NaviGadget

Thanko GPS watch

Oct 30, 2009 gps navigation, tracking, wrist watch 7 Comments

Thanko of Japan is getting to release a new GPS watch that actually looks like an ordinary wristwatch. If it wasn’t for the battery, satellite, and way point icons and LEDs on its face you wouldn’t be able to tell this little thing was tracking your location. The name of this GPS watch is unfortunately GPSTRVBK which means nothing in any known language on earth.

Once you wear this watch, or convince somebody to wear it, you can transfer the GPS track logs to a PC and lay them over Google Maps. It sells for 17800 Yen (~ $200) in Japan, and apparently it is coming to geekstuff4u.com very soon… Read More …

Rockwell Collins MicroDAGR

Oct 7, 2009 gps navigation 5 Comments

Rockwell Collins just introduced a handheld GPS receiver called MicroDAGR which carries the same functionality as their older model DAGR in a smaller, lighter, but still very rugged form factor.

MicroDAGR can provide soldiers on the war zone with real-time position, navigation, maps and timing information on a color touch screen display. Apparently it is small enough to be worn on the wrist, attached to a lanyard, or placed in a pocket.

The company listened to some feedback from the soldiers on the field to develop MicroDAGR and so they included vibration alert, MP3 player, and even a digital camera. No, don’t immediately assume this is all for entertainment. The press release says:

These features will allow soldiers to record geo-rectified images of the battlefield for after-action review and analysis, listen to foreign language translations of important commands and phrases and get silent alerts from their MicroDAGR when they reach preprogrammed waypoints and/or danger areas.

Rockwell Collins’ MicroDAGR will be available as soon as January of next year. Join the forces to get your hands on one of these.

GPS tracking for Alzheimer’s patients

Oct 3, 2009 gps navigation, tracking, wrist watch 6 Comments

Vision Localization Systems and CEAFA (Spanish Confederation of Relatives of Alzheimer’s) just unveiled a new and improved GPS tracking system for Alzheimer patients and their families called Keruve 2010. Keruve 2010 is made up of two parts. The base station which helps you locate where the patient is, and the super sleek wrist watch that actually looks pretty stylish too.

Different from their previous version, this GPS locator is a lot more discrete and comes in three gentleman models (classic, sports), two lady models, and even a unisex model – wrist watch without any compromise in functionality.

The device relies on four different tracking systems which includes GPS-SBAS (<2.5m), a special indoor positioning system (10-40m), VisionCellid (200-500m), and T-GSM (200m-1500m), and has a feature called “multicoverage” which use the sum of all GSM networks available in each country.

The base station has a 4.2″ screen, display streets with large letters, and has an ergonomic design. We don’t have any information on how much this GPS tracking system from Alzheimer’s patients will cost but it can’t be that cheap.

Lok8u locates your unruly child

Sep 26, 2009 gps navigation, tracking, wrist watch 7 Comments

We thought we’d mention the Lok8u GPS child tracker. It has been around for a while in the UK, but they’re now in the States side as well. Their company name “NuM8″ is quite tacky – something you wouldn’t expect from Brits :) – which should sound like “new mate”. If you still haven’t noticed the product name Lok8u sounds like “locate you”. Alright, enough with name calling. The device is in the shape of a digital wrist watch which can communicate its precise location to parents via Google Maps or text messages and can warn you if it has been removed without your authority.

Their technology makes use of A-GPS too – which should help when your child is indoors and help satellite fix times be a lot shorter. Lok8u can last about 2 – 3 days with a single charge but we’re not that optimistic.

Their pricing in the U.S. has not been revealed yet but UK prices are as follows: The watch itself is £150 and the monthly fees range from £5 to £20. £5 gets you 1 update for a whole month while £20 gets you unlimited everything.

Wintec G-Trender WSG-1000

Jul 12, 2009 gps navigation, tracking 2 Comments

Wintec G-Trender is a handheld GPS receiver device with a nice big screen. It seems like it is a step up from plain GPS back tracker devices since it has functions like calendar, speed, altimeter, atmospheric pressure, fitness training; but even provides some info on astronomy. All this in addition to the usual compass, backtracking, data logging functions.

Wintec G-Trender can also be used as a bluetooth GPS receiver in case you want to hook it up to your PDA or laptop.

It comes with a wrist band, GPS software, removable battery, and a USB cable.

We are not sure who carries this device in the U.S. just yet but once it comes out we’ll be first to let you know… Read More …

Garmin Foretrex 401 now official

Jun 16, 2009 fitness, garmin, gps navigation, tracking 2 Comments

Just as we promised the Garmin Foretrex 401 has been made official by the company today. And just like we talked about Garmin did mention the military personnel as one of their target markets.

Long story short, Foretrex 401 is a lightweight GPS recevier/navigator designed to be comfortably worn on your wrist. Device comes with a highly sensitive GPS receiver, keeps track of where you’ve been by using bread crumbs so you can always get back to your camp site or vehicle or whatever. It also includes a trip computer, sunrise sunset hunting and fishing information, electronic compass and even a barometric altimeter.

It works on 2 AAA batteries which should last up to 17 hours.

Press release does not mention the price but we suspect it’ll be around $250.

UPDATE: Foretrex 401 is now up on Garmin’s site. Suggested retail price is $249.99.

Garmin Forerunner 405CX

Apr 3, 2009 fitness, garmin, gps navigation, wrist watch 3 Comments

Garmin Forerunner 405CX was just announced yesterday by Garmin. 405CX is obviously very similar to Forerunner 405 which came out beginning of last year. Improved with the 405CX is the way your heart rate and consumed calories are calculated.

Apparently people at Garmin spent some time with exercise scientists (Firstbeat of Finland) and pro athletes to come up with the algorithms which use the micro changes in a your heart rate to better calculate the number of calories burned during aerobic activity.

Garmin Forerunner 405CX weighs only 60 grams and has some features that let you track speed, distance and location. It has this “bezel” based interface that lets you control this GPS integrated wrist computer by tapping, holding or running a finger along the bezel.

Garmin Forerunner 405CX uses ANT+ technology which sends workout data to a PC or Mac wirelessly so you don’t even need to take off the watch.

Forerunner 405CX will cost $370 when it comes second quarter of this year.

Here is a video showing how easy it is to change wrist bands on the 405CX.

Timex Expedition WS4

Mar 20, 2009 gps navigation, wrist watch 2 Comments

Timex is getting ready to ship their latest outdoorsy adventure style wrist watch called Timex Expedition WS4. “WS” is for widescreen, and 4 is for the four functions it has: altimeter, barometer, thermometer, and a compass. Showing time is not listed as a feature but we know it is capable of doing that as well as having a chronograph, timer and alarm.

Your heading is not determined by your displacement calculated with the help of a GPS receiver like done with car GPS navigation systems, but rather with an actual digital compass.

Timex Expedition WS4 will be coming out in May 1st.

GPS E-care Hub

Jan 27, 2009 CES 2009, gps navigation, misc news 10 Comments

While we were back at CES 2009 we came across really innovative devices and ideas. One of them was the GPS E-Care Hub called C103. Manufactured by GroupSense of Hong Kong, E-Care Hub is designed for patient tracking.

It has some amazing features that will help the care givers by giving them the ability to keep track of their patients remotely. It does GPS tracking which is also supported by server side features such as geo-fencing, and even A-GPS to make indoor tracking easier. It has a panic key which after pressed activates the voice monitor using the GSM module. Other patient focused features include fall detection, pedometer, and the ability to communicate with other health sensors.

GPS E-Care Hub comes with a charging dock and the necessary accessories to attach to a patient, like a wrist band. We hope none of our readers ever have to wear one of these at a hospital but if you ever do please feel free to write up a short review for us. More pics after the jump… Read More …

new holux GPS tracker 005

Dec 7, 2008 gps navigation, tracking, wrist watch 10 Comments

Holux has a new GPS tracking device device called GPS Tracker 005. It is designed to look like a wrist watch but we’re not sure if it actually shows the time at all. GPS Tracker 005 can provide real time tracking – meaning it is not only for logging where you’ve been. It actually has an integrated SIM card so it can transmit it is location via SMS or other channels.

To improve satellite fix times this GPS tracking device can download ephemeris data from server through internet. This is pretty much same as A-GPS but you’re going to have to download this data manually – about once a week. GPS Tracker 005 has a rechargeable Li-Ion battery which can provide max 60 hrs working time when set to send data every 15minutes.

GPS Tracker 005 is also water resistant (IPX6) so you can take it to a hike with you even on a rainy day. For more specs check out specs page.