Liz E., Author at GPS Tracklog

Garmin Announces BlueChart Mobile 2.0 App

February 12, 2015 By Liz E. 1 Comment

Garmin International Inc. announced yesterday the upcoming release of its new BlueChart Mobile 2.0 app for iPhone and iPad. This upgraded app will provide some new features for sailors and marine enthusiasts including streaming real-time weather alerts and access to Garmin’s ActiveCaptain community.

BlueChart Mobile 2.0 utilizes the same BlueChart g2 data available for Garmin chartplotters and allows users to plan and create routes, view shaded depth contours and inter-tidal zones, mark waypoints and more. The unique intuitive interface allows users to establish a destination and search for marine service points and find information on hours of operation, phone number and services available. read more

Filed Under: Marine

Luxury GPS Fashion Bags Introduced

February 11, 2015 By Liz E. 1 Comment

It appears that GPS tracking is moving up in the world. Technology that started out as huge black boxes attached to vehicles is now being miniaturized and sewn inside designer handbags that cost a small fortune. I can’t decide if it’s awesome or simply more pointless toys for people with way more money than me.

I mean, I’ll be honest: I’m pretty clumsy sometimes, and I am easily distracted. I can’t tell you how many times I forget what day of the week it is, or how often I’ve ran out to my car to search for the phone that’s resting safely in my pocket. In short, I’m a little absent minded. The new Mezzi line is designed for people who are like me but have a lot more money to spend. At upwards of $1,500 per bag, I can’t imagine needing a GPS device to help me keep track of something like that, but I suppose it takes all kinds. read more

Filed Under: Featured, GPS News

App Provides Navigation Inside Stores

February 10, 2015 By Liz E. Leave a Comment

Imagine it: you walk into the store with a short grocery list in mind. You input the items in your phone and an app immediately maps out the most efficient route to each item on your list. You follow the flashing blue dot from one item to the next, and the phone vibrates on occasion, alerting you to coupons and advertisements for relevant products as you walk past. This might be the indoor GPS of the future, and it’s available now. read more

Filed Under: GPS Navigation, iPhone apps, Mobile, Mobile apps

Do GPS Watches Help or Harm?

February 9, 2015 By Liz E. Leave a Comment

GPS Watches and fitness trackers tend to be lumped in the same category. Everyone does it; I’m even guilty of this, even though I am well aware that they’re not exactly the same thing. Regardless, these devices are becoming fairly common in the world of running, cycling and other fitness activities. And, as prices drop and proliferation increases, that leads to an interesting question: Are these devices actually helpful or harmful?

There have been loads of articles and studies published recently asking the exact same question and, surprisingly, most of them say pretty much the same thing: moderation. Tracking your stats and numbers can be a wonderful tool, but athletes sometimes can forget that these devices are designed to be tools and that they must be used properly. read more

Filed Under: GPS Tracking

Man Runs 8 Miles For a Dream Job

February 8, 2015 By Liz E. Leave a Comment

Here at GPS Tracklog, we write about a lot of GPS relevant news and stories from all over the web. We also cover (and occasionally review) new products, discuss drone debates and watch legal issues relevant to GPS. It’s all pretty important and relevant stuff for the GNSS/GPS market. But today, I wanted to share something that’s not really that newsworthy; it’s just kind of fun. I read an article about this initially on CBS’s San Francisco web page. You can take a peek at it here. read more

Filed Under: Featured, GPS News

GPS Companies Sued For Crash

February 7, 2015 By Liz E. 1 Comment

According to the Legal Examiner, a complaint has been filed against GPS makers Garmin and TomTom in relation to a bus crash that left 35 hospitalized, ten injured and one teenage boy paralyzed. The bus driver was also named in the complaint as well as the company he worked for and the commonwealth of Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation.

From what I can gather, the crash happened in February 2013 in Boston. The driver, Samel J. Jackson was driving students from Philadelphia to Boston when the bus crashed into the Western Avenue Bridge on Soldier’s Field Road. Allegedly, the driver was looking at his GPS at the time of crash and failed to see the road signs that indicated the bus exceeded the height restrictions of the bridge. read more

Filed Under: GPS News

This Week in GPS — February 6, 2015

February 6, 2015 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 from the new Detour app, which provides GPS-powered audio tours of San Francisco.

Here are some other things that happened this week in the world of GPS: read more

Filed Under: More GPS News, This week in GPS

GPS App Provides Location to 911 Dispatch

February 5, 2015 By Liz E. 1 Comment

While not directly related to the kinds of GPS articles we normally write, location accuracy in emergencies is a pretty hot and important topic in the world of GPS and is definitely something worth talking about. This topic has actually been in the news several times in the last year, as it was discovered that 911 emergency calls made from cell phones don’t provide the same location information to dispatchers as landlines.

As it turns out, cell phones really only provide a three to four block radius for possible location to dispatchers, requiring them to either try and figure out where a caller is vocally or to simply search for the person. However, an app has been recently released that utilizes GPS to provide better location to dispatch during emergencies. read more

Filed Under: Mobile, Mobile apps

GPS App Takes You on an Audio Tour

February 4, 2015 By Liz E. Leave a Comment

Andrew Mason, one of the founders of the popular group coupon app, Groupon, recently launched a new app that utilizes GPS and interesting historical facts and annotations to create audio tours to take locals and visitors to little known locations with local history. The app is very new and is currently only available on iPhones, with Android support expected soon.

“Most of the audio tours that exist today are about what’s popular inside museums,” Mason told US News. “What we are trying to do is turn the world into a museum.” read more

Filed Under: Android apps, Mobile

Geocaching CITO Weekend Announced

February 3, 2015 By Liz E. Leave a Comment

Nature is a precious thing and it saddens me to see how poorly some people care for it. We’ve only got one Earth, so doesn’t it make sense to protect it? I think that Geocachers in particular are more appreciative of the natural beauty and fragility of the environment, and geocaching.com has sponsored an international “Cache In, Trash Out” (CITO) event to help do their part. read more

Filed Under: Geocaching