This week in GPS — May 18th, 2013

The Earl backcountry Android tablet GPS promises an e-ink screen, ANT+, BT 4.0, 2-way radio, waterproofness, solar charger and more!

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 of the Earl Backcountry Survival Tablet; there’s a discussion thread on Groundspeak.

From GPS Tracklog

Our posts from the past week:

• Garmin nuvi traffic symbols
• Truncated GPS 3 deployment in favor of GPS 4?

Also, don’t miss this awesome REI sale on the Garmin Oregon 450t, GPSMAP 62s, Forerunner 110 and 910XT, Suunto Ambit and more! The $199.99 Oregon 450t deal wasn’t available yesterday but now is. You can read more about the sale on our GPS deals page.

Garmin

• Ouch! Garmin Oregon 6xx screen hardness test
• Garmin Edge 810 ends road rage
• Tyre now works with Garmin units; via GPS Review forum
•  iOS app allows manual entry of weight and health data to Garmin Connect; apparently this Android app does too (via @dcrainmakerblog)
• Montana forest cover (transparent overlay) map
• How I used my Garmin tempe this week:

Using my Garmin tempe temp. sensor as a frost sensor this morning. Nice & cozy inside but 34F in garden. Must protect heirloom tomatoes!

— GPSTracklog.com (@gpstracklog) May 14, 2013

Google I/O

• This big one for mobile users got surprisingly little press: Google Adds Dynamic Traffic Routing to Google Maps
• Maps API changes
• Three New Geo APIs for Android: Fuse Location Provider, Geofencing, Active Recognition
• Google Earth arrives in the browser with no plugin required
• Google Lat Long: Meet the new Google Maps
• TechCrunch and Search Engine Land dig into the changes
• The Potential Problem With Personalized Google Maps? We May Never Know What We’re Not Seeing

http://youtu.be/THxJHcR1D2c

GPS product news

• Jet: A heads up display for sports (via @dcrainmakerblog); Engadget goes hands-on
• App maker Runtastic gets into hardware business with a GPS watch, fitness monitors and more
• The Cyclo sheds its Mio label and comes to Magellan; don’t get too excited, this is in New Zealand
• JVC Kenwood unveils HUD equipped satnav
• In for review at GPS Tracklog:

Rand McNally Foris 850 handheld GPS

Satellites and such

• First Galileo FOC Satellite Heads to Testing
• GPS IIF-4 Successfully Launched from Cape Canaveral; pics and video (thanks @mikepgps) below

GPS IIF launch; image courtesy United Launch Alliance

Drones

• Canadian Public Safety Claims First Life Saved by Drone

Geocaching

• It’s a geocache, not a bomb
• Intercaches;  via Its Not About The Numbers
• Date set for Geocaching block party 2013
• Italian road rally and travel bugs

GPS in the news

• GPS Solution Provides Three-Minute Tsunami Alerts
• White House Moves to Harden Infrastructure against GPS Disruption
• Farmers embrace GPS
• Colorado youth camps offer robotics and GPS/GIS activities

Updates

• Firmware updates this week: Garmin fenix, Vector; Magellan eXplorist 110 and 310

GPS tracking

• Could Louisiana law be preventing parents from tracking students with GPS in school?
• Police: Man Charged with Stalking, Tracked Woman with GPS
• Woodbury Police Use GPS to Track Burglary Suspect’s Movements
• UT police catching campus thieves with GPS bait bikes
• Glympse gets an SDK

TomTom

• TomTom Launches New Zealand Movie Maps
• GO 400 and 500 series clears the FCC:

TomTom GO 500 series clears the FCC

Going mobile

• Skobbler brings its OSM nav app to Android with offline turn-by-turn directions (via @GPSmag); here’s the Google Play link
• New Scout for iPhone Update: Tips and Tricks

Just geo

• Benghazi: Where is it?
• After being abducted 23 years ago, Chinese man finds his way home through Google Maps; via @GPSmag
• No apostrophes on maps!
• Africa’s Lowpoint
• With Ground Truth, Google marries virtual world with the real
• How to Style Google Maps
• Google Maps guessing game GeoGuessr: Tips and cheats to beat the game
• Why hand-drawn maps are back in the picture; via @maproomblog
• Historical maps of Ireland
• PIC Cold war map shows areas prohibited to Soviet travelers in the United States; via @maproomblog

Image courtesy of the Rockefeller Archive Center

All the news that doesn’t fit

• Very cool marine charts; would love to have this for topos + aerials
• Biker mods helmet to use Google Glass as GPS heads-up display
• A look at Wahoo KICKR support on Windows via ANT, and what the rest of the industry is doing
• New ANT Android SDK Enables Development of Simple, Unrestricted Apps
• Homemade GPS Receiver; via Raspberry Pi
• Mobile apps driving more car purchases
• Take with a large grain of salt: Solar Flares May Affect GPS Navigation

Updated GPS reviews

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

• Garmin Forerunner 10 — This Runner’s Trials reviews this entry-level fitness watch