GPS Technology Reviews for news, guides and reviews of GPS hardware, software and services including Handheld GPS, Outdoor GPS, GPS PDA, GPS Phones and Auto GPS Navigators

Both the Triton 2000 and 1500 are portable handheld GPS receivers designed specifically for navigation by outdoors enthusiasts. They are rugged to withstand accidental impact and waterproof to IPX-7 (1m depth for 30 minutes) for their demanding application. Both the Magellan Triton 1500 and 2000 have features including a 2.7 inch (QVGZ), color touch screen, 2MP camera, speaker, microphone, LED flashlight, media player and SD card slot for loading map updates and memory expansion. The Magellan Triton 2000 also comes with an electronic compass and barometer. In a first, both Tritons are compatible with downloadable National Geographic maps.

In an acknowledgment of Magellan’s fresh design approach with the Triton 2000, it was recently announced as an honoree in Personal Electronics category of the 2008 International CES Best of Innovations Design and Engineering Awards. The awards hare highly sought after as they recognize the most innovative consumer electronics products in the industry. Competing consumer electronics products are judged by a preeminent panel of independent industrial designers, independent engineers and members of the trade press.
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Technorati Tags: Triton 2000, portable handheld GPS receivers, IPX-7, Magellan Triton 1500, 2.7 inch, 2MP camera, LED flashlight, media player, SD card slot, electronic compass, barometer

The ASUS R50A Ultra Mobile PC (UMPC) was recently announced as an honoree for the 2008 International CES (Consumer Electronics Show) Best of Innovations Design and Engineering Awards in the Computer Hardware category. ASUS was well represented with the R50A sharing honors with the very new and extremely popular, low cost PC, the Eee PC and the P527 GPS cell phone.

According to ASUS’s news release, the ASUS R50A comes with GPS, 3G / 3.5G connectivity, TV tuner, webcam, microphone and full notebook functionality. It’s a step up from the PDA platform without going to the form factor of a notebook computer. To achieve the ultra mobile tag there is no QWERTY keypad rather relying on a 4.8 inch, 1024 X 600 pixel resolution touchscreen combined with ASUS’s InfoPen software for data entry. The R50A’s size is similar to some of the larger screen car navigation GPS devices available.

ASUS’s R50A ultra mobile computing platform integrating Internet connectivity with GPS capability is a move towards a future including GPS connected navigation devices. With an expected rapid rise in LBS (Location Based Services), GPS devices will become more find and navigate devices rather than navigation devices. Points of Interest from a static database will no longer be acceptable to consumers expecting dynamically updated location based search results.

GPS devices without Internet connectivity are on a path to extinction. You only have to look at Nokia’s recent strategic purchase of Navteq as evidence of corporate acceptance of the bright future for connected navigation devices.

It is not just LBS that will boost the demand for products like the ASUS R50A. Consumers will expect location aware software applications as well. For example, address books will be expected to be location aware even in real time if someone has agreed to ongoing sharing of their location with you.

The roll out rate for new location based services and software is set to jump dramatically due a number of factors such as:

• the rapid proliferation of GPS enabled devices
• reduced development times and easier deployment of location based software applications stemming from the release of multiple phone and carrier programming platforms such as the one recently released by uLocate
• the maturing and simplifying of GPS applications as evidenced by examples such as WHERE, the world’s first wireless GPS widget platform

We are on the edge of a rapid phase of development with expectations like those from market analyst Strategy Analytics prediction of the LBS market growing from some 200 million dollars in 2006 to 1.2 billion in 2011. It’s time for all manufacturers to start looking at what mobile connected computing platforms, such as the ASUS R50A, consumers will be looking for in the near future.

Further Reading

Read our review of Yahoo! Zurfer, a research prototype application from Yahoo! Research Berkeley which brings the location based photo browsing functionalities of Flicker to mobile devices.

Technorati Tags: ASUS R50A, Ultra Mobile PC, UMPC, GPS, 3G / 3.5G connectivity, TV tuner, webcam, ASUS’s InfoPen software, ultra mobile computing, location based services

The Navigon 5100 and 2100 GPS Navigators were both recently honored by a 2008 International CES Best of Innovations Design and Engineering Award in the In-Vehicle Accessories category. Navigon also picked up two other awards for the Navigon 2100 and the Navigon 5100. Quoting the CES Awards Announcement in regard to the Navigon 2100: Slim, easy-to-use and affordable, the NAVIGON 2100 surpasses the basics to deliver an intelligent, premium navigation experience in an innovative package. The Navigon 5100 was described as; Offering state-of-the-art navigation technology in a polished design, the NAVIGON 5100 helps consumers reduce stress and get wherever they need to go more efficiently. Competing consumer electronics products are judged by a preeminent panel of independent industrial designers, independent engineers and members of the trade press. The most impressive products in each category are selected as honorees.

Navigon is not as familiar a brand as some others in the GPS navigation device market however, it does have a long history for this new industry and has notched up achievements such as the creation of the world’s first dynamic personal GPS product in 1996. In 2002 it unveiled the first Traffic Message Channel-based (TMC) avoidance feature on a mobile navigation product. Recently Navigon acquired NAVTEQs navigation software business.
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Technorati Tags: Navigon 5100, GPS Navigators, Navigon 2100, CES Awards

The NAVIGON 7100 GPS Navigator was recently judged a 2008 International CES Best of Innovations Design and Engineering Award honoree in the In-Vehicle Accessories category. NAVIGON also picked up two other awards for the NAVIGON 2100 and the NAVIGON 5100. To quote the CES Awards Announcement, A composite of handsome lines and graceful curves, the NAVIGON 7100 features a bold new approach to a superb navigation experience. Competing consumer electronics products are judged by a preeminent panel of independent industrial designers, independent engineers and members of the trade press. The most impressive products in each category are selected as honorees.

A couple of standout navigation features which may have contributed to NAVIGON’s award are its Reality View and Lane Assistant. Reality View provides is photo-realistic3D image of complex interchanges as they are approached. While you cannot see your vehicle position in this view you do have the advantage of seeing which lane you should be positioned in. Lane Assistant is the feature providing suggestions for the best lane for your nominated route. Lane assistance is available on some other GPS navigators on the market but, Reality View appears to be unique.
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Technorati Tags: NAVIGON 7100 GPS Navigator, CES Best of Innovations, Reality View, Lane Assistant

The Strada CN-GP50U is Panasonic’s first Personal GPS Navigation Device to be released on the US market and is obviously impressive having won a CES 2008 award shortly after release. It follows the release of the Strada CN-NVD905U in-dashboard (double-din) car GPS navigation device earlier this year.

The Panasonic Strada CN-GP50U award mentioned was being judged a 2008 International CES Best of Innovations Design and Engineering Award honoree in the In-Vehicle Navigation/Telematics/ITS category. Competing consumer electronics products are judged by a preeminent panel of independent industrial designers, independent engineers and members of the trade press.
Products chosen as the most impressive in each category are selected as honorees.
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Technorati Tags: Strada CN-GP50U, Personal GPS Navigation, Panasonic Strada CN-GP50U

According to recently released report from iSupply Corp, the number of GPS satellite receiver equipped cellphones will more than quadruple between 2006 and 2011. Factors driving the growth are expected to be the growth of location based services and the U.S. government’s Emergency 911 services mandate. Location based services require a GPS receiver for establishing position and an Internet connection for accessing location databases. The BlackBerry Curve 8310 has both.

The BlackBerry Curve 8310 is an attractive smart phone with a metallic finish and a trackball for user input. It is a surprisingly small phone to come with a full QWERTY keyboard. For those looking a smart phone with navigation capabilities the BlackBerry Curve 8310 comes equipped with a built-in GPS receiver and the BlackBerry Maps application for navigation software.
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Technorati Tags: GPS, Emergency 911 services mandate, BlackBerry Curve, BlackBerry Curve 8310, smart phone, BlackBerry Maps

The TomTom GO 920 and GO 920T are promoted as premium featured Car GPS Navigation devices and from the extensive list of features and some of the shiny new technologies introduced they deserve such praise.

A headline feature would have to be the inclusion of the timesaving and convenient Voice Prompted Address Entry allowing a destination address to be entered vocally. TomTom have based the GO 920 twins on SiRFs new SiRFDiRect Technology which adds Dead Reckoning capability to the already highly sensitive and reliable SiRF GPS receiver chip architecture.
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Technorati Tags: TomTom GO 920, GO 920T, Car GPS Navigation, Voice Prompted Address Entry, SiRFDiRect Technology, Dead Reckoning

RIM’s BlackBerry Pearl 8100 created a lot of market entry buzz, not only for it’s attractive style and compact size for a smart phone but also, for being the first BlackBerry to offer a camera and integrated media player. The BlackBerry Pearl is a well rounded list of features for a smart phone which, as well as the camera and media player mentioned, includes wireless email, web browser, organizer, corporate data access, text messaging (SMS and MMS) and expandable memory (via a microSD card).

The BlackBerry Pearl 8100 is the first BlackBerry to come with a map application, BlackBerry Maps. However, it doesn’t come with an integrated GPS receiver. If you would like to add GPS functionality to the BlackBerry Pearl, the solution is to purchase a Bluetooth USGlobalSat GPS Receiver. This will enable the utilization of location-based services (LBS) which are continuing to be developed for increased productivity for mobile staff and consumers in general. Recent developments, such as the release of WHERE by uLocate, will ensure that GPS applications are developed quicker and released with greater frequency in the future. uLocate, a comparative veteran of new location-based software application industry, launched, WHERE, the first free, wireless GPS widget programming platform able to work across multiple phones and carriers.
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Technorati Tags: BlackBerry Pearl, BlackBerry Pearl 8100, USGlobalSat GPS, uLocate, location-based software

Garmin’s Forerunner 301, 201 and 101 are compact wristband GPS personal training devices sharing mostly identical features. While not as attractive as the more wristwatch like form factor Garmin Forerunner 305 and 205, those serious about their training will appreciate the larger display screen which makes it easier to pick up displayed statistics while running or cycling. The units are still reasonably light despite the larger size. While particularly useful for runners the Forerunner units are also applicable cycling, hiking, and other training activities where monitoring/logging your distance, speed and heart are important.

All three 01 model Forerunners have a SiRF III GPS receiver which has high sensitivity for locking and holding onto GPS satellite signals in weak reception areas under foliage and in built-up areas. To maximize signal reception Garmin have wrapped the antenna around part of the wrist band.
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Technorati Tags: wristband GPS, personal training devices, Garmin Forerunner