Sure, GPS helps us get from Point A to Point B, but what if you’re just trying to find the Cinnabon? A new system from Fraunhofer allows for in-store (or in-mall) navigation and uses very simple sensors to asses where you are in the building at any time.
The system works when you enter the edifice and scan a QR code. This identifies your current position. A built-in pedometer and compass assess the speed and direction you’re going and, rather than relying on GPS signals, the system can tell where you are simply based on stride length.
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Geoloqi, a name you may know because of the mobile app that once provided automatic Foursquare check-ins and geofenced reminders, is today launching its next-generation location platform as an SDK. Although previously available in API format for developers’ use, the new iOS and Android SDK makes it even easier for developers to drop in location services into their apps, whether those are consumer-facing apps, apps for government, carriers, or the enterprise.
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Considering Android is getting on in age, it’s surprising it hasn’t been featured on more “miscellaneous” devices. Phones and tablets, sure, but we haven’t seen many, say, DVD players or PMPs using the OS. And certainly not GPS devices, whose proprietary libraries and interfaces were developed at great cost, leading the companies that made them working desperately to squeeze every last penny out of them. But perhaps we’re about to see that change.
GPS maker Holux and sporting map app company SatSki have put out the All Sports GPS, a handset-like unit that has multiple sports-related mapping tools, lots of live maps (Google of course, OVI, OpenStreetMap, and more), and a location and distance-focused interface. Average speed, altitude changes, all that stuff. → Read More
Pioneer yesterday announced the so-called Potternavi [JP], a GPS for bicycles that will be available in white or black. Buyers can expect a 2.4-inch color LCD with 240×320 resolution, ANT+ support, an acceleration sensor, a USB port, and 10 hours of battery life.
Pioneer says that the Potternavi not only shows maps and directions but also lets users look for popular spots, for example the nearest restaurant or store. It also gives tips for healthy biking, indicates which actions burn how many calories etc. → Read More
It’s interesting to chart the size and shape of fitness watches over the years. The first Garmins looked like protein bars melted to your wrist by this new one, the Forerunner 910XT, looks as svelte and lithe as the marathoners who will probably wear it. The 910XT costs about $400 and will be available next week.
The new model supports Garmin’s Connect online service as well as their clever Virtual Racer feature that pits you against a ghost runner. It’s good for swimming, biking (with the appropriate add-ons), and running. Optional bike mounts allow you to slap it to your handlebars and then take it off when it’s time to swim.
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I just had the unique pleasure geocaching for the first time. I’d always been interested in the concept: someone hides something tiny in the wilderness and you use a GPS tracker to find it. However, the thought of traipsing around in the woods to look for someone hippie’s Tupperware did not compute. Then we got the GeoMate Jr., a small GPS tracker designed for kids and discovered that it wasn’t all dream-catchers hidden in stately old oak trees.
The GeoMate Jr. is a dead simple geocaching system for kids. It has 250,000 caches pre-programmed into its interface and you scroll through them using the large button on the left. Then, when you find a cache, you mark it using the button on the right. You can set the tracker to also take you home by pressing both buttons simultaneously. It’s literally so simple a five year old could use it (and reader: mine did). → Read More
Garmin Ltd. and Navigon AG just announced that the two companies have reached an agreement and a subsidiary of Garmin will acquire the privately-held navigation company. The financial terms of the transaction was not released.
German-based Navigon pulled out of the North American PND market in 2009 and has since focused on the European region and smartphone apps. It’s likely that these two areas of investment were key to Garmin’s interest. We reviewed Navigon’s last US-centric GPS units in 2009 and while they were competent, failed to eclipse Garmin’s or TomTom’s models in anyway. → Read More
Why this is making a splash today, I can’t really answer, but here we go. Nasa published a white paperin November that discusses how best to protect our GPS satellites from any sort of impropriety. The primary suggestion is to have the president declare our GPS satellites critical infrastructure. Once they’ve been classified as such the Department of Homeland Security will be put in charge of making sure they’re fully operational. → Read More
It’s illegal to own or operate a GPS jammer in the United States for many valid reasons. More importantly, it threatens many systems us humans find relevant. If GPS goes down, how will people get around cities without getting lost? (Google Maps works so well for public transit.) It’s not surprising that the biggest threat to GPS is actually its owners: the US government. → Read More
Telogis, a location-based technology firm in Aliso Viejo, Calif. has raised another $2.9 million, according to a new SEC filing, to help businesses track and manage their fleets of vehicles, and workforce using GPS, mobile and web technology.
The company touts its “mobile resource management” software and services as environmentally beneficial, and fuel-saving. According to the Telogis website, its mapping and fleet-management systems help companies: cut [drivers'] idling by more than 25 percent, reduce miles driven out-of-route by 30 percent, and can reduce speeding for better fuel economy… → Read More
Existing GPS systems usually achieve an accuracy of about 10m, but that will change soon, according to a recent report in Japanese business daily The Nikkei: a new technology developed by Mitsubishi and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) improves that number to an unbelievable 3cm. → Read More
http://www1.ntv.ru/swf/vps1.swf?xmllink=http://www.ntv.ru/vi215229/ Oh, those Russians. Sistema, a mobile operator over in Putin Country, just released the first GLONASS/GPS phone in the country. GLONASS is Russia’s GPS solution that doesn’t depend on America’s capitalist satellites. → Read More
Now here’s a prickly issue: should the government have to obtain a warrant in order to slap a GPS tracking device on your car as you drive around town doing whatever? A federal appeals court says yes, in fact, the government does have to obtain a warrant, if for no other reason than a “reasonable person does not expect anyone to monitor and retain a record of every time he drives his car, including his origin, route, destination and each place he stops and how long he stays there.” → Read More
North Korea is apparently active jamming GPS signals using truck-mounted systems that overrun signals coming from Russian tracking satellites. South Korea is unable to pinpoint the locations of these jammers because the Army runs them for about ten minutes at a time and then moves them. → Read More
The makers of the ContourHD camera just announced an update to their hands-free product, the ContourGPS. The CoutourGPS uses the same camera as the ContourHD, but with the added functionality of GPS tracking. Check out a video of the camera in action, and the press release after the jump. → Read More
Afraid that the almighty government will sneak into your driveway, attach a GPS device to your car, then track your every move? Perhaps you should be more afraid of what your child’s school has in mind? A Chicago-area elementary school will keep track of students’ bus rides using GPS. This a move to ease parents’ concerns about the perils of bus rides! Children have been riding in school buses to school for how many years, and only now there’s an issue? What a world. → Read More
The government is coming after you! Run for the hills! Oh, wait, the government owns the hills! Shrill, yes, but there’s a point. A recent article in Time magazine paints a fairly scary picture of the potential for the government to use GPS (originally a military creation, remember) to track your every move. Will this happen? Eh, pretty hard to see that happening—but it could happen. Maybe. → Read More
These maps, by Eric Fisher, are the result of interpreting geotagging data for Flickr photos taken in popular cities. Red dots mean tourist photos, blue dots mean locals. Personally I don’t see a lot of utility in geotagging, at least for myself, but hot damn does it make for some interesting (and beautiful) data. Above you see London; there are dozens more in the set. Check it out. [via Metafilter] → Read More
San Francisco, CA
