The BBC is reporting on a UK study that estimates 50 to 450 instances of GPS jamming each day, and recorded 60 incidents in one location over a six month period. The researchers attributed most of these to people driving vehicles with tracking devices who, well – don’t want to be tracked. read more
How widespread is GPS jamming?
February 22, 2012 By 2 Comments
FCC kills LightSquared
February 15, 2012 By 2 Comments
The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) wrote the FCC yesterday (PDF) saying they had concluded “that LightSquared’s proposed mobile broadband network will impact GPS services and that there is no practical way to mitigate the potential interference at this time.” Shortly thereafter, the FCC announced that they would “(1) vacate the Conditional Waiver Order, and (2) suspend indefinitely LightSquared’s Ancillary Terrestrial Component authority to an extent consistent with the NTIA letter.” read more
Panasonic disabling GPS in their cameras to please China
February 2, 2012 By 3 Comments
A couple of days ago, Panasonic unveiled some new cameras with GPS for geotagging photos. Nothing surprising there. What did get my attention was this footnote:
GPS may not work in China or in the border regions of countries neighboring China. Depending on the locations, it may not be possible to correctly receive the signals from GPS satellites. In such cases, positioning may not be possible, or a significant positioning discrepancy may occur. Information measured on this unit is only a rough indication. Do not use it for technical purposes.
Top ten GPS for January 2012
February 1, 2012 By 1 Comment
It’s that time again, when we look back at our reader’s favorite reviews for the previous month, which is indicative of what many folks are researching as potential purchases. And what a month it’s been, as we have two new number ones! On the auto side, the nuvi 2595LMT knocked out the 1450LMT, which had held the number one spot since April 2011. In handhelds, the eTrex 20 is the new reigning champ, after an incredible 13 month run for the Oregon 450. All told there are nine models on the charts that weren’t there last month.
Supreme Court rules against warrantless GPS tracking
January 23, 2012 By Leave a Comment
The US Supreme Court did right by the fourth amendment today, ruling that GPS tracking requires a search warrant. In a 9-0 decision, the justices ruled against the Obama administration in the case of the US vs. Jones. Nevertheless, four justices differed on the broader issue of such tracking… read more
What to do about GPS reception problems
January 17, 2012 By 22 Comments
Is your GPS not locking onto satellites? There’s usually a simple solution that works for both auto and handheld GPS units, but first, let’s look at why this is happening.
GPS news shorts from CES 2012
January 12, 2012 By 2 Comments
I’ve posted a steady stream of news for several days now from the Consumer Electronics Show. But there’s also been a lot of other GPS news coming out of Vegas, so here are some shorter blurbs that didn’t get their own post, along with some related items and updates on things I’ve already posted.
Best selling GPS for December 2011
January 2, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Just like last month, my top ten GPS list comes with a twist this time around. This monthly feature usually ranks models according to the most popular GPS Tracklog reviews. But during the holidays, there are enough sales made here and on our GPS Deals site, through our various partners, that we can rank actual units sold. Analysis and caveats follow the rankings…
2011 – The GPS year in review
December 30, 2011 By 3 Comments
I thought it might be interesting to do a retrospective before we jump into the new year. Take a look and see if you missed anything!
GPS predictions for 2012
December 20, 2011 By 6 Comments
As I’ve been doing in recent years, I’ll play the fool once again, by trying to predict what we’ll see in the GPS industry over the next twelve months. I’m certainly being a bit more cautious than the first couple of times I did this, but it also seems harder to predict things now; I don’t know if that is due to the advent of mobile or because so many of the obvious improvements have been made or for some other reason. I‘m also posting this earlier than in past years, since I’m expecting CES news releases that are under embargo to start hitting my inbox any day, and I don’t want to feel limited in what I can say here.
