GPS Buzz

The southern United States are well known for their warm climates, and for visitors it can be a welcome break from the cold weather of winter. During summer months however that warmth morphs into horrendous heat waves, forcing residents to crank up the A/C at home and in their vehicles.

A new proposal from the State Air Resources Board is asking that vehicles in CA be fitted with a new type of windshield fim. It reflects the heat away, keeping the inside of the vehicle cooler, thus reducing the need to use air conditioning.

Not only will this film ... (more)

Tracking options are rapidly growing in popularity with company owners. Whether monitoring employee locations or keeping tabs on their company vehicles, tracking solutions are readily available.

Natural Insights, a company out of Sterling, Va., has come up with an iPhone App called "GPS Check-In". This program uses the phones internal GPS antenna to communicate the employees current location. When the App is running the employee presses the icon for "Check-In", this sends real-time data directly to the employer. This verifies that the worker is indeed in the right place at the right time. It also confirms for the employee via ... (more)

The Louvre. Big Ben. Stonehenge. What do all of these have in common? They are all huge tourist destinations, and finding them can be tricky! That is -  unless you have access to a GPS system specifically designed for tourists traveling through Europe.

Garmin's choice of units includes preloaded varieties like the Nuvi 275T, Nuvi 775T, and Nuvi 1370T. These devices have both North American and European maps preloaded on the internal memory, as well as other handy features for travel. The Nuvi 775T offers an MP3 player, a headphone jack, Bluetooth and SD memory expansion for language ... (more)

Geocaching is a fast-growing worldwide phenomenon, and increasing exponentially in popularity with every passing year. One reason this game has caught on so well is the feeling of community it instills in the people who take part.

When someone finds a geocache, they will most often sign a log left in the cache. This is to let the owner know who found the cache recently. The finder (cacher) will also log onto geocaching.com and make quick notes on the cache page.

Here are a few popular geocaching acronyms that cachers use:

TFTH: "Thanks For The ... (more)

Clayton County, a suburb of Atlanta GA, is creating some positive buzz about their new cost saving measure. A GPS tracking system has recently been installed in all of their school busses and maintenance fleet. This will allow school officials to monitor the time employees spend in their vehicles and their locations.

This program was prompted by the results of an internal audit that found overages in the claimed overtime from transportation employees. The tracking devices were purchased to encourage accountability among staff members.

The GPS program certainly has shown great progress and success, saving over $1 million in fuel cost since ... (more)

Globalstar, makers of the very popular GPS messenger SPOT, has recently confirmed the arrival of their sequel product, the SPOT 2.

The release of this new, higher sensitivity GPS receiver/transmitter combo has been buzzed about frequently for the past 6 months. Promising increased accuracy and acquisition, the SPOT 2 will also be more robust and compact, great for outdoor applications.

After a brief recall due to a manufacturing malfunction, the arrival of this highly anticipated device is near. ETA is now slated for early March 2010.

For more information and pre-ordering options you can visit GPS City's SPOT and ... (more)

Geocaching is a world wide phenomenon, a game that brings people together and encourages outdoor activities. A geocache adventure can best be described as a treasure hunt using GPS. A geocache can be as small as a thimble or as large as a breadbox. They are hidden somewhere outside, the coordinates are recorded on a GPS and then logged online for others to find.

Alexandra Fiona Dixon's geocache Green Thumb is the oldest cache in San Francisco and one of the oldest in northern California. The primary reason that Alexandra originally placed her cache on July 4, 2001 was so ... (more)

GPS can be found in many of our every day handheld devices, with the next big wave including cameras. ASSIST Creative Resources announced their GPS enabled HD video camera, Gobandit at the ISPO 10 show this past week. This compact camera doubles as a geolocation device, allowing adventurers to log their trips via GPS and video.

While the picture quality isn't superior, the light and rugged design is great for outdoors enthusiasts. The Gobandit offers a recording resolution of 720p at 30 fps, while the GPS tracks your location over time. To see video examples watch their clip on (more)

As many of us know, some high end brands like Apple and Sony use proprietary accessories and software.

Seattle based company, NPI RAM Mounts, has defied these standards with well priced, high quality mounting systems. Offering thousands of mix and match options, these mounts are designed with flexibility in mind.

Secure your GPS or Sat Phone to an ATV, suction cup an iPhone to a car windshield, or mount your radar detector under the rearview mirror. With their modular mounts, RAM has the ability to offer solutions for many different mounting needs.

Another staple of RAM's product line is their ... (more)