GPS in Cell Phones Performs Well
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While some handheld computers have GPS capabilities, not nearly as many people carry a PDA as the legions who've adopted cell phones as a daily appendage. That's why the notion of adding GPS navigation to a cell phone, as Nextel has with a service called TeleNav, seems appealing.
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BusinessWeek Online - Time was, if you wanted to use the global positioning system to get from one place to another, you had to spend $500 to $1,000 for a standalone dashboard-mounted unit from vendors such as Garmin (NasdaqGS:GRMN - News), TomTom, or Magellan. But lately, GPS is becoming a must-have feature on cell phones, with device makers including Research In Motion (NasdaqGS:RIMM - News) happy to oblige. RIM&#39;s BlackBerry 8800, for instance, includes a GPS chip that allows navigation from the palm of your hand.
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Users can now access search engine from their cell phones.
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OK, so I don't like asking for directions. But I don't get lost so often that I need to spend more than &#36;1,000 on a built-in car navigation system to plot my course with global positioning satellites.
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Google has launched its download Maps application for Windows Mobile phones/PDAs. From the Google Blog: &#8220;Like other versions of Google Maps for mobile, with this Windows Mobile version you can find businesses and see real-time traffic updates, along with unique features like contacts integration, GPS support, draggable maps, and tap and hold menus.&#8221; This is the same [...]
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(InfoWorld) - A new chip designed for portable wireless devices combines the coverage of two satellite-based navigation services to offer a location tracking time of less than one second. The u-blox 5 chip, which Switzerland's U-bloxÂ plans to unveil at the 3GSM World Congress event in Barcelona next month, uses two global navigation satellite services: GPS, which was developed by the U.S. Department of Defense, and Europe's Galileo, the vendor said Wednesday. The technology has a tracking sensitivity of -160 dBm, which enables indoor coverage. The abbreviation dBm represents the power ratio in decibels (dB) with respect to 1 milliwatt (mW). With a power consumption of less than 50 mW, the u-blox 5 chip allows GPS-enabled mobile phones and other wireless devices to operate in difficult indoor environments, such as shopping malls and train stations. In addition to its satellite-based navigation chip, U-blox will use the 3GSM event to show several other new products, including AssistNow Offline, which stores data in the GPS receiver for up to two weeks. The technology allows the receiver to compute a position instantly without having to connect to a mobile network at startup to download the data, as is the case with typical GPS services
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There&#39;s something to interest almost everyone at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this week:For the lostGPS is built in to an increasing number of mobile phones. Nokia is still the most aggressive vendor. This year it plans to sell 35 million phones with GPS. The Finnish phone giant is not alone: its competitors are also embracing navigation, so don&#39;t be surprised if in a few years GPS is as common in phones as cameras are today.Trendsetters: HTC P3470 and Samsung G810For shutterbugsPhone makers also continue to develop cameras. Among the features that popped up during this year&#39;s show are face-detection, image stabilization and the ability to take better pictures in the dark. Phone cameras with a 5-megapixel resolution are also becoming more common, although you still only get a digital zoom.Trendsetters: Sony Ericsson C902 and Samsung F480For LinuxApple isn&#39;t the only company redrawing the mobile phone map. Linux is nothing new in mobile phones, but the launch of Google&#39;s Android has given it a lot of extra attention. On the show floor several chip manufacturers&#160;showed prototypes. The first real phones should be ready before the end of the year. One benefit with Android is the reduction in the time it takes to develop a new phone, according to Texas Instruments.Trendsetters: ARM and Texas InstrumentsFor cineastsIf the mobile phone makers are to be believed, we should also use our next phone to watch movies. Two things that get us there: bigger screens in a widescreen format and larger storage capacity.Trendsetters:&#160;Nokia N96&#160;and Sony Ericsson Xperia X1For globetrottersGeotagging is a feature that combines built-in support for navigation and photography. When you take a picture your location is also saved. Then you can overlay that information on services like Google Maps, and see where you&#39;ve been.Trendsetters: Sony Ericsson C702 and Nokia 6220 ClassicFor CIOsWith Sony Ericsson on board, four out of five of the biggest phone makers have phones based on Microsoft&#39;s Windows Mobile operating system. The last holdout is Nokia and it still has no plans. One interesting thing about a few of the Windows Mobile phones launched at the Mobile World Congress is that they fit just as well at home as at work.Trendsetters: Samsung i200 and LG KS20For speed freaksPhones with support for HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access) are arriving at a steady pace. A few phones now support 7.2Mbps&#160;-- but to get the most out of that bandwidth you need a laptop. A few phones also support HSUPA (High Speed Uplink Packet Access), an abbreviation that in the real world means faster upload speeds.Trendsetters: Toshiba Portege G810 and LG KF700For speed freaks IITo get more bandwidth to your phone you can also use Wi-Fi. Support for this technology is also becoming more common. One of the advantages with Wi-Fi is that you can sometime sbrowse the Internet for free. Good luck doing that on a mobile network.Trendsetters: Motorola Moto Z6w and Sony Ericsson G900For your carSo how do you listen to your MP3 player without using headphones? One solution is to use the FM transmitter integrated in some new phones, and listen on your car radio. A small step for technology, but a big one for usability according to Nokia.Trendsetters: Nokia N78 and Sony Ericsson W980For the touchyTouch-based user interfaces are fast becoming the norm in mobile phones -- although buttons will still not disappear. The goal is, if all goes well, to make phones easier to use. Only the imagination of the phone makers limits what can be done.Trendsetters: HTC Advantage and&#160;Samsung Soul
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Photos tagged with location data are becoming popular, and new devices are tapping into the trend by offering GPS features.
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TechWeb - A market research company's survey found 24% want GPS on their next cell phone, while 19% want Internet access.
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Any satellite mapping system can tell you where you are. With a Garmin Rino two-way radio, you can tell other Rino users where you are â and then show them.
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Providing directions, or just leading you on? Review What more do you want from a GPS unit than the ability to get you from A to B when you haven't got a clue where you are or which way to go? Well, Harman Kardon is hoping that multimedia features will also feature highly on your shopping list as its new Guide+Play GPS-500 also features video and audio playback.â¦
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(InfoWorld) - Making a splash as honing gadgets in spy movies, GPS (Global Positioning System) devices are now practical and make for pretty cool gifts. Axion's Geo-320 GPS navigation system -- when plopped on a car's dashboard -- barks out directions to drivers, while TeleNav's GPS Navigator service for smartphones voices directions to pedestrians. Despite the rise of GPS, atlases will remain, and it's good to have Brookstone's affordable Map Light to view paper maps at night. An Ã¼ber cool gift could be Hammacher Schlemmer and Co.'s LP-to-MP3 Converter, which converts songs from LPs to digitized MP3 files. But, first find people who own LPs. GPS for drivers For people who love to take wrong turns, a GPS system is a no-brainer as a gift idea. Axion has added the compact Geo-632 GPS system to its nifty array of in-car entertainment devices. The GPS system is real eye candy, and offers 2D and 3D viewing of preloaded maps on its 3.5-inch touch screen, voicing out directions. Like most GPS devices, it also has a listing of restaurants, hotels, gas stations, banks, and other tourist destinations. A lithium-ion battery operates the GPS unit for eight to 10 hours. It also has a Secure Digital flash memory card slot to load map updates. Map updates will be provided free at their Web site , said Jesse Lee, product engineer at Axion. As an add-on, the portable GPS unit can play MP3 files and view JPEG image files, allowing users to share music and images, said Joanna Zhang, an Axion spokeswoman. The $349.99 unit became available in the U.S. in November. GPS for pedestrians GPS systems can also be used by lost pedestrians. TeleNav's GPS Navigator software loads on to a smartphone and gives a 3D view of maps, with voice and on-screen directions. It provides directions to more than 10 million business listings in the U.S., including Wi-Fi hotspots and tourist destinations. The system can also be used in cars, and as an added bonus, its "fuel finder" locates spots with the lowest gas prices. However, maps on a smartphone's LCD (liquid crystal display) screen may be too tiny for a driver's comfort. The service works on smartphones with most U.S. mobile service providers . Alltel recently launched the TeleNav GPS wireless service in the U.S. for $9.99 a month, and it works on Research In Motion's BlackBerry 8703e and Samsung Electronics' u520 smartphones. For $2.99, a one-time use service is vailable, which works only on Samsung u520 phones. The beat goes on After an LP to CD recorder, Hammacher Schlemmer has introduced the LP to MP3 Converter right in time for the holiday season. The turntable plugs to a computer via a USB (Universal Serial Bus) port, where it digitizes LP audio files. It helps save out-of-print music and spoken-word recordings on LPs to a more reliable digital format, according to the company. The software included removes scratches, hisses, and pops usually heard from LPs. The $169.95 systems also works as a stand-alone LP player, connecting to a stereo system via an RCA output. Change your wireless TV headset Sharper Image Inc. is offering Bluetooth Wireless Stereo Headphones , which allows users to wirelessly listen to a TV, iPod, stereo -- anything with a headphone jack -- from up to 30 feet away. It comes with two pieces -- a wireless headset and a receiver. The Bluetooth receiver plugs into the headphone jack and the headset connects to the receiver, getting the sound wirelessly. This $99.95 Bluetooth headset could be an excellent alternative to traditional RF wireless headsets, known to be unreliable in coverage and performance.
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The Nokia 6210 Navigator cell phone debuts at GSMA (3GSM) 2008 with built-in GPS and pedestrian guidance.
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The New York Times' David Pogue reviewed five Global Positioning Systems that are all tiny, self-contained, and battery-operated.
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Route finders, once limited to executive autos, have become part of advanced handsets and are now being designed into mobile phones. New smartphones can load computer-like applications, adding mapping to their bag of tricks.
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Researchers in the United Kingdom have developed software that loads camera phones with mouse capabilities, allowing users to swivel a camera phone to scroll or move items on a PC screen.While the software is in its infancy, the technology could enable people to use camera phones to scroll public displays to get further information on products or to&#160;purchase items&#160;such as&#160;plane tickets.Communicating with a PC via Bluetooth wireless technology, users can either move the cell phone or use a stylus on the cell phone&#39;s screen to also scroll through a computer screen, said Patrick Olivier, an associate professor at Newcastle University. Olivier is working on developing the technology with researchers Nick Pears of York University and Dan Jackson of Newcastle University.One of the original goals was to interact with larger public displays to, for example, buy movie and train tickets and interact with advertising displays, although the applications of this technology are limitless, the researchers said.For example, users will be able to scroll through large display screens in a real-estate agency, even though there could be glass window in between, Pears said.After communicating a cell phone&#39;s field of view through a live camera feed to a computer via Bluetooth, the PC establishes the coordinates of its monitor, which&#160;are then&#160;sent to a camera phone. Once the camera phone registers the image on the cell phone and recognizes the display coordinates set by the PC through image processing technology, the computer knows exactly what the phone can see, which sets the stage to scroll a PC.Users can then move the phone or use a stylus on a touch screen to scroll a PC or move items. The PC and camera phone work together to continuously reposition a PC monitor&#39;s coordinates as the phone moves, allowing the cell phone to scroll a PC from any position in a room.The researchers have developed the software for the Symbian and Windows Mobile OSes for PDAs and camera phones, the researchers said.While the technology holds promise, it is still under development and multiple issues are being addressed, Pears said.&quot;The image capture and image processing rate on the cell phone is quite slow, and so you can not move the cell phone as quickly as you would like to. This is what we would like to address in our next prototype,&quot; Pears said.
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If you thought predictive texting was impressive, you ain&#39;t seen nothing yet. A cellphone is on the way that can predict what you are about to do.