Waypoints — September 25th, 2011

Waypoints is a weekly link roundup of (mostly) GPS related odds and ends. To get many of these stories as they break, follow me on Twitter.

DeLorme inReach

• DeLorme inReach demos and details
• Manual & pics hit the FCC website (expect a big ole scary security certificate warning if you click this though; go figure!)

Garmin

• The Montana series gets some nice geocaching improvements (promised soon for other models)
• Driving recorder and rear camera add-ons for nuvi 2xx5 series (in India)
• Garmin Connect rolls out Courses; with no topo maps and trails available, they seem best suited for road bikers and runners
• A Courses FAQ
• The full Garmin Connect FAQ
• Ouch, better tether that Rino!
• Garmin’s getting third-party apps/functionality in aviation and biking; can handhelds and auto units be that far behind?
• Garmin steering folks to GpsGate (did Garmin buy this company?)
• Afghanistan Streets Garmin Compatible Map

LightSquared

• Thought this was political before? Daily Beast claims that  White House tried to influence testimony
• And Fox News is all over it; via @GPSGIS_Eric
• White House says they gave Lightsquared plenty of grief over GPS
• Republicans Want Records of Philip Falcone White House Contacts
• Coalition to Save Our GPS statement
• LightSquared’s news release announcing their solution
• GPS World has a chart with frequency breakdown
• And apparently there’s no testing schedule for precision GPS
• The Save Our GPS Coalition response

Satellite news

• First two Galileo sats scheduled for October 20 launch
• Russia launching 5 more GLONASS birds this year
• Two US satellite series declassified

Updates

• Garmin Montana v 3.50

Geocaching

• Does log length really indicate the end of geocaching? Wow, and I don’t even log my finds!
• Geocachers NYC = geocaching + music; via @TrimbleOutdoors

GPS tracking

• OnStar Begins Spying On Customers’ GPS Location For Profit
• The Constitution Project says a warrant should be required for GPS tracking lasting over 24 hours
• Court rules GPS monitoring of convicted sex offender unlawful
• GTX Corp starts shipping GPS shoes
• Wristwatch for Alzheimer´s patients coming to US for a cool $1,425; good thing there’s no monthly charges or contract
• Study shows wildlife shy away from humans; duh! 
• Swedish preschools use GPS to avoid losing kids 

GPS in the news

• Government spending can’t generate jobs, huh? Don’t tell the GPS industry that
• Should NextGen GPS air-traffic control go private?
• Thief hid stolen GPS in chip bag
• Researchers Design GPS-Enabled Garment for Patient Biomonitoring

The business of GPS

• Garmin buys South African distributor and Garmap
• Magellan is hiring
• Nuance now powering Waze text to speech; via @AndroidGuys

All the news that doesn’t fit

• Remember the TomTom GO LIVE 1535 M we wrote about last month? There will also be  cheaper GO LIVE 1530 with US maps only, and probably models with and without lifetime map updates
• Bracketron MobileDock – Universal Vent Mount; hmm, I may have to try one of these
• Magellan ToughCase – End Of Term Report
• 1930’s Connecticut and New Jersey aerial imagery on Google Maps; Via Google Maps Mania
• California Supreme Court to Rule on Sierra Club/Orange County GIS data Case
• Zeal Optics unveils new Z3 GPS goggles

GPS deals

These are some bargains we’re currently tracking at our GPS deals site:

• TomTom VIA 1505M for $109.95
• TomTom ONE 130-S for just $59.99
• Garmin GPSMAP 62s on sale for $329.99
• Garmin nuvi 2350LMT for $157
• Garmin nuvi 1390LMT for $149.95
• TomTom VIA 1405TM on sale for $134.95
• Garmin nuvi 1250 for $79.95
• Geomate.jr geocaching unit for $49.99
• Transatlantic Garmin nuvi 2370LT for $219.95
• $50 Garmin Oregon rebate

Updated GPS reviews

I’ve updated these review and resource pages with the following links:

• Magellan RoadMate 9055 – The Globe and Mail reviews this auto unit