Sunday, March 18, 2012

GPS FAQ: Who Owns and Operates GPS?

gps satellite IIF

GPS is probably one of the most useful technologies to date. Most users—even if they aren’t GPS enthusiasts with dedicated automotive or handheld devices—use it on a daily basis. From getting accurate weather predictions based on your GPS location to finding your way around the city or even locating a new restaurant, GPS is pretty much everywhere. But, a surprisingly small number of people actually know anything about GPS.

Now, this is something that we have written about before here on GPS Tracklog, but as GPS is becoming more and more mainstream as time goes on, it’s something that is worth going over once again. If you’re here to try and find out how GPS works, then check out this post for a more in-depth discussion. Below, you’ll find some of the questions that I get asked the most. read more

Garmin Acquires DeLorme

Delorme_Garmin_Logo_Large

DeLorme, previously a private company, has been acquired by Garmin Ltd. This was completed in April of this year. DeLorme designs satellite tracking devices with two-way communication and navigation features. The company’s most well know products are its inReach series, which are GPS-enabled devices that allow users to send and receive texts, or an emergency SOS signal, via satellite from anywhere in the world.

“Our inReach technology is invaluable to hikers, hunters, boaters, and pilots who often find themselves in remote areas – Garmin’s core customers. We are looking forward to completing the acquisition and are excited to help leverage our expertise into enhancing their already outstanding products,” said Michael Heffron, CEO of DeLorme. Heffron went on to say the acquisition will expand DeLorme’s consumer base to more markets than they are used to, since Garmin has a global distribution network. read more

10 Common GPS Myths

GPS Block IIIA satellite

GPS has been around since the 80s, but even today a lot of people don’t really understand how it works, and there are tons of myths floating around that are just not true. Today, I wanted to take a look at 10 of the myths that I hear more than anything else, and try and set the record straight.

Myth: GPS comes from signal stations

Fact: GPS signals are actually transmitted from a constellation of 30 satellites orbiting the Earth. While GPS signal stations are integral to the mathematical formula that calculates distances and makes GPS satellites function, the signals themselves are actually from space–not the ground.

Myth: The military controls GPS signals

Fact: Well, this is only partially false. While GPS signals and satellites are monitored and operated by the 2nd and 19th Space Operations Squadrons at Schriever Air Force Base in Colorado, the GPS program itself is actually owned and regulated by the U.S. government and funded through tax dollars.  read more

This Week in GPS – August 29, 2014

The Soyuz rocket launched two Galileo satellites into space on Friday. European Pressphoto Agency

Photo by European Pressphoto Agency

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 the Russian Soyuz rocket that launched the two Galileo satellites last Friday into what turned out to be the wrong orbit. Oops… read more

GPS Tracking Device Market May Double by 2019

TrackR is one of the more recent GPS Trackables that has received overwhelming recent public support.

TrackR is one of the more recent GPS Trackables that has received overwhelming recent public support.

I write about new GPS tracking devices a lot because there is always a new device to track your dog/cat/car/kids/employee/hike/fitness/grandparent/spouse/business…. there’s a tracker for pretty much everything. The trackables market is exploding and making no apologies as every company tries to shout louder that THEIR product is fast, free, reliable, expansive, inclusive, private, secure and provides relief for anxiety, added safety, convenience or simplicity to your life. And, well, maybe they do. Only time will tell which devices get enough support to work and which simply fall by the wayside. One thing that is becoming quite clear is that the market is only going to continue to get bigger. read more

Garmin Second Quarter Report Overview

garmin-logo-1024x301

Garmin released their second quarter financial report Wednesday morning before stocks opened. Overall, the report was still in the positive although the company’s shares fell as much as 7 percent in morning trading after the report was released. Garmin reported a total revenue of $778 million dollars this quarter and acknowledged the completed acquisition of Fusion Electronics to aid with their marine products. If you want to read the full report for yourself, you can download it here, but these are the parts I found most interesting: read more

Indoor Positioning Tech Gets $70M Funding

nextnav-logoA new startup company NexNav LLC has received  $70 million in funding for their indoor positioning technology designed to help give location data to emergency response teams. You may recall this article where we talked about how cell phones don’t give accurate GPS data during 911 calls. Well, now NexNav (owned by XM Satellite Radio founder Gary Parsons) has come up with their own solution.

“The existing GPS satellites are far away and send weak signals,” Parsons said to Wall Street Journal reporters, “and people are cutting the cord to their landlines, which means emergency responders don’t have the capability to identify and find them, reliably.” read more

MapQuest to Receive Upgrade with TomTom Maps

tomtomAOL

According to a press release, the GPS company TomTom has entered a multi-year partnership with AOL Inc. to power its core mapping services for AOL’s MapQuest, Inc. MapQuest users will now have access to TomTom’s extensive digital map database, across all digital platforms including MapQuest.com and its smartphone and tablet iOS and Android apps. read more

GPS Insight Receives M2M Evolution Asset Tracking Award

Print

GPS Insight, the leading technology provider of GPS fleet tracking software for fleet-based companies, has announced today that The GPS Insight Fleet & Asset Tracking Solution has received a 2014 M2M Evolution Asset Tracking Award from M2M Evolution Magazine, the leading publication covering the M2M (machine-to-machine movement). This award comes in addition to last month’s recognition for Product of the Year. read more

Russia, China Partner to Expand New GNSS

satelliteconstellation

Yesterday it was announced that Russia and China have finished negotiations and have agreed to let the other build stations in their countries to expand Russia’s GLONASS and China’s BeiDou satellite system. The agreement will help expand both networks and increase flight navigation security and overall precision. According to an article posted on Voice of Russia, this cooperation will also allow for system integration between GLONASS, BeiDou and GPS.

“We have agreed to cooperate on several pilot projects. The first one involves putting a local monitoring and correction station … [at] one Chinese airport. This navigation, landing and signal monitoring system will provide satellite navigation for flights using the zonal-navigation method, working on two constellations, GLONASS and BeiDou,” said Yevgeny Belyanko, GLONASS’ Vice President, according to an article posted on Russia Beyond the Headlines. read more