The United States GPS program was the first real successful venture into global satellite navigation, but as more countries enter the GNSS market, for the U.S. to stay ahead we have to continue to innovate and expand. That means updating satellites and ground stations, which is exactly what the GPS III satellites were expected to do. However, these satellites have seen setback after setback and now the USAF is reporting that the project is more than two years behind schedule and already $700 million over budget. 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 models which were announced late last week. Preorders are going on now, and the price is pretty nice. All models feature a rugged design and bright color screens. Read on for more info! read more

Drones are pretty cool, but I have to admit that I’ve never really seen any particular reason to invest in one. They are super expensive, hard to maneuver (judging by the hundreds of drone crash videos I’ve seen), there are all kinds of legal considerations as to where you can fly, and they just don’t seem all that useful for your average person.

However, today I saw a video for Lily, a video-recording, photo-snapping, GPS-guided drone that is designed to be durable, pretty small (all things considered), extremely simple to use, and I totally want one. Lily is still in production and is expected to be shipped in February of 2016.  read more

When you are out and about, there is a good chance you’ve stepped on, over or past a plain metal marker set in the ground, similar to the one above. Chances are, you didn’t think anything of it and neither do the hundreds or maybe even thousands of people who walked past it. But, that little mark is actually pretty special, and hunting them down can be just as much of an adventure as geocaching, albeit normally not done in as remote of locations.

These marks are commonly referred to as benchmarks (also spelled bench marks), and searching for them can be quite the challenge as many are placed in places that seem pretty insignificant. There is one located at the edge of the sidewalk near the newspaper office in one city I lived in, for example. But, that’s kind of part of the draw of these little disks. They are almost like hidden gems resting in plain sight.

Unlike Geocaching, benchmark hunting requires a bit more patience and less reliance on technology (sometimes). It’s almost like modern-day treasure hunting, except your treasure is a geographically significant point instead of a tangible item. In short, if you’re more interested in the act of searching than actually leaving behind anything, then benchmarking might be right up your alley.

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