GPS reviews, news, tips, tricks and deals
If you’re in the market for a new Garmin, then you won’t want to miss GPS City‘s most recent sale on refurbished Garmin units. The range of units available is pretty vast, and buying refurbished us a great way to get a new, gently used device without having to pay out the nose. read more
When you are out and about, there is a good chance you’ve stepped on, over or past a plain metal marker set in the ground, similar to the one above. Chances are, you didn’t think anything of it and neither do the hundreds or maybe even thousands of people who walked past it. But, that little mark is actually pretty special, and hunting them down can be just as much of an adventure as geocaching, albeit normally not done in as remote of locations.
These marks are commonly referred to as benchmarks (also spelled bench marks), and searching for them can be quite the challenge as many are placed in places that seem pretty insignificant. There is one located at the edge of the sidewalk near the newspaper office in one city I lived in, for example. But, that’s kind of part of the draw of these little disks. They are almost like hidden gems resting in plain sight.
Unlike Geocaching, benchmark hunting requires a bit more patience and less reliance on technology (sometimes). It’s almost like modern-day treasure hunting, except your treasure is a geographically significant point instead of a tangible item. In short, if you’re more interested in the act of searching than actually leaving behind anything, then benchmarking might be right up your alley.
As a girl, I can say with authority that GPS units, from a style perspective, are pretty boring looking. They’re often all gray or black and the user interface, while functional, has a distinct lack of fun colors like pink. So, if you’re looking for something neat to do for your mom (or any woman in your life) then why not download a fun pink car to show her the way?
Here are some free Garmin vehicles you can download for Mother’s Day: read 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. This week’s featured image is one of TomTom’s new units, which boast lifetime world maps and a host of other cool features. Read more about it below!
Here are some other things happening in the world of GPS this week: read more
GPS technologies are constantly improving and expanding. When first launched, GPS provided accuracy within several hundred feet. Then, when Selective Availability ended, accuracy skyrocketed literally overnight to a few meters. Now, a research team at the Cockrel School of Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin has found a way to increase that accuracy to a few centimeters without increasing the cost. The catch is that this new technology was funded by Samsung and therefore is designed specifically for smartphones.
I know what you’re probably thinking. Centimeter-accurate devices are already available right now. IN fact, centimeter-accurate positioning devices are commonly used in several different fields including geology, mapping and surveying. However, these survey-grade antennas are a too large to use with a mobile device, and the antennas and equipment is pretty expensive. The researchers wanted to create a super accurate system that was affordable so that everyone could use it. read more
Ever since the Jetsons first rode around in their very own self-driving car in the 60s, we have been working towards making transportation safer and easier. In the last couple of years in particular, great leaps have been made in the realm of self-driving cars with several companies already testing vehicles on closed tracks. But, are self-driving cars really going to happen? Dutch navigation company TomTom certainly thinks so, and it wants in.
Earlier this week TomTom CEO Harold Goddijn told Reuters that TomTom’s goal is to become the main provider of technology for self-driving cars in the future. That’s a pretty lofty goal for a company which, for the last seven years, has posted very little profit for an international corporation. But, as one of the three largest digital mapping companies in the world—the others being Google and Nokia’s HERE Maps—TomTom certainly has my vote.
Reading is a wonderful pastime that can transport any book lover to any number of exciting, distant or exotic locations. But, what if you had a story that was tailored to your backyard? The characters could meet at a local restaurant or have the exciting chase down main street. Well, a Brazilian travel company has done just that with a new eBook called Trip Book. It’s taking GPS to a whole new level, and I, for one, think it looks pretty cool. read more
Every city has something unique about it, whether it’s a memorial statue, a cool coffee shop, a world-renowned museum or a local pizza parlor. These places are visited by hundreds or maybe even thousands of people a year, which translates to dozens of photos, many of which are geotagged to show the location of these popular and special places.
So, what would happen if you took all of those photos and created a map, linking the photos to show individual journeys and locations? Well, you would end up a neat sketch-like image of the location, filled with individual travels and popular locations. You’d get the Geotagger’s World Atlas. read more
I don’t think that anyone would deny that the world of GPS is changing, and the companies that rely on GPS are changing with it. Garmin recently released the first quarter results for 2015 and for fans of automotive GPS, it’s a grim assessment.
For the last few years, GPS companies have seen a continual and gradual decline in their sales and Garmin has been allowing for 10% – 15% quarterly decline of its automotive unit. In the most recent quarter, the automotive segment fell right in line with that at a loss of 11% from the first quarter of last year. It might not sound like all that much, but this continual decline has really begun to show. To put that in perspective, The Motley Fool reported that in 2011 automotive units made up roughly 60% of Garmin’s overall revenue. However, in 2015, that number has dropped to just over half—a whopping 37% of sales overall. read more
While having all of the extra bells and whistles on your GPS device is important, I have always said that if you have to pick just one thing, pick lifetime maps. A lot of people don’t’ realize that your GPS is really only as good as your maps, and the ability to update maps without an additional fee is really worth the extra money and will greatly improve the life, value and usability of your device.
Generally, devices come with lifetime maps for only the specific continent or region in which you live. Well, now TomTom has gone a step further. The newest TomTom GO devices will all include lifetime world maps, meaning that users will not have to pay an additional fee to access TomTom’s excellent maps of other countries and continents. I am fairly sure that this is an industry first, as I’ve not seen any such capabilities from the other main GPS companies, although no doubt they will soon follow. read more
