GPS Tracklog

Geohashing - New GPS sport requires planning and caution

Geohashing is a new GPS sport where participants are sent to random coordinates to meet. Each day, new coordinates are automatically generated for each 1°x1° square of latitude and longitude.

World's largest GPS hoax

A few days ago, stories started appearing online about an artist who drew a self-portrait with a GPS receiver carried around the globe by DHL. Trouble is, it was all a hoax. Wired does a pretty good job of debunking it, and now the artist has posted a disclaimer saying it was a "fictional work."

Left-handed use of GPS may become California law

Okay, maybe that's overstating it a little, but those nanny-state legislators are at it again. If they would just remove the prohibition on GPS windshield mounts, that would be great, but no, they want to limit where you can mount a GPS to "a 5-inch square in the lower corner of the windshield nearest to the driver" or "a 7-inch square in the lower corner of the windshield farthest removed from the driver."

I'm not even sure where to begin dismantling the problems in this legislation. Let's start with my somewhat flippant title. Your choice, as a driver with a left-mounted GPS, is to use your left hand or reach across the steering wheel with your right hand. Southpaws rejoice.

NAVTEQ upgrades historical average speed data

NAVTEQ has announced a major update to their historical average speed database, which can be used to generate improved routing and more accurate arrival time estimates. Dash users will be familiar with the concept, since the Dash Express uses competitor INRIX's historical average speed data.

Perhaps with the new database, we'll finally see this integrated into Garmin GPS devices. Apparently, Garmin has felt that previous versions of the data were not good enough to use.

Read on for the full press release:

Consumer Reports rates Garmin nuvi 760 tops

Consumer Reports has released the results of their latest GPS tests, and I've got the full press release after the jump. I've added links to my reviews of the units they mention and recommend.

Overall, I think they did a pretty good job here, much better than in the past when they have rated units introduced years before.

INRIX brings traffic coverage to entire U.S. Interstate system and many rural highways

INRIX, a major data provider to most GPS brands offering live traffic in the U.S., announced today that they are bringing live traffic coverage to the entire U.S. Interstate highway system and to many rural highways as well. You should be able to see this on MapQuest if you want to test it out. I'm not seeing anything in my neck of the woods, but hey, maybe there aren't any incidents today.

For the time being, only incident alerts will show, but INRIX expects to add historical speed data this summer. I can't wait for that. Maybe I'll end up buying a Dash after all.

With news coverage like this, a GPS could get you killed

A dangerous and misleading story on ABC News is being Dugg today. "GPS: How to Stay Alive in the Wild" has this tagline -- Rescuers, Eager to Avoid Long Searches, Urge Wilderness Fans to Pack a GPS With Their Gear.

Reporter Michael Wargo talks to Lt. Jeff Shoup of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA)  Search and Rescue Satellite-aided Tracking operations. Lt. Shoup does a great job of pitching personal locator beacons, but the reporter seems to think he is talking about GPS.

So let me make this clear. A GPS is not a personal locator beacon. A GPS receiver, by itself, will not tell anyone (other than you) where you are. It is a receiver, not a transmitter.

I would hope that, in the next year, GPS manufacturers will be adding personal locator beacons to high-end handheld GPS devices. I expect that these would be a big hit.

In-dash GPS doesn't add much value

Factory-installed in-dash GPS systems increase the depreciation of cars, according to James Clark of Automotive Lease Guide. It's not that they don't add value; they just don't add much.

"Clark's example: A high-end 2007 Acura TSX sedan should be worth 55% after three years without navigation, 53% with. The $2,000 navigation option winds up adding no more than $600 to the value of the 3-year-old car, he says."

We've said it before, after-market GPS trumps factory-installed navigation units. The cost is lower, they are easier and cheaper to update, you can move them to another car, you have more options to choose from, etc.

From USA Today via AutoBlog.

GPS, daylight savings time and Mini-Y2K

Have you heard about the fears of a mini-Y2K event when the U.S. goes to daylight savings time (DST) earlier than in past years? The law making this change wasn't passed until 2005, which means that software created before then could miss the date for advancing the time (making you late for appointments from March 11 to April 1).

Adding roads to your GPS

Live in a new subdivision? New freeway just opened up in your area? It's frustrating that new roads (and sometimes roads several years old) don't show up on GPS maps. Wouldn't it be great to be able to add those roads to your GPS?

Soon you will be able to -- if you live in Japan and drive a Toyota, thanks to their Map on Demand service. We can only hope that this technology spreads to the U.S. and to multiple GPS manufacturers or data providers. Others are bound to be working on this. I smell another patent battle brewing.