Insta GPS

SiRF Technology recently teamed up with NXP Semiconductors to speed the growth of lucrative, location-aware 3G wireless handsets. Likely to be offered in Q2 of 2007, the reference design is claimed to come with Nexperia cellular system solution 7210 with SiRF’s single-chip SiRFstarIII GSC3LT A-GPS receiver. The GSC3LT provides flagship SiRFstarIII multimode A-GPS performance with power managing and control functions to give support to lower power consumption plus decrease intricacy and bill of material costs, as maintained by the company.

Besides, the reference design is also claimed to come up with integrated SiRF’s patented SiRFLoc software, which optimizes cell phones to give support to a broad variety of location-ready services founded on both control plane and user plane architectures. SiRF included that the standards-ready SiRFLoc client software is completely aided by the SiRFLoc Server, a carrier-class, standards-compliant, multimode Aided- GPS location server that allows wireless carriers to give support to a large variety of location-ready services with better competence and better-managed network loading.

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On November 14, I had talked about that Avago Technologies‘, low noise amplifier unit for GPS handsets was awarded by EDN China, now the same company has announced to have integrated its low noise amplifier (LNA) with filter. That is, with a very low noise figure and high linearity, Avago’s ALM-1412 boasts of providing better-quality GPS signal reception sensitivity and is also claimed to be perfect for use in handsets, in-vehicle navigation GPS receivers and GPS antennas.

Especially, the ALM-1412 makes available first-rate noise rejection at cellular/PCS-band frequencies, a critical sport for real-time GPS (S-GPS) operation. Developer of handsets or in-vehicle navigation are enabled to bring about compacted products with more sports and functionality because of the tiniest package sise of the ALM-1412. Avago has built in its GPS LNA with its FBAR (film bulk acoustic resonator) filter into a 3.3 x 2.1 x 1.1mm MCOB package, which shrinks PCB space and component count for GPS applications at 1.575GHz.

An integrated shunt inductor comprised at the RF input of the LNA adds to ESD safety. Through emblematic operating situation of 2.85V and 8mA, the ALM-1412 provides an outstanding 0.85dB noise figure, 12.5dB gain, +6.6dBm IIP3 (input third order intercept point) and 58dBc cell and PCS-band rejection. The ALM-1412 is as well capable of operating at 1V and even then get very low noise figure and high gain, making it fit for application in emblematic low-power GPS applications or through low-battery situations.

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On4 Communications claims to have commercially brought about the much-awaited PETsCELL, a 2 way voice-based, assisted GPS (A-GPS) pet tracking device that is said to be put on the pet’s collar. A waterproof, 2-way communication product (2 way speaker/2 way microphone) with Global Positioning Capabilities, the PETsCELL boasts of pinpointing the pet’s location in real time via a desk top PC or portable device including email notification services.

Cameron Robb, CEO and Co-founder of Petsmobility, states,

Our entire team is extremely pleased to have achieved final production units of this unique and functional device which will provide pet owners with the world’s first accurate GPS tracking and voice communication tracking solution optimized for pets.” Cameron further adds, “The industry has long awaited an effective tracking solution for lost pets and I believe the PetsCell provides the solution. The ability to speak directly with the person who finds your pet is very comforting.

The device is also claimed to enable pet owners to lay down a geo-fence edge to keep the owner on the alert while their pet goes beyond the pre-fixed boundary. The PetsCell is presently being showcased to leading corporations all through North America earlier than the launch to the masses. With the A-GPS tracking unit included in the PetsCell certified by loads of tier one and tier two telecoms globally, the company has amassed all apparatus of the product and the PetsCell is now all set for final commercial production.

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Cobra Electronics has unveiled its latest handheld navigation device, known as the NAV ONE 2100, which is touted to be integrated with a new My Favourite Brands feature that allows the user to keep store up to 600 ‘brands’, such as restaurants, retail chains, and coffee shops, that can afterward be accessed through the touch of a button. Once selected, the companies’ brand icons will come out on the map to demonstrate all their locations.

Integrated with a compacted design, the latest NAV ONE 2100 brags an easy to use interface, and 3.5-inch ultra-bright colour touch-screen display, and thousands of points of interest (POIs), besides functioning in weather conditions starting from -20 degrees Celcius to 70 degrees Celcius. Map data is delivered by Tele Atlas.

Richard Singerman, Vice President of Marketing for AVS Technologies, said,

As one of the before time entrants to the handheld navigation category, Cobra’s devices are founded on technology that’s tried and true.” “Mobile navigation is not any longer an opulence item; it’s a must-have for any driver. By providing the sports, design elements and price point drivers want, the NAV ONE 2100 is one more step toward opening mobile navigation to the masses.

The NAV ONE 2100 is too traffic-enabled, i.e., with a discretionary traffic receiver and subscription, it is claimed to be capable of receiving traffic data for 50 main metropolitan areas in the United States through four colour-coded levels of traffic flow info. Traffic info is expected to be availed in Montreal and Toronto in the second half of 2007. A patent-pending Compare Routes sports allow the driver opt from two on-screen routing options. Cobra’s NAV ONE 2100 could be availed in Q2 at an MSRP of $449.99.

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After developing devices that take over the automotive, aviation and fitness navigation markets, the Olathe, Kan., maker of GPS gear is making its entry into a very techy pet supplies. Garmin of late unleashed its latest GPS dog-tracking system, a two-piece wireless gadget developed to allow hunters to keep up with their dogs. With price tag of $650, the latest Gizmo called Astro GPS Dog Tracking System is one of nine newest products officially introduced by Garmin past month at the huge Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

As maintained by a Garmin spokesman,

The Astro GPS Dog Tracking System wasn’t named after the dog star of the 1960s cartoon sitcom “The Jetsons” - was designed for sporting dogs,’ whereas, with the Astro, there’s no wondering where your dog is or what he’s doing” stated by Dan Bartel, Garmin’s vice-president of worldwide sales. Bartel called the Astro a “one-of-a-kind device.

The Astro is integrated with a GPS device mounting either on the dog’s collar or on a particular harness, and a portable receiver levered by the holder. The Astro receiver is claimed to demonstrate the dog’s accurate position on a compass screen, and whether it’s running, sitting, on point or “treeing its quarry.” The Astro is also capable of tracking up to 10 dogs promptly over an area up to five miles. Though there have been many a dog-tracking products on the market for some time, the majority of them count on less- exact radio telemetry that just guides dog owners in the direction of the dogs.

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Mio is all set to come up with one more GPS-ready Pocket PC Phone known as the Mio A501. The latest device is likely to be unleashed in March of 2007. It is somewhat shorter than the Mio A701 model, of which I had talked in September and October still the latest Mio A501 is touted to be integrated with similar bunch of sports, even the similar size (240×320) screen, and just with weight of 135 grams including battery and run Windows Mobile 5.0 for Pocket PC Phone Edition AKU 3.5 on a TI processor.

The Mio A501 is a quad-band GSM phone alongside bluetooth support, plus both USB port and SD/MMC slots. The device obviously is comprised with a built-in GPS chip, i.e. the SiRF Star III. The battery’s capability is 1050mAh. Don’t overlook the 2MP digital camera.

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TeleCommunication Systems has introduced its Xypoint Secure User Plane for Location (SUPL) Server, which kowtows the standard for Internet Protocol (IP)-based Assisted Global Positioning System (A-GPS) location as delineated by the Open Mobile Alliance (OMA). The OMA standard makes use of a network’s current IP infrastructure to go by data between the Mobile Set (MS) and an A-GPS server to help next-generation location-enabled services (LBS).

The Xypoint SUPL Server backs up OMA SUPL 1.0 standard to allow such inventive location services like navigation, fleet tracking and mobile marketing. TCS went on to demonstrate its headship in (A-GPS) Assisted GPS at the OMA SUPL Interoperability Test Fests organized in 2006 that showcased the capability of the Xypoint SUPL Server to intermingle with handsets, via the SUPL standard protocols, plus create a location fix from a network server (MS-assisted fix) or within the handset (MS-based fix). TCS gives Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA)-ready A-GPS precise location fixes for more than 25 mobile operator networks around the globe for public well-being and commercial usage.

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As I have always told you that from time to time I keep searching for latest GPS devices on most big search engines. Most of the times I chance upon nothing however sometimes a company uploads information about the products and leaves these pages crawlable and search engines find them and if I am lucky I find them as well through the search engines. So today as well I have stumbled upon GPSMAP 5212, the flagship model in Garmin’s latest GPSMAP 5000 Series of multifunction displays claimed especially developed for marine use.

The latest GPSMAP 5212 sports a big, waterproof 12.1-inch diagonal XGA touchscreen display (1024 x 768 pixels). Navigating the 5212 is able via ‘virtual buttons’ that altars according to the function and so eradicates the requirement for ‘hard’ buttons, a precious space saver on smaller helms. Apart from all that the GPSMAP 5212 is incorporated with pre-loaded with comprehensive U.S. coastal charts - comprising Alaska, Hawaii and the Bahamas. The discretionary BlueChart g2 Vision SD data card bestows high-resolution aerial reference photos to give support to users in navigating harbors and channels or pin pointing marinas, fuel stops or restaurants.

All of the 5000 series units make use of the potentialities of the Garmin Marine Network, a system that is integrated with GPS, radar, sonar, XM WX Satellite Weather, and other data. The GPSMAP 5212 will hit the market with the retail price tag of $3499.99, whilst the smaller GPSMAP 5208 can be availed for $2999.99. The 5000 series is likely to hit the GPS world in June 2007.

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Initially I thought this autonomous snowplow robot was like a Roomba robot vacuum cleaner or its praiseworthy rival, the ROMI. Digging deeper, I came to know that Yuki-taro is more than that.

The 800-pound robot is directed by GPS alongside a pair of video cameras and ravines itself on the snow that is engulfing your driveway. As it strolls down, it collects all that snow simultaneously into two-foot-tall cube-shaped ice turds.

Yuki-taro is part of a Japanese research project at present, and its makers look forward to shrink its size and weight, in the long run providing it on the commercial market in five years with the price tag of almost $8,300. However till then, due to that global warming thing, there might not be any more snow in these parts.

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If MAMBO was not enough to satisfy your urge, don’t worry as German-based Falcom Wireless Communications, the leading supplier of wireless M2M solutions is planning to come up with updated MAMBO2, hopefully as soon as spring of this year. The latest GPS / GSM tracker, which is touted to be even better, is also going to act as a navigation tool. Falcom has chosen Telit’s (AIM:TCM) GE864 module for its latest MAMBO2 tracking and tracing application. The small external dimensions and high performance of the GE864 in conjunction with Telit’s matchless technical support were leading criteria in the selection of module for the compact tracking device.

As both a cell phone and GPS device for professional and private users in a useful application that gets fitted in the pocket, the updated MAMBO2 tracking solution from Falcom claims to provide it all. The groundbreaking idea is integrated with the standard functions of a mobile phone with GPS technology, in this way setting latest standards as of personal security and location-based services. Falcom falls back on the GE864 module from Telit for consistent M2M communication. The GE864 is at present the world’s tiniest GSM/GPRS quad-band module.

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