Archives for 2015

8 GPS Features Smartphones Can’t Match

June 6, 2015 By Liz E. 2 Comments

As smartphones become better at, well, everything, a lot of people are starting to shift away from dedicated GPS units in favor of smartphones for navigation. And, while both have maps and routing and both can lead you in circles at the drop of a hat (although personally I’d trust a GPS over a smartphone any day), there are some smaller things that a lot of GPS units offer which smartphones simply can’t match.

It is worth noting that not every GPS unit will have all of these things, but most of them are pretty standard on newer units. read more

Filed Under: FAQs, Mobile

This Week in GPS — June 5, 2015

June 5, 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 the Google Maps application logo. The search giant announced this week that it intends to allow offline navigation, POI searching and routing through its smartphone app for the first time ever. It’s a pretty big step for smartphone GPS, really. Read more about it below!

Here are some other things going on in the world of GPS as well: read more

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

Top Ten Bestselling Auto GPS Devices on Amazon

June 4, 2015 By Liz E. Leave a Comment

It’s been a while since we looked at GPS device trends, so I thought I’d take a minute today and look at the units that made Amazon’s Top Ten Bestseller list for automotive units. The last time we did a Top 10 was nearly a year ago, and while the No. 1 unit is still the same, pretty much everything else moved up or dropped off the list entirely! read more

Filed Under: Top ten GPS

TomTom Launches Trucker 6000 in Europe

June 3, 2015 By Liz E. Leave a Comment

I can’t tell you how many GPS fails I’ve read that revolve around a commercial driver using the wrong GPS for their small commercial vehicle. Trucks and vehicles that are even slightly larger than normal must not only be driven differently, but sometimes even require different routes depending on the area.

TomTom recently announced that it will soon be releasing a GPS designed specifically for commercial trucking and driving in Europe. The creatively named TomTom Trucker 6000 will feature customized routes for commercial drivers and will allow users to select the vehicle type, size, weight and cargo in order to find fast, usable routes. As is becoming standard, the TomTom Trucker 6000 features an interactive pinch, zoom and swipe screen. The screen on the device measures 6 inches. read more

Filed Under: TomTom

Open Source Tracker Blazes Past Kickstarter Goal

June 2, 2015 By Liz E. Leave a Comment

In writing for this blog for nearly a year, I have covered all kinds of Kickstarter projects, some of which have funded and successfully launched to pretty decent reviews, like Trax. Others completely flopped, as is the danger with crowdfunding anything, especially anything involving technology. As a general rule, I tend to wait until projects are completely or nearly completely funded before even bothering to write about it. And, as it turns out, HidnSeek is one such project. With five full weeks left, this tracker has blasted through it’s modest goal and continues to receive funding.

At the surface, HidnSeek really isn’t all that different from, well, any other GPS tracker. The device is small and designed to be slipped into a pocket, bag or clipped on a zipper or keychain. It can record and transmit location once every five minutes (longer periods of time are allowed) and supposedly has some pretty good battery life if you don’t mind less frequent pings. HidnSeek also supports motion sensing and geofencing, as you would expect with a tracker.

However, HidnSeek does have a couple of things going for it that are slightly unusual. read more

Filed Under: Featured, GPS News

Google Maps to Allow Offline Routing, Navigation

June 1, 2015 By Liz E. Leave a Comment

I know that for most of you, smartphones are never going to replace GPS. And honestly, I can’t blame you. However, at Google’s latest I/O conference today, the search and technology giant announced an upcoming improvement to its Maps program that takes away one of the biggest pitfalls of smartphone navigation: connectivity. read more

Filed Under: Android apps, Mobile, Mobile apps

Tips for Geocaching While on Vacation

May 31, 2015 By Liz E. Leave a Comment

Well, summer is finally here which means that it’s time for warmer weather, BBQ, and vacations! While you’re busy planning the perfect family vacation this summer, why not consider incorporating a geocaching excursion in your trip? Whether your whole family is in on the fun or it’s just you, here are some tips to help you get the most geocaching fun on your trip: read more

Filed Under: Geocaching

GLONASS to be Fully Operational This Year

May 30, 2015 By Liz E. Leave a Comment

GPS Block IIIA satellite

Here in the United States and around quite a good portion of the world, the US GPS system is the primary method of satellite navigation. However, according to Sputnik News, Russia’s GLONASS system will be declared fully operational by the end of this year and will provide the world with a secondary set of satellites for global satellite navigation. read more

Filed Under: Satellites

This Week in GPS — May 29, 2015

May 29, 2015 By Liz E. Leave a Comment

GPS Block IIIA satellite

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 the GPS III satellites, part of the GPS upgrade which has gone hilariously overbudget. Read more about it below!

Here are some other things happening in the world of GPS this week: read more

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

US Government To Test eLoran as Backup

May 28, 2015 By Liz E. Leave a Comment

FP_Satellite_icon

GPS jamming threats have increased in recent years, so much so that the United States Government has been looking into alternative methods of ensuring that navigational technology can’t be competely disrupted. The most common solution to the GPS jamming threat has been to simply develop a backup system. And that backup system would be eLoran.

We’ve talked about eLoran a few times before, and the United States Department of Transportation recently put out a call for citizens to comment on the possible use of it as a backup system (or to offer suggestions for other backups). The commenting period has concluded and it seems that there must have been some pretty positive responses because the United States Deapartment of Homeland Security and the US Coast Guard recently entered into a cooperative research and development agreement (CRADA) with Exelis and UrsaNav to test out the viability of eLoran as a backup. read more

Filed Under: GPS News