GPS

DeLorme’s Topo USA 8.0 – GPS mapping application

Gizmo of the Day, GPS / By /

Version 8.0 of DeLorme’s Topo USA brings new features such as streamlined map-to-GPS transfers, paperless geocaching, new road detail for Canada and Mexico, and improved in-vehicle GPS navigation with laptop PCs. If you’re not aware of what Topo USA gives you, it’s a software application for PCs that can be used by itself or with Delorme GPS units.

Topo USA gives you terrain, trails and of course road details. You can explore 3D maps, map your routes, find points of interest, customize and print maps. And of course, push this data to your GPS unit for offline use.

Buy now!
More info from the manufacturer
Price: $71.31
(Please note prices are subject to change and the listed price is correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of posting)

Garmin Oregon 550/550t – GPS With Camera

Gizmo of the Day, GPS, Portable, Sports, Health & Fitness, Outdoors / By /

Garmin Oregon 550t

We’ve had cameras with built in GPS so now it’s time for a GPS with a built in camera! Garmin have taken their award-winning Oregon GPS system and stuck a 3.2 megapixel camera in it with 4x optical zoom – enough to rival a lot of phones on the market today – perfect for those times when you’re trekking up a mountain and want to take a picture of the view but find your phone’s dead.

Enough about the camera, the GPS system is pretty advanced too – the built-in memory has enough room for 2,000 waypoints, 200 routes and 5,000 geocaches and comes loaded with 100,000 maps with 3D perspective rendering. Operation is via a 3-inch touch screen and can be mounted inside a car for in-vehicle use.

Buy now!

Price: $599.00
(Please note prices are subject to change and the listed price is correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of posting)

Super Universal Car Mount

Gizmo of the Day, GPS, Phones, Portable / By /

Super Universal Car Mount

The Super Universal Car Mount is a neat idea for those of you who like to have pretty much all your gadgets rigged up in the car – mobile phone, Sat Nav and your MP3 player. The candle-style arrangement allows you to hold up to three of your favorite gadgets and comes with leads to connect all of these up (presumably to your car): iPhones, iPods, Zunes, MP3, GPS, Game consoles (a worrying idea!), PDAs, Phones and more! Pretty cool gizmo; just make sure it doesn’t obscure all of your windscreen!

Buy now!

Price: $29.99
(Please note prices are subject to change and the listed price is correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of posting)

DeLorme Earthmate PN-30 – handheld GPS

Gizmo of the Day, GPS, Portable / By /

DeLorme Earthmate PN-30

So for those of you that are into GPS units, take a look at the DeLorme’s Earthmate PN-30. Very recently DeLorme released their PN-40 with a recommended list price of $400 – the PN-30 trumps this with a price of $300 whilst retaining the majority of the features. It is easily recognizable as an Earthmate by its unique shape and bright rubber casing, which also helps protect it from falls. It features a LCD that can be easily read in daylight, maps of USA, Canada and Mexio and is fully waterproof in case the heavens open up while you’re trekking around.

The Earthmate PN-30 contains an SD card slot which can be used to transfer maps from PC or Mac and the latest maps around the world, including lake and marine maps, can be downloaded for just $29.95 a year. If you’re still worried about the aesthetics then you can choose bright green, or camouflage for the device.

For those of you who were thinking about buying a PN-40, we’ll have a quick look at what you lose with a PN-30:

  • 3 axis electronic compass
  • Accurate altitude readings

If you’re willing to sacrifice those features for $100 then go for it!

Buy now!
More info from the manufacturer

Price: $283.19 (in green)
(Please note prices are subject to change and the listed price is correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of posting)

Skyhook Wireless – A Credible Alternative to GPS?

GPS, Networking & Internet / By /

Skyhook Wireless

Perhaps a little known fact is that iPhone doesn’t always get its positioning from GPS, but sometimes from WiFi and cellular towers, using Skyhook Wireless’ system. Skyhook provides an alternative form of positioning that is more reliable in areas where there may be excessive sky coverage, such as trees or tall buildings – it is at this point the iPhone may decide to switch to taking its position from surrounding WiFi acess points and cellular towers by judging its proximity to them.

How does this work? WiFi points are generally moveable so surely it’s impossible to get an accurate position from them? True. But Skyhook employs around 500 drivers who constantly patrol the streets in their custom vehicles (much like how Google map their various softwares) to work out where the access points are located. To me, this seems a very costly procedure to what is a relatively small company, but it’s obviously working. If you want the gory details on everything Skyhook related, their website: SkyhookWireless.com otherwise I would highly recommend NYTimes.com’s very informative article.

Products Using GPS To Tag Digital Photos

6 Comments / Cameras and Photo, GPS / By /

GPS is becoming more and more popular in high(ish)-end phones so that SatNav can be used on the move and for a good laugh on Google Earth. But a growing use of GPS is seriously cool (and useful!) – digital cameras with GPS capabilities which allow you to tag your photos onto a map, so you can see exactly where you took them. Let’s look at the current contenders.
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Products Using GPS To Tag Digital PhotosRead More »

ReQall – Give Yourself A Brain Extension

Gizmo of the Day, GPS, Portable, Software / By /

ReQall Memory Aid

ReQall is a very nice piece of to-do software; it allows you to make a to-do with reminders via a wide range of media. When setting yourself a to-do note, you can call their toll free number and dictate the note (using voice recognition software), text the note, instant message (IM) the note, send via a Firefox extension and by applications available for many phones (including of course iPhones and Blackerrys).

There is integration with Google Calendar & Outlook, sharing of items with other people, and the premium version even has location-aware reminders (ex: you go to the supermarket and want to be reminded to buy milk).

The basic version is free and the Pro version is $2.99/month or $24.99 a year – a real bargain for what you get.

Fun and interesting uses of Google Latitude

Computers, Gizmo of the Day, GPS, Phones / By /

google-latitudeThe bloggers of Google’s mobile division has put together a quick entry on some interesting uses of Google Latitude (that they probably didn’t envision).

Perhaps the best one is of a poor guy tracking down his phone after he forget it in a cab. Phone made it to Boston less than half a day later.

Oh yeah, in case you don’t know what Google Latitude is, it essentially lets your friend see where you are (well your phone) from either your phone or PC, and lets you quickly contact them via SMS, phone, or IM.

#CES09: Powermat says wireless charging mats are close

Books, Music and Movies, Cameras and Photo, CES, GPS, Home Automation, Phones, Portable / By /

Powermat has a wireless charging solution that uses, you guessed it, a mat that you just place your gadgets on, and voila!, they’re charged up. It uses magnetic induction just like many of the other (promised) solutions. They have a wide range of products ranging from the small, folding to the large desktop variety. Apart from the added price, the only 2 drawbacks that I can see is the limited number of devices that they support, and that you need some kind of device adapter and/or support pre-built-in.

Devices: iPod, iPhone, Blackberry, Razr, GPS unit, handheld game, laptop computer. Not yet available, but expect $100 mats and $30 chargers.

Newegg’s Post-Christmas Sale

Audio/Video, Home Theater, Cameras and Photo, Computers, Gaming & Toys, Gizmo of the Day, GPS, Holidays, Miscellaneous, Networking & Internet, Portable, Tools, DIY, Home, Office / By /


Once You Know, You Newegg
Like most other vendors that haven’t done as well as they liked for the Christmas period, Newegg has lots of post-Christmas sales to get those #s up. Some of these deals easily probably beat the ones prior to Xmas. So take a look if you’re considering some piece of equipment to complete your dream system.

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