May 2, 2007
Last year, according to the Consumer Electronics Association, sales of G.P.S. units topped $800 million.
LG Electronics is entering the consumer market for navigation devices in the United States with the LN740, LN735 and LN730. The LN740, available for about $450, comes with a 90-day free trial of live traffic information through Traffic.com, as well as a four-inch screen; the 735 ($350), and the 730 ($300) have 3.5-inch displays.
LG packs in just about all the accessories needed, including a car charger, an AC adapter, a car mount and an antenna for those places where satellite reception is poor. All units come loaded with mapping software from Navteq.
The devices play MP3 files and display photos loaded via an SD memory card slot.
While the units are primarily for car navigation, you can get the major tourist destination in a pedestrian setting.
Source: The New York Times
July 5, 2006
The Garmin’s nüvi™ 310 is one of th most versatile GPS around. This pocket-sized Personal Travel Assistant now comes with hands-free Bluetooth® wireless technology in addition to the popular features offered in the nüvi 300 — making it the go-anywhere travel companion.
Place hands-free calls with Bluetooth wireless technology
The nüvi 310 along with its counterpart the nüvi 360 integrate wireless technology with a microphone and speaker that lets you make hands-free mobile phone calls. Simply dial numbers with the nüvi’s touch screen keypad to make a call on a compatible Bluetooth phone. To answer calls, just tap nüvi’s screen and speak directly into its built in microphone.
In addition, easily look-up and dial numbers from your personalized phone book or from your phone’s call history log. Don’t know the phone number for your destination? Simply find and dial it from nüvi’s extensive points of interest database — including hotels, restaurants, stores, and attractions.
Navigate with Ease
The nüvi 310 comes preprogrammed with regional European map data, and includes automatic routing, 2D or 3D map perspective, and a fingertip touch screen interface — making navigation easy. It also supports configurable vehicle icons — fun, customized car-shaped icons in a variety of colors that show your position on the map.
The nüvi accepts customized points of interest (POIs) such as school zones and safety cameras. It even provides traffic alerts (in select cities) when used with a compatible traffic receiver. By adding traffic services and a receiver to your nüvi 310, you can avoid traffic tie-ups by simply pushing a button to calculate a new route.
Enjoy Travel Kit full of entertainment and useful tools
Navigation is just the beginning. The nüvi includes many “must have” entertainment and travel tools including MP3 player, audio book player, JPEG picture viewer, travel alarm, currency converters, and more. In addition, optional software packages such as the Language Guide™ and Travel Guides™ can be added for language and content support.
Customize with Optional Software
Optional software available on plug-in SD cards, lets you instantly add new features to your nüvi — without connecting to your computer.
Full Specifications
Receiver: high-sensitivity WAAS-capable GPS receiver by SiRF
Display: 2.8” W x 2.1” H (3.5” diag.), 320 x 240 pixels; bright, TFT display, 64K colors, with white backlight and touch screen
Unit dimensions: 3.87″ W x 2.91″ H x 0.87″ D (98.3 mm x 73.9 mm x 22.1 mm)
Weight: 5.1 ounces (144.6 grams)
Battery: built-in lithium ion battery — between 4-8 hours of battery life depending on use
Bluetooth wireless technology for hands-free calling
Includes Garmin Lock™, an anti-theft feature
Supports FM TMC traffic alerting
Preloaded maps for one European region
Fingertip touch-screen interface
Look up addresses and points of interest
Choose 2D or 3D map perspective
Upload custom POIs, including alerts for speed zones and safety cams
Built in Travel Kit includes MP3 player with sample MPs, audio books, picture viewer, world clock, currency and measurement converters, calculator and more
SD memory card expansion slot
USB interface for loading data
May 24, 2006
The Lowrance iFinder GPS is an affordable GPS navigator that includes all the features you need to get around. Due to its portability, it is a good choice for hikers, cyclists, and road trippers. It’s so simple, just plot a route via the easy-to-use keypad, and the iFinder Go follows the path precisely, with intuitive navigating that keeps you from veering off course.
The navigator is so reliable that its 16 parallel channel GPS and WAAS receiver is accurate to within several meters, making it a great fit for scavenger hunts as well as hikes. Each trip is completely customizable, with the ability to create new routes, waypoints, trails, and more. You can also easily recalculate your trip route should you get distracted and lose your way, and thanks to the 32 MB of built-in memory, you can save and retrace up to 100 of your favorite plot trails, with up to 10,000 points in each path.
The device holds more than just previous routes, however. It also comes preloaded with a background map of the continental U.S. and Hawaii, with such features as coastal nav aids, wrecks, and obstructions. In addition, the device supports up to 1,000 waypoints, 1,000 event markers, and 100 routes. Users with a zest for detail will appreciate the 40 map zoom ranges (from 0.02 to 4,000 miles) and the 42 graphic icons used to mark special spots.
To top it off, the iFinder Go’s bright yellow housing is waterproof, so you can use it in the rain or safely store it in your pack when rafting. Additional features include a 2-inch white LED backlit screen with 200 x 140 resolution, internal backup memory for storing your GPS data and settings, and a wrist-strap accessory. The pocket-sized unit measures 2.12 by 5.15 by 1.24 inches (W by H by D) and runs for up to 48 hours on two AA batteries (not included). It also includes a one-year warranty.
March 30, 2006
Sony of Canada Ltd. has unveiled the nav-u NVU-70 GPS-based portable navigation device. It’s equipped with a 3.5’’ touch-screen display and two-way speaker system, and lets drivers to map a destination, re-route around traffic jams, and locate points of interest.
“The portable navigation segment is expected to grow more than 100 per cent in this year, and will continue to grow significantly through 2008, according to NPD data,” commented Neil Dutton, Product Manager, Mobile Electronics Products, Consumer Audio/Visual Information Technology Group, Sony of Canada Ltd. “We’ve leveraged our audio and video expertise to make the nav-u system a feature-rich and easy to use device for a better customer experience.”
At the core of the system is Sony’s 12-channel GPS receiver with proprietary RF technology and a built in antenna that allows the unit to receive a satellite signal within seconds after it is turned on. It’s ready for use right out of the box, with 1 GB of embedded flash memory that’s preloaded with 1.6 million points of interest, including Canada and the northern U.S. A DVD-ROM with full maps of Canada and the northern U.S. is also included; and updates to the mapping database are made by connecting the device to a PC’s USB port.
By tapping the touch-screen twice, users can access several programming features. For example, the “home” feature recognizes the unit’s location and maps the quickest route to the programmed home address; while the “block road” reroute feature allows drivers to change their course and keep driving in the case of a closed road or traffic congestion. The screen has day and night modes regulated by a light sensor that measures ambient light and gradually transitions between modes.
As a handheld device, the nav-u can be transferred between vehicles. It can be cradled in a universal, light-weight bracket that can be mounted on a car’s windshield or dashboard. Its embedded rechargeable lithium-ion battery allows for up to four hours of operation outside of the car.
The nav-u NV-U70 will be available in early April at an MSRP of $799.99. Sony notes that it is also finalizing details of an annual map upgrade program offering. The program will be announced shortly.
Source: Marketnews
February 9, 2006
Los Angeles police will propel a GPS device onto a fleeing car. The device will stick to the car and track its location. That’ll hopefully reduce dangerous high-speed chases.
The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) will become the first law enforcement agency to outfit cars with a device that propels and sticks a Global Positioning System (GPS) onto a fleeing car.
The department will mount the StarChase LLC device in the grill of some squad cars in the fall. “Officers in the car would control a green laser light, similar to an aiming device that fixes on your target,” said LAPD Lieutenant Paul Vernon on Friday. “A small dart-like device is propelled from the officer’s car.”
The LAPD is hopeful the GPS device will reduce the number of high-speed car chases through the city. The department conducted more than 600 vehicle pursuits in 2005, up from 581 in the prior year, said Vernon.
Rather than engage in a high-speed chase that is dangerous for the public and police, an officer can trigger the GPS tracking device from their car. The officer also will have a remote unit, about the size of a device that unlocks a car, when they’re outside the patrol car.
Each StarChase unit can fire two GPS tracking devices in case the first one misses or does not stick to the vehicle. The GPS device consists of a battery and a radio transmitter embedded in an epoxy compound. The tag affixes to the suspect’s vehicle and transmits its location via satellite to police headquarters where it is superimposed over a map displayed on a computer.
The GPS tag activates at impact. It transmits the car’s exact position via a wireless modem. An encrypted cellular backbone delivers continuous position updates to the StarChase server that pushes location-based information to authorized users through a password-protected Web portal.
The delay between the transmission and the refresh-picture rate from the Web server is about two to three seconds. The system uses data transmission encryption to ensure security. StarChase said the platform is approved by the National Security Agency.
The LAPD expects trails to last between four and six months. The technology is still in development. A few questions remain. For example, it’s not clear the optimal distance a patrol car must follow behind a vehicle in pursuit. Vernon said it’s probably “similar distance an officer would be in most gun fights, which is fairly close, about 21 feet.”
The GPS device is one of three new technologies the department will deploy. Others include a small Taser gun and a new crime analysis lab.
Source: By Laurie Sullivan - TechWeb News
January 1, 2006
It took hundreds of police officers and emergency responders 24 hours to find William McCord after he disappeared Wednesday from the Matawan home where he had raised his family.
Two county agencies think they can cut that time down to 22 minutes.
The Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office and the Office on Aging are offering senior citizens suffering from Alzheimer’s disease or other forms of dementia 40 free GPS-style wristbands to help law enforcement locate them if they are lost. National statistics show that people wearing the watch-like device, provided as part of Project Lifesaver, are found in an average of 22 minutes.
Half of the wristbands already have been distributed and county officials hope the next 20 will help avoid situations like the one that unfolded in Matawan.
“This is something they wear 24/7, and they really can’t get it off,” said Barbara Rutan, director of client services for the Office on Aging.
Rutan said the wristbands, which weigh only an ounce and emit inaudible radio signals, make a big difference in helping people with Alzheimer’s, who can lose track of where they are or how they arrived somewhere.
“It’s part of the disease process. They do wander,” Rutan said. “This is a great help.”
Posted by the Asbury Park Press
December 13, 2005
Men aged 35-54 have the highest exposure to outdoor advertising, according to US ratings data from Nielsen Outdoor in Chicago. The ratings also show that outdoor advertising exposure is best for higher-income, full-time employed demographics. The results also showed that the average adult is exposed to 40 outdoor advertising messages each day, and that exposure (not surprisingly) peaks during commuting times (8am and 5pm) on work days. Nielsen Outdoor’s data comes from the company’s own measurement system for outdoor advertising audiences, which uses portable Global Positioning System (GPS) devices to track the travel patterns of consumers in relation to known outdoor advertising sites. Outdoor advertising’s share of advertising budget traditionally lags behind that of television, radio and print media. According to Nielsen Outdoor, in most countries outdoor ads account for less than 5% of total advertising spend, with only US$18 billion being committed each year worldwide, compared to US$120 billion for television campaigns.
Source: The Wise Marketer
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