GPS World

Author: GPS World Staff

  • Trimble Launches Elite Membership for Outdoor Enthusiasts

    Trimble introduced today Trimble Outdoors Elite, a comprehensive membership program for outdoor enthusiasts. The Elite membership provides access to more than 2,500 best-in-class topo map bundles that can be stored on smartphones and tablets. In addition, Elite members can view public land boundaries in 46 states, see real-time weather and scout trips with a new online mapping tool.

    “From trip planning to offline digital maps and printed maps, Trimble Outdoors Elite provides a one-stop solution for modern-day outdoor enthusiasts such as hikers, backpackers and off-roaders,” said Rich Rudow, general manager of Trimble Outdoors. “The Elite program brings more powerful map content and tools directly into our mobile apps in the Apple App Store, Google Play and Amazon Appstore.”

    Offline Maps: With the new Digital Map Bundles, Elite members can download topo map bundles by state, county or park — more than 2,500 areas across the U.S. These map files are dragged-and-dropped onto a SD memory card or into an iTunes account then transferred to the phone or tablet.

    Public Lands: Elite members can view public land boundaries for several land areas, including U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, U.S. National Parks, and state lands. Public land coverage includes all states except Arkansas, Delaware, Rhode Island, and South Carolina. These color-coded land boundaries can be viewed in Trimble Outdoors apps and at trimbleoutdoors.com.

    Weather Maps: Interactive weather maps allow users to zoom into the exact areas they plan to explore at TrimbleOutdoors.com and in any Trimble Outdoors app to see real-time weather overlays, including Doppler radar, satellite images, wind speed, and temperature.

    Printed Maps: Search-and-rescue experts advise outdoor enthusiasts not to depend solely on electronics in the field. Now, Elite members can print trip maps on a home printer or receive 20 percent discount on any custom printed map order from MyTopo.com.

    Trip Planner: With the new Trip Planner tool, Elite members can view outdoor maps, draw routes and mark waypoints at TrimbleOutdoors.com. Trips planned online can be quickly and wirelessly transferred to any Trimble Outdoors app.

    Trimble Outdoors Elite is available as a monthly ($2.99) or yearly ($29.99) subscription. For more information, visit www.trimbleoutdoors.com/elite.

  • LandAirSea Systems Trackers Announce Redesigned Online Store

    Vehicle-Tracking.com has been redesigned. Vehicle-Tracking.com is the official online e-commerce site of LandAirSea Systems, a provider of consumer and business-to-business GPS tracking devices since 1994.

    Vehicle-Tracking.com provides passive and real-time GPS tracking devices and systems designed for a wide-range of applications, including fleet management, law enforcement surveillance, asset monitoring and personal vehicle tracking. Vehicle-Tracking also offers the full-line of accessories, replacement parts, services and software for all of LandAirSea’s tracking systems.

    With more than 15 years of experience in the field of GPS tracking, LandAirSea’s support staff is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to assess and assist with any questions or purchases made from Vehicle-Tracking.com.

  • Leica Geosystems Opens Online Store

    Leica Geosystems Inc. has announced the launch of the e-commerce site for Leica Geosystems Solutions Centers. The grand opening of the Leica Geosystems Solutions Center is marked by an unprecedented online-only promotion.

    Providing 24/7 personalized access to the products essential to the surveying, engineering, and construction industries, the site is a resource for more than purchases. It also enables customers to compare thousands of products based on features, shipping options and availability, and to create wish lists.

    The Leica Geosystems Solutions Centers e-commerce site offers a range of supplies, accessories and rentals, from paint and flagging, safety supplies, total stations and GPS systems for surveying, construction lasers and building layout systems. Relevant products and pricing are presented based on each customer’s unique profile, and subscription and quick-order capabilities make it easy to reorder frequently needed products.

    “We are committed to continually delivering value to our customers, and it is exciting to respond to customer needs by bringing this e-commerce site to the market,” said Mike Strom, general manager, Solutions Centers for Leica Geosystems. “Our customers are busy, and they often need to place orders outside of standard business hours. Our new e-commerce website provides customers a more convenient way to buy from us, and we will be offering online-only promotions on a regular basis — similar to the tremendous grand opening deals — so it’s easier than ever for customers to begin reaping the benefits of Leica Geosystems solutions.”

    The Leica Geosystems Solutions Center is factory-owned and operated, which guarantees that customers will receive the quality products and service expected from Leica Geosystems, the company said. Additionally, because support is critical at every step of the way, even during the purchase process, the site features multiple avenues to online support: customers get answers from factory-trained experts.

  • SINA, AutoNavi Launch Social Networking Platform for China

    SINA Corporation, an online media company serving China and the global Chinese communities, and AutoNavi Holdings Limited, provider of digital map content and navigation and location-based solutions in China, have jointly announced a strategic partnership to integrate and enhance each other’s social, location and mobile offerings.

    As a result of this partnership, AMAP, AutoNavi’s mobile map application, users will be able to sign on using Weibo Connect and access content directly from SINA Weibo. SINA Weibo users will also have access to the content and functionality of AMAP. The companies expect such content and product integration will enhance the social networking and navigational aspects of each other’s mobile offerings.

    “Over 70% of SINA Weibo users access the social media platform at least partially via mobile devices,” said Gaofei Wang, vice president and general manager of SINA Mobile. “LBS (location-based services) and mapping services will play a key role in Weibo’s mobile strategy, and we are excited to be partnering with AutoNavi to leverage their expertise in these areas.”

    “In teaming up with Sina, we are proud to provide our mapping and location-based services to more than 400 million Sina Weibo users, while at the same time integrating Sina Weibo’s social content and SNS features into AMAP,” said Congwu Cheng, chief executive officer of AutoNavi. “We believe our collaboration with Sina Weibo will benefit both of our users and we look forward to future cooperation between our two companies as we continue to bring new features and functionalities to our users.”

  • Apple Maps Not Fully to Blame for Outback Mistakes

    Police in Mildura, Australia, have been warning people not to rely on Apple Maps after several people trying to find the town of 30,000 people became hopelessly lost in the bush in scorching temperatures, reported the Guardian. One man was stranded for 24 hours last week in temperatures of up to 115º Fahrenheit. Three more were rescued after following the directions given on Apple’s Maps applications. Apple Maps put Mildura in Murray-Sunset National Park, the second largest park in Australia and 70 kilometers from the town’s actual location.

    The red pin shows the location Apple Maps directs drivers to. The purple pin is the location of the town.

    “Police are extremely concerned as there is no water supply within the Park and temperatures can reach as high as 46 degrees (Celsius, 115º Fahrenheit), making this a potentially life threatening issue,” read a police statement. “Some of the motorists located by police have been stranded for up to 24 hours without food or water and have walked long distances through dangerous terrain to get phone reception.”

    Today, the Guarian reports that Apple wasn’t completely wrong in directing Australians who searched for “Mildura” to the midst of the Murray-Sunset National Park. The Australian government’s official gazetteer includes a location called “Mildura Rural City” at the place where Mildura was previously marked on iPhone maps.

    As reported by The Register, the official gazetteer contains an entry at the precise place to which Apple was directing drivers until making a correction on Monday. The gazetteer contains 36 entries for “Mildura,” including the one for Mildura Rural City, which has “official” status and is listed as a “district” (comprising an “agricultural area, county, district, local government area, parish or region”). Mildura Rural City is an area of 22,000 square kilometers in the northwestern part of Victoria state, but Geoscience Australia located it at a specific point, in this case the middle of the park rather than the town.

    Apple’s mistake was to ignore another entry for Mildura, which the gazetteer records as having the class of “POPL” (population center).

  • Leica, Sigma Seven Partner for GIS Market in UK, Ireland

    Leica Geosystems Ltd. has signed a formal agreement with Sigma Seven Ltd. to provide improved value data collection and workforce management solutions to the GIS asset collection and management market. The strategic partnership combines GeoField software from Sigma Seven with the Leica Zeno CS25 GNSS tablet computer, allowing high-accuracy satellite position data to be collected with richly attributed data in one system, the companies said.

    “Many organizations are demanding the need for better, more reliable information to improve the on-going management and maintenance of their assets,” said Nathan Ward, market segment manager. “This partnership with Sigma Seven with their industry renowned geospatial and work management software will provide a fantastic integrated solution to enable field and office staff to work more efficiently and enhance the quality and effectiveness of their corporate data. A combination of proven capabilities, experience and a long and highly regarded heritage in the geospatial sector, will mean that this partnership will further enhance the solutions in Leica Geosystems’ Asset Collection and Management market.”

    Andrew Coleman, Sigma Seven Director adds, “Leica Geosystems is one of the premier manufacturers in the asset collection and GIS industry and they continue to innovate in spatial and measurement technology. By working together I believe we have a unique field mobile proposition, backed up by a shared quality and customer service ethos, that will accelerate the delivery of cost, performance, service and accuracy benefits to our customers.”

    Since 2000, Sigma Seven has helped some of the largest utility companies in the UK and developed a range of systems for utilities, government, environmental and engineering customers. GeoField is a powerful mobile data and work management system that enables field workers to access enterprise data at the point of action, Sigma Seven said. An intuitive map-based interface is supported by comprehensive imaging, red-lining, structured workflow, data capture and field reporting facilities.

    The Leica Zeno GIS series has been designed and optimized to capture accurate GNSS positions and richly attributed data quickly, even in the most demanding of environments, the company said.

    Andrew Coleman, Sigma Seven Director, and Nathan Ward, Market Segment Manager for Leica Geosystems.

  • CE-Traffic Launches Premium RDS-TMC in Poland

    CE-Traffic, a traffic data provider in Central-Eastern Europe, has extended its portfolio of traffic services in Poland, the country where over last five years the number of vehicles has grown by 50 percent. Drivers in Poland can look forward to more options in receiving real-time traffic information with the launch of the new Premium RDS-TMC service by CE-Traffic, the company said.

    “We looked at TMC solution with all its limitations and asked ourselves: how we can get more out of the technology that has been around for more than a decade so that navigation systems vendors can offer to their customers an easy-to-implement and affordable traffic service of a real value? Our Premium RDS- TMC offers drivers an access to very detailed traffic information without any mobile telecommunication cost and subscription fees,” said Jiri Novobilsky, CEO of CE-Traffic.

    Competitive advantage of CE-Traffic Premium RDS-TMC is based on smart use of TMC components, according to CE-Traffic. Up-to-date traffic flow data and journalistic information are smartly aggregated and regionally filtered. CE- Traffic TISA certified Location Table (LTN 6) offers the best available coverage. It includes not only all major roads and streets but also lower category roads commonly used by drivers like shortcuts or alternative routes. RDS channel with enhanced capacity allows broadcasting high number of traffic messages (over 1,000). The service is available country-wide thanks to partnership with Radio ZET – leading Polish radio station.

    Tomasz Przeździęk, CE-Traffic director for Poland, added: “When looking at overall traffic offering for personal and in-car navigation systems in Poland one can see that expensive connected devices did not achieve the major market acceptance. Proven TMC standard together with high quality CE-Traffic Floating Car Data is an easy to implement alternative to provide drivers with the most accurate and up-to-date traffic information.”

  • First Forge Echo Handheld Released for Foresters

    Forge Echo by F4 Devices

    F4 Devices has released the Forge Echo for forestry professionals.

    “Shipping the first product out this week is a great milestone for us,” said Mark Milligan, president of F4 Tech. “We have been working for years to produce a rugged handheld specifically made by and for foresters and professionals who work in the natural resource community. Seeing the first product come out of manufacturing and into the hands of the customer is a dream come true.”

    The Forge Echo offers high-accuracy GPS; high-performance ability under heavy tree canopy; and the capacity to measure distance and height through rugged terrain.

    The Forge Echo series combines the most precise GPS technology with an integrated clinometer tool that measures slope and vertical angles. Paired with groundbreaking, patent-pending echolocation technology, the Forge Echo enables users to measure accurate data on elevation changes, distance and tree heights.

    The Forge series of products has a fully ruggedized classification of IP67, and is shock-proof, dust-proof and waterproof. It comes standard with a Win Mobile 6.5 classic operating system, 3.5” display, 800-MHz processor, 512-MB SDRAM memory, 8-GB onboard storage, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, 5 megapixel camera and an up to 32 GB micro SD expansion slot.

    The first units shipped December 4, 2012.

  • Launch of GPS Satellite Struggled through Tense Moments

    A new report by Spaceflight Now reveals that the launch October 4 of a GPS satellite experienced tense touch-and-go moments.

    The Delta 4 rocket’s cryogenic upper stage engine experienced a fuel leak that caused a low-thrust condition. Four-and-a-half minutes into the launch, after the first stage had shut down and separated, the trouble began as the RL10B-2 engine on the upper stage extended its nozzle and fired to life.

    When the powerplant was igniting and reached its peak chamber pressure, a leak started above the narrow throat portion of the thrust chamber, setting off a chain of nail-biting events over the next three hours as the vehicle made its climb to the GPS constellation. The Delta 4 made autonomous adjustments, however. The onboard inertial guidance and flight control systems compensated for the lower thrust conditions. Its closed loop guidance system measured the decreased thrust in real time and revised the trajectory and burn durations to ensure the mission succeeded. The GPS IIF-3 satellite was delivered to the correct orbit as planned.

    United Launch Alliance has begun an investigation into the incident.

  • NVS Technologies Selected by Alberding for Sub-Meter GNSS Receiver

    Alberding GmbH, a  developer and distributor of professional GNSS system solutions, has recently announced the Alberding A07 personal navigator, featuring NVS Technologies AG’s NV08C-CSM high-performance multi-GNSS constellation receiver. The Alberding A07 is a low-cost single frequency GNSS receiver designed for personal navigation and other sub-meter accuracy positioning applications in an urban environment.

    The device integrates NVS Technologies’ NV08C-CSM multi-constellation (GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, COMPASS and SBAS) L1 receiver with GPRS and Bluetooth communication modules, an RFID reader, and a processor. The Alberding A07 comes with an integrated GNSS antenna, but for monitoring and tracking applications, it is also available with an external antenna.

    Applications include:

    • Pedestrian navigation and tracking
    • Navigation for the visually impaired
    • RFID based indoor positioning
    • Transportation
    • GIS data collection
    • Displacement monitoring and alarming

    The Alberding DGNSS processing algorithm and Kalman filter take raw GNSS observation data to compute a highly accurate position solution in real time. Position information can then be transmitted via Bluetooth to custom specific applications running on devices such as smartphones. As an example, the Alberding A07 can assist blind or visually impaired people with orientation and navigation on the streets.

  • Russia Delays Launch of GLONASS-K Satellite

    According to RIA Novosti, the launch of Russia’s second GLONASS-K satellite has been delayed until 2013 from its end-of-year launch date, Defense Ministry spokesman Col. Alexey Zolotukhin said on Monday.

    “The launch has been postponed due to technical flaws in the Fregat booster made by the Lavochkin space company,” Zolotukhin said. The new date for the launch will be set at a state commission meeting on spacecraft testing after all the flaws have been fixed, Zolotukhin said.

    A Soyuz-2.1b launch vehicle had previously been scheduled to lift off from the Plesetsk space center in northern Russia by the end of 2012.

    The satellite will be tested in orbit through 2015 before it becomes operational.

  • China Industry Report: “Amazing Growth” in Mobile Market

    A new China Navigation Map Industry Report, 2012-2014, released by Sino Market Insight, predicts that the revenue of Chinese navigation electronic  map industry will reach RMB 2.1 billion in 2014.

    Started in 2002, the navigation industry in China is still in the  initial stage of development compared with the international market, the report says. China’s car navigation market, PND navigation market and mobile phone navigation market are in the stage of rapid development, while the markets of LBS service, real-time traffic information service and value-added electronic map application services based on mobile communication technology are still in the initial stage of development.

    From 2006 to 2011, the sales volume of car navigation in China maintained high-speed growth, with CAGR hitting 47.5%. However, the penetration rate of car navigation is still low, so China’s car navigation  market still embraces huge space. Meanwhile, the growth speed of GPS mobile phone market in China is amazing, the report says. The sales volume of GPS mobile phone in China approximated 100 thousand sets in 2006, and skyrocketed to more than 50 million sets in 2011. Mobile Internet is an important development direction for the navigation map industry in future.

    According to the report, the global electronic navigation map market presents distinct regional and local characteristics. Major navigation application markets around the world, such as USA, Europe, Japan and South Korea, all have many regional electronic map suppliers which have competitive advantages in diversified segments and possess stable client groups.

    The navigation map market in China is led by AutoNavi and NavInfo. In particular, NavInfo is the pioneer, for it got approved to do navigation map business in the early 21st century. Joining the competition after 2006, AutoNavi captured the high-end brand automobile market quickly by virtue of advanced technologies, and penetrated into the medium-end automobile market thereafter. After 2010, the two companies launched fierce competition in the emerging mobile phone navigation market. In future, the competition in China’s car navigation and mobile phone navigation market will be fiercer, and the collision among navigation map enterprises in different sectors will be more frequent.

    China Navigation Map Industry Report, 2012-2014 covers the following contents:

    • Current status of China navigation map industry;
    • Development of China navigation map market;
    • Market status of navigation map in major regions worldwide;
    • Brief introduction, financial highlight, revenue structure by segment and by region, prospects and performance prediction, clients, etc. of 15 leading navigation map enterprises in China and around the globe.