The Freedom Keychain GPS SiRF III Receiver is a nifty new addition to Proporta’s product portfolio. Featuring state of the art Bluetooth technology, you can link to your Bluetooth enabled device and benefit from the latest GPS technology! The beauty of this little unit is that it is small enough to attach to your keychain, so you can put it in your bag, pocket, purse – anywhere you would take your keys.

Currently the world’s smallest and neatest Bluetooth receiver, it will connect to up to 20 satellite’s and run on battery power for a working time of up to ten hours! Seems like a great little gadget – hopefully they will produce a piece of software to allow you to track your keys should they go missing!

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Sony have announced the release of a new satellite navigation add-on for the PSP,  following a collaboration between Sony and satellite navigation leaders Teleatlas and NavNGo to bring a quality in-car and pedestrian GPS solution to the PSP. Indeed, Teleatlas are the major suppliers of mapping data to all of the top brand satellite navigation sytems manufacturers, including TomTom, Garmin, Navman, plus most others you care to think of.

Under the name of Go!Explore, the package incorporates a GPS receiver and free PSP specific GPS software software along with chosen maps supplied on Sony’s proprietary UMD (Universal Media Disc) format. Including the capacity to use 3D city maps and 3D landmarks in key cities, the GPS package promises to be a unique experience for the sat nav enthusiast.
continue reading "Go!Explore GPS package released on the Sony PSP"

We’ve been raving about it for weeks now. Other websites have already showered it with praise, presenting it with top marks in their gadget reviews. The TomTom GO 720 simply has everyone in the industry foaming at the mouth in anticipation of the impact it is set to create in the GPS world.

Now T3.co.uk, one of the UK’s leading tech news and reviews websites, has nominated the GO720 for its inaugural T3 awards 2007 under the “Most Useful Gadget” category. Up against the likes of the acclaimed Nokia N95, Sky Television’s new High Definition television service, the Blackberry, and the nifty Freeloader Solar Charger, the competition is certainly a tough one. However, given the fantastic range of features boasted by the GO 720, it is sure to fend off its competitors and prevail.

If you would like to vote for the GO 720, simply head over to http://competition.futurenet.com/t3awards/ and cast your vote. Better still, register your vote and you could be in with a chance of winning a free Sony PS3 and a free PSP Slim and Lite for your efforts!

If, like most people today, you are an upstanding and health-conscious citizen, you may be wondering what on earth you should do with your car cigarette lighter socket. GPS products and accessories manufacturer Holux may well have the answer to your quandary with their GR-239 Bluetooth GPS receiver.

Simply plug this nifty little device directly into the cigarette lighter socket, sync with your PDA, and hey presto – your own fully functioning top spec sat nav system. Not only does this unit solve the problem of where to store your GPS receiver when in use, but will make your car the envy of your friends by transforming your dashboard into something out of the ‘Starship Enterprise’.

Now, thanks to the stylish GR-239, you can find where you’re going and kick that filthy nicotine habit all at the same time!

Leading sat-nav manufacturer TomTom and mobile operator Vodafone have developed a new service that enables drivers to estimate the level of congestion along a particular route. The system is based on a count of the number of cell phones in a given area, for example along a stretch of motorway, and allows users to avoid traffic jams and bottlenecks by providing alternate routes which bypass any problems.
continue reading "TomTom and Vodafone Service to Help Avoid Traffic Congestion"

Limitations on the level of graphical detail incorporated into current mapping software may sometimes leave you wondering exactly which turn you are supposed to be taking. It is quite often the case that the tiny images on your GPS display can be somewhat ambiguous, especially on Sat Navs with smaller screens, which can result in confusion when it comes to reading your directions.

TomTom may be offering a potential solution to this problem according to a patent recently filed, outlining a new method of route mapping which incorporates digital images of the road ahead in a move to eliminate any ambiguity in the graphical display.
Sat Navs of the future may integrate a tiny camera which can record real world images and present them when necessary. These images could be used to form the basis of your mapping dispay, allowing for a reduction in the sometimes ambiguous directions presented on your device.

Whether or not these images would take the form of real time video footage, or simply digital stills presented at crucial turning points, hasn’t been clarified. It is likely though, that digital stills would be presented at certain points in the mapped route.

It isn’t yet clear when this new technology will be released, if at all, but it certainly represents an exciting development and shows that manufacturers are always pushing for improvements in the technology at your disposal.

High frequencies emitted from Intel processors could interfere with the operation of GPS receivers, the Swedish Defence Research Agency has found.

Using a computer in a car, plane, boat, or anywhere a GPS system is used, can mean that the sat-nav device starts working incorrectly. Many modern processors with high clock frequencies - such as those from Intel with frequencies of 1.7GHz, 2.992GHz and 3.2GHz - have been highlighted as possible sources of interference.

…

The study showed that modern computers produce interfering signals that reach as far as the frequency bandwidths used for GPS systems (between 1GHz and 2GHz).

The interference has been measured as far as 700 metres away from the source of that interference. It can cause GPS systems to display incorrect position information, or may stop working entirely.

If your GPS system has started producing errors, try turning off any computers or electronic systems that are nearby, or move as far away from the possible sources of interference as possible.

Italian consultancy Inverse Path reveals research that shows RDS-TMC receivers may be vulnerable to hijack by hackers.

“The trouble is that people trust sat nav,” he points out. “It’s not like your PC which everyone knows is vulnerable to hackers and viruses, so are wary of. Sat nav naturally inspires blind faith.”

Systems that do not primarily use RDS-TMC for real-time traffic alerts are shielded from this sort of attack (subscribers to TomTom PLUS who use the more costly GPRS to receive traffic alerts, for example).

Barisani says he is amazed that there is no authentication on RDS-TMC systems: “I know some manufacturers are working on new and more secure standards, primarily for billing purposes though,” he says. “These new standards will solve most of the issues but it’s going to take quite some time before wide implementation and adoption.”

He says he’d like to see more awareness of this, ’so at least the good guys know what the risks are before the bad guys get to work’.

So beware, keep your eyes open and make sure the traffic conditions match what you hear on your RDS-TMC — bad guys, however unlikely, could be waiting for you.

It’s not quite ready for the UK yet, but with support for the US, Canada, France, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands and Spain, Google Maps on your Windows Mobile (2003 and up) device* might be all you need for a quick visit to any of these countries.

According to NaviGadget, Google Maps Mobile supports GPS data, and provides loads of information — including real-time traffic, directions, and local search results. NaviGadget is very positive on this Google utility, and rightly so, but it is worthwhile remembering that its user-friendliness will be limited to your device’s interface, screen size and hardware setup.

TotalPDA does not vouch for this software in any way.

*Requires an Internet-enabled phone and a data plan from your network carrier — therefore, charges may apply.

continue reading "Google Maps on your handheld"

The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft has announced the COMPASS 2008, a GPS-enabled PDA that has been designed for use during the Olympic Games in Beijing in, you guessed it, 2008. The device speaks and writes in Mandarin to make sure you don’t get any surprises while trying to get around and eat in China, and has already been successfully tested in the capital city.

Shop assistants and taxi drivers are reportedly ‘enthusiastic’ about the system, as I imagine they would be in comparison to dealing with mime / increasingly desperate gesticulations while listening to what is effectively gobbledygook.

(Disclaimer: Your writer has lived in China, and has borne witness to abovementioned mimes and gesticulations. With great amusement.)

Via The Raw Feed.