Recently in GPS Category

Wayfinder extended its agreement with Sony Ericsson which will preload Wayfinder on Sony Ericsson mobile phones.

To date, Wayfinder has provided a three-month trial of its Navigator application on a range of Sony Ericsson handsets, including the recently launched GPS-handsets W760 Walkman and C702 Cyber-shot and the upcoming C905 Cyber-shot phone. Additionally Wayfinder has provided a 1 year license to users of the P1i smart phone from Sony Ericsson.

Under the new agreement, the Sony Ericsson phones will feature full navigation capabilities, including lane and sign post information, which is now available as a 12 month regional, continental European or lifetime navigation offering.

AT&T  announced the availability of AT&T Navigator Global Edition, the only GPS-based service available from a U.S. wireless carrier to provide international navigation capabilities.

Beginning today, AT&T Navigator Global Edition can be used in 20 countries on AT&T-powered smartphones featuring built-in GPS capabilities. AT&T Navigator Global Edition's coverage area includes most countries in western Europe, North America and the U.S. Caribbean as well as the six cities in China that will host Beijing Summer Olympics events. The new international navigation service is available in conjunction with the domestic AT&T Navigator solution on the AT&T Tilt, BlackBerry 8800, BlackBerry 8820, BlackBerry Curve 8310, BlackBerry Pearl 8110, BlackJack II and MOTO Q 9h global smartphones. 

AT&T Navigator Global Edition also features a local "business finder" service, which allows customers to find the locations of businesses by category or by specific name with the click of a button using AT&T Navigator's GPS-based navigation capabilities. AT&T Navigator's business finder database contains more than 19 million businesses and services located in the U.S. and abroad, including ATMs, hotels, restaurants, gas stations and airports. This feature also allows users to quickly look up and call the phone number

Mio Technology, will introduce the world's first NAVI-tainment portable navigation device with the launch of the Knight Rider GPS. The design inspired by the original Knight Industries Two Thousand, or K.I.T.T., the Knight Rider GPS by Mio, brings the TV experience to any car.

For the Knight Rider experience, Mio partnered with Universal Studios to become a Knight Rider licensee and collaborated with Navtones to include exclusive voice guidance and turn-by-turn directions featuring the original voice of K.I.T.T., the most iconic TV car of all time.

The device's integrated randomized greetings and 300 custom names will welcome you to your navigation experience. In addition to Mio's hallmark high-quality navigation, the Knight Rider GPS features an active LED voice synthesizer display that moves in sync with the voice,  just as it did on K.I.T.T.'s dash. The Knight Rider GPS can even be programmed to advise drivers of speed limit infractions for those inclined to apply too much turbo boost.

NAVTEQ anounced the availability of NAVTEQ Traffic Patterns North America v3.0, a significantly updated historic database which includes typical traffic speeds on nearly one million miles of primary and secondary roads across the United States, Puerto Rico and Canada.

NAVTEQ Traffic Patterns gives product developers and service providers a reliable, easy-to-use data set for a variety of smart-routing applications. Routing applications utilizing NAVTEQ Traffic Patterns put at drivers’ fingertips the information they need to decide when and how to avoid typically congested areas. From commuters to emergency service providers, NAVTEQ Traffic Patterns enables more accurate route planning and improves trip time estimates based on likely traffic conditions.

NAVTEQ Traffic patterns is created using historical observations from GPS probe and sensor data which is aggregated, verified and then matched to traffic location codes in the NAVTEQ Map database.

Verrizon Wireless, announced today that VZ Navigator (Version 4) is now available on select consumer phones. First announced during CTIA WIRELESS 2008, the newest version of VZ Navigator allows customers in 75 cities from coast to coast to access information about traffic incidents on major roadways, obtain traffic updates and find detours around traffic congestion and accidents. More cities are expected to be added in the coming year. In addition, the new version of VZ Navigator offers a 3D perspective view of maps, a movie and events finder, weather reports and forecasts, and gas prices at nearby gas stations.

Verizon Wireless’ VZ Navigator service is a location-based service (LBS) application that utilizes location-based technology and real-time and historical information feeds. The new version of VZ Navigator offers customers the following features:

• Traffic Integration
• Gas Finder
• Weather

Pricing and Availability VZ Navigator (Version 4) is available today for $9.99 for unlimited monthly access or $2.99 for one-day use on select Get It Now(R)-enabled phones in the Get Going section under Travel & Guides or Featured Apps. Airtime or megabyte charges and specific terms of use apply when browsing, downloading and using the application. Traffic integration is only available in certain areas.

Verizon Wireless, and Networks In Motion (NIM), the award-winning wireless navigation and hyper-local search company, announced that the newest version of VZ Navigator will be available sometime in April.

With the new VZ Navigator (Version 4), customers in 75 cities from coast to coast will be able to access traffic incidents, traffic updates and find detours around traffic congestion and accidents; more cities are expected to be added in the coming year. In addition, VZ Navigator will offer 3D perspective view, a movie and events finder, weather reports and forecasts, and gas prices at nearby gas stations.

At CTIA Wireless 2008 in Las Vegas, kajeet (www.kajeet.com), the cell phone service made for kids, today announced a new GPS Phone Locator service to help both kids and parents find the kajeet phone. This makes kajeet the only pre-paid operator to offer a GPS phone locator to both parents and kids.

The kajeet GPS Phone Locator uses satellite technology to help find your child’s phone and gives subscribing families easy-to-use information regarding the location of their kajeet phone via Web-based maps. Parents can schedule automatic location checks at specific times of the day, so they know where their kid’s kajeet phone is at any given time - whether the phone is in their child’s backpack on the school bus or in their sports bag at soccer practice. Kids can also use the service to help find their phone, addressing another concern of parents and kids who want to find a misplaced kajeet phone.

Starting April 13, 2008, kajeet will offer GPS Phone Locator with a free three-month trial to all kajeet customers who subscribe to the service. Thereafter, the service will cost just $9.99/month per phone. To subscribe and activate the service, kajeet customers simply log into their account at www.kajeet.com.

Verizon Wireless and Loopt, a social-mapping service, announced today Loopt will be available next month on select Verizon Wireless phones.

With Loopt, Verizon Wireless customers can leverage their phones’ location-based services capabilities to share location information, status messages and geo-tagged photos with their community of friends. Loopt users can view where friends in their private network are located via a map displayed on their mobile phones and connect and share their locations with anyone in their address books or AIM buddy lists. Detailed Loopt maps that show Verizon Wireless users where friends are, what they are doing, and how to meet up with them, transform their Verizon Wireless phones into active social tools to connect, share and explore the real world.

Verizon Wireless customers will be able to purchase Loopt beginning in April in the Tools on the Go and Featured Applications shopping aisle in the Get It Now(R) virtual store. Loopt will be available for $3.99 monthly access.

BlackLine GPS offers Geo-socializing for BlackBerry ussers with Blip Friends, family, and co-workers can now share their location with any GPS-enabled BlackBerry smartphone. BlackLine GPS Inc. (“BlackLine”), released Blip, a free geo-social networking platform for GPS-enabled BlackBerry smartphones that allows users to share their location amongst friends, family members, and co-workers. Blip adds a new dimension to social networking through location-based awareness which effectively enhances users’ degree of connectedness, life efficiency, and geographic awareness of their social circle.

Blip is available now for a free download at http://www.blacklinegps.com/blip/ . Users install Blip over-the-air from their Internet browser on their BlackBerry smartphone. From within the Blip application, the user can create an account, activate their BlackBerry smartphone, share their location, and interact with other devices shared to their account. No computer is necessary.

Wayfinder the leading supplier of innovative location and navigation services for mobile phones, today announced that it is introducing its Wayfinder Active application in the U.S. and Canada. Wayfinder Active is a free GPS application for mobile phones with a unique combination of maps, GPS recording and statistics that is designed for people who enjoy running, hiking, skiing, biking or other outdoor activities.

Wayfinder Active is a simple, fun, safe and social way to stay connected to others with similar outdoor interests. Once the application is installed on a mobile phone, each user will have access to a world wide map and the ability to record and share routes with a single keystroke. Users can follow in the footsteps of friends’ adventures and training routes by importing routes and tracks directly from and to their mobile phone.

Golfers can now have a caddy in their smartphone with GreenFinder software. GreenFinder provides rangefinder capabilities by leveraging the always connected nature and Global Positioning System (GPS) technology in select BlackBerr) smartphones from Research In Motion.

GreenFinder automatically calculates the distance from the golfer to the front, center and back of the green, as well as to hazards along the fairway for every hole at hundreds of the best golf courses across North America. GreenFinder offers many advantages to seasoned and beginner golfers alike. By always knowing the distance to the green, golfers improve their club selection and save time by not having to seek out distance markers or pace off the yardage.

For golfers who prefer to keep their BlackBerry smartphone in its holster, GreenFinder has a voice option that will 'speak the distance'. From drives to putts, the technology also has the capability to display the length of any shot. The innovative software, created by Itinerant Software of London Ontario, is available online at www.greenfinderGPS.com for just $35 per year. GreenFinder is launching the new product by offering a trial that includes five free rounds for the 2008 season.

Alltel Wireless customers now have access to GPS applications outside of their home network area with the availability of LBS (location based services) Nationwide Roaming.

Alltel Wireless customers with GPS-capable handsets will benefit from this feature, they now have the ability to use any of Alltel’s navigation and location based applications nationwide. In addition to the existing network, Alltel LBS applications will now function in more than 45 major metro areas that were previously inoperable before of this network enhancement. Standard roaming charges apply, making it easy to access the services needed, wherever and whenever needed.

Rave Wireless, announced the introduction of its upgraded Rave Guardian product. Rave Guardian is a personal safety tool that lets students use their mobile phone to instantly share location and critical safety information with campus security, whenever and wherever they’re in distress. With the new release, available later this spring, Rave Guardian will become accessible to all students at participating universities, on any cell phone or service provider of a student’s choice. The new Rave Guardian utilizes location information from various sources including GPS data when available.

Rave Guardian is simple to use both for students and campus security staff. For example, a student who’s walking across campus late at night can activate the Rave Guardian timer directly from his cell phone if/when he’s feeling uncomfortable or unsafe. When the student reaches his destination safely, he deactivates the Guardian timer and campus police will not be alerted. If the student hits the Rave Guardian panic button or the timer expires prior to deactivation, however, campus police are immediately notified. Rave Guardian provides “best available” student location information to campus police. If the student uses a carrier that provides GPS data access, Rave Guardian will automatically display the student’s location on a big-screen console in the campus safety center and/or on Windows Mobile devices for officers in the field. This allows campus police to know when a student needs help, and to respond to the situation more quickly and with more information.

With the release of a new version of Buddy Beacon, uLocate Communications introduced the world’s most advanced location enabled mobile friend finding service. With Buddy Beacon, users can choose when to share their location, and what they are up to, with their friends. Buddy Beacon is the first location enabled friend finding application that is interoperable between multiple carriers.

In addition to cross-carrier interoperability, the Buddy Beacon platform allows users to update their location and status on leading online social networking sites, including Facebook. As a compliment to this feature, uLocate has also unveiled a Buddy Beacon application on Facebook. This functionality extends the Buddy Beacon user experience beyond mobile devices.

Researchers from the University of California, Berkeley, and Nokia today (Friday, Feb. 8) tested technology that could soon transform the way drivers navigate through congested highways and obtain information about road conditions. In the unprecedented field experiment, transportation researchers tested the feasibility of using GPS-enabled mobile phones to monitor real-time traffic flow while preserving the privacy of the phones’ users.

One hundred vehicles were deployed onto a 10-mile stretch of I-880 between Hayward and Fremont for seven hours in the experiment, dubbed “Mobile Century” and primarily funded by the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans). Each car was equipped with a Nokia N95 mobile phone that ran special software to periodically send anonymous speed readings from the integrated GPS to servers that then computed traffic conditions. Information was displayed on the Internet, allowing viewers to visualize traffic in real time. An independent tracking feature allowed the command center set up in Union City to track the position of the cars to coordinate the experiment and ensure the safety of the participants.

Sprint announced access to its popular Sprint Family Locator service is available on all Web-enabled Sprint phones, an industry first. Parents on the go now can use any Web-enabled Sprint phone to locate their loved ones with Sprint Family Locator. In addition, more than 100 Sprint phones can be located by the service, including all currently available Sprint phones.

Launched in April 2006, Sprint Family Locator is the industry’s first family location service that enables families on the go to locate one another using GPS technology. Parents can login on their phone or a PC to locate a child on an interactive map, even when the child is using their phone to make a call or send a text. The service also gives the address, surrounding landmarks and accuracy of the child’s location within a specified radius, along with the ability to click to call or send a text to the child directly from the service.

Additionally, the service enables a parent to set Safety Checks at certain landmarks such as a school, home, or relative’s house, at specified times. The parent is automatically notified whether the loved one is near the specified landmark at the set time, providing “hands-off” peace of mind.

Sprint Family Locator is available for $9.99 per month. Unlimited location requests for up to four phones and access to the service from a PC and any Web-enabled Sprint phone are included in the monthly charge. For more information or to sign up for and purchase service, customers can visit www.sprint.com/familylocator.