December 31, 2005
December 29, 2005
December 29, 2005
December 29, 2005
Europe launches first Galileo satellite
The EU and European Space Agency successfully launched the first in a series of satellites for a new global positioning system called Galileo. The project is expected to cost an estimated 3.8 billion Euros. The need to launch this system is rooted in the fear that the US government can and would shut off the GPS system at anytime it deems necessary.
The system is expected to be completed by 2011, complete with 30 satellites and nearly 100 percent coverage of the planet at that time, which would have accuracy down to +/- 1 meter. This is better than the current US system, and would be useful in the related industries that require best in class accuracy, like commercial aviation and location based advertising. The system will offer two levels of service, a free lower accuracy service (similar to the current GPS service) and a fee based highly accurate service.
Before the Galileo system is complete the Russian Glonass system will be active in 2008 if all things stay on schedule.
December 23, 2005
Garmin Nuvi 350 GPS Review
Walter Mossberg is well known for his tech reviews every Thursday in the Wall St. Journal covering all sorts of tech goodies. Well he just reviewed the Garmin Nuvi 350 travelers assistant. It's the size of a Palm handheld, includes standard personal organizer functions as well as a fully functional GPS. The GPS hardware includes the SiRF star III chipset, which is highly sensitive and draws low power. The Nuvi also has built in translation functions which helps it pass for a travelers assistant. (See our article on the launch of the Nuvi 350)
Overall Walter Mossberg thought the Nuvi was not worth its steep price of $900 (street), as it had a few shortcomings in his eyes. He may be right, but I think that he's a bit to critical in some areas.
UPDATE: The Garmin Nuvi 350 is selling at a steep discount at Amazon.com to its $900 list price. This must be in an effort to move out more Nuvi 350's in preparation for the new Garmin Nuvi 360. The new Nuvi 360 has Bluetooth hands free calling capability that allows it to work with your Bluetooth phone, as well as a few other improvements. The Bluetooth is a major one though. If you don't need this, the Garmin Nuvi 350 is definitely worth a look. The Nuvi 350 was also rated highest recently by a very popular consumer reporting magazine - I think you can guess who.
Continue reading: "Garmin Nuvi 350 GPS Review"
December 22, 2005
Telogis and NAVTEQ Announce Sales Channel Collaboration - GeoBase
Telogis announced today that it has signed an agreement with NAVTEQ, a leading global provider of digital maps for vehicle navigation and location-based solutions, to work as a sales channel partner and reseller. The agreement allows better service to location-based service, telemetry, telematics, and asset tracking companies worldwide by offering a single-source integrated product. This product, Telogis' GeoBase(TM) mapping engine, will utilize NAVTEQ digital map data of the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Steven Rabago, CEO of Telogis, said: "GeoBase(TM) eliminates development risks associated with map data integration projects, as well as the high start-up cost associated with most map engines and map data, and accelerates the product development cycle." He further commented: "NAVTEQ is one of the most widely recognized brands in the Geographic Information System (GIS) and location-services industry. We are excited about our relationship with NAVTEQ as it enables us to deliver a fully integrated mapping engine combined with NAVTEQ's quality digital map data."
Continue reading: "Telogis and NAVTEQ Announce Sales Channel Collaboration - GeoBase"
December 21, 2005
GPS Lodge Contest Winner for the eTrex Legend
Well if you signed up for our mailing list in early December you qualified to win a new Garmin eTrex Legend handheld gps. Congratulations go out to our winner:
Gail from Milton, VT - who says she stops by GPS Lodge to read the interesting information on GPS's.
Thanks again and keep signing up for our mailing list - we'll be having more drawings for free GPS stuff. If you are signed up, you are qualified.
-Scott
December 19, 2005
Magellan Roadmate 760, Cobra 4500, CoPilot Live & Parrot Honored
The Magellan Roadmate 760, the Cobra 4500, the CoPilot Live Smartphone 6 and the Parrot 3400 LS- GPS were named a 2006 Innovations Design and Engineering honorees in the Vehicle/Mobile Electronics category by the Consumer Electronics Association. While they didn't win the category - that honor was given to the maker of a rooftop that turns your car into a rolling WiFi hotspot, it's still good recognition that these folks are turning out well designed products in the GPS category.
Continue reading: "Magellan Roadmate 760, Cobra 4500, CoPilot Live & Parrot Honored"
TomTom updates phone compatibility list - GO 300 and GO 700
Most people know that TomTom GO 300 and TomTom GO 700 are compatible with Bluetooth phones to deliver on their TomTom Plus services (weather, traffic feeds as well as the ability to download extra voices to navigate by), as well as, in the case of the TomTom GO 700, operate as a hands free unit for phone calls. Well TomTom has released the latest update 5.420, which has the ability to work with a few more phones.
For a phone compatibility list look HERE. For the GPS Lodge review on the TomTom GO 300 - click HERE.
If you need the latest TomTom update, click HERE.
December 13, 2005
December 9, 2005
Buy a TomTom GO 700 and get a Motorola RAZR V3 Free
TomTom has released another new promotion for the holiday season!
With the purchase of a TomTom GO 700 from CompUSA, you will receive a free Motorola RAZR V3 cellular phone. This promotion will be available from December 11 - 17, 2005.
Continue reading: "Buy a TomTom GO 700 and get a Motorola RAZR V3 Free"
Load Personal POI's on your TomTom GO 300 and 700
You know that the TomTom GO 300 and 700 have loads of Points of Interest (POI's) well you can now add your own. Lots of people are adding POI's to their units when there are speed cameras, school zones or frequent speed traps that can be located and added to your unit to remind you that they are coming up.
There are many other POIs that can be added and the list keeps growing as TomTom and other online communities update their POI databases. Note that this is very popular in the UK where there are a lot of speed cameras, but not as prevalent in the US.
If you are interested in a TomTom GO 300 - check out our review
ReadMore at ClubTomTom
TomTom releases Pan Euro map for the TomTom GO 300 and 500
It used to be that you couldn't travel Western Europe with one set of maps in a few of the TomTom models, well now you can with a new map purchase that gives you seamless European coverage on one SD card - a whopping 1.5 GB worth of roads, and POI's. The maps are based on the new TeleAtlas data set, and includes maps from the countries/regions: Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, United Kingdom, Italy, Czech republic, Poland, Spain, Portugal, Andorra and Scandinavia.
The Maps can be had for about 250 Euros. They are compatible with The TomTom GO, Go 300, Go 500, TomTom One, and the TomTom Rider.
ReadMore
The Best of the Blogpire
Another week and another Best of the Blogpire. We've got promotions all over the Blogpire including the chance to win a GPS at GPS Lodge! You can Sign Up for the GPS Lodge Mailing List & Win a Garmin eTrex Legend. Also there's lots of interesting November Roundups and Holiday shopping guides at all the sites. Enjoy!
GPS Lodge: Sign Up for Our Mailing List & Win a Garmin eTrex Legend, GPS Review: Garmin StreetPilot C340 Review by GPS Lodge, GPS Lodge: Monthly Round up for November 2005
The Cooking News: Wine News: Words on Wine, From Opposing Shores, Cooking News: Ever So Humble, Cast Iron Outshines the Fancy Pans, Coffee News: Coke set to launch premium coffee line
Liquor Snob: Holiday Egg Nog Recipe From Maker's Mark, Buzzing On Expensive Scotch, But At What Cost?, Make Your Own Simple Syrup For Cocktails
Single Serve Coffee: Review: LilyPod Microwavable Single Cup Coffee Pod Mug from Single Serve Coffee.com, November 2005 Roundup for Single Serve Coffee.com, December Mailing List Sponsor: Green Mountain Coffee Roasters – Win One of Five Keurig B60s!
Just The Chips: Sega Casino for Nintendo DS, PSP World Series of Poker Reviewed, The Texas Hold 'em of Backgammon - Nannon
Kitchen Contraptions: IZ for your Kitchen, Vipp Super Wastebasket, Butter on Demand with The Butter Wizard
Shaving Stuff: Free TurboScrub at Heavy Duty, Panasonic ES8077S Vortex HyrdroClean, Old-School Shaving Supplies from Clubman Online
TV Snob: HDTV Education for Consumers Has a Long Way to Go, Apple and their Sneaky iPod Advertising on "The Office", Just Got Mediacom Phone Service
Shirt Snob: All Over Print Cashmere Hoodie by L.A.M.B., Review-Tees from High Hand Designs, Monthly Round Up-November
December 8, 2005
Big Leaps for the GPS industry
If you are coming to the GPS Lodge, then you probably know that GPS's are hot, and the market is exploding for them in recent months and years. Well here's some proof. A recent article did some investigating into the GPS world and found that more and more people are getting into them, and while the prices are coming down, demand is way up - kindof works well that way. With the market expanding, there are bound to be some new comers, and this holiday season seems like a bi step out for the GPS industry.
"This will be the first season it's tested," said Ted Gartner, a spokesman for Garmin International Inc., a major GPS manufacturer, of the real-time traffic features. "We think people who know their cities will use it to avoid traffic tie-ups or when they commute to work. GPS isn't just GPS anymore. Traffic is the new frontier."
Continue reading: "Big Leaps for the GPS industry"
Strong sales for Mio
Mio's parent company Mitac, it reporting strong sales of GPS (Global Positioning System) handheld devices, Mitac International hit a record revenue high of US$216 million in November, up 29.59% on-year, according to the company. Accumulated sales from January to November of this year totaled US$2.01 billion, rising 29.59% from the same period in 2004.
Mitac is expected to enjoy a 40% shipment growth in 2006, to 4.2 million GPS devices, company sources indicated. The company estimates its GPS shipments to hit three million units this year, up 216% from 2004.
ReadMore
U-Blox Super Sensitive GPS Chipset
U-blox AG, the leading Swiss provider of innovative GPS receiver technology, today announced the release of a new module, the LEA-4H. Powered by u-blox' new ANTARIS 4 positioning engine, and just 17 x 22 mm in size, the LEA-4H offers SuperSense indoor GPS functionality, which enables unprecedented sensitivity, in a compact and efficient package.
So What?
If this claim is true, it would open up a whole lot of possibilities. Even if it's not, the power savings and the sensitivity is a welcome move. Recall that Garmin is moving into a lot of products that use the SiRF STAR III low power, high sensitivity chip set. Those models include the Nuvi, the new Edge products (for bike training), and the new Forerunner 205, 305 series.
Continue reading: "U-Blox Super Sensitive GPS Chipset"
December 7, 2005
Verizon's VZ Navigator - directions from your GPS Mobile Phone
Verizon is launching a new GPS location based service, called the VZ Navigator. The service will deliver turn-by-turn directions with a voice interface for $10 per month, or $3 for 24-hour one-shot access (useful for travelers).
The service will launch on the new Motorola V325 phone (Right), but other GPS-equipped phones will follow. A major benefit of navigation services like Verizon's is the access to always-up-to-date map information. Integrated car navigation systems typically require the customer to purchase expensive update CDs or DVDs.
Continue reading: "Verizon's VZ Navigator - directions from your GPS Mobile Phone"
December 3, 2005
Sign Up for Our Mailing List & Win a Garmin eTrex Legend
We're giving you a little something this holiday season at GPS Lodge. How about a brand new Garmin eTrex Legend!!! We reviewed the Garmin eTrex Legend and think it's a great way to get into the world of all things GPS.
To be eligible to win the Garmin eTrex Legend (value $100), all you have to do is be on the mailing list. That's it. We'll pick the winner on December 19th - just in time for us to send it to you for the holidays.
About the Garmin eTrex Legend:
The Garmin eTrex Legend makes the first real, solid step up from the base offerings in the eTrex line. It adds base maps, and the ability to download maps from the computer, as well as expanded routing and waypoint capabilities. It also adds more accurate navigations with WAAS capability. It also adds the Thumb Stick to the front side of the GPS, allowing for easy movement around the maps. The GPS is a bit old in its design features, but still a solid performer for basic map based navigation. Whether you're navigating across town, or across a mountain range trail system, the Legend adds a lot of punch and allows for more sophisticated management of multiple routes, numerous waypoints and answers higher level navigation needs.
Read our GPS Lodge Garmin eTrex Legend Review
December 2, 2005
Review: Garmin StreetPilot C340 GPS Review by GPS Lodge
Update: The Garmin C340 is available on a Black Friday Deal at a good price.
The Garmin StreetPilot C340 arrived for review a few weeks ago, and right out of the box, I knew I would really like this thing. It only got better over time, and I can say I am in love with it. Like Goldie Locks said, "That one's too small, and that one's too big, but the Streetpilot C340 is just right." (or something like that). The feature set is solid, and only left me wanting for a few things, while the text to speech voice commands are crisp, clear and welcome as you are driving. I found myself trusting its guidance, and let myself drive unknown back roads under the supervision of the StreetPilot C340 knowing full well that I would arrive at my destination at the appointed time. It's a powerful GPS that is very easy to use, and comes pre-loaded with maps and millions of points of interest. Just take it out of the box, turn it on and go.
See our Update on the StreetPilot C340
Continue reading: "Review: Garmin StreetPilot C340 GPS Review by GPS Lodge"
December 1, 2005
New Sony GPS: Nav-U line of GPS Units
Sony has announced a new line of GPS units, the Nav-U line. This line includes 3 GPS units. All available in Europe right now. no word on the US launch.
Starting with the NV-U50 unit that will offer in car GPS, with a 3.5 inch touchscreen. If you want a unit with TMC traffic support you'll need the similar NV-U50T. The traffic enabled unit will re-route you based on the live traffic feeds. This would be similar to the Cobra NavOne 4500 (See our review), or the Garmin C340, of any of the higher Garmin 2700 series products. One plus on for the Sony unit is that they have managed to get the antenna for the traffic feeds into the cradle, so you won't have the thing flopping around on the dash. Wonder if this will create a reception issue?
Continue reading: "New Sony GPS: Nav-U line of GPS Units"
GPS Lodge: Monthly Round up for November 2005
The year is winding down and the holiday season is upon us. It's time to buy those GPS units, wrap them up and give them to that someone special who is direction-challenged. November was another action packed month here at the GPS Lodge, with several GPS reviews, and a few GPS news stories thrown in for good measure. Here are some of the highlights:
Don't miss out Holiday Shopping Guide. We wrapped up a lot of our knowledge and gave you a few recommendations on what to buy your special someone for the holidays.
GPS Reviews:
Cobra NavOne 4500 Review from GPS Lodge
In preparation for our coming review: Garmin StreetPilot C340 Arrives for Review at the GPS Lodge
TomTom GO 300 GPS Review at the GPS Lodge
Garmin StreetPilot Review from GPS Lodge
Another Great review for the Garmin StreetPilot 2720 GPS
GPS News Items:
More Garmin Upgrades: Vista Cx, Legend Cx, GPSMap
New Garmin Forerunner 205 and Forerunner 305 leaked
TomTom ONE Released in the UK
Fine Drive announces the FineDrive 400 and FineDrive 500
Customize your Splash Screen on your TomTom GO 300 or TomTom GO 700
Inrix Predictive Traffic Teams up with ClearChannel (and why this is important for the future of Automotive GPS Units)
The New Lowrance iWay 350 is Announced and then a few days later they were awarded the Best New Mobile Electronics Entertainment Product for 2006 at the SEMA show.
Thanks for another great month.
-Scott
Mio finally launches the Mio A701 in Europe
The Mio A701 is a GPS Enabled smart phone that runs on the windows operating system.
The Mio A701 was announced in August (see article) and now it is finally hitting the market (In Europe). The A701 is a PDA-style phone with a 2.7in, 240 x 320, 272,000-color display. There's a 1.3mp camera on the back and a 520MHz Intel PXA270 processor inside. It also has 64MB of SDRAM and 128MB of ROM.
Continue reading: "Mio finally launches the Mio A701 in Europe"
Garmin is working with 
FineDrive recently announced a big huge old honking GPS for your car that also play DMB stations - Digital Multimedia Broadcasting stations. It can access and play up to 28 digital stations without any extra fees. With the AV in jack you can also play DVD's on the 7 inch diagonal screen. The recently announced Garmin 7200 also sports a huge screen for easy to see screen, but no DMB - 
Globalsat of Taiwan has launched an athletic training system (GH-601 and GH-602) that will compete with the Garmin Forerunner series. The devices are intended to help you document your athletic endeavors and train better as a result of the data feedback. We have been using a Garmin Forerunner 201 for several months and really like it. Even techno-phobes who have tried it like the information it provides on the run, and but don't really use the ability to download the data onto a computer for analysis and charting. 
Nokia has come out with a wireless Bluetooth GPS module to hook up with your mobile phone or PDA to help guide you to your destination. To install the Wayfinder Navigator Service, your phone must support MMC flash cards and the Symbian OS, but other phones and PDAs can use third-party programs. The GPS module works seamlessly with the Nokia 6682, 6630, and 6670 phones.
The 
is right in the middle of Garmin's mid-tier automotive GPS line. The feature set is solid, and only left me wanting for a few things. With its solid NAVTEQ map base and Garmin's experience in routing you from here to there, the guidance can be trusted to get you where you want to go. It's a powerful GPS that is very easy to use, and comes pre-loaded with maps and millions of points of interest. Just take it out of the box, turn it on and go.
You have a GPS, why can't the dog? The GPS market has gone to the dogs! Sorry, I just had to say that, well and pot this. Not our usual fare, but here you go. 
Garmin announced today that several GPS units in their line will be sold through Ford dealers in Germany. With the developing market in automotive GPS units, and the gap in cars that offer built-in GPS units, this looks like a great deal for Garmin and a decent deal for Ford. They will be offering the entry level 
Apparently Transport Canada wants to use some GPS technology to make it nearly impossible to speed. The new device combines both a GPS and a speed zone map that will tap into the car and make it hard to speed. It's been tried in Sweden, the Netherlands and Briton. Citing the fact that speed is a factor in 25% of all fatal crashes, proponents think that this is a good safety practice. 
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