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Please visit our new site, GPSTracklog.com.
There isn't a lot of information to be had yet about the forthcoming connected GPS units from Best Buy, but I do have a couple of things for you, including the promo photo above. It shows multiple route options, ala the Dash Express. There's no indication that they'll use crowd-sourced, anonymized cell phone data for traffic though. Of course it's always possible that they've struck a deal with Dash or IntelliOne; I've been waiting awhile for someone to announce a partnership with the latter.
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.
Continue reading "Geohashing - New GPS sport requires planning and caution" »
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."
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.
Continue reading "Left-handed use of GPS may become California law" »
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:
Continue reading "NAVTEQ upgrades historical average speed data" »
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.
Continue reading "Consumer Reports rates Garmin nuvi 760 tops" »
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.
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.
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.
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