Navman has announced a tethered, ultrasensitive GPS receiver and antenna device—the Navman GPS3260 series Smart GPS Sensor. This product features an all-in-one design, very fast time to first fix, low power requirements and SiRFStar III technology.

Easily adapted to automotive, scientific, commercial, government and leisure uses, the new device offers flexibility to supports a host of individual applications. Common uses include inexpensive digital mapping and navigation programs on notebook computers, data gathering and logging for scientific, environmental and inventory applications on handheld computers, vehicle tracking on mobile data terminal solutions, and vehicular digital video recorders with GPS options.

Ultrahigh sensivity
A fully integrated GPS antenna and receiver, the Smart GPS Sensor features a 49-by-41-by-14.2mm form factor and includes an ultrahigh-sensitivity 20-channel receiver, as well as over 200,000 effective correlators for rapid satellite acquisition fixes and tracking even in weak signal conditions less than -159 dBm. The device provides fast acquisition fixes with less than 1s hot starts, 32s warm starts and 38s cold starts (typical).

Featuring the same core firmware as Navman’s Jupiter 30 series of products, GPS3260 supports SiRFInstantFix, advanced power management modes, user selectable datums and SBAS (WAAS, EGNOS and MSAS) differential GPS. A built-in Li-ion battery holds system data for rapid position acquisition and includes a green LED that indicates GPS fix. Units ship standard with a fixed 3m cable for the RJ11 (GPS3260) and a fixed 2m cable for the USB (GPS3261) connector models.

Plug-and-play
Fully waterproof (iPX7 submersible), the Navman Smart GPS Sensor is operational at altitudes up to 18,462m, velocities up to 1000 knots, acceleration up to 5G and within a temperature range of -30°C to 85°C. Its operating voltage is 4-6Vdc and power consumption is a mere 63mA at 5Vdc. The device supports SBAS, multiple advanced power management modes for a plug-and-play GPS solution in battery-powered applications.

Both the RJ11 and USB models of the Navman Smart GPS Sensors are currently available in sample quantities and will be available in production quantities in February.

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Source: Electronic Engineering Times

The Kansas City, Kan., Public Schools District will have an easier time monitoring the activities of each individual school bus and students who travel those buses.

Kansas City, Kan., Public Schools District buses are easy to keep track of when parked at the bus barn, but for the rest of the time the district has installed GPS locators in each bus
Global Positioning Systems were installed on the district’s school buses earlier this year, and a report was given to the board of education at its meeting Tuesday evening.

The GPS will allow monitoring the speed and location of each bus, while the tracker will refresh itself every 30 seconds.

“I can identify if the bus was doing 37, 40 or 45 miles per hour,” said George Taylor, the district’s director of transportation. “I can know about the time and be pro-active, and say (to a driver), ‘You shouldn’t be in that location.’ I can use that as a disciplinary tool.”

Tracking of the buses can be viewed with computer software, in which the screen refreshes every half-minute.

“We will be able to know where all our buses are,” said Cynthia Lane, assistant superintendent for business and instructional support services.

Additionally, the GPS will function as time cards for the bus drivers.

The district is also undergoing a pilot program regarding using ID cards for students. The ID card would function as a tool to help track the time and location of each student as he or she exits the bus.

“This would let us know when each student gets off the bus,” said Taylor.

If a student forgets an ID card, the student could enter their number into a keypad before entering the bus.

The district believes the cards, and the buses’ GPS system, will be most useful during the evening hours, when activity buses are traveling to athletic events.

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Source: By NICK SLOAN, Kansan Staff Writer

Samsung has launched its new Bluetooth Navigator (STT-D370), a nifty GPS device that can be connected to mobile phones via Bluetooth. The Bluetooth Navigator is capable of adopting the latest technologies, such as Transport Protocol Experts Group (TPEG) and terrestrial DMB.

According to a press release, the Samsung STT-D370 is in fact the first GPS navigator to connect a mobile phone via Bluetooth. The navigator is equipped with microphone and speakerphone, so that users can make or receive phone calls and SMS text messages, without using a mobile phone.

The Bluetooth Navigator comes with a built-in Real 3D map that helps driver see the road ahead in crystal-clear 3D graphics. The gadget also comes with dynamic navigation feature that makes use of TPEG (a transportation information service based on terrestrial DMB data broadcasting) information updated every five minutes via a terrestrial DMB data channel to select the optimal route by incorporating road situations in real time.

The Samsung STT-D370 comprises of a variety of multimedia functionalities, such as high-resolution Personal Media Players (PMP), MP3 and photo albums, in addition to a translator, an electronic dictionary, a file viewer.

“Samsung is leading the convergence technology to make people’s lives more convenient. We will continue to deliver a wider range of convergence terminals that incorporate next-generation telecommunication technologies,” said Ki-tae Lee, president of Samsung’s Telecommunications Network Business, in the press release.

The Bluetooth Navigator comes with a long-lasting battery allowing users to enjoy its features both in vehicles and while walking.

Source: Niladri Sekhar Nath - TMCNet Contributing Editor