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. To get a few of the biggest stories as they break, follow me on Twitter.
From GPS Tracklog
Our posts from the past week:
- Trip report — Northern Michigan’s VASA singletrack
- Navigation fail
- 6″ TomTom VIA 1605 M RV hits US shores
Garmin
- Win a New Oregon with OpenCaching
- Garmin to offer 7″ Navtune after-market in-car navigation multimedia device in Asia
- Garmin highlights GeoTab fleet management solutions
Updates
- Garmin firmware updates this week: fenix, fleet 590, Oregon 6xo, zumo 350
The business of GPS
- ST-Ericsson (jointly owned by STMicroelectronics) sells GPS business to mobile chip wannabe Intel
- Google and Facebook Eye Waze as Potential Purchase
- TomTom expands map coverage to 7,200-plus cities and towns in India
- PIC Soleus entering bike GPS market with the Draft cyclometer (see images below)
Soleus Draft bike GPS
Car tech
- US Transportation agency backs public use of self-driving cars, urges states to adopt legislation
- Romanian Teenager Wins Big for Low-Cost, Self-Driving Car Innovation
- Nuance Acquires Car App Platform Tweddle Connect for $80M
- CTIA report from GPS World includes nice tidbits on connected cars, infotainment, traffic and more; here’s one quote:
INRIX and others are collecting traffic data in road segments about 250 meters long, a significant improvement from the past.
Going mobile
- Google Glass Diary, Part 4: Local Search & Navigation
GPS tracking
- N.Y. Court of Appeals to consider warrantless GPS tracking of state employee
- Newport Beach crash: Grandmother tracked dead granddaughters by cell phone GPS
- Nearly half of the 49 newborn Minnesota moose fit with GPS collars just days ago have died
- Florida school district buses will be equipped with cameras, GPS (sounds like a hybrid GPS/RFID system)
- Hong Kong school gets tech savvy with GPS trackers
- NY State Senator Proposes GPS Stalking Legislation
GPS in the news
- My GPS made me do it: Woman crashes into tree
- Denver International Airport using NextGen GPS air traffic control; huge savings forecast
- GPS ‘Junk’ Data Reveals Volcanic Plumes
- Inventor rolling out GPS light controllers
Satellites and such
- India’s first navigation satellite set for June 12 launch
- Cost of Modernized GPS Ground Control System Soars by $3.4 Billion; could be the end of OCX
Just geo
- Google offers online mapping course
- GeoSettr for GeoGuessr
- Google Maps personalization will hurt public space and engagement
- Twelve Mile Circle: Initial Thoughts on the New Google Maps
- Top 10 hidden corners of US national parks
- Nice UK hiking mashup; via Google Maps Mania
- Hiking China’s ‘wild wall’
- Historic North Carolina Maps; via Google Maps Mania
- I-5 bridge that collapsed into river is already gone from Google Maps
- The Basement Geographer site lives again
- Here’s what Pangea looks like mapped with modern political borders; via @GeoEntelechy
- Jonathan Crowe reviews The Art of the Map (Amazon
)
- Convert PDF to AutoCAD Formats for Free
- PIC The amazing colors of Laguna Verde, Argentina (pic below); via Google Earth Blog
Laguna Verde
All the news that doesn’t fit
- Nine Washington speed cameras took $84.9 million in fines for 2012; via Pocket GPS World
- TeleCommunication System Next Gen 911 First in Production with Carriers
Updated GPS reviews
I’ve updated these review and resource pages with the following links:
- Garmin nuvi 3597LMTHD – CNET gives this new top of the line model a 4 out of 5 star rating
- Magellan eXplorist GC – 2Wired2Tired reviews this dedicated geocaching unit
- Magellan SmartGPS – Consumer Reports tackles this smartphone-connected unit, as does All Things D
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