Waypoints – September 27, 2007

I’m traveling for a couple of days, testing a couple of review units in the city where I can check out their traffic features. So I thought I’d go ahead and put up a shortened version of Waypoints, lest I be tempted to work on it this weekend (I usually write it on Friday for a Saturday morning posting).

GPS message forums

• It’s a little premature, but someone has started a Magellan Triton message forum at Yahoo! Groups.
• zumoforums.com is a dedicated Garmin zumo message forum.
• And if you don’t own a zumo and aren’t buying a Triton, maybe your GPS has its own message board.

Hardware, firmware, software

• Garmin has posted firmware updates for the Legend HCx and Vista HCx that should fix the odometer problem that’s been bugging hikers.
• Mio makes the C320 official, and strikes an exclusive with RadioShack.
• Tele Atlas goes 3-D in the U.S. Well, the east coast anyway. LA and SF have to wait till next year.
• A CNet writer talks about his geotagging efforts.
• Medion, a European GPS manufacturer, is adding a biometric (fingerprint) reader to its devices. It won’t keep it from being stolen, but it will keep it from being used.
• Street addresses in GPS units are getting more accurate — in Germany. We should see such improvements in the U.S. eventually.

Maps and aerial photos

• An Open GPS project for New Zealand — Free POIs and Garmin maps.
• Hi-res aerial photography for Utah.
• A cool USGS Google Gadget lets you add changing "Earth as Art" images to your iGoogle page. Via BlinkGeo.
• Open Street Map has finished an entire country — the Netherlands. Via BlinkGeo.

GPS in the news

• Somerville, MA police asks citizens to register their GPS units, to aid in recovery of stolen units I presume.
• Galileo delayed again. Via GPS Notes.
• States to test GPS tracking so they can tax your mileage.
  "We want to assess the public’s attitudes and acceptance toward a system like this." Good luck!

GPS and cell phones

• IntoMobile reports that the AT&T BlackBerry 8820 will have a fully functioning (not crippled) GPS. Via Digg.
• A Nokia N95 review from a geocacher’s perspective.

The business of GPS

• TomTom’s purchase of Tele Atlas takes a step forward.
• Broadcom, who bought Global Locate, is introducing a new low-power GPS chipset.

Virtual globes

• Upload a route from Google Maps to your GPS.
• Google is testing a not exactly Second Life type application that may utilize Google Maps / Google Earth.
• Intel gets into the mashup game, and Free Geography Tools has the details.
• Google tries to balance varying privacy concerns with Street View.