Lynden Transport announced the addition of GPS tracking of shipment locations while the truck is on route over the highway. The company says it’s now possible to track your shipments on the highway via GPS and the Lynden’s website interface. Customers can see where their shipments are on an online map that shows location of the truck. Online data are updated several times per day.

The new eXplorist 510, eXplorist 610 and eXplorist 710 units allow users to navigate to outdoor destinations worldwide, capture and geotag photos and share  experiences and pictures online. Each model of the eXplorist line combines high-sensitivity GPS chip and has very intuitive user interface, that allows easy-to-read mapping and provide an adventurer with a very accurate navigation.

The new eXplorist units also include especial outdoor features such as expandable memory, paperless geocaching ability, GPX compatibility, longlife batteries, and high sensitivity GPS chip that enables 3-5 meters of accuracy, vertical profiling, track summary statistics with area calculation and a digital almanac feature.

The new line of handheld GPS devices has been revealed at the OutDoor Trade Fair in  Germany. New eXplorists will be available to buy in North America and  Europe in the fourth quarter, 2010.

Intergraph’s integrated software suite promotes interoperability and information sharing for faster, more effective response in Florida’s largest county.

Portman Security Systems, one of the world’s largest OEM manufacturers of GPS, GSM and satellite security products, has announced a new line of zero-power-consumption GPS devices that use solar and wind power to protect and track vehicles, trailers and corporate mobile assets.
The new devices are the solar-powered TLU (Terminal Logic Units), wind-powered WP100 and the solar&wind powered WP 300. They are designed to be installed on a top of a vehicle or a trailer and are completely weatherproof and independently powered.

New Portman’s asset tracking units deliver reliable GPS monitoring and  location reporting, as well as permanent monitoring of temperature changes, tire pressure, and door access.  The Portman’s TLU combine all the functionality of a GPS tracking unit and eliminate the need to connect to truck’s power supply being capable to operate up to a month without sunlight. The STLU version can automatically switch over to the Iridium Satellite Network and continue to report tracking and security data in the locations where there is no GSM signal coverage.

Portman Security Systems’ Patent Approved for European Union

The company already holds exclusive patents on the design of the device in the U.S., Mexico, Brazil, China and Taiwan. Recently the company has been approved on its patent for the WP100 GPS Tracking Unit in the European Union.

The WP100 is completely weatherproof device that has a built-in GSM and GPS antennas, motion sensors, and tamper switches. It’s optional sensors are capable to provide reporting of the temperature inside a trailer, as well as time-stamped reports each time the doors of the trailer are opened and shut.

About Portman Security Systems, USA

The company headquartered in North Andover, Massachusetts is the world’s largest OEM manufacturer of GPS, GSM and sat nav security products. In the last ten years Portman has rapidly grown to become one the leading manufacturers of GPS tracking devices for vehicles, trucks, trailers, plant equipment, motorcycles as well as pet and personal location tracking units.

Business clients of St. Louis based FoxTrax now can simply purchase a branded vehicle tracking devices, put it into vehicles and and start tracking their fleet assets through the website interface.

This solution allow companies to save time and money providing them with accessibility to fleet data in real-time and via timed reports which are the main components of modern fleet tracking. FoxTrax systems are designed and priced for small to medium sized businesses and each of available packages would allow customers to get more efficient in vehicle usage.

Up-to-the-second vehicle tracking

Any FoxTrax GPS package consisting of a tracking device and internet based software provides a business with updates that are made every 20 seconds while the industry average is from 5 upto 10 minutes. Fast and reliable up-to-the-second fleet tracking allows to avoid high costs of overtime and make tight supply deadlines.

Since FoxTrax invested in its own development of the complete infrastructure and hardware/software solutions its business partners  obtain customizable and scalable vehicle tracking systems working  U.S.-wide with multiple data carriers.

GPS manufacturers have to work harder as the market of stand-alone GPS devices becomes over-saturated with new products and solutions. Going beyond satnav Mio Technologies will present this week in Hannover, Germany its first TV-enabled GPS unit -  Mio Moov V780. This slim device with 7 inch screen is completed by embedded  digital TV receiver, Wi-Fi hub, HD Movie player, email app, Flash-able web browser and YouTube viewer with 3D touchscreen interface. It also comes with an optional carry case with keyboard. That all will allow users to turn this  smart GPS unit into a fully-featured entertainment station to  watch HD TV and videos,  use email, visit websites,  scroll photos and play their favorite music.

Mio Moov V780

Mio Moov price tag and availability

At the moment Mio isn’t giving  more details, neither price tag nor availability have been announced.  More information about Mio Moov range will be revealed by Mio during a press conference on March 4, 2010, but you can be sure this “TV on the Moov” GPS unit could be a hit of the CeBIT 2010.

Microsoft Corp. announced about signing a licensing agreement with Navizon Inc., a geo-positioning provider based in New York. Microsoft  will use Navizon’s crowdsourcing global location database to provide mobile positioning services to the users of Windows Mobile OS. The license includes using Navizon’s advanced positioning solutions that combines GPS, WiFi and cellular positioning.

Navizon Windows Mobile

Navizon community powered geo-software

Navizon is a software-only hybrid wireless positioning solution, that works for most major cities across the world thanks to Navizon’s community of more than 1 million users. The community users build themselves a dynamic database of worldwide Wi-Fi points (WiFi positioning) and GSM, CDMA and 3G cellular towers. Navizon’s technology provides gathering signals broadcast from Wi-Fi access points and CDMA and 3G towers to determine geoposition. The software is able to run in the background, which allows users to simultaneously open other applications on a handset device.

It is not exactly explained how Navizon’s technology will be incorporated into Microsoft’s mobile services, but for sure users of the new version of Windows Mobile operating system, launched about few months ago, will profit from it soon.

Microsoft isn’t the first Navizon license partner

The first large Navizon’s customers is Yahoo, that has been using its power geo-location for Yahoo Mobile for about a year. The biggest Navizon’s competitor is currently Skyhook Wireless, which technology provide similar service for Apple since 2008.

EMT, the Estonian division of TeliaSonera Group, announced that the carrier successfully completed field trials of Assisted GPS (A-GPS) enhanced  SIM cards. Embedded A-GPS technology allows location based services (LBS) to be deployed with old and ordinary 2G models of cellular phones, too.  A-GPS improves the performance of a GPS-based positioning system for mobile devices. Solution developed by a Luxembourg startup, BlueSky Positioning, includes embedding of  a micro GPS antenna and related software applications directly into a SIM card. That allows even 2G phones to support LBS.

USSD technology improves  A-GPS application

The solution was tested using both GPRS and USSD (Unstructured Supplementary Services Data) for processing  data in a live 3G mobile network. EMT Estonia is the first carrier to test USSD, a technology that brings numerous benefits for the customer. i.e. the ability to be used simultaneously with a call, which may be extremely important in case of emergency calls.

Thief gangs in the UK and Germany have begun to actively use GPS jammers to steal expensive cars and trucks with valuable loads. GPS jammers, small pocket-sized GPS devices operating on the same frequency as GPS satellites, allow criminals to confound car GPS tracking units by drowning out timing signals. In this case a in-vehicle tracking chip is unable to determine its current location and  can not report any position data to vehicle tracking centrals.

GPS jammers don’t need to put out strong interfering signals, as the the GPS satellites signals are extremely weak themselves. A thief only needs a jammer that can output of about 2 watts signal to “kill” any signal from the GPS satellites in area of a few meters.

What is a GPS jammer?

GPS jammer is an illegal device that is designed to block GPS signals from GPS satellites. GPS jammers are used to jam GPS navigation, data logging and tracking systems. GPS jammers could be used for vehicle, load, shipment, person, or every asset concerned.

Could GPS jamming be a new tech danger?

There are many fears that terrorists, too, could use GPS jammers in more powerful versions to disrupt air traffic, functionality of emergency networks and power stations.  A UK consortium is currently building the first GPS-jamming detection system, that is already tested in prototype stages and will be soon used at airports and other objects that rely on GPS satellites.

The leading manufacturer of satellite navigation devices, Garmin, launched a range of new GPS tracking units for winter sports enthusiasts.

Company’s latest product is a wrist-worn and fully waterproof tracking device – Foretrex 401. The unit has been developed especially for skiers and snowboarders to provide them with the complete location statistics for a day on the slopes. The wrist-worn Foretrex 401 is a device with advanced extensive capabilities, but its simplicity would suit everybody’s needs.

Tested by Garmin test centers

The unit has been tested by 10 skiing chalet operators in the Alps which form the official Garmin Test Centers and also offer guests to test-drive the latest GPS units. The enthusiasts upload the day’s data tracklogs to Garmin Connect web-based application to archive and review their statistics including speed range, total descent/ascent,  elevation rich and total distance.

Winter resorts use GPS tracking for children safety

Garmin Foretrex 401

Garmin Foretrex 401 is already available to buy in the most of GPS online stores for about USD300.