By Jakob Culver
Once upon a time navigators would use the stars to figure out where they were and where they were heading, these days we have GPS navigators which aren't that much different from the old days. GPS navigators in a nutshell work by having a number of satellites in the earth's atmosphere which transmit data about the earth and objects on the earth to positions on the ground. Very similar to what the old navigators did but with a few extra technological features.
Originally GPS was used for the military, aviation and seafaring industry and satellites that provide this service began launching in 1978 and since have grown in numbers to a total of 24 circling the earth. These 24 satellites help to give such accuracy to navigation systems that they could just about pin point a pin in a hay stack. One thing that is important to note about a GPS service is that it is free, unlike telecommunications services which we pay for.
One of the first places that GPS navigation was used was in aviation. Pilots found it so much easier to track their flights and flight paths to their destination with GPS and today it still remains one of the most important parts of aviation. Later on GPS started to become available in many brands of luxury cars as a feature that allowed drivers to plan their trips to destination by finding the fastest route. Shortly after this cab drivers also got in on the act having custom systems installed in their cars to help them get to places faster and make their work more efficient.
Today we are starting to just about all types of cars come with a GPS navigation system and we have also seen portable units become available for people that dont have a GPS system in their car or enjoy the convenience of portability. Where used on the road, out in the country, on the water of in the air GPS navigation is a tool that allows you to pin point your position.
This technology is still growing and will continue to for sometime, new ideas and features to add to this relatively young technology are been added every few months. People are starting to combine them into multimedia systems and phones to create all in once packages that take care of all your personal technology need. There are even thoughts to implement it into expensive goods to help track them if they are stolen so that they can be tracked down and recovered quickly. The ideas that can be thought of with this technology are endless you could go on for days about it. So why not check them out and see how helpful they could be to your life and specifically your driving.
About The Author
Jakob Culver is the owner and editor of AZArticles.com, a article directory and search engine where you can find more articles related to GPS Navigation Systems
When it comes to routing options, think about the types of trips you take. Road trippers will appreciate multi-segment routing; most everyone else will want fastest and shortest route options, plus the ability to avoid tolls and certain types of roadways. If you're in need of a pit stop, a large POI database is a must. Some GPSs let you search for a POI only near your current location, while others let you search within a city, near home, along a route, or near a destination. You can plot out your potty breaks, find a better place to eat than Magellan's Maestro 4040 has a built-in AAA TourBook and roadside-assistance information. You can even store your AAA membership number, so you don't have to fumble through the glove compartment looking for your card once you've given up trying to change that flat tire yourself.
Get a great new discount Lowrance GPS
Global Positioning Systems offer everything from hole overviews to Internet access "Shortgrass Technologies' Internet-based sports information system and financial ticker enables golfers to check college football scores on a Saturday afternoon or the price of stocks any weekday. Global positioning systems can track golf cars no matter where they are on the course, thus discovering bottlenecks and slower play. Golfers can order beverages and food en route to the turn, so golf clubs can offer more than a quick hot dog - a higher priced chicken sandwich, for instance...."
I always thought that GPS would go mainstream in automobiles first, and in a way I suppose it has, but maybe golfers will lead the real charge. I could have used a portable, library-centered GPS system myself to navigate the Chicago Public Library's Harold Washington Library when I was there last fall!
Qualcomm's Vision of the Wireless Future "When he finished, there were 20 brand-new, CDMA-based mobile handsets and devices arrayed on the table, the high-tech souvenirs of Belk's most recent trip to Hong Kong and Japan.... 'These are not PowerPoint slides,' Belk said. 'These are real devices that are already shipping in volume in Asia.' " at Business 2.0]
And there's the rub. When I do my presentations, that's all I have - pictures of prototypes or of devices not available in the U.S. Europe and Asia really are 18 months ahead of us in this area.
"Beale also discussed Qualcomm's gpsOne location technology.... It also opens the door for many new location-based services, such as traffic information and local weather forecasts. On Japan KDDI's network, there are already more than 20 location-based services available -- all of which are relatively inexpensive, costing less than $5 per month."
I'm looking forward to being able to travel and have information come to me automatically based on my location. For example, if I'm at a conference and I'm looking for a restaurant, I'd like my phone/PDA/whatever to know where I am and offer a list of nearby choices. Maybe it should tell me what movies or plays are on tonight and if there are still tickets available. You get the idea....
"Predictably, both Belk and Beale anticipate strong growth for the wireless industry as ever-more-compelling products and services become available and the industry settles on a single communication standard. How long will that take? Belk, whose career began in the personal computing business in 1983, likened the wireless industry today to the PC business of the 1980s. 'I wouldn't worry about the wireless industry yet, it's still relatively young,' he said. 'Just look how long it took the PC industry just to get to the point of standardized parallel cables.' "
Not to beat a dead horse, but the ebook industry is even younger than PCs, and PDAs have really only come into their own during the last few years. So don't count any of these technologies out just yet.
Global Positioning Systems offer everything from hole overviews to Internet access "Shortgrass Technologies' Internet-based sports information system and financial ticker enables golfers to check college football scores on a Saturday afternoon or the price of stocks any weekday. Global positioning systems can track golf cars no matter where they are on the course, thus discovering bottlenecks and slower play. Golfers can order beverages and food en route to the turn, so golf clubs can offer more than a quick hot dog - a higher priced chicken sandwich, for instance...."
I always thought that GPS would go mainstream in automobiles first, and in a way I suppose it has, but maybe golfers will lead the real charge. I could have used a portable, library-centered GPS system myself to navigate the Chicago Public Library's Harold Washington Library when I was there last fall!
auto gps
gps tracking watches | golf gps
Labels: garmin nuvi 250 gps
