Archive for September, 2010

Japan puts first GPS satellite in orbit

Sep 30, 2010 ,


Earlier this month Japan put their first GPS satellite into orbit. The satellite, called Michibiki, was sent up there strapped to a H-IIA rocket. It took Japanese engineers about 6 days to put the satellite into correct position in space.

If you know how GPS works you’ll realize one satellite can’t really do much (you need three) so this is just going to work with existing GPS satellites to improve accuracy.

Japan’s goal is to have three of their own GPS satellites to provide 24 hour coverage over their island but before committing to that they want to analyze data coming off of this first one.

You can find a good analysis of the situation at Asahi.

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GPS guidance for the visually impaired (concept)

Sep 29, 2010


People at Yanko have outdone themselves and have come up something called “VIA”; Visually Impaired Assitant. These designers never take our current technological capabilities into consideration and almost always “make things up”. This is no different. This hypothetical device supposedly use motion detection technology, has 4 mini cameras on board, a voice operated GPS receiver to act as a GPS navigation system as well as a walking stick.

Apparently this device will guide with 2 different vibration mechanisms to guide the user away from obstacles.

They even have thought of power issues. You put it on a wireless charging mat – which also doesn’t exist.

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GPS enabled boots gets FARC commander killed

Sep 28, 2010 , ,

According to an article on digitaljournal, second in command of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), Jorge Briceno, gave up his location after live GPS tracking device was secretly implanted in his boots. We call BS but we’ll come to that later.

Because of his condition (diabetes) FARC leader needed custom made boots. When guerrillas’ custom order request was intercepted by the Colombia Security Agency they intervened the delivery and embedded a GPS receiver in his boots. Apparently all of this was unnoticed and his location was transmitted back to the security agency for several days. Long story short 30 bombs were dropped on the area and the leader and 20 of his men were killed.

Now this makes for a great movie but is plausible?

Nah, not really.

You’re going to need a pretty big battery to keep that GPS receiver alive. Same problem when you leave Google Maps running on your phone for a long time. Not only that but to transmit location back to the base you’ll need a GSM/GPRS data module which also sucks battery.

Last but not least you’d need those boots to stay in ‘coverage’ area to tell you where they’ve been. We don’t know what kind of cell coverage they have in Colombia but we’re guessing the jungle where he was killed won’t have too many bars.

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Gorilla Plus GPS navigation system

Sep 27, 2010 ,


We’ve talked about Sanyo’s Gorilla here numerous times. It must be a big hit in Japan since they keep adding fresh models to this series. Their latest GPS navigation system is called Gorilla Plus and it’s a partnership between Sanyo and NTT Docomo.

What does Docomo bring to the partnership? Connectivity! You’ve got map updates, real time traffic information, parking vacancies around you, latest weather information, and even restaurant recommendations.

As far as hardware you’ve got the 5″ LED backlit touchscreen, 8GB of internal memory, SD card slot, ability to lock satellites in less than seconds, and of course the portrait mode for exploring the city on foot.

via

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Samsung NX100 supports GPS

Sep 26, 2010 , ,


Say hello to GPS supporting Samsung NX100. We say “supporting” because the GPS receiver is not embedded. You get it as an accessory which sits on the hot shoe connector. If you decide to pay for it, GPS10 it is called, Samsung NX100 will be able to geotag your photos.

There are more innovative things about this camera such as their new mirrorless technology which uses internally developed technology and parts. Other features include HD movie recording at 720P, APS-C size sensor for quality images and 3″ AMOLED screen.

How much? $650.

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Ricoh G700SE

Sep 24, 2010 , , ,


Have you seen the latest Ricoh digital camera? It is called Ricoh G700SE and has two addon modules. One of them is a barcode scanner. And the other one… wait for it…. a GPS module with an electronic compass! Ricoh had previous attempts (here and here) with GPS enabled cameras but neither of those looked as good as the G700SE.

But you may ask, “why do i need GPS in my camera?”. You don’t really unless you want to geotag them, which means embedding location info into the image.

Ricoh G700SE is a 12MP camera with Bluetooth and Wifi. Not only it can carry its own GPS module but it can also get location information from a bluetooth enabled GPS device while transmitting the photos via WiFi to other computers.

Ricoh G700SE will be available in 2011 for about $1050.

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Magellan RoadMate 3065 Commuter

Sep 23, 2010 , ,


Magellan is trying to convince people that they need a GPS navigation system even when they’re just commuting. Their flagship model is the new Magellan RoadMate 3065 Commuter which we’ve been following at Navigadget (here and here).

Magellan RoadMate 3065 Commuter has a relatively large 4.7″ screen which has features like traffic wakeup, lifetime traffic alerts, highway lane assist, OneTouch favorites, AAA TourBook, periodic reporting and Bluetooth.

Traffic Wakeup is when Magellan RoadMate 3065 Commuter will wake itself up 30 minutes before your commute to start gathering traffic information. When you’re ready get the heck out of work your GPS navigation system is already loaded with the latest traffic alerts and ready with the optimal route for your commute.

The MSRP is $200 but you can pick it up on Amazon for about $170 though.

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EU3C Tracker GT100

Sep 23, 2010 ,


EU3C is coming to U.S. with a new live GPS tracking device, simply called, TRACKER. It just made it through FCC, meaning it may be hitting the shelves pretty soon.

The TRACKER uses GPS and GSM mobile phone technology to provide location data via SMS text messages. Any mobile phone can call the TRACKER and receive back a text message stating the TRACKER’s current location. Device also acts as a regular cellular telephone, so you can even make calls to a predetermined number.

We’re not sure when or for how much but we’ll keep you posted.

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visualizing flight paths

Sep 22, 2010 ,


Just the other day we talked about a new Google Earth feature that let you track flights in almost real time. Today we have a more artistic visualization of very similar data by Aaron Koblin.

At first this may not seem to interesting.. but try zooming in. Go to the site and zoom in a little more. Does this give you an idea on how many flights you can see? All those hair thin lines are a single flight.

There is also a collaboration with Wired Magazine and FlightView Software, where flight path renderings show the altitudes, makes, and models of more than 205,000 different aircraft being monitored by the FAA on August 12, 2008.

Cool to look at.

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Casio EXILIM EX-H20G

Sep 21, 2010 , , ,


Why are we talking about a digital camera on Navigadget? Because it can geotag your photos no matter where you are; even indoors. This is the new Casio EXILIM EX-H20G. It uses something that combines GPS with motion-sensor driven autonomic positioning.

Casio EXILIM EX-H20G will use your last known satellite-acquired position against map data stored in the camera’s internal memory, even when you’re indoors, and make a very educated guess.

It is not just geotagging though. With EX-H20G’s on-screen map you can plan your travel before departing, or just view your destination and points-of-interest. Once you’re there just confirm your location and even use the internal digital compass to determine the best route to your next stop.

It will cost $350 when it comes out in November.

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