Archives for December 2016

New GPS App Shows Geological Points of Interest Along Route

December 31, 2016 By Liz E. Leave a Comment

Geology is one of those sciences that either you love it, or you don’t. Most people who aren’t geology nerds haven’t really studied it much past a high school science class or, at best, a 101 gen ed course in college. I know that I certainly haven’t, but that doesn’t change the fact that geology is a rather fascinating subject. I like it so much in fact, that I always try and include a geology section on the weekly news roundup here at GPS Tracklog.

So, for anyone who is like me and has the habit of peering out the window on a flight or road trip and wondering, the app Flyover Country is going to become your new best friend. This app, created by the University of Minnesota Department of Earth Sciences and funded by the National Science Foundation, allows users to download a track and then use GPS to learn about interesting geological and fossil sites on a hike, road trip, or even flight. read more

Filed Under: GPS News, Mobile apps

This Week in GPS — December 30, 2016

December 30, 2016 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 an airplane because GPS and Galileo both have announced that they will be working together for airline safety. Read more below, and other GPS news as well: read more

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

4 Reasons Why Handheld GPS is Better Than a Phone

December 29, 2016 By Liz E. 4 Comments

For every job or hobby, the most important thing is to have the right tool. Surprisingly, most people seem to gravitate more towards what is convenient than what is best, and this can lead to some serious problems. Sure, your phone can do a lot of things including GPS, but that doesn’t mean that it’s good at all of those things. One of the things that I am constantly arguing is that auto GPS devices are better than smartphones, no matter what anyone says. And, unsurprisingly, I think that handheld GPS devices can also trump smartphones.

Handheld GPS devices are some of the most versatile GPS devices on the market. They can be used for hiking, backpacking, geocaching, kayaking, or any activity that takes you to the Great Outdoors. While many phone apps mimic the functionality of dedicated GPS devices, there are some things that a dedicated handheld GPS device does which a phone cannot, really.

Filed Under: Handheld/Sport

Couple May Receive Fine After GPS Led Them on Train Tracks

December 28, 2016 By Liz E. Leave a Comment

By amtrak_russ – CC BY 2.0, Image Link

In yet another example of people following GPS to places where anyone with an ounce of common sense wouldn’t go, a couple in Illinois drove on the Metra tracks after the GPS allegedly told them to drive up a ramp used by Metra workers. The couple were in separate vehicles, following each other and while one vehicle got off the tracks, the other was struck by a train, causing a delay during rush hour.

According to the DNA Info article, the married couple were likely attempting to get on to the Kennedy Expressway at North Avenue and instead took the ramp onto the Metra tracks, where the SUV was hit by a train. No one was injured, but the incident delayed around 200 passengers for around three hours while the SUV was towed and the tracks checked for damage. The couple were reportedly given a ticket for trespassing, which is a class C misdemeanor in Illinois. read more

Filed Under: GPS News

GPS, Galileo to Work Together For Airliner Navigation

December 27, 2016 By Liz E. Leave a Comment

If there’s one thing that never fails to make people sit up, pay attention, and finally work together, it has to be air travel and safety. In 1983, President Reagan opened up GPS for civilian use after the Korean Air Lines Flight 007 was shot down when it strayed into Soviet airspace. Then, in 2000, GPS accuracy was increased as President Clinton ended Selective Availability. Now, it looks like the aviation community may get yet another tech bump in the near future.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the United States and the European Union have agreed to work together to allow aircraft to access both GPS and the yet-unfinished Galileo signals, providing better and more accurate navigational information. With this initiative, each system would be working as a backup for the other, providing more protection against hacking, jamming, spoofing, and other similar threats.

Filed Under: Featured, GPS News, Satellites

Runkeeper Adds GPS Support to Apple Watch Series 2

December 26, 2016 By Liz E. Leave a Comment

When the Apple Watch was introduced in 2015, many people wondered if it was the beginning of the end for running watches. We predicted that it wouldn’t push out Garmin at all, mostly because it didn’t even come with GPS capabilities, meaning that anyone looking to use it for workouts would also have to bring along a phone for any kind of tracking. Well, it looks like more than a year later, Apple will finally be getting the GPS capabilities.

Earlier this month, Runkeeper announced new update for the Apple Watch Series 2 devices that will finally take advantage of the GPS chips inside the Apple Watches. With this new functionality, the app will not only track things like distance and heart rate, but also mark your tracks via GPS. I personally haven’t had much experience with it, but the reviews have been a little sketchy. Some users reported that the GPS signal was a little variable, but the app does feature GPS bars to help show where the signals are low. read more

Filed Under: Handheld/Sport, iPhone

Hudify Uses Your Phone and Apps For HUD

December 25, 2016 By Liz E. Leave a Comment

Heads-Up Displays (also called HUD) are, in my opinion, one of the cooler ways to get GPS navigation and instructions. For those unfamiliar, HUD projects the navigation information right on your windshield, sometimes with augmented reality so it looks like the directions are overlaid on the roads themselves. The benefit to this, of course, is that you won’t have to look away from the road, even for a second, to get directions. The downside is that HUDs are usually extremely expensive as it’s still a pretty new technology.

However, it looks like a fully-funded Kickstarter project has launched that will make HUD more readily available to your average consumer. Completely funded last week, and still available through the company website, Hudify is a HUD that is designed to work with your cell phone. This aftermarket HUD is not quite as cool as the ones that project on your windshield, but it’s still a cool idea.

Filed Under: GPS News, Mobile

Norad to Track Santa’s Trip

December 24, 2016 By Liz E. Leave a Comment

Christmas Eve is finally here again, which means that the countdown has begun for Santa and his elves to get all of the presents loaded up, the naughty and nice list checked again, and the travel plans made. But, have you ever wondered how Santa manages to visit all of the children in one night? While I’m don’t know what we’ll ever know exactly how he manages it all, one thing that we can be sure is that he definitely visits all the children of the world, giving out presents. And how do we know? Well, by tracking him via GPS, of course!

In fact, since 1955, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) has been tracking Santa’s progress on Christmas Eve to make sure that the jolly man doesn’t run into any problems on his flight. While originally they used radar to hone in on Rudolph’s shining red nose, in the modern era, advanced GPS technology, specially-designed SantaCams, and input from the elves that make up Santa’s flight team allow NORAD to track exactly where the jolly man himself is delivering toys throughout the night.

Filed Under: Featured

This Week in GPS — December 23, 2016

December 23, 2016 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 an illustration of Santa in honor of the holiday! Be sure to check back tomorrow to find out how NORAD is using satellites to track Santa’s passage!

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

Filed Under: More GPS News, This week in GPS

Exhibition at the British Library Delves Into Mapping History

December 22, 2016 By Liz E. Leave a Comment

From the first hand drawn maps used by explorers and sailors to the digital maps used by your average college student navigating a new city, maps are an important part of the history of not only humans, but travel and even GPS. After all, without accurate maps, GPS signals would be basically useless—as seen by the vast number of people who ended up lost because the GPS tried to direct them through streets that no longer existed.

Now through March 1, 2017, the PACCAR Gallery inside the British Library in London will be hosting an exhibition of paper maps. Called Maps and the 20th Century: Drawing the Line, the exhibition explores the power and evolution of maps across the last century and questions how maps effect our daily lives and what it means to be mapped. read more

Filed Under: GPS News, Maps