GPS reviews, news, tips, tricks and deals
photo by ULA | Atlas V Rocket
The United Launch Alliance (ULA) is slowly but surely working towards upgrading the GPS constellation with yesterday’s successful launch of a new GPS IIF satellite. This $245 million satellite is the 10th in the IIF series and will replace a 19-year-old satellite that was past its life-expectancy. read more
From guiding our military service men and women to finding your way around downtown LA, tracking your afternoon jog, or even deciding how far the green is on a golf course in Scotland, GPS has become a part of everyday life in more ways than most people realize. And Friday July 17, GPS is officially celebrating the 20th anniversary of FOC or full operational capability. read more
The Wide Area Augmentation System, also called WAAS, is one of those things that gets tacked on to the side of the GPS box or bullet-pointed under the specifications of some GPS units. Most people don’t really pay it much mind as it tends to just look like yet another marketing ploy. Kind of like boasting tons of megapixels on phones–does it actually mean what you think it means? read more
Image from Fox News
Today I have yet another story of people paying more attention to the soothing GPS voice than their own common sense. In Cuyohoga Falls, Ohio, visitors have been seen driving along the train tracks and blaming bad directions from GPS units.
According to Fox News, visitors claim that when you drive down a certain road in West Cuyahoga Falls, the GPS will tell you to turn right, and drivers who do turn right on to the railroad tracks. There has actually been one reported incident of a train hitting a car, although no one was injured in the accident. Many of the incidents happen at night. read more
I was browsing Cabela’s today and noticed that there were a handful of GPS accessories discounted. I’m not 100% sure exactly when these discounts (some of which are admittedly a little slight) will end, but if you’re in the market for some mounts or other accessories, then every little bit saved is helpful, right?
Here are some of the deals: read more
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
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
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
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
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
