NaviGadget

By the end of 2006, TeleAtlas, supplier of the maps on most of TomTom’s products, is planning on shipping realistic three-dimensional maps of large European and American cities.

At the Independent Blackberry User summit held at the Hilton in Amsterdam last Thursday, Leon van de Pas, TeleAtlas’ salesmanager Europe, claimed that the conversion from 2D to 3D maps is the most important development in 2006. “We use six camera’s on all our map-data-collecting mobilhomes, and we also measure the height of the buildings with a gyroscope. Before the end of the year, we’ll add 3D environments of large European cities to our maps.” In this 3D mode, images are projected on the buildings in the cities, so the mapping experience become extremely realistic. Hundreds of employees in India are currently busy inputting the images into databases. The technology that is used for this project is called “mobile mapping”, and was developed by Polish based GeoInvent, a company that was bought by TeleAtlas last year.

But not only buildings will get a recognisable face. Also POI’s are thought of. For this, TeleAtlas is combining their efforts with 3000 suppliers of POI data.

Dates
Eventhough the 3D maps should be available by the end of the year, little is known about which Personal Navigation Device supplier will be the first to bring a product that supports this technology to the market.

Van de Pas doesn’t believe that PDA’s will be suited for such a task since he thinks that only dedicated devices will have the necessary horsepower aboard. “Dedicated GPS chipsets have to be incorporated into the devices”. He also claims that PDA still can’t compete with the easy of use that a TomTom GO is currently providing. “A Blackberry is more suited for business use. The fact that it also runs navigational software is only a nice bonus”. read

Arriving more than fashionably late to the 3G party, the first UMTS-enabled handset from BenQ-Siemens is currently arriving on store shelves across Europe. Introduced at CeBIT 2005, the SXG75 also scores two other firsts: it’s also the first Linux handset from a major brand name to go into widespread distribution, and even boasts integrated GPS - a feature shared only by communicators such as the HP iPAQ hw6515 and Mio Technology’s soon-to-be-launched Mio A701. Other highlights of the SXG75 include a high-resolution, 2.2-inch display, a 2 Megapixel camera and the ability to conduct video calls, as well as a stereo FM radio with RDS to back up audio and video playback support for a number of formats. Users can choose to store media in the 64 MB of non-volatile memory of the SXG75 or on RS-MMC cards, while business users will be pleased to find a comprehensive messaging suite with e-mail as well as PIM synchronization with desktops.

Available now, the BenQ-Siemens SXG75 sells in the €375 EUR range, claiming up to 6 hours of talk time and 400 hours of standby. infosyncworld

A company is paying money for finding its SOG’s. (SkySite Platform® On Ground). These can be located anywhere in Arizona, Texas, Arkansas, Oklohoma, etc… In 2005 they report paying out over $93,000 in bounties for finding their equipment… read

You choose a SOG on a “first come, first served” basis and I send you back the exact coordinates of each SOG. You then have 48 hours of “no competition recovery time”, to achieve your mission. Meaning you are the only one with those exact set of coordinates for 48 hours. You must report back in within that time frame (unless prior arrangements have been made) or the SOG goes back up for grabs.

Verizon Wireless announced the availability of VZ Navigator, a tool that gives users access to maps, audible turn-by-turn directions and the ability to find 14 million different points of interest.

The tool initially will be available on the new Motorola V325, a Get It Now-enabled flip phone that also was introduced today.

The phone features a brushed metal and soft-touch finish, integrated camera with self-portrait and color effects, high-resolution color display and 30 MB of storage. The Motorola V325 is available for $79.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate and with a 2-year customer agreement.

VZ Navigator is available for $9.99 for unlimited monthly access or $2.99 for 24-hour use. Customers can download the application directly to their Motorola V325… verizon gps navigation

HP has announced that it is to enter the Sat Nav market with a new device it has launched with ViaMichelin.

Using a PDA model originally announced in September last year, HP has decided to use its rx1950 PDA at the core of the system adding a cradle and the software to offer the GPS solution.

The new name – the rx1950 Navigator has been bundled with the latest version of ViaMichelin’s navigation software and a car cradle to offer the GPS element.

HP has been able to make the PDA GPS ready by including the GPS receiver in the car cradle rather than as a bolt on to the unit. While this is helpful for users looking to find their way in the car, it will mean that users hoping to find there way around the city on foot will suffer unless they take the cradle with them. The cradle also includes a speaker to relay directions… hp rx1950

This is from HP’s UK website: The HP iPAQ rx1950 Navigator bundle is a complete in-car GPS navigation system: This unique solution combines HP quality, ViaMichelin Navigation software with a high quality GPS CarCradle (including loudspeaker) to deliver a superb all-in-one system. A choice of dashboard or windscreen mounting enables the cradle to be securely fixed in the ideal position to suit individual driver preference while allowing for safe driving.

The first industrial phase of Galileo, the European satellite navigation system, has taken off thanks to the contract signed on 19 January between Galileo Industries and the European Space Agency (ESA). Galileo Industries - a joint company set up by Alcatel Alenia Space SAS, Alcatel Alenia Space SpA, EADS Astrium GmbH and EADS Astrium Ltd, Thales and Galileo Sistemas y Servicios (GSS) - met its counterpart at the Ministry of Transport in Berlin, where they agreed on a €1 billion contract for the development and supply of four satellites and ground infrastructures by the end of 2008.

These satellites are the first of the 30-satellite constellation required by the Galileo system, an EU-promoted project which includes non-European participants such as China, Israel, the Ukraine and South Korea and aims to soon be able to compete with the US’s GPS ground positioning satellite system. According to its schedule, Galileo should be up and running in 2010… Galileo takes off

GeoSpatial Experts today unveiled a new GPS photo mapping product bundle that includes a Pentax digital camera, Garmin handheld GPS receiver and the GeoSpatial Experts GPS-Photo Link software. GeoSpatial
Experts will be demonstrating all three products January 31-February 2 at the ESRI Federal Users Conference in Washington, D.C.

The Pentax-Garmin package is the third GPS-Photo Link mapping product bundle offered by GeoSpatial Experts, the one-stop shop for photographic mapping needs. Due to relatively low cost of the camera and GPS receiver, GeoSpatial Experts views this as the perfect hardware/software combination for first-time photo mapping users.

This is one of the latest products from GlobalSat, a Taiwan based company that manufactures wireless devices:

Unlike traditional GPS receivers which require separate antennas or wires, the BC-337 is an integrated receiver with a built-in patch antenna designed to fit directly into the Compact Flash or PCMCIA slot. The BC-337 was designed in SiRF Star III with wireless consumer applications in mind; it will give accurate readings from up to 20 channels. The BC-337 has an exceptional accuracy of WAAS which makes it ideal for detailed turn-by-turn mapping. The BC-337 is an inexpensive, flexible alternative to traditional navigation systems.
The BC-337 is truly transportable. Insert it into your PDA and place it in a convenient spot in your car and enjoy the benefits of using your additional mapping software for intelligent route calculation and voice-prompted, turn-by-turn navigation instructions.

Today a very informative review on the new GlobalSat BC-337 Compactflash GPS receiver came out:

The unit I received for review came with a PCMCIA to CF adaptor card, for use with laptops, and a 5 metre long magnetic based external antenna which can plug into the right hand side of the receiver. These are listed as optional extras, so check when you purchase.

I didn’t feel the need to use the antenna during any of my evaluation however as the unit performed well on its own, even inside my car. I did try it out, but the improvement was marginal. The antenna may be useful however in some situations with coated windscreens, in trucks, boats, etc..

Without using the external antenna, the Globalsat BC-337 was fast to pick up 3 or 4 satelintes from within my lounge within 45 seconds from a cold start. The initial fix was a bit variable, but it continued to pickup plenty of additional sattelites over the next few minutes, and the fix stabilised right on target at stayed that way, consistent with the BT-338.

Straight from manufacturers site: (before you continue, you are probably wondering who E-Ten is. These are the people who first created DOS input for the Chinese language in 1985 and moved onto handheld device market in the 90’s)
“The G500 is the first Pocket PC Phone from E-TEN to have fully integrated GPS capabilities. The G500’s embedded RoyalTek GPS module, featuring the SiRF Star III high sensitivity chipset and an innovative internal antenna design, means that PDA or phone owners who also regularly need to access GPS services, no longer have to carry additional accessories or even a separate GPS device when they travel. No other product makes it as easy or as convenient as the G500 to have the latest satellite navigation technology always on hand.
The G500 is designed to be the perfect all-in-one handheld device. At only 119 x 62 x 23mm the G500 is comparable in size to traditional mobile phone handsets. In addition to GSM phone and GPS functions, the device also serves as a high-specification PDA running Windows Mobile 5.0. The device uses a Samsung S3C2440 processor operating at 400 MHz and includes 128MB of Flash ROM and 64MB SDRAM memory, which can be used to save applications and files. The device uses a replicable 1,440mAh Li-Ion battery, which offers on average 3.5-4 hours of talk-time or 10-15 hours of Pocket PC usage. Finally, the G500 also features a 1.3M pixel CMOS camera and built in microphone allowing users to capture digital images, voice recordings, and even movies.”

For $1875 you get a GPS navigation system, CD, DVD, mp3, wma, mpeg player, a hard disk, iPod connectivity and more. And did we mention the navigation was 3D? Don’t worry if you can’t afford it though, nobody knows where and when it will be available yet. Probably never in the U.S. Just enjoy the screen shot.