GPS

Combining sophisticated sensors in orbit with sensors on the ground and in the air has led researchers at Tel Aviv University (TAU) to create a “Hyperspectral Remote Sensor” (HRS) that can give advance warnings about water contamination after a forest fire, alert authorities of a pollution spill long before a red flag is raised on Earth, or inform the population where a monsoon will strike. Read More

Gizmag has featured a number of GPS based location devices and concepts that are designed to keep track of your most loved people, pets and possessions. From the Nu.M8 child watch system, to a GPS dog-collar device or a range of tracking devices capable of following just about anyone or anything. The latest in an ever expanding range of these gadgets - the Ekahau wrist-tag, is a tracking device that allows monitoring via a Wi-Fi network. When will it end? Not anytime soon - Jude Garvey checks out three different tracking systems on (or soon to be released on to) the market. Read More

The European Commission has announced the official start of operations of the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS), a satellite based augmentation system (SBAS) that improves the accuracy of the current US Global Positioning System (GPS) and Russian GLONASS system signals from about ten meters to two meters. Like the U.S. GPS, the EGNOS Open Service is accessible free of charge to any user equipped with a GPS/SBAS compatible receiver within the EGNOS coverage area, which includes most European states and has the built-in capability to be extended to other regions, such as North Africa and EU neighboring countries. Most receivers sold today in Europe meet that requirement. Read More

Gizmag has always had an interest in "smart clothing", whether it be a jacket that warms you on icy slopes, a coat that delivers an electric shock to ward off physical threats, vests that double as health monitors or even a concept bra that's supposed to help in the search for a husband. The latest research being conducted in the area involves flexible antennas which can be embedded in clothing, allowing the wearer to communicate with low-orbiting satellites wirelessly and exchange greater levels of information, including GPS positioning. Read More

It should come as no surprise to hear that texting while driving is a particularly dangerous thing to do. Recent studies have shown that drivers are 23 times more likely to get into an accident if they are texting and an astonishing 46% of teens have admitted occurrences of driving while distracted as a result of fiddling with phones.

A new product called TXTBlocker addresses these issues directly by disabling a number of phone functions, with the specific impact decided by a choice of settings available from an account page online once you subscribe. Read More

After receiving an email from a Japanese enthusiast, a group of amateur radio high altitude balloon buffs jumped at the chance to help record the first ever non-professional near space high definition video, and maybe set a new altitude record on the way. After squeezing the HD camcorder and tracking hardware into a styrofoam box, and a couple of false starts, the 1500g high altitude, hydrogen-filled balloon was away. Read More

Smartphones use GPS locating for a variety of functions but mainly they're used on the road where their accuracy - only within 10m - is basically a case of 'near enough is good enough'. But try using one indoors. They don't work! Nor can they distinguish between two adjacent environments, however different. And 10m can make a big difference inside a shopping complex or multi-roomed office block. In a research jointly sponsored by Microsoft, Nokia, Verizon and the National Science Foundation, a group of computer engineers from Duke University is working on achieving better indoor localization using a combination of sounds, lighting and accelerometer data picked up by a mobile phone. They hope it will supplement the use of GPS systems, which most users know, have their limitations. Read More

It wasn’t so long ago that most of us relied on the humble road map to get us from A to B, but with the advent of GPS navigation systems, our map-reading skills are rarely required. There is no denying the usefulness of GPS systems, particularly if you have a tendency to get lost, but do they actually save you time? According to a recent proprietary research study, if you have a traffic-enabled GPS and spend most of your time on busy roads, you could save yourself up to four days a year. Read More

What’s worse than having to watch Aunt May’s and Uncle Stan’s ridiculously long digital ‘slide show’ of their recent European vacation? Listening to them argue over where each photo was taken, and what it is. If they’d had a JOBO photoGPS attached to their camera's hot-shoe, your saga would be over in six hours, not 16! The JOBO photoGPS fits most cameras and captures the geo-data of each photo's location. This allows photographers to know the location of each shot and automatically search, sort and organize their pictures according to country, city, street using the Organizer software that comes with the unit. Read More