NaviGadget

Do you want a cheap real time GPS tracking solution with no contracts? In about 2 hours - you can get this working. You’re going to need this inexpensive but powerful Motorola i425phone which has an A-GPS chip, a pay as you go plan from Boost Mobile, and a few wirings if you want to connect to your car battery to make this permanent.

For full instructions visit instamapper but here is a summary of the step by step instructions:

1. Buy Boost Mobile’s Motorola i425 phone

This phone is available from most major retailers, including Best Buy and Target.

2. Activate the phone

Go to Boost Mobile’s phone activation page; make sure to select “activate wireless web”. Turn your phone off and then back on. For vehicle tracking, you probably want to set the ringer volume to 0. We also prefer to silence the keypad, set theme to “Alkali”, wallpaper to “Ramps”, and enable home icons.

3. Create a free InstaMapper account

Use this link. Registration should only take a minute or two.

4. Install tracking software

To install InstaMapper tracking software on your phone, you need a regular USB cable, and Motorola’s iDEN Java Application Loader (JAL) software. Then download and start InstaMapper tracking software. Enter the device id from your InstaMapper account. Click “Save”. The phone will ask for your permission to access the GPS chip. Say “yes”. When the status message changes from “Locating…” to “Tracking…” your should be able to see the location of your phone on InstaMapper.

5. Hardwire the phone

For 24/7 tracking, you can hardwire the phone to your car’s battery. The basic idea is to get a SYN1630 Motorola car charger for your phone then connect the charger to car’s wiring with RadioShack’s Accessory Outlet (catalog number 270-1556). You will need to find an always-on 12V wire in your car.
We recommend installing the phone in the glove compartment. This way the phone is easily accessible for making phone calls.

Now get to work and then let us know how you did.

Here we have another anti gps tracking device which looks really easy to use. All you have to do is to plug into your car charger and it will jam all the frequencies that are around the 1575.42 MHz range within a 5 meter radius. Of course you can say good bye to using your own GPS navigation system as well when you have this GPS jammer on.

This one is sold in the U.K. for only £149.99.

If you’re looking for something a little more advanced you should check out the GPS and GSM jammer… read »

PhotoTrackr is Gisteq’s latest gizmo for tracking where your photos were taken. It looks very similar to Holux M241 and does the same thing as ATP Photo Finder.

PhotoTrackr runs on a AA battery which they claim it lasts for 22+ more hours under normal use (we doubt it), but it does have a smart power management feature with a built-in motion sensor so the ‘normal use’ may involve you sitting still 18 hours :) Gisteq put the super sensitive 51 channel MTK GPS receiver in this GPS tracking device and of course threw in all the software to integrate with Google Earth. It also supports Flickr, locr, Smugmug, and Picasa Web Albums.

PhotoTrackr sells for about $180 on Amazon, but only $90 on Semsons.

We’re giving away a BT-Q1000P today. All you need to do go here, then leave a comment and subscribe to our feed.

We’re giving away a new QStarz BT-Q1000P bluetooth GPS receiver / travel logger. We had a short review of this last week and we said we’d send to a lucky reader. Now is your chance.

To win you need to subscribe to our feed and leave a comment below with an email address we can reach you at. Don’t get too smart on us. We watch out for duplicate entries and IP addresses and stuff. Those will be disqualified. And we can only ship it to U.S. or Canada.

Here are the features of QStarz BT-Q1000P:

• Fast position fix: cold start 36s, warm start 33s, hot start 1s
• -158dBm high sensitivity MTK chipset with and 51-Channel tracking
• Lower power consumption for up to 32hrs for travel recording
• Stand-Alone travel recorder to log up to 200,000 records
• Easily switch from travel Recorder to NAV mode or LOG mode (Navigation + Log)
• Supports multi-mode setting to record data (vehicle, bicycle, jog)
• Button to manually to memorize your location immediately
• Auto on-off function for smart power control

We’ll close this post for comments a week from today and announce the winner.

QStarz BT-Q1000P was just announced last month and we were lucky enough to receive a sample product for review. The BT-Q1000P is first off a dual function device: It can be a bluetooth GPS receiver to pair with your PDA or smartphone or you can use it as a standalone travel recorder. BT-Q1000P is already available for pickup from Amazon for $100 and it seems to receive good reviews from other users on the internet.

When we first picked up this bluetooth GPS receiver we charged it and put it in our vehicle. That’s all. We decided worry about the software later. We pretty much forgot about it for the rest of the day and were happily surprised to see it still blinking away about 12 hours later. That is actually normal - for it says it can last up to 32 hours on a single charge.

The software installed without any problems on our Windows XP machine and successfully started Google Earth and showed our recorded track very precisely. You configure QStarz BT-Q1000P with this software because the hardware only has two buttons. One to switch it between off, log, and log + navigation mode, and another button to record your immediate position. The software lets you configure the tracking by time, distance, or speed, and you can even set the frequency of each one to record a waypoint.

As far as hardware, the ‘P’ at the end of the BT-Q1000P says it is the ‘platinum’ version which means it can record up to 200,000 waypoints instead of 100,000. It uses a 51 channel MTK GPS receiver chipset which got a satellite position fix in less than half a minute during our review.

BT-Q1000P has a high-friction padding on the bottom so it sits on your dash without the need for a mount which was a nice touch.

Now that we’re done with this bluetooth GPS receiver there’s a good change we’ll give it away to a Navigadget reader ;) Keep reading.

GPS gadget manufacturer Royaltek is about to send MBT-1100 our way now that it has cleared FCC regulations. MBT-1100 is a bluetooth GPS receiver and a tracklog recorder with a rechargeable Li-Ion battery that can last about 10 hours at least.

The MBT-1000 is equipped with the latest generation MTK digital processor specially designed for fast and accurate fix on GPS signals. It has a power button and 3 LEDs in the front, indicating battery low or charging, bluetooth status, and satellite fix status and memory status for the tracklog feature. Measuring only 69.5×23x20 mm and weighing 38grams MBT-1100 is very very portable.

Here is another GPS tracking device fitted with a GSM antenna to also serve as a mobile phone. Manufactured by Chinese Leader International this tracking system is a dual band mobile phone with a regular keypad as well as an emergency keypad that can be programmed to store 5 numbers. It also has a SOS button which automatically sends coordinates to the ‘guardian’ number.

Here is the full set of specs:

• GSM 900/1800Mhz or 850/1900Mhz
• 20 channels uNAV GPS module
• Embedded GSM antenna
• Embedded GPS patch antenna
• High sensitivity micro phone
• Standard cell phone keypads
• Independent redefined alarm keys and SOS key
• 128×32 PSTN display

This GPS tracker is designed to work using SMS messaging but in case of an emergency the microphone is also activated to transmit voice date too.

The UK army is planning to equip their front lines forces with a new target locator that embeds a GPS receiver.

The new Surveillance System and Range Finder (SSARF) allows the user to find the exact location and distance of enemy forces quickly and even determine the most appropriate and accurate artillery firepower to use.

The new GPS equipped range finder is all-weather, can function day and night, lightweight, uses thermal imaging, and laser range finder of up to 5km.

It is contract worth £30 million with Thales UK which is expected to start being used as early as 2009… read »

Here is a GPS tracking system designed for the elderly, chronically ill, and such. GeoSkeeper comes with quad-band GSM/GPRS module, built-in microphone and speaker, and of course the GPS receiver. What you can do with this is set geofencing for your absent minded grandpa and get a text message if they wonder to far.

Fitted with a distress button and integrated active GPS system, it can activate a warning signal when needed, provide accurate location tracking and get immediate assistance when and where it is needed.

geoSkeeper allows the user to make phone calls when in distress; it has speed dial buttons which can be programmed in to call a close relative or even a doctor. This GPS tracking system plus GSM phone just came out at an electronics show in Barcelona and we do not know how much it’ll cost just yet… read »