Archives for 2015

System Allows Drones to Fly Without GPS

May 27, 2015 By Liz E. 1 Comment

GPS drone (UAS) with GoPro camera; Creative Commons image courtesy Don McCullough

Drones are absolutely taking off in popularity and public appeal (pardon the pun). In the wake of the FAA finally releasing rules and regulations for drone use, it seems like the whole world has suddenly become drone-crazy. But, with companies like Amazon promising that drone deliveries are just around the corner, researchers are looking fore newer and better ways for drones to get around in cities where GPS isn’t always super reliable. read more

Filed Under: GPS News

Supermarket Uses LEDs for Indoor GPS

May 26, 2015 By Liz E. Leave a Comment

indoor location

I’m not really 100% sure why, but for some reason or other everyone seems to be rather obsessed with indoor location technology, specifically for commercial use. I can’t say that I’m not interested in anything that avoids me having to walk up and down every aisle looking for black olives (which are always placed somewhere strange), but the indoor location technologies most places pitch just seem far fetched and less than helpful. Many of them involve Bluetooth as well, which is not only costly but requires Bluetooth to be on which sucks down my smartphone battery. There just isn’t really an elegant fix for indoor location technology right now.

Well, Philips, a company that focuses on innovation in various lifestyle areas, thinks it might have come up with a solution. Using advanced LED lights which transmit not only illumination but also codes that provide location information. Then, using the same basic ideas that spawned the GPS system, Philips has designed a navigation system that could help customers find their way around a supermarket or other indoor location. read more

Filed Under: GPS News

Earn Geocaching Road Trip Souvenirs

May 25, 2015 By Liz E. Leave a Comment

Other than swimming pools and grilling outside, one of the first things that I think about when I think about summer is vacations and, more importantly, road trips. There’s nothing quite like going on a road trip with friends or family to discover new places and generally just celebrate the summer.

Well, the people over at Groundspeak want to get in on that action and have set up a collection of Geocaching Road Trip quests for dedicated geocachers to explore the history of geocaching, discover new things and celebrate 15 years of geocaching. Oh, and did I mention that you’ll get souvenirs for your trouble? Yeah, I know what I’m doing this summer. read more

Filed Under: Geocaching

GPS III Program, Ground Systems Grossly Over Budget

May 24, 2015 By Liz E. Leave a Comment

gps satellite IIF

The United States GPS program was the first real successful venture into global satellite navigation, but as more countries enter the GNSS market, for the U.S. to stay ahead we have to continue to innovate and expand. That means updating satellites and ground stations, which is exactly what the GPS III satellites were expected to do. However, these satellites have seen setback after setback and now the USAF is reporting that the project is more than two years behind schedule and already $700 million over budget. read more

Filed Under: Featured

Garmin Removes Viago App With No Fanfare

May 23, 2015 By Liz E. Leave a Comment

Do you remember the Garmin Viago app? Unless you were one of the several thousand people who downloaded it, I am going to guess probably not. We covered its release in June, but I admit after the article was published, I never really gave it a second thought. And as it turns out, I’m not the only one who wasn’t very impressed with the app.

Immediately after launch, the app had poor reviews on both Google Play and iTunes and now, eight months later, Garmin has officially and quietly shuttered the program. The Viago launch page currently features a message that the app is no longer available for download although all the rest of the PR marketing material is still there to read through, strangely enough. I’m not sure when, exactly, this happened (as I wasn’t using the app) but Android Police claims it was earlier this year. read more

Filed Under: Mobile, Mobile apps

This Week in GPS — May 22, 2015

May 22, 2015 By Liz E. Leave a Comment

eTrex20x_HR_200_300

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 models which were announced late last week. Preorders are going on now, and the price is pretty nice. All models feature a rugged design and bright color screens. Read on for more info! read more

Filed Under: Featured

Garmin Oregon, eTrex on Sale at GPS City

May 21, 2015 By Liz E. Leave a Comment

eTrex 10 vs 20 display

If you’re a fan of handheld GPS devices, then this might just be your lucky week. After the recent announcement of Garmin’s new eTrex devices, GPS City has been reducing price like crazy on their old eTrex devices. And, just for good measure, also has discounted the extremely popular Oregon 650 which is still one of the better handheld GPS devices on the market. read more

Filed Under: Current GPS Deals, GPS Deals

Apple Buys Navigation Company, Signs with TomTom Anyway

May 20, 2015 By Liz E. 2 Comments

Apple is one of those huge corporations that, whenever it does anything, it’s all over the news. Recently, the technology behemoth purchased a small navigation startup by the name of Coherent Navigation, and the internet exploded with theories as to why. With the dismal state of Apple Maps, I can’t say that I found the move particularly surprising or even all that noteworthy. I hadn’t even heard of Coherent Navigation until Apple purchased them.

After doing a bit of research (mostly out of curiosity because it kept popping up in my news feed) this little GPS company apparently was pretty small, based on the coast and mostly handled navigation and location research projects funded by the U.S. Department of Defense. Pretty cool, but again, nothing super noteworthy. The company’s primary claim to fame was its work on High-Integrity GPS or “iGPS” which is meant to help improve GPS reliability. Which, if you’ve ever looked at Apple Maps, then you know Apple certainly is interested in. read more

Filed Under: iPhone, Mobile

GPS City Offers Forerunner Discounts

May 19, 2015 By Liz E. Leave a Comment

Garmin’s Forerunner series of running and cycling watches while not really the top of the market, are still reasonably popular in the GPS watch market. These devices can track runner/cyclists paces, distance, speed, track and, with the addition of a heart monitor, heart rate.

Well, all of that changed with the recent introduction of Garmin’s new Forerunner 225. This device comes with a built-in heart monitor which allows it to record user’s heart rates without the addition of an uncomfortable and bulky chest strap. The Forerunner 225 is expected to be released in the next couple of months, but if you’re in the market for a new Forerunner device, then now is definitely the time.
read more

Filed Under: Current GPS Deals, GPS Deals

GPS and Map-Reading Skills

May 18, 2015 By Liz E. Leave a Comment

I came across a really interesting article published by the BBC earlier this month regarding the use of sat-navs and GPS navigation and how the proliferation of these technologies is a threat to basic map-reading skills. The article itself talked a lot about how the younger generation doesn’t know how to read basic maps and is, therefore, losing a lot of basic skills and independence.

“Many cannot read a landscape, an ordnance survey map, or find their way to a destination with just a compass, let alone wonder at the amazing role astronomy plays in establishing a precise location,” the president of the Royal Institute of Navigation (RIN), Roger McKinlay told BBC in the article. “Instead, generations are now growing up utterly dependent on signals and software to find their way around.”

But, is that really a problem? read more

Filed Under: Maps