jeepx.net

Sometimes I question what really deserves attention nowadays.

1. No, the iPhone is not in my “to get list”, not even close.

2. I may consider hacking an iTouch with a mic and Wi-fi based VOIP plus free SMS.

3. Or to look at an OpenMoko and its Linux-based environment. Or some of the new LiMo phones.

4. But the short term is just too much hype. What about listening to what Doc Searls has to say at his EOF column in the LinuxJournal:

“Why chase the iPhone, when we can free the world with open mobile things”

Following on that, check the Bug Labs blocks: (after the Ethernet and Wireless blocks are shipped) it will include pretty much all you need to hack your own [U, mine?] phone. LinuxJournal also has a nice introduction to the currently available components. Hackable to the extreme.

And check out Chumby for that matter, which could easily make my list.

5. Oh, and there is Android. Open Sourced?

6. Or even an Open J2ME.

7. And don’t forget Open Symbian, according to Nokia. [Have you looked at the Greenphone Open Source codebase?] And Motorola’s OpenEZX, its Open Source effort.

So, it is an open space out there, you don’t need to get yourself locked up.
More Links @ Del.icio.us

Photo Credits by smardio

Tags: Development, DIY, Hardware by gpsguy
Comments Off

ATP releases a SD card writer with geotagging capabilities.

Or if you have enough cash, get the Nikon D300.

This Crave interview shows Canon’s viewpoint on GPS.

Nokia has a free Location Tagger for photo geocoding

GE will be launching a low-cost model sometime during Summer: GE E1050g (via ThinkCamera)

Meanwhile from PMA, Geotate from Taiwan promises a cheap GPS camera, from CNET Asia.

To allow for these developments, British start-up Air working on breakthrough semiconductor technology lowering power consumption 100x for GPS chipsets in digital cameras (article).

Tags: GPS & Photography, GeoTagging, DIY by gpsguy
No Comments »

One of the ways LBS can happen is by helping “social networks” as shown this year at CTIA [CNet articles] exemplified by Rummble, Whrll, Utterz, Socialight in UK and Trutap.

You might have heard of the Google API for Social Networks (which includes GeoRSS location info as pointed out by ProgrammableWeb) despite better and more mature ideas being around.

And I remember reading somehere a suggestion that the move shows that Google could be afraid of Facebook.

SirfStudio

Talking about development stacks, check SirfStudio and SirfSandbox: a collection of libraries and tools for Java and C++ development of GPS-based applications.

That if you want to develop and deploy LBS applications to be used this year.

Tags: Development, Mashups, DIY by gpsguy
No Comments »

Trolltech announced the decision to stop development of its Greenphone (CNet, Slashdot).

OpenMoko is the game now which has a partnership with the same TrollTech.

DIY

New Lego-like kit for GPS equipped DIY hardware. ARM11 based from Bug Labs. Via LinuxDevices.

Elektor published an expensive GPS/GSM tracking project

And Hack a day keeps hacking… Build a GPS/Glonass receiver, GPS loggers, trackers…

Virtual BIOS

Major Development from where you would never expect: Phoenix BIOS is bringing virtualization to hardware so you can open your notebook and count to four before hitting the first key.

The idea behind “HyperSpace” is to virtualize the booting process by storing memory images and loading them up so you can choose which OS to use. Takahashi describes at the Mercury News how Phoenix will provide this mechanism for new PC’s as soon as 2008.

Tags: DIY, Hardware by gpsguy
No Comments »

Popular Science has a tip on used OnStar modules.

And another project on a “wearable GPS Data Logger” using this module from Sparks Electronics. [which sells for about $150]

Makezine published a plug & play lesson on Parallax Modules.

GPS tracking with APRS anyone? Check this project.

And OpenDMTP has a sibling with a new OpenSource GPS Tracking (OpenGTS) project.

Tags: DIY by gpsguy
No Comments »

Couple of days ago I made a presentation at a school in the Santa Cruz area. After the lecture groups went after caches hidden in the campus.They had an idea about where North was, latitude/longitude, and that some satellites were broadcasting time above their heads.

They looked curiously at the GPS receivers trying to understand what to do to get their treasure hunt prizes.

Back to the class they went out again to obtain the coordinates of specific location in the campus, out and indoors (teacher’s door handle for example). And back again to compare their findings.

Hardware Facts

PDA’s suck, mind the language, power and patience. Their compass runs too erratically and the 3D GPS signal is harder to stay fixed.

Had also a chance to try the Garmin 60CS and I liked it a lot. My geocaching friend thought that the antenna was slower than our Magellan’s, but I have a cheaper model than his so it didn’t quite showed that way to me.

And the firmware on the Magellan’s does need improvement to add all the features you can find on the Garmin’s.

Kids digg it

It was a great experience to hide caches and worry about weather, scope good sites and see their curious faces.

Curious about what kind of future the technology that is mirroring their lifestyles will be.

But technology will only do its part, they still learn how to read their own compasses.

Tags: GPS & Games, Technology, DIY by gpsguy
No Comments »

Almost like watching a baby being born such the focused energy and creativity.

LBS, Mobile development, Locative Media, Hacks. Free flow and format. Five minutes shots.

Sunday afternoon had some more five minutes rapid fires. A great stack presentation among them.

The connection between APRS, GPS and OpenMoko was almost latent: an Open Phone and the possibility of an Open Carrier.

That still to come. Maybe on an OpenHardware Camp?

That might create the spark. O’Reilly’s next?

Check posts by Curious.Judity and Steve.

Tags: DIY, Wireless, Connecting the Dots by gpsguy
No Comments »

HP announced mscape, a tool (player plus editor) used to teach GPS and surrounding subjects by schools in England. The US version has an automated way of generating map images with coordinates but the documentation available points to the British version.

You will have some fun learning about Easting and Northing used by UTM based projections. It does run on PocketPC 2003 despite the warnings along the way. It does requires Adobe Flash PDA client. Review soon.

FreeEarth demos Ajax in 3D maps using Poly9 API as covered in Radar.

According to AllBlogs, next rev of MS SQL to support geospatial data.

Buzzword Alert: GeoWeb. Coined first here. Google does GeoBlogging.

Tags: Development, Mashups, DIY by gpsguy
No Comments »

If you are looking for a way to build a free client for Google Earth look at what NASA and Sun are making available: a Java SDK for NASA’s WorldWind. Add KML support to it and you are half way there.

Tags: Development, DIY by gpsguy
No Comments »

Microsoft is killing the PPC 2003, obviously. I explain: to use GPS on a PPC now running WM 5.0 it is easier to use the API provided by them.

But, no access through a serial port no more. So, if someone develops code with this API, no way to run it on a PPC 2003. In fact, you might try if you find the gpsapi.dll around. And also bypass the install checks for OS requirements.

Or you find a way to extend this library to add serial port support (which is used by Bluetooth anyways).

Guess either you have a way to emulate it, which in the case of serial access is a bit hard or you move up to Mobile 5, or 6 (video on it available at MSDN/Channel 9), now that it is out anyway like in the just released Xda Terra. But in Germany, by O2.

BTW, all this triggered by the release of EveryTrail GPS Connector for Windows Mobile 5 users.

Tags: Pocket PC, Development, DIY by gpsguy
No Comments »