NaviGadget

OK mac users, here is another chance for us to pay for software. This one lets you connect most of the GPS devices to your macintosh for a real-time display of GPS information on a moving map. Of course it has bunch of other features. One of the coolest new features is that it lets you view your current position on Google Maps. Garmin and Magellan users get extra functionality too. They can transfer Waypoints, Routes, Tracklogs, and GPS satellite Almanacs, etc. Garmin users also get USB support. It will cost $50 for OS X version.

What’s new: Color maps and turn-by-turn voice directions for $400. However, the StreetPilot i3 depends on a jog wheel and two buttons to handle all input, making data entry less convenient than it is with a touch-screen-based device. Also, the software offers relatively few options (such as different voices), and the GPS itself was slightly less accurate than that of the other products we tested. Still, this 3-by-2.7-by-2.2-inch, 5.3-ounce TV-shaped unit gets the job done, and it’s the least expensive color-screen navigation device of its type we’ve seen.

What’s new: Online mapping giant MapQuest stamps its brand on TomTom’s GO 300 compact in-car GPS. Like the Palm and Garmin products, the $699 MapQuest Personal Navigation Device stores its maps and data on an SD Card. TomTom’s voice directions (available in over 30 languages and in 50 voices) are easy to hear over radios and road noise, and the bright touch screen is almost as wide and tall as the 4.5-by-3.6-inch device itself. The MapQuest GPS may be almost twice the size of the Garmin StreetPilot i3 (shown below, not to scale), but it’s easier to use; and, at just 11 ounces (without the 12-volt power cord), it’s easy to tote.

What’s new: Use Bluetooth-enabled Treo and Tungsten handhelds as handy navigation devices by adding a compact Bluetooth GPS receiver and TomTom’s fine software and maps (stored, typically, on an SD Card). The Bluetooth GPS-to-PDA communication can cause a lag, but at $250 this kit is a great way to make the most of computing power you may already own–and the clever automatic charging kit includes lines to both the GPS receiver and the PDA, so it helps keep your handheld charged.

The race is on to put a GPS receiver chip in every cell phone!!! u-Nav Microelectronics, developer of the world’s smallest and ultra low power Global Positioning System (GPS) chipsets, recently announced the successful implementation of a single-chip GPS receiver( just like TI did)

This true monolithic GPS receiver is accomplished by combining u-Nav’s all CMOS high performance RFIC core with its 3rd generation baseband IC core to form a true single-die GPS receiver. A new generation search engine has been added to support high sensitivity assisted GPS signal acquisition well beyond the levels specified in both the IS-801 and 3GPP standards… continue

There’s this news about Garmin coming out with a new forerunner series training partner. This one is aesthetically more pleasing as well as being much lighther and smaller. Just like previous ones this one will also monitor your heart rate, speed, distance, pace and calories burned. Considering the 301 sells for $207 Amazon, we’re guessing this one will be around $350.

Ever wondered why nobody ever came up with a cell phone with an integrated GPS device? Most probably it was too costly, to big and consumed too much power. TI may have a solution for that. A whole GPS device on a single chip so it can fit in your cell phone. The chip, GPS5300, is expected to be in production by second quarter of 2006.

Texas Instruments today introduced the industry’s first single-chip assisted global positioning system (A-GPS) solution in 90 nanometer (nm) process technology for mobile phones. A-GPS enables consumers to connect to a satellite from their mobile phone to get directions and maps to the nearest ATM or store, find friends who may be nearby and location information in emergency situations. Through TI’s innovative DRPTM technology, the GPS5300 NaviLinkTM 4.0 single chip offers the smallest system area for a discrete GPS solution, lowest total system cost, low power consumption and high performance A-GPS functionality.

Nope, it is not something you can afford so don’t get your hopes up. But it is really nice to look at: Columbia has introduced models of its 350 and 400 all-composite four-seaters with Garmin’s G1000 integrated avionics and GFC700 digital autopilot. The 350i and 400i, SL and SLX are the first aircraft with Garmin’s new full-alphanumeric data-entry keypad, which is mounted on a centre console.

You have a GPS device sitting at home and lots of free time? Why don’t you geocache! Geocaching - as defined by geocaching.com - is an adventure game for gps users. The basic idea is to have individuals and organizations set up caches all over the world and share the locations of these caches on the internet. GPS users can then use the location coordinates to find the caches. Once found, a cache may provide the visitor with a wide variety of rewards. All the visitor is asked to do is if they get something they should try to leave something for the cache.

Garmis just released their new lineup of fishfinders. The series includes the top of the line 340C which boasts a full-featured sonar that offers a sunlight readable five-inch (diagonal) 320 x 234 pixel full-color TFT display. The Fishfinder 340C is offered in either a dual frequency configuration (50kHz, 45 deg and 200 kHz, 10 deg) – or, for inland anglers needing a wider fish-finding cone, a dual beam model (80kHz, 45 deg and 200kHz, 14 deg). Water temperature, a round flasher-style display, and an A-scope display also come standard on the Fishfinder 340.

In addition, the 340C is also enabled with Garmin’s new CANet™ — a one-megabit Controller Area Network that allows users to connect their unit to one of the new GPSMAP® 200, 300, or 400-series chartplotter. This allows boaters to read sonar displays on chartplotters located elsewhere in the boat.

The other models in the new line of fishfinder series are the more affordable Fishfinder 160C, Fishfinder 140 for the value-minder boater, and the entry level Fishfinder 90.

Suggested retail price for Fishfinder 340C is $471, available in March of 2006.