Archives for July 2015

ESA Releases Paper on Recovered Galileo Satellites

July 11, 2015 By Liz E. Leave a Comment

Last August, the European Space Agency (ESA) launched two Galileo satellites into the wrong orbit. It made a lot of news because they weren’t just a little bit off–the satellites were roughly 2,000 miles off target. Talk about an ‘oops’ moment. Here at GPS Tracklog, we followed the developments as they happened, so you probably remember that both satellites were eventually successfully maneuvered to slightly better orbits.

I have to admit that I read a lot more about the satellites than I actually wrote about here on the blog. At the time, the only information was available about the incorrect orbits was likely literally written by rocket scientists, and finding ways to translate (and even understand) exactly what was happening was a little challenging. So, now that everything is mostly in the clear, the ESA has released a document explaining in non-rocket science terms exactly what happened and how it was fixed. read more

Filed Under: Satellites

This Week in GPS — July 10, 2015

July 10, 2015 By Liz E. Leave a Comment

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 Garmin’s new eTrex Touch Series, the first eTrex unit to feature a big, bright touchscreen. read more

Filed Under: Featured

GPS City Discounts Overhauled Garmins

July 9, 2015 By Liz E. Leave a Comment

Garmin units tend to have a pretty long lifespan, so if you’re looking for a great unit but don’t want to shell out the cash for a brand new device, then a refurbished unit is an excellent option. And, as luck would have it, GPS City is currently holding a sale on several of its refurbished units. All of these units have been overhauled by Garmin and should basically work like brand new as far as software goes. All of the devices come with a year warranty just in case something goes wrong.

Here are some of the more popular and notable sales: read more

Filed Under: Current GPS Deals, GPS Deals

TomTom Adds Services to Yet Another Fiat

July 8, 2015 By Liz E. Leave a Comment

TomTom is all about the in-dash navigation anymore and has announced yet another car that will feature its Live services. The Fiat 500 will come with the Uconnect 5″ Radio Nav LIVE system which will not be available in the United States. This system will feature yearly map updates and the same sorts of navigation things that you’d expect to see in a portable TomTom unit including live speed cameras, weather alerts and local POI searches. Although personally, I’m not sure why you’d want one.

According to the release, the TomTom Live services will be available to consumer for free for the first 5 years and is “the most comprehensive package to drivers ever launched in a Fiat 500…” Of course, I didn’t see any particular notice as to how much the services would cost after the five years are up, but since most people really only keep their cars for a little over five years nowadays, I suppose that might not be as relevant. The press release also said the new navigational system will also be available in the Fiat 500x and other units which will be sold in various countries across Europe. read more

Filed Under: TomTom

iOS 8.4 Released, Some GPS Issues Continue

July 7, 2015 By Liz E. 1 Comment

A surprising amount of people use iPhones, iPads or other Apple devices for some form of navigation. Pilots in particular have been known to use iPads to help decode complex aeronautical navigation charts so when the iOS 8.3 update caused a problem with GPS, it was a huge problem. Apple insisted that the next update, iOS 8.4, would fix the problem and it seems like the issue has indeed been lessened. However, it looks like some problems are still occurring with GPS signals on select Apple products.

According to user complaints on Apple forums, many iOS devices are having trouble locking on to GPS and holding on to the signal. The issue mostly seems to be effecting iPhones, but a few users have reported issues with iPads as well. However, it’s not widespread or immediately apparent why some have issues while others don’t. GPS company Bad Elf gave its customers the all-clear a few days ago to upgrade, claiming that compatibility tests went just fine, but a lot of users have been reporting that GPS apps no longer function properly. read more

Filed Under: iPhone, Mobile

New eTrex Units Add Touchscreen

July 6, 2015 By Liz E. 4 Comments

Garmin’s eTrex units have been some of the more popular handheld GPS devices, especially for hiking and geocaching. You might remember in May, Garmin announced the next generation of eTrex devices, which will likely be available sometime this month. And, while those handhelds look pretty nice, last week Garmin went a step further and said that it would also be offering an offshoot referred to as the eTrex Touch Series. And, as the name implies, they will all boast touchscreens for a more intuitive experience.

There are a total of three devices in the series right now, the eTrex Touch 25, 35 and 35t. All three units will share some features, although the more expensive two also include additional connectivity that the 25 does not. Here are some of the features that all the devices share: read more

Filed Under: Garmin handheld GPS, Handheld/Sport

New Edge Boasts Strava Live Segments

July 5, 2015 By Liz E. 1 Comment

In a continuation of the flurry of product announcements from GPS giant Garmin, the company reportedly will be releasing yet another device in its popular cycling computer lineup, the Edge 520 this fall. This mid-range device measures a myriad of metrics and, unlike previous Edge devices, this GPS also has Strava Live Segments built-in. read more

Filed Under: Handheld/Sport

Magellan Unveils New Dash Cams

July 4, 2015 By Liz E. Leave a Comment

On the heels of Garmin’s newest dash cam/GPS hybrid unveiling, Magellan has announced that it will soon be releasing an updated series of dash cams. With the exception of the lowest-priced device, all of the cams have GPS tracking abilities to automatically record your tracking information along with the camera features. However, unlike the most recent Garmin devices, these units are strictly dash cams and do not provide any routing features. read more

Filed Under: Featured, Magellan

This Week in GPS — July 3, 2015

July 3, 2015 By Liz E. 1 Comment

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 the new Rino 650t which Garmin announced, in addition to several other new products. It’s been a great week for Garmin fans!
read more

Filed Under: Featured, More GPS News, This week in GPS

4th of July GPS Sales 2015

July 2, 2015 By Liz E. Leave a Comment

For all my U.S. readers, Independence Day is this weekend and it looks like the sales are already in full swing! Most of the sites I looked at don’t really have much specifically meant for GPS devices, there are a few GPS sales going on.

Since the 4th of July is in the middle of summer, the sales aren’t the greatest, but with more expensive purchases, every little bit counts, right? Anyway, here are some of the more notable sales I found: read more