GPS reviews, news, tips, tricks and deals
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 a new budget unit introduced by Magellan. The unit is available exclusively at Costco stores nationwide. See the link below for more details and information.
Here are some other things that happened this week in the world of GPS: read more
The Air Force Space Command last month dis covered a technical error hidden inside the GPS IIF satellites. Thought to thave existed since 2013, this week it was announced that the error actually originated much earlier than originally thought. Channel News Asia reported that analysis revealed that the issue actually first appeared in 2011, only a year after the launch of the IIF satellites were put into operation. read more
Despite the lukewarm reception and lack of success of Garmin’s first action camera, which debuted last year, Garmin has introduced a second generation this month, this time with better quality cameras and several connectivity capabilities, including GPS. The VIRB X and VIRB XE are both expected to be available sometime this summer.
The VIRB action camera family is part of Garmin’s outdoor segment and is designed with daredevils in mind. With high-quality lenses and speeds, the device is able to record the adventures of users in HD to be shared with friends, family and the Internet. The X and XE support not only GPS but Wifi and Bluetooth so users can overlay videos with various data including GPS positioning, speed, RPM and throttle position. GPS antennas are also used to help synchronize footage from several cameras while editing, and to allow users to locate cameras for easy recovery after adventures are done. read more
I noticed this morning that Cabela’s has several sales going on for both GPS units and a bunch of turkey hunting gear. While the turkey hunting gear isn’t incredibly relevant, there are some pretty good deals on select GPS units—anywhere from $20 – $100 off some units!
Here are some of the deals that caught my eye: read more
Search and Rescue is one of the less obvious uses of GPS
When most people think about satellite navigation uses, the first things that come to mind are probably location tracking and navigational directions and instructions for traveling. But, what you probably aren’t even thinking about is one of the more important uses of these satellite systems—search and rescue (SAR) operations.
According to a UPI article, a Honeywell Global Tracking system recently passed the final acceptance test for use with Galileo’s SAR program. The system, which was not named in the article, supposedly can reduce the time it takes to detect and process an emergency signal from several hours to a few minutes. read more
The California-based GPS navigation company Magellan has announced a new automotive GPS device today on sale exclusively through Costco stores nationwide. Called the Roadmate 5250T-LM, this 5 inch GPS device has a full line of features including lifetime map updates and traffic alerts and also comes with a limited trial of PhantomALERT Premium.
Priced at a modest $149, this device looks like it’s actually a pretty good deal. All units purchased will come with three years of the PhantomALERT Premium feature, which offers audible and visual warnings of upcoming red lights, speed cameras and more. Once the three-year subscription is up, users can continue the service for $50 per year. The unit supports both landscape and portrait mode to show more or less of the road ahead and to better adapt to user preferences. It has Magellan’s OneTouch Favorites Menu so that users can quickly access locations they frequent. read more
The Apple Watch has been hailed as a serious threat to Garmin.
If you pay attention to technology news at all, then you’re probably aware that the Apple Watch will be debuting soon. It seems to be all people are talking about, which is basically what I’ve personally come to expect from anything associated with Apple. What surprised me, however, was the number of articles comparing the Apple Watch to Garmin GPS watch products. And, even more startling is the number of analysts that are claiming that Apple will be a threat to Garmin’s product line. 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 the design of a new voice-controlled GPS helmet that will provide motorcyclists with navigational directions using augmented reality projected on the helmet. It’s not out yet, but it will be soon. How cool is that? Read more about it below!
Here are some other things going on in the world of GPS this week:
read more
Imagine walking down a boulevard on your vacation or even in your home town. You see a building with a sign saying it was built in the 1800s, so you pull out your smartphone, launch an app and point the screen at the building. Instead of the building infront of you, you see a photograph of the street and the building facade, showing what it looked like 75 years ago along with historical information on the building. Well, with the app Pivot, that’s exactly what you’ll be able to do.
Using GPS and augmented reality, Pivot is designed to act almost like a time capsule, allowing users to peer into the past and learn significant and interesting facts about historical locations. Using geotagged images and GPS technology, the app will allow users to pull up images of sites and allow users to peek into the past. This isn’t the first app to do this, but it’s still a cool idea and a neat way to use GPS technology. read more
The BeiDou system isn’t global yet, but even in 2012, it covered a good portion of the world, as shown above. And soon, it might cover even more.
Generally speaking, there isn’t usually a whole lot of information about China’s BeiDou Navigation Satellite System available. I’m not sure if it’s simply because China is a bit more secretive about its system or because there isn’t as much going on with BeiDou. Either way, this week I read on GPS Daily that China has plans to launch three or four satellite in 2015, bringing its constellation up to around 20 satellites. read more
