GPS News and Reviews

Chinese Huawei announced a new GPS enabled Android phone with the latest 2.2 OS. The big deal is that it is probably going to be the least expensive phone out there with this latest Android OS.

It does 3G connectivity with HSPDA and WiFi 802.11n, lets you share your internet connection with Wifi AP, has a proximity sensor, light sensor, G-sensor, voice search and dialing, GPS receiver for GPS navigation and Google Maps, 3.2MP digital camera, and a whole lot of savings for your wallet.

You can pick one of these up for about $150 starting this October.

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Huawei announces cheap GPS Android phone

An unmanned mini plane guided by GPS satellites has been developed by European Space Agency (ESA) to provide monitoring of land areas and disaster zones.

Designed by the German start-up company – the autonomous micro-air vehicles (MAVs) with a wingspan of less than two meters are assigned inspect land areas.

The MAVs can carry visual and thermal cameras or other customer-specific measuring equipment. They’re controlled by an autopilot from takeoff to landing, and they use GPS satellite navigation to follow a planned track, triggering the camera to image the target area. From the ground, the plane is followed by radio by a safety pilot who can take over the controls at anytime…via

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GPS guided unmanned planes

Navigon just announced two new affordable GPS navigation systems at IFA in Berlin.

One of them is the NAVIGON 20 Easy which is the entry level GPS navigation system with a 3.5″ screen, lots of POIs, and better maps views. This one is supposed to cost about 100 Euros.

And then there’s the NAVIGON 20 Plus. Same as above but this model adds a few extras such as Text-to-Speech, and the motion sensor that lets you manage your three favourite POIs by simply moving your hand towards the display which then hides other information and enlarges the map section to maximum view. Plus model will cost 130 Euros.

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new NAVIGON 20 Easy and NAVIGON 20 Plus

Remember RunKeeper? It is now out for Android. That’s all. They have two versions. The ad supported one is obviously free. And then the pro version – which costs $10 will give you voice cues on your performance and of course no ads.

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RunKeeper now out for Android

We did already talk about Samsung Galaxy Tab before it is official release. As we expected Samsung Galaxy Tab was made official in Germany at IFA, and it also known as GT-P1000. Some of the highlights of this new GPS enabled tablet is the Android 2.2 OS, 7″ TFT LCD screen, and all sorts of wireless connectivity.

Multimedia features of Galaxy Tab are also very significant making watching films, viewing pictures, or reading e-books a pleasure. Did we already mention it also supports Adobe Flash Player 10.1? Now that’s taking advantage of the full web. Take that iPad! Multimedia formats DivX, XviD, MPEG4, H.263, H.264 and more are all supported backed by the Cortex A8 1.0GHz application processor.

As far as staying in touch with the world Samsung Galaxy Tab will offer you 3G HSPA connectivity, 802.11n Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth 3.0. It has a front-facing camera for video telephony over 3G, and a rear-facing camera for stills and videos.

Samsung Galaxy Tab does GPS even thought the specs does not specifically mention it thanks to our advanced 3G chips these days which already come with A-GPS capabilities. Which means you’ll have Google Maps, Navigation, and all sort of other location aware goodness in your (oversized) pocket.

When can you get your hands on the Samsung Galaxy Tab? It will be launched in Europe in mid September, and in other markets including Korea, the US and Asia in coming months.

• Network: 2.5G (GSM/ GPRS/ EDGE) : 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 MHz
• 3G (HSUPA 5.76Mbps, HSDPA 7.2Mbps) : 900 / 1900 / 2100 MHz
• OS: Android 2.2 (Froyo)
• Display: 7.0 inch TFT-LCD, WSVGA (1024 x 600)
• Processor: Cortex A8 1.0GHz Application Processor with PowerVR SGX540
• Camera: 3 MP Camera with Auto-Focus and LED Flash
• 1.3MP front camera for Video Telephony
• WiFi 802.11n / Bluetooth® 3.0
• Sensor: Gyroscope sensor, Geo-magnetic sensor, Accelerometer, Light sensor
• Memory: 16G / 32G internal memory with up to 32G external memory slot
• RAM: 512 MB
• Size: 190.09 x 120.45 x 11.98mm, 380g
• Battery: 4,000mAh (7 hour movie play)

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Samsung Galaxy Tab does GPS

For China only! So don’t get too excited about these transparent-lid touch screen phones if you’re in Europe or the U.S. I wonder why only Chinese get these transparent covers. Maybe they’re notorious for putting them in their pockets with keys or something. Who knows.

Anyhow one of these new models is the Motorola XT806 which runs Android 2.1 and offers dual-mode/dual-standby support for CDMA EVDO and GSM, 3.2″ screen with 300dpi display, of course a GPS receiver, 720p video capture, and more.

Brought to you by your GPS navigation site NaviGadget.

Motorola XT806 does GPS with Android

West coast based Rydeen just announced GCOM701, a new Android tablet device with GPS functionality. Also known as gPad, the device has a 7″ touch screen, front-facing camera, and removable memory. It will be ready in November but the price has not been announced yet.

GCOM701 TFT touch panel has 800×480-pixel resolution, WiFi connectivity (802.11 b/g) and GPS as we already mentioned. Other hardware features include Bluetooth capability, microphone and speaker, microSD card slot (up to 32GB), and 3.5mm headphone jack.

Another important feature gPad is that it comes preloaded with maps from Navteq including 4 million POIs – since you’ve got no 3G, or any form of cellular connectivity – you’re going to need this on the road if you intend to use it as a GPS navigation system.

Other specs include ARMADA 166 processor running at 800 MHz with 2GB RAM, and a 2400mAh battery that lasts up to 8-hours.

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American Rydeen gPad GCOM701 comes with maps

This dude has done it. It is not the most elegant way of using your iPad as a GPS navigation system but may serves as a proof of concept.

Like we said he’s using Motion X GPS drive as the GPS navigation software which only costs $3 to buy but you’ll have to pay $25/year to activate voice guided turn by turn directions.

Bad thing is there’s no built in map data, meaning all the maps have to be loaded over the air. Also it looks like there’s no text-to-speech to pronounce street names.

What’s your GPS navigation solution for your iPad? Let us know.

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using Motion X GPS Drive on your iPad

Verdict: Doesn't Take Full Advantage of the iPhone, But It'll Get You To Your Destination Magellan has been making standalone GPS devices for years. Now the company is hoping to stay competitive in an increasingly smartphone-driven world, and has released...

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Bushnell just upgraded their “backtrack >3″ to “backtrack >5″, a whole two new locations you can track for an extra $20. It is not currently in stock; maybe that’s a good thing because our favorite GPS X GUIDER which can store up to 300 points is in stock.

Bushnell backtrack point >5 has a different form factor and includes a nice little carabiner so you can attach it to your backpack or similar things. It is similar to other GPS backtracker devices in terms of other features such as the ability to include latitude and longitude, timestamp, and even temperature in this case.

It uses 2AAA batteries but they don’t report on how long it would last. We can’t imagine it would be that long before batteries run out with that relatively large backlit LCD display.

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bushnell backtrack point >5