Waypoints — December 18th, 2011

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

GPS deals

Here are some great new deals or price drops I’ve come across in the last week. All Most of the ones below are from Amazon, which is offering free shipping through Monday, though there is no guarantee that the prices will last that long.

• NEW / MONDAY ONLY: The great EMS handheld sale is back for one day only with free shipping of in stock items for holiday delivery; it includes awesome prices on the new eTrex and Montana series, as well as the Oregon 450 and GPSMAP 62s
• PRICE DROP: 5" TomTom VIA 1535TM for $114.99 $109.99 shipped
• Amazon has two handheld GPS sales going on, with deals on the Oregon 450 and 550, and GPSMAP 62s and 62stc among others; one ends Sunday and one ends Wednesday
• Garmin nüvi 40 for $84.99 shipped
• Garmin eTrex 30 for $249.99 with free shipping
• 2012 5" Garmin nüvi 2455LT for $164.99 shipped
• Garmin nüvi 1300 for $74.99 with free shipping
• 5" TomTom XXL 540TM for $89.99 shipped
• Garmin nüvi 1350LMT for $112.98 shipped
• Garmin dezl 560LMT truck/RV GPS for $349.99 shipped
• 2012 Garmin nüvi 2455LT for $149.99 shipped

The business of GPS

• Renault and TomTom to introduce in-car Android ‘tablet’
• Insights into pricing of lifetime maps (bundled with unit vs. separate purchase)
• GPS Business News on the business model behind TeleNav’s Browser-based HTML5 Navigation
• Garmin wins patent case

Geocaching

• Jeremy Irish of Geocaching.com on TEDx
• Opencaching Poll Results
• A look at Geocachers: The movie
• Bringing geocaching to the schools
• Researching geocaching
• Geocachers take to the water
• Will Opencaching ever reach the tipping point?

Garmin

• Great example of how good “homemade” Garmin maps can be: Boyds Map of New Jersey
• Worst than I thought: A reader has reported that clear travel history doesn’t clear the tracklog in the nuvi Essential series; you have to do a hard reset!
• A Google map to Garmin custom maps converter; via Boyd
• DC Rainmaker: Significant updates to the Garmin GTU10 (Tracker), relevant for endurance athletes
• Montana Power on problem when used with Vehicle Cradle
• Looks like the Garmin Forerunner has some new low end competition
• Great Lakes (MI & MN) off road map
• Transferring Microsoft Streets & Trips routes to your nuvi

Updates

• New software updates this week: Garmin BaseCamp (beta), eTrex 10/20/30, Montana (beta) and zumo 66x; Magellan Roadmate Pro 5120 and 9165T
• Northwest Trails v1.71 and Northwest Topos v0.18 (Garmin compatible map)
• Garmin details improvements to their GTU 10 tracker app

• ExpertGPS v 4.37

Satellite news

• New Generation GPS Satellite Starts Tests in Colorado
• Galileo Calling Planet Earth
• Russia Launches First Navigation Augmentation Satellite

Satellite imagery

• DigitalGlobe’s Quickbird Captures Image of Chinese Aircraft Carrier
• Fox stirs the pot: Are These Satellite Images Exposing America’s Secrets? Via @oglearth, who calls it  ridiculous, uninformed and tendentious

GPS tracking

• GPS-tracked monkeys to measure fallout at Japan’s Fukushima nuke
• GPS monitoring company under fire by court

Going mobile

• Your phone may get updated to GPS+GLONASS: Qualcomm supports dual positioning
• Siri can’t do coordinates
• What Siri could do with navigation
• Tak Wak delivers a rugged GPS-smarthpone-radio for the outdoors (Europe only though for now)

Satellite messengers

• Over 1,500 Rescues Initiated with SPOT Satellite Messenger Products
• Another two-way satellite messaging device, but at these prices I doubt it will outsell the DeLorme inReach
• inReach in Action! Follow Eddie Bauer/First Ascent Kayakers in Africa

GPS in the news

• A little more info on where the US military is heading to avoid problems like the downing of the drone in Iran
• Police ready to fine motorists who fiddle with GPS (Ottawa)
• GPS cruise control improves fuel economy
• Toronto police dub anti-GS theft campaign “Project Garmin”
• GPS measurements show Greenland rose faster as 100 billion tons of ice melted away

LightSquared

• LightSquared Update – Leaked Test Results, Lawsuit Expected
• LightSquared Reaches 30 Customers as Service Still Faces Hurdles
• LightSquared Vows Lower Data Bills
• As the Telecom World Turns Chapter 2: Harbinger, Falcone, Sprint and Clearwire
• LightSquared Seeks Probe of Report on Government GPS Test
• National Executive Committee for Space-Based Positioning, Navigation, and Timing statement on LightSquared Test Results
• LIghtSquared Update – Fed Report Conclusions Released, House Bill Passes to hold Approval
• LightSquared: We’ll Go Low Power, Search for Leaker on Report
• Lightsquared Disrupts Airplane Navigation GPS, Feds Say

Just geo

• UTM the top Google Maps search term in 2011? WTF?
• Street View Now Comes with a Date
• Google Maps County Lines Imminent?
• Backpacker Mag survey: Top trails in the west
• Experience the tsunami-affected areas of Japan through Street View
• Increasingly high-resolution imagery in Antarctica

Miscellany

• A GPS with Android and WiFi is on its way (and man is it ugly!)
• Lowrance has a new web store for maps, etc.
• For the techies in the audience: What’s inside your GPS
• A GPS promo video from Lockheed Martin 
• If you think handheld GPS repairs are expensive, be glad you aren’t a boater 
• ACLU concerned about domestic surveillance using drones
• Google Gets Patent for Self-driving Car

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

Updated GPS reviews

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

• Garmin nuvi 2595LMT – from the GPS Review forum
• Geomate.Jr – Cumbyrocks reviews this dedicated geocaching unit