GPS reviews, news, tips, tricks and deals
While Black Friday is one of the best times to purchase otherwise expensive electronics like GPS units, I normally can’t stand the rush and the crowds. Even with the phoenominal sales, it usually just isn’t worth the insane rush and the rude people.
If you’re anything like me, then why not check out these fantastic pre-Black Friday (or, more accurately, pre-Cyber Monday) sales that are going on right now? read more
In a meeting of the International Committee on GNSS earlier this month, United States GPS officials indicated they were concerned that the European Union (EU) would give preferential treatment through regulatory requirements to their Galileo system, which is expected to be completed in the next few years.
Space News reported on Friday that European Commission officials have been debating how to stimulate the use of Galileo in recent months, and it was proposed to use regulations to require that navigational equipment using Galileo be installed on aircraft, automobiles or other platforms. As US officials have stated, however, such a regulation would break the WTO Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade and the WTO Agreement on Government Procurement, which are designed to create a non-discriminatory national market.
CSR has announced that they have perfected their indoor location technology and will be offering it to Android developers in the form of an SDK in the first quarter of 2015. This technology uses a combination of real-time WiFi signals, satellite positioning information, pedestrian dead reckoning and the company’s cloud-based CSR Positioning center to calculate accurate indoor location for consumers inside of complex building structures. read more
TomTom has announced yet another deal this week, this time with Acer, Inc, a Chinese hardware and telematics corporation. This multi-year deal will bring TomTom navingation and maps to Acer’s newest smartphone. Referred to as “AcerNAV” this turn-by-turn navigation application is powered by TomTom’s navigation engine NavKit and will allow consumers to download any TomTom map completely free. read more
It seems like more and more, GPS mapping and navigational apps for smartphones are getting social integration in an attempt to be even more plugged into our lives. While I’m personally not sure that I approve of this—I mean, do people really need yet another reason to be distracted by their phones while driving?—it seems worth noting regardless.
Earlier this week, Telenav’s navigational app Scout received yet another upgrade designed to push the app to be used as not only a navigational aid, but also as something of a social meetup app. These new features will offer real-time location and ETA sharing within groups, much like Glympse does. Users can also message each other from within the app (which seems like a horrible idea). 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 a photo from the ESA of one of the ground stations for Cospat-Sarsat, the Search and Rescue service that went into testing this week. Read on for more GPS news! read more
Sure, mapping your daily runs is awesome, and can really help you track your fitness progress and goals. But what if you could do some good as well (I mean, it IS the season for that sort of thing, after all)? Well, a new app released for Android and iPhone (with Windows Phone coming soon) is designed with that idea in mind. Called Charity Miles, this app will track your run, walk, or bike ride and help you earn money to donate to the charity of your choice.
An example of the range of the Cospas-Sarsat coverage area and system. Photo from Inside GNSS
Inside GNSS reported earlier this week that the European Space Agency has completed the tests of their component of the GNSS satellite-aided search and rescue service known as Cospas-Sarsat. Now that the European portion of the system has been completed successfully, the whole system will be undergoing tests to determine accuracy and work out kinks before becoming available in 2016.
Created in 1979 as a collaboration between Canada, France, the USSR and the United States, Cospas-Sarsat is a global satellite system designed to detect distress signals and then send them to the nearest rescue stations for faster locating of those in need. It has helped rescue more than 35,000 people since its first launch. read more
I saw yesterday that REI currently has the Garmin Oregon 600 marked down to $250 from the normal $400 sale price. I’m not sure when the reduced price launched or when it will expire, so if you’re in the market for a great outdoor GPS unit for someone on your Christmas list (or even for yourself) then I might suggest taking advantage of it when you can. read more
Last week, TomTom announced the release of their new MultiNet-R map format, which will feature real-time maps with incremental updates. Starting in 2014, updates are expected to be completed monthly instead of yearly. TomTom further promised weekly map updates starting in 2016. Sounds like quite a lofty goal, and if they manage to pull it off, it will be a heck of a boon for TomTom. read more
