jeepx.net

. A working prototype for

“a game […] that enables kids/big kids travelling in the back seat of cars to enjoy a rich gaming experience where narrative episodes and embedded gameplay combine[d] with the experience of traveling through the road network”

has been completed successfully according to the research website. GeoBloggers went through the work of putting it all together here.

. The 15-sec delay of the British Train door opening at Victoria Station.

. BusinessWeek and CNet lists the GPS Gadgets for the Season,

. Some thoughts on Surveillance, Privacy, Tracking by the NewStandardNews,

. Technology Review talks about technology developed by Sarnoff that combines computer vision with missing GPS data in urban canyon and field for militar and civil use.

. Epson offering new A-GPS chipset for W-CDMA2 phones according to Irish Dev.

Tags: GPS & Games, News by gpsguy
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Donate GPS units to Red Cross volunteers to help them find their way while attending emergencies at unknown territory. Neat idea?

It came from a young girl thinking about her Mom and co-workers. And she made it happen.

Tags: Something else by gpsguy
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Got a .loc file around from your last hike? Want to share it plus some pics you took? Then be a nice soul and go to Everytrail to share and upload them. Obviously Google Maps and Google Earth are supported by their service.

Cool idea and implementation headed by Joost Schreve, Everytrail’s CEO who gave an interview to Tech Digest.

Tags: GPS & Photography, GPS & Exercise, Mashups by gpsguy
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. Gizmodo is really enjoying the Helio they got over there. Check their review on Google Maps with Traffic info, the Buddy Beacon and Dodgeball.

. NewsFactor talks about Location based Chat/IM and mentions services like Meetro and RadiusIM that are leading the pack.

. BusinessWeek discovers “social networks” and maps out the technological fruits harvested from gadgets used by the Thumb Generation.

. The Twig from Benefon is making the news (this time at TechDigest) with its GPS phone and navigation software.

. Plus DirectionsMagazine summarizes what Location Services were headed to in 2006, including their coverage from the TeleAtlas Partners Conference.

Tags: Technology, Wireless, Connecting the Dots by gpsguy
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. Digi-Guide has 29 GPS based walking tours of Paris that you can buy and download to a PocketPC.

. GeoVector got the attention of Japanese investors and 12 mi to play with. From Stuff.

. FRWD from Finland is tackling the sports-based GPS field by making their products available for the holiday season. Check a review at GPSPassion.

. Hitachi launched Entier, a relational database that runs on 300Kbytes of an embedded device [from EETimes].

. Scientists concerned that warm weather might affect GPS satellites orbits.

. According to CBS News, mountain tiger roaming Santa Monica Mountains that was tracked by GPS got killed by other cats.

. Dr. Dobbs publishes an article titled “Testing GPS Functionality on GMS Mobile Devices”.

The author works at Aeroflex, an US-based company that produces communication protocols simulators including the 6103 AIME that now supports Assisted-GPS with a “14 channel L1 C/A L2C [GPS Satellite] Constellation Simulator”.

Tags: News by gpsguy
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The new line of Mindstorms, the NXT generation from Lego sunsets their interest with the previous product line but opens up possibilities like a GPS enabled Lego Jeep.

According to the project page, the NXT supports Bluetooth so it is possible to add GPS navigation to the project, plus a Compass Sensor can be used. But from the comments sounds like this project depends on a language capable of handling ASCII strings from an actual receiver.

Brian Davis in one of the comments mentions RobotC. Still, doable.

NXT uses LabView from National Instruments as its programming platform. A product that by itself might be worth the $250 price tag.

And at this time of the year, it might get hard to control the impulse buy from grown-up kids.

Tags: GPS & Games, Development, DIY by gpsguy
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Looking up SourceForge for GPS related Open Source projects I noticed the word Defunct at Alexander Pruss’ QJAE-Dummy Library. The idea of his library was to be able to compile code using Qualcomm Java Extensions API made available to access among other things, the GPS receiver in standalone mode.

You don’t need to hit the Position Determination Servers that Sprint owns. And if you do, they are owning someone else money for the traffic. It is a pure economic reason it seems. Fair.

And Sprint even suggests the other side of the house, Nextel and their GPS platform. The phones have real GPS chips and their servers don’t mind providing some useful fix information. Blackberry users might have the same luck if corporate illumination prevails.

Open PDE Server

But what about running an Open Source PDE Server? And an open protocol, published and capable of implemenation on current devices. Too far fetched?

Tags: Development, DIY, Hardware by gpsguy
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Geobloggers and Technology Review covered MARA (Mobile Augmented Reality Applications). The idea is to combine the hardware on the phone (GPS, compass, camera, accelerometer) with applications capable of providing geolinked data.

This is something that GeoVector has been doing in Japan for a while. Check the videos of Nokia’s Friend Finder at the project site.

First at GigaOm.

Tags: Nokia by gpsguy
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Project Gaiwain combines Galileo and GNSS on a single UMTS receiver. According to its webpage the main idea behind the project is:

“the development of an integrated GNSS/UMTS receiver, which provides seamless indoor/outdoor navigation and communication capability, using GPS/Galileo and 3G/UMTS for mass market applications.”

Providing a more flexible hardware architecture to support the multitude of “mobile communication standards (UMTS WCDMA, CDMA 2000, GSM, GPRS, EDGE, IS 95 etc.)”.

According to the article at ElectronicsWeekly the project has working prototypes on “intelligent transport and ubiquitous tourism”.

Map reader beats live GPS directions: Interesting contest…

E-Ten G500: One more Linux based phone to hack.

Car Insurance: “Pay As You Drive”: Article at VNUNet describes a GPS tracking based insurance offer from Norwich Union in UK with technology provided by TrafficMaster and Smart421.

Besides signing your life away, wonder if you can really trust their billing system something that the UK Transit agency according to the same article is still weary about doing so due to the high amount of errors in the current offers.

Lockheed Martin: According to this news:

“The aerospace engineering and mechanics department [of the University of Minnesota] recently received a $50,000 grant from Lockheed Martin to research small, unmanned vehicles that use the Joint Precision Approach and Landing System, a GPS technology.”

And the same Lockheed with Boing and ITT launched one more IIR satellites payload (photo US Air Force).

From UPI:

“Along with improved accuracy, the Block III design provides advanced security and anti-jamming capabilities that will ensure U.S. troops will have GPS service for navigation and precision-weapons in the heat of battle.”

Seeker Wireless

Seeker according to Geographically Challenged is coming out of stealth mode with improved location technology for GSM based phones. Check their SeekerZone product/service.

First at the TelematicsJournal

Sprint and Microsoft collaborating

From WindowsForDevices

Sprint users will be able to “search, via Windows Live Search for Mobile, for location-based content from the Internet” and that “the service is immediately available at no additional cost to Sprint PCS Vision and Power Vision subscribers.”

Also at the Unstrung.

Planted News?

These bomb treats from geocaches come about like clockwork.
Keep up the fear factor? This time it shows up in Forbes (from AP) of all places…

Tags: News by gpsguy
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I had no idea such a great work was being done to preserve the culture of Amazon Indian tribes. Following its mission statement, ACT or Amazon Conservation Team “works in partnership with indigenous people in conserving biodiversity, health, and culture in tropical America.”

Among its projects GPS and Google Earth are being used to create maps of the reserves to help protect them against illegal mining (gold) and politicians eager for land.

Great example. Great work.

From Mongabay via /.

Tags: Maps, Technology by gpsguy
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