Waypoints — January 23rd, 2010
January 23, 2010 by Rich Owings
Not that kind of waypoint. Up until a couple of years ago, I would do a weekly link roundup called Waypoints, a collection of (at least tangentially) GPS-related odds and ends that might not warrant their own post. It got to be a massive undertaking so I let it fall by the wayside. The move to the WordPress platform gave me access to some new tools, like Postalicious, which I’m trying out this week as a way to make prepping the link-fest a little easier. With a little luck, Waypoints will again become regular feature.
Garmin
- Evidence that the Garmin nuvi 1690 is sending traffic data back to NAVTEQ for crowd-sourcing
- A new quarterly map update was released for Garmin City Navigator (North America 2010.40)
- FREE UK (GB/Ireland) maps for Garmin units; via @GPSFix
- A Canadian version of the Garmin Oregon 450t is being offered (Via @GPSFix)
- The Garmin Nuvi 1490TV was announced (yes, TV!), but not for the US
- Spot It Out sells add-on content for your nuvi
Mobile GPS
- DigiTimes is reporting that Garmin will announce an Android phone and the WinMo-based nuvifone M10 at next month’s Mobile World Congress
- Nav Launcher is an Android app that gives you Favorites, Contacts, History and more for Google Maps Navigation; available in the Android Market
- TUAW tests the Magellan iPhone Car Kit
- Verizon patents a system for location-aware classifieds
- Nokia To Offer Free Nav – First Android, now Nokia; I know some app providers that will be bummed if Apple follows suit.
The business of GPS
- TomTom and Garmin share prices drop on the news that Nokia will offer free nav on their phones (see above)
- Samsung to ship new built-in GPS camera – No price yet, but with 15x zoom, I’m expecting that it ain’t gonna be cheap
GPS in the news
- U.S. Air Force Urgently Seeks Alternatives to GPS – Officials have confirmed that GPS has been "jammed or interfered with recently"
- Not that it’s related, but I’ll follow that with China launches third satellite in Beidou / COMPASS system – Via All Points Blog
- Collision Blamed On Driver’s GPS Distraction – Nine injured in Michigan crash
- School Board rejects bus driver GPS concerns – Should drivers be penalized for speeding based solely on GPS readings?
- Police union fights proposal for GPS devices in police cars
Maps and aerial imagery
- Lots of Haitian Earthquake imagery links from The Map Room
- Google Maps brings oblique imagery to Sacramento, Portland and Oakland
- Map Scripting introduces a site designed to get you out to new places – Unrut Yourself!
- Free Geography Tools on merging raster imagery with MicroDEM
All the news that doesn’t fit
- DeLorme Q& A on the PN-60w and SPOT Communicator
- Ever want to try Geocaching Swiss Army Knife but found it overwhelming? GSAK 101 can help
- Owner of parked car gets two speeding tickets – Great insights into just how bad speed cameras can be
- Differences in GPX 1.0, 1.01, and 1.1 – From the Groundspeak forums
- Testing the Garmin Edge 705 versus iPhone 3GS for GPS elevation data
- A Cheap “GeoPad” – Putting together an affordable field-capable GIS/GPS workstation
Updated reviews
- Garmin nuvi 265WT vs. Mio Moov 200 – A YouTube showdown
- Google Maps Navigation – ABC news says it is good enough for occasional use
Filed under Waypoints
Nice roundup, Rich. I hope you’re able to make this a regular feature again.
Thanks Max. Always good to hear from you. Yesterday’s trial run went very smooth so it’s looking good. I’ve been pushing a lot of this stuff to Twitter, but some things wouldn’t interest the bulk of my audience there. With Waypoints, people can easily skim for what interest them. And I get to have fun sharing!