Mapping

Homer Simpson tells you where to go

By Darren Quick

21:10 June 23, 2009 PDT

While the Knight Rider GPS by Mio lets drivers live out their boyhood fantasies, it may also bring on a slight superiority complex thanks to the refined tones of William Daniels. TomTom users won’t have that problem now that iconic cartoon everyman Homer Simpson is onboard to guide them to the nearest bar or donut shop. Read More

Squad positioning system helps fight fires and save lives

By Michael Mulcahy

23:22 June 10, 2009 PDT

Student designer Roy Hareguina's "Squad" is a compact indoor positioning system that enables fire fighters, even in dense smoke, to know their exact location and that of their colleagues at all times. Using a dual-mapping system, the tough polyetheretherketone (PEEK) units reduce the danger of separation and disorientation in high-rise buildings, and increase a fire fighter’s ability to save lives. Read More

Sentience intelligent cruise control demonstrated: you steer, it works the pedals

By Loz Blain

00:39 March 12, 2009 PDT

The driverless car of the future is getting closer every day, as more and more technologies come along that take critical jobs away from the driver and put them in the hands of lightning-fast, all-seeing computers. One of the latest and most ambitious of these systems has just been successfully demonstrated in the UK; the Sentience system is a kind of hyper-intelligent cruise control system designed specifically to minimize fuel consumption and emissions. It calculates the best route for you based on traffic, topography, curves, speed limits and a host of other information, and then actually takes over the throttle and brakes for you for the entire journey. It keeps you strictly within speed limits, slows down for corners, speed bumps and roundabouts, and it even knows when the lights ahead are about to turn red, so you don't waste petrol accelerating towards a stop point. Fuel savings in testing have been between 5% and 24% - a very significant figure - and Sentience is expected to be available on production cars, for a minimal cost, as soon as 2012. Incredible stuff. Read More

Garmin GPSMAP 600 series: one for the road... and the sea

By Noel McKeegan

19:21 October 5, 2008 PDT

Garmin has combined elements of marine GPS navigation with a touchscreen user interface derived from the nüvi line of automotive units for its latest multi-functional offering - the GPSMAP 600 series. The GPSMAP 640 and GPSMAP 620 (which is designed for markets outside the US) both feature a ruggedized, waterproof 5.2” WVGA touchscreen display and come preloaded with both street maps and marine charts. Read More

Zoombak upgrades interactive mapping capabilities

By Noel McKeegan

01:29 October 2, 2008 PDT

Zoombak has added Microsoft Virtual Earth online mapping to its Assisted-GPS Locator range, enabling street-level and aerial views in addition to standard map navigation. The new functionality of is available to existing customers without any upgrade to hardware or service agreements. Read More

Honda's all-new 2009 CRF450R Motocrosser gets fuel injection

By Loz Blain

17:29 September 8, 2008 PDT

Honda's CRF450R motocross bike has been hugely successful since its launch in 2002 - and although the bike is already recognized as the class leader, it's receiving a kitchen-sink included upgrade for 2009. Lighter, quicker, more powerful and with even tighter mass centralization for quick handling, the 2009 CRF450R also sports a Honda first - battery-free, programmable fuel injection that raises output power and control while dramatically reducing fuel consumption. Out of the box, Honda says it's two seconds faster around a supercross track than this year's bike. Read More

AwareSpot location based alert system for mobile phones

By Emily Clark

01:41 July 2, 2008 PDT

Developed by the makers of the Trapster, AwareSpot is a new location based service for mobile phone users with a variety of applications. The free service is designed so that police, public safety and community service organizations, media, clubs, businesses, and more can quickly and easily set up community alert broadcast channels that deliver location based, relevant, timely information to their audiences. Read More

TRAX Series portable car navigation systems offer 360 degree, 3D view

By Darren Quick

19:37 May 26, 2008 PDT

May 27, 2008 Uniden's new TRAX Series GPS units feature 360 Degree 3D "Landmark Technology" which shows key landmarks in 3D from any angle including a ‘fly around’ 360 degree mode. In major metropolitan areas elevated city maps, contours and rises on the road are also represented in 3D from any angle. The TRAX Series also include Text to Speech with Spoken Street Names and, as with Uniden’s previous releases, some models also include integrated Bluetooth capabilities to deliver hands-free mobile phone communication via the unit. The high definition, LCD touch screens are non-reflective for easier viewing and there is also an automatic day/night mode. Read More

TomTom unveils new car navigation products

By Darren Quick

04:16 May 5, 2008 PDT

May 5, 2008 Portable navigation solutions provider TomTom has announced their latest car navigation products – the TomTom ONE and TomTom XL which supersede the current TomTom ONE 3RD EDITION and TomTom ONE XL ranges. The new TomTom ONE comes with a 3.5 inch touch screen LCD, while the TomTom XL boasts a 4.3 inch widescreen LCD, for those who prefer a larger display. The new devices also come with a revised audio system and a completely redesigned body, including a folding mount. This new windshield mount, known as the EasyPort mount, can be left on the device and folded flat after use. The complete unit, including the mount, is then small enough to fit into a shirt pocket, bag or pocket when the driver leaves the vehicle. Read More

New software provides rapid 3D modeling of large urban environments

By Noel McKeegan

18:07 October 22, 2007 PDT

October 23, 2007 Sarnoff Corporation has unveiled a new software solution that automatically builds accurate 3D site models of large urban environments in less than a day. MapIt!™ software utilizes aerial imagery and Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) to generate a continuous large-area 3D site model. This information can be used to provide military units and intelligence analysts with critical site data for an urban area as large as 800 square kilometer in around four days as opposed to the 40 to 60 days required for current urban modeling techniques. Read More

Magellan’s new Triton GPS includes a camera, compass, barometer and flashlight

By Mike Hanlon

20:42 August 8, 2007 PDT

August 9, 2007 While we think Magellan’s hopes of making a GPS the central convergent device are folly in the longer run, the company’s new Triton series of portable handheld GPS receivers feature an interesting and useful range of functionality including a 2MPX camera, SD card slot, electronic compass and barometer, speaker/microphone and flashlight. Read More

Google street view: 360 degree views from any point on the map.

By Loz Blain

May 30, 2007 You've got to hand it to Google, they keep coming out with big ideas and amazing us with great execution. Our jaws dropped this morning with the release of Street View, an immersive addition to Google Earth and Google Maps that lets you virtually walk around a number of major U.S. cities with a 360 degree view every ten metres or so down each street. Thanks Google, you just saved me a fortune in travel. Read More

The sharpest ever satellite map of Earth

By Loz Blain

May 18, 2007 The European Space Agency's GlobCover project has unveiled the most detailed portraits ever of the Earth's land surface. Using around 40 Terabytes of images captured from the ESA's Envisat, the maps, ten times sharper than anything produced previously, the GlobCover maps will have numerous uses, including plotting worldwide land use trends, studying natural and managed ecosystems and modelling climate change extent and impacts. Read More