.2″ touch screen
8GB memory
624MHz CPU
1150mAh battery
128MB RAM
3MP camera

Oh, and that button like thing near the bottom between the green and red keys is a fingerprint scanner.via

Brought to you by your GPS navigation site NaviGadget.

Enfora's GPS/GPRS-Based Spider AT Crawls Forth

2010-08-27T14:55:00.001-07:00

Enfora has rolled out its Spider AT asset monitoring and management platform, a combination GPS- and GSM/GPRS-based low-power system, according to the company.

Navigon on Android

2010-08-26T14:35:00.001-07:00

Navigon will be announcing their GPS navigation system software for the Android platform in August – Navigon MobileNavigator 7.

A 30 day trial version will be available for free which will even include speed limit warnings, and POIs along the way. There will also be a pedestrian version of the GPS navigation system included in this trial version.

You may find a restaurant through the recommendations of the social network Skobbler, and can also save rating and even send them directly to the communication tool Twitter.

Navigon MobileNavigator 7 for Android will be completely over the air. The maps are stored on a server and routes are also calculated by the server and then downloaded to your device. Of course you’re strongly advised to have a high speed data service on your phone before anything else.

This will be the first time for Navigon to offer such GPS navigation platform over the air. Navigon will be competing with the U.S. publisher ALK which already sells its navigation software CoPilot Live 8 for Android smartphones. Navigon MobileNavigator for Android goes on sale in August for 69 € with regional maps and for 99 € for the complete European version…

via

Brought to you by your GPS navigation site NaviGadget.

Navigon on Android

Spirent's GSS800 Adds QZSS Signal Support

2010-08-25T14:20:00.001-07:00

Spirent Communications plc has officially announced that its GNSS RF signal simulator, the GSS800, now supports the Japanese Quasi Zenith Satellite System (QZSS), in addition to GPS, Galileo, GLONASS, and satellite-based augmentation systems.

Vodafone’s twitter exploits

2010-08-21T14:50:00.001-07:00

It’s not exclusive to Vodafone customers, however if you want to purchase one of the songs currently riding high on the chart, you’ll have to be a paid-up customer to do so.

Link: Real Time Top 40

[Source T3]

GIS

U&C Insights — August 2007

2010-08-20T14:50:00.001-07:00

Continental Automotive Control Unit Uses GPS, Sensors

2010-08-19T14:50:00.001-07:00

Continental AG's Interior Division has debuted a GPS- and sensor-based concept control unit for passenger cars that supplies data such as road topography and curvature, as well as location, speed, and other information continuously to a vehicle's control systems.

Getac's Rugged GPS Comes with Camera, Altimeter, E-compass

2010-08-18T14:50:00.001-07:00

Out in Front: Raise a Red Flag

2010-08-17T14:30:00.001-07:00

Samsung’s first Android™ smartphone (i7500) now on sale with O2

2010-08-16T14:30:00.001-07:00

Samsung Mobile UK today announces that its Galaxy handset (i7500) is now available on the O2 network in the UK through O2 stores, o2.co.uk and O2’s telesales team. The Samsung Galaxy is the company’s first device powered by Android, giving customers instant access to familiar applications, as well as access to a range of ever-expanding services being developed for the Android platform.

“The Samsung Galaxy is one of the most innovative and high-quality Android-powered devices on the market. We’ve built in all the features people have come to expect from high-end Samsung devices, like the AMOLED screen and fast processing power, to provide a great user experience,” said Mark Mitchinson, VP, Samsung Mobile UK. “We’re fortunate to have the technical ability at Samsung to support a variety of operating systems and demonstrate real leadership in developing the technologies that customers want and understand.’

“O2 has become the home of smartphones and launching our first Android-powered phone with Samsung is a key part of this,” said Steve Alder, General Manager Devices, Telefónica Europe. “What I love about the Samsung Galaxy is the great user experience and the fantastic range of apps it brings to even more customers.”

Whatever your lifestyle, there will be an Android application for you and with its large memory, you can personalise your Samsung Galaxy with as many apps as you desire. Go directly to the Android Market on your Samsung Galaxy i7500 and download for free, a variety of unique apps (you will need to have a Google™Account in order to access the market).

The familiar Google services on the PC are ready and waiting on the Samsung Galaxy including: Google Search™ Google Maps™, Gmail™, Google Talk™.  It also has an integrated GPS receiver meaning you can make full use of Google Maps to guide you in the car or on foot. 
As well as the world of applications, the internet really comes to life through the Samsung Galaxy’s 3.2inch AMOLED screen; watch great quality videos from You Tube, surf the web with the super-fast browser or view pictures you’ve taken with its 5 mega-pixel camera.

A device as powerful as this needs a long battery life and memory capacity so it can be enjoyed fully and the Samsung Galaxy doesn’t disappoint. Capable of storing up to 40GB of memory (8GB internal memory, external up to 32GB), this smartphone packs a lot into its slim, compact design (115 x 56 x 11.9mm).

The Samsung Galaxy (i7500) is available in the UK on O2 exclusively for 4 weeks from Monday 31st August 2009 and is free on a £45 per month tariff.

Operating System

Android™ OS

Chipset

Qualcomm: 7200A, ARM11 528MHz + DSP 256MHz

Camera

5MP AF + Power LED

Display Resolution/ Size

3.2’’ HVGA (320 x 480) AMOLED

3G Bearer and Band

2G Bearer and Band

HSDPA 7.2Mbps / HSUPA 5.76Mbps (900 / 1700/ 2100MHz)
EDGE / GPRS (850/ 900/1800/1900)

Connectivity

Bluetooth® 2.0, USB 2.0, WiFi, MicroUSB, 3.5mm ear jack

Video: MPEG4, H.263, H.264, WMV
Audio: MP3, AAC, AAC+, e-AAC+, WMA, RA

Memory

Internal memory: 8GB
External memory: Micro SD (Up to 32GB)

Additional Applications

Browser, Google apps, Android market

Talk / standby time

CES: TomTom Debuts Connected PND for North America

2010-08-15T14:15:00.001-07:00

Undaunted by the so-far lackluster market for connected portable navigation devices (PNDs), Netherlands-based TomTom unveiled a connected device for the North American market at the Consumer Electronics Show, promising a Q2 introduction for the $499 Go 740 Live.[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

u-blox Endorses Publishing of Schematics by Openmoko

2010-08-14T14:15:00.001-07:00

Openmoko, maker of open-source mobile products, has taken another step in opening its mobile platform to the development community by announcing it will publish the schematics for the Neo 1973 and Neo FreeRunner mobile phones.

T-Mobile Pulse

2010-08-13T14:15:00.001-07:00

Yay for more Android powered T-Mobile phones. This one is called T-Mobile and is only going to be available for the European market. It is actually a rebranded version of Huawei’s U8220.

T-Mobile Pulse will feature a 3.5″ screen, 3.2MP camera, 3G connection, bluetooth, WiFi, and of course GPS. It will have a microSD card slot, front facing camera, and a super slim body measuring only 13.5mm.

Not sure how much Pulse will cost.

via

Brought to you by your GPS navigation site NaviGadget.

T-Mobile Pulse

smallest GPS receiver ever

2010-08-12T14:15:00.001-07:00

Epson and Infinion’s XPOSYS PMB 2540 chip is world’s smallest A-GPS receiver ever. Unless that’s a giant match we can see this fitting into every gadget that you carry.

XPOSYS PMB 2540 only measures 2.8×2.9 mm and will be mass produced starting late this year and will consume only half as much power as other A-GPS receivers… Yay? How do you feel about this? via

Brought to you by your GPS navigation site NaviGadget.

Nexus One Rises from the Ashes… As a Developer Phone

2010-08-08T13:40:00.001-07:00

After Google killed the Nexus One commercially last month, there was great mourning amongst the geek community. But now Google has pumped life back into the Nexus One, by selling it as the official Google developer phone, which succeeds the previous developer phone which was the Google Ion. Apparently it is unchanged from the dead consumer model, but Google says that you will need to upgrade to 2.2 when you receive the phone, as it only comes with 2.1. To get the Nexus One, you first need to become an official Google developer, then pay $529 (about £333) then get it shipped from the states. However, you are going stuck with T-Mobile, as it is carrier locked them.

Source

Sony Xperia X10 Mini and X10 Mini Pro Rooted

2010-08-05T04:39:00.001-07:00

The good people over at XDA-Developers have rooted the smallest android phones on the market, the Sony Ericsson X10 Mini and the X10 Mini Pro. Apparently it only takes a couple of clicks and a few minutes to root the X10 mini and the X10 mini Pro. Instructions for how to root are in the link below.

Source

GPS Satellite PRN25 Decommissioned

2010-01-07T02:21:00.001-08:00

GPS SATELLITE SVN25 (PRN25) WILL BE UNUSABLE ON JDAY 352 (18 DEC 2009) BEGINNING 1522 ZULU UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE.

Indian Geospatial Market Report 2009 Released

2010-01-06T02:21:00.001-08:00

The third edition of the Indian Geospatial Market Report, an attempt to gauge the health of the geospatial industry in India, has been released in New Delhi by Union Minister of Science & Technology and Earth Sciences Shri Prithviraj Chavan.

Operator in data protection breach

2009-11-19T01:41:00.001-08:00

Blinding article from Mobile Today here regarding a nasty operator that is selling your personal details. It’s unknown which operator it is however I’m sure it will be released soon. I have my suspicion. Here the full article:

Unnamed UK mobile company being investigated by Information Commissioner’s Office for illegally selling customer data

A major UK mobile phone company has come under fire from the Information Commissioner’s Office for selling unauthorised customer data.

Information Commissioner Christopher Graham told the BBC that millions of details from thousands of customers had been sold to brokers who had sold the data onto other mobile phone companies. The customers were then contacted as their contracts reached their expiry date.

Information Commissioner’s Office representatives have already obtained search warrants to enter premises and have also interviewed employees, according to the BBC.

The BBC has also reported that Graham is planning to prosecute those involved.

He said he did not name the company so as not to prejudice a future trial; and that there is a need for a prison sentence to prevent people from selling private data to third parties.

Technorati Tags: 3,Orange,T-mobile,O2,Vodafone

lockheed martin GPS satellites built to last

2009-11-07T01:41:00.001-08:00

This month marks the 10th year anniversary of Lockheed Martin-Built GPS Satellites’ on orbit operation.

This specific satellite was the third of GPS Block IIR which was launched in October 7th 1999. There are 29 more of these on orbit providing situational awareness and weapon guidance for the military, as well as support for civil, scientific and commercial functions – including air traffic control, ATM banking, and the Internet.

Next generation GPS satellites are called GPS III block and these will support anti-jam capabilities. The first of these new GPS satellites is supposed to launch in 2014.

lockheed martin GPS satellites built to last

TomTom XL 335S

2009-10-16T02:36:00.001-07:00

TomTom has a brand new model out called TomTom XL 335S. XL 335S will have a 4.3″ screen and cost $240. It will offer TomTom’s IQ routes technology and have a lane assistance feature. IQ Routes is the feature that takes historical driving data into consideration when calculating your set of directions.

Here are the full set of features of TomTom XL 335S:

Complete maps of the US and Canada
Spoken instructions, including street and place names
Seven million points of interest
TomTom Map Share to lest users modify street names, street direction, and even points of interest and benefit from corrections made by others
TomTom Help Me! to access to safety and emergency services
New user menu with updated GUI
EasyPort mount
TomTom HOME, the free desktop application to keep users’ devices up-to-date at
all times.

via

Brought to you by your GPS navigation site.

devs bookmarks

NemeriX Offers A-GPS on NX3 Chip Platforms

2009-10-09T02:21:00.001-07:00

Swiss chip maker NemeriX said today that it is offering its NeX (NemeriX Extended Ephemeris) assisted-GPS technology for free on all its NemeriX NX3 GPS platforms, and that it is available immediately.

Kore Telematics to Provide Network for PocketFinder

2009-10-08T02:21:00.001-07:00

Location Based Technologies Inc. today announced that Kore Telematics Inc. will provide network coverage for its locator devices throughout the United States and Canada, with roaming agreements on the networks of 290 wireless providers in more than 130 countries.

Help Wanted! GPS World Unveils Online Career Classifieds

2009-10-07T02:21:00.001-07:00

GPS World magazine has opened a paid advertising section focusing on job opportunities in the GNSS field.

LORAN Saved, but Money Questions Remain

2009-10-06T02:16:00.001-07:00

Everything old is eventually new again — that could be said of LORAN. Or perhaps, like clothing styles, proponents of LORAN just had to wait long enough, and it became fashionable again.

HARMLESS Demonstrates GNSS Benefits to Emergency Response

2009-10-05T02:16:00.001-07:00

The conclusion of Europe's HARMLESS project has demonstrated the legion of benefits that would accrue from the use of GNSS in the coordinated management of emergency response and law enforcement, according to Spanish tech company GMV.img src="http://feeds2.feedburner.com/~r/GpsUtilitiesCommunications/~4/PgDuArLCwCo" height="1" width="1"/

News devices

Pseudolite Applications in Positioning and Navigation: Terminology and Technical Challenges

In-Vehicle Speech Recognition for Route Navigation

Wide-Area RTK Using Data from Internet NTRIP Streams

Location Privacy: Who Knows Where You Are?

Real-time performance of independent GNSS integrity monitoring system

Alignment of a Portable Navigation System

Typhoons Watch in Taiwan Region Using Precise Point Positioning Technique

Triple-Frequency Carrier Phase Linear Combinations for GNSS

Vodafone kindly make their tariffs simpler and more expensive at the same time

Sony Ericsson Xperia ray now available on Vodafone

RoadMate 5175T-LM GPS

Knowing the Advantages of GPS Navigation before Buying Garmin Units

Why a Handheld GPS Unit Maybe a great Deal

Benefits of a Portable GPS Vehicle Tracking Device

Portable GPS Tracking will Operate Anywhere!

Applications for a Portable GPS Vehicle Tracking System

Tell us about Pet GPS and What It Is All About

Different Uses of Laptop GPS

BlackBerry PlayBook Arriving At The Carphone Warehouse and Best Buy

GPS integrated hedgehogs in New Zealand

HTC Incredible S Unboxing Video

Sony Ericsson Xperia X8 review

Russia Loses Contact with Military Satellite

Update: GPS Testing off Southeast Atlantic Coast

giveaway: Enzym 3D GPS navigation system

Fleetmatics Closes Investment Deal

Spirent Solution Identifies Smartphone Performance Issues from Voice, Data and Location Service Interaction

GLONASS Vows Return to 24 by March

Compass Rising: New IGSO Launch

Russia’s First Hybrid Car Has GLONASS Navigation, Standard Feature

Russian Space Officials Fired Over Satellite Crash

Escort Passport iQ: GPS radar detector and navigation

iPhone software 3.0 video walkthrough

GPS Tuner Atlas for offroad navigation

HTC Snap video product tour

Samsung S7220

Broadcom Introduces PND on a Chip

Review: Nokia MD-8 portable speakers

waze demo video

Magellan SE4

Unlocked iPhone 3G now on sale in UK

TomTom XXL 540S

Mivvy One

get topo maps on your iPhone

ViewRanger maps for Nokia 5800

Broadcom, SiRF Top ABI's GPS Chip Vendor Ranking

Sony GPS-CS3KA

JAVAD GNSS Customers Now Track GPS L5 Signal

garmin nuvi 1300 series

Blue GPS shoes

ATT Breaks the E71x, then delays it.

Mobile Tech Addicts Podcast No 34

Are We There Yet?

Location Based Tech. Inks Distribution Deal with SED

CES: Xact Uses U-blox 5 for Trax GPS Tracker

A-GPS Chip Maker eRide Turns to Synopsis for EDA

Getac's Rugged GPS Comes with Camera, Altimeter, E-compass

Mobile Time and Frequency Receiver

Out in Front: Raise a Red Flag

Lockheed Martin GPS III Team on Schedule in Design Review Stage

Waze aims to create a live map

Mobile Tech Addicts Podcast No 29

Vixxi Provides E911 Address Support with Reverse Geo-Coder

U&amp;C Insights &mdash; August 2007

Leadership Talks: GNSS Election '08, Part 1

Vodafone’s twitter exploits

When Satellites Collide: Iridium 33 Strikes Defunct Russian Sat in Unprecedented Accident

Magellan Seeks Growth in the Great White North

IGS Ponders the Implications of a Multiple GNSS World

glympse goes live on Android

Tracy and Matt’s huge Christmas giveaway

GPSDO Frequency Standard

SiRF and CSR to Merge

U&amp;C Insights &mdash; November 2007

PNT Advisory Board Meeting Highlights

Topcon GRS-1

HKC Mopad 8E

Enfora's GPS/GPRS-Based Spider AT Crawls Forth

Navigon on Android

U&C Insights — August 2007

U&C Insights — November 2007

U&C Insights — August 2007