This week in GPS - April 20th, 2013

Courtesy DC Rainmaker

This week in GPS is a weekly link roundup of (mostly) GPS related odds and ends, from GPS Tracklog and other places around the Web. To get a few of the biggest stories as they break, follow me on Twitter. This week’s lead image is from DC Rainmaker’s tour of Garmin HQ.

From GPS Tracklog

Our posts from the past week:

Garmin

Some early first looks at the Oregon 600 are coming in and they are pretty positive
Put maps on your Etrex 10
Don’t have an eTrex 10 to try it on? Maybe you can win one
The Oregon 600 series owners manual (PDF)
Some portrait screenshots from the nuvi 2597LMT (5 total; scroll down for more)
Garmin now has a Known Map Errors page
City Navigator Europe 2013.41 now available
How To Create Garmin Topo Maps – Elevation Data
DC Rainmaker: An In-Depth Visit Behind the Scenes at Garmin Headquarters; here’s one quote that should be applied to a range of Garmin products:

We also discussed the lagging bugs that continue to be present on older products such as the FR910XT, and even ones such as the Edge 500. He (and the Director of the Fitness and Outdoor division), acknowledged that this was a challenge for the division and that the focus really needed to be on delaying product releases (and announcements) until the product was ready.

TomTom

New TomTom Go 400, 500 and 600 hands on and photos; via Offthegrid
Hands on with the TomTom Multi-Sport watch
Tomtom Introduces New Navigation Engine – NavKit
TomTom’s Commuter Concept (PDF)…

The business of GPS

NAVTEQ blues: Nokia HERE Sales Down 22% in 1Q 2013
As Mapping Costs Rise, Waze’s Volunteer Army Will Give It an Edge
Google Maps 1.1 for iPhone Not Well Received
Facebook Hires Apple Maps Manager
Want to be Amazon’s Director of Geo Systems?
GPS vs smartphones: A Game of Inches and Portion Sizes
Telenav goes after OEM market with Scout for Cars
The Inner Edge: Who Holds the Key to Indoor Nav?

Updates

Garmin updates this week: BaseCamp, Edge 810, Oregon 6×0
ExpertGPS v 4.82, 4.83 and 4.84
TopoFusion Beta v 4.76

Satellites and such

Is SPOT getting into the sat-phone business?
First GPS NAVSTAR Satellite Goes on Display…

GPS tracking

Track DeLorme’s Chip Noble climbing Mt. Whitney this weekend
Iowa man used GPS to stalk wife in Nebraska, gets 5 years in prison
Drug case tossed due to warrantless GPS tracker
Allstate Insurance Telematics Program Available in 16 U.S. States
UC students design miniature triathlon tracking device; via via DC Rainmaker
Rite-Aid clerk slips GPS tracking device into robber’s pillowcase along with cash
CDCR Says Increase In Number Of Time Sex Offenders Cut Off GPS Trackers
Looks like the SPOT Gen3 Satellite GPS Messenger is about to be announced or released (see pic below)
Here is a little more info