gps

Five navigation apps for your new iPad 4G (roundup)

You'd be in good company if you read that headline and immediately thought that using a big ol' tablet like the new Apple iPad for in-car navigation is a bit silly--I think it's a bit silly, too. However, in a world where new cars are rolling out with dashboard touch screens measuring 8 inches and larger and portable navigation devices are touching the 7-inch mark, perhaps the iPad isn't as out of place on the road as you may think.

There are all sorts of advantages to using a large-screened device in the car. The big display is easier to view with your peripheral vision and the larger interface elements can be more quickly recognized and processed at a glance, both of which translate into more time spent staring at the road ahead and less time scrutinizing a tiny screen for the next turn. Additionally, the larger screen is easier to accurately touch from an arm's length, so you may find that you make fewer mistakes when inputting destinations.

Of course, only the new iPad 4G and the 3G-connected variant of the previous-generation iPad 2 are equipped with an Assisted GPS receiver, so you'll want to make sure you have the correct model before investing in a navigation application. Also, because the iPad is significantly larger than the iPhone 4S, you won't want to obstruct half of your windshield with its 10-inch display. Get your hands on a dashboard mount--or get creative and fabricate your own!

Once your iPad is set up for safe use behind the wheel, check out one of the apps listed below to add turn-by-turn directions and other navigation-centric services, such as traffic data and speed trap info, to your motoring mix. Just be sure to resist the urge to fire up the YouTube app on your commute home! … Read more

LightSquared continues to fight for survival

LightSquared says it's not yet giving up its fight to build a nationwide 4G LTE network.

The company, which is backed by Philip Falcone's Harbinger Capital, has invested more than $4 billion into the network, which it hoped would be a wholesale alternative to wireless broadband networks run by AT&T and Verizon wireless. For the past year, the company has been fighting an uphill battle in Washington, D.C., where the GPS industry has rallied political support around its claims that LightSquared's network interferes with its receivers and therefore cannot be built.

So far, the … Read more

How cutting edge geolocation can change everything

AUSTIN, Texas--These days, smartphones seem like they're everywhere. And with their wide array of built-in sensors, those devices--iPhone, Androids, Windows Phones, and others--can provide us with more and more data about where we are and what's around us than ever before.

And yet, the devices sometimes still seem like they're caught in a very 1.0 era--they can tell us where we are, but that information may not be useful in any way beyond helping us get to where we're going.

But what if your iPhone could automatically give you your shopping list when you arrive … Read more

CNET readers' favorite GPS devices (roundup)

Let's get one thing straight: this is not a dictatorship. You may have noticed that just below every bright red CNET editors' rating is a cool blue user rating. And just below every review is a place where you, dear user, can make yourself heard by writing a short, sweet user review! Sometimes the editors and the users agree, sometimes we butt heads, but both views are important to the big picture.

Nowhere are user reviews more important than in the GPS category. The core function of the device and the accuracy of its map data relies heavily on the geography and topography of the area where it's operated. A GPS navigator that performs perfectly near the CNET offices in San Francisco may not be as accurate in another city with more tall buildings blocking the sky. On the other hand, maps that aren't 100 percent accurate for our testing area may be perfect near you. That's why it's so important that we hear from our readers.

With that in mind, I've rounded up a selection of the portable navigation devices with the highest average user ratings. If you've got a favorite GPS navigator, pop over to our GPS reviews list and leave a rating! … Read more

DailyRoads Voyager watches your back, er, front while you drive

Dashboard cameras and black-box technology are great ways to cover your tush in the event of a fender bender. Whether an honest mistake or an intentional insurance scam, video evidence that an accident wasn't your fault can save you big bucks.

While the technology is fairly cheap, odds are that you've already got a GPS-enabled camera suction cupped to your windshield or dashboard on the back of your smartphone. Why not work with what you've got and take advantage of this hardware with a dashboard-DVR app like DailyRoads Voyager for Android?

Essentially, what this free Android app does is continuously record video of the road ahead using your phone's camera while also tracking vehicle speed, location, and G-forces using the onboard GPS receiver and accelerometer.… Read more

Google glasses likely coming soon

Links from Wednesday's episode of Loaded:

GPS shoes can help track people with Alzheimer's (video)

GPS is becoming ubiquitous in our smartphones and cars. Now, Aetrex has put GPS in shoes--as a kind of safeguard for people with Alzheimer's disease or dementia.

Wearers of the shoes can be tracked through a Web site, which is also accessible via a smartphone. These shoes don't come cheap: they cost about $300 and there is a $35 monthly fee for the tracking service. SmartPlanet's Sumi Das takes a closer look at these high-tech shoes that could help caregivers of people with Alzheimer's disease or dementia find them if they wander off.

This video originally … Read more

Putting the Transformer Prime in perspective

The Asus Transformer Prime is currently the highest-quality Android tablet on the market. It rivals and sometimes surpasses the the iPad 2 in games performance, has a fantastically bright screen, memory expansion, various CPU performance modes, HDMI, and a thin, sleek, and sexy design.

All that said (and I bet you saw this coming), it's not perfect. Since its release, the Prime has been saddled with reports of performance issues, bugs, and stuff just outright not working.

How severe are these issues, and maybe more importantly, just how widespread are they? As a new or potentially new Prime owner, just what are the chances they'll crop up for you?… Read more

LightSquared's deal with Sprint further falters

If the Federal Communications Commission suspending LightSquared's initial approval waiver yesterday weren't enough, the fledgling wireless network was dealt another blow today. Its deal with Sprint Nextel may fizzle.

Sprint said it would have to return $65 million to LightSquared if the wireless venture failed to get FCC authorization by a mid-March deadline, according to The Wall Street Journal. Sprint set this deadline last month with the announcement that if LightSquared doesn't get FCC approval by mid-March then the carrier would terminate its agreement with the company.

Last July, in a 15-year arrangement to push 4G, LightSquared … Read more

LightSquared blew it, and here's why

LightSquared today fired back at the Federal Communications Commission, saying the agency's decision to squash the company's planned wireless network would harm the American public. But it appears to be too little, too late for the embattled company.

The start-up wireless provider was dealt a fatal blow yesterday when the FCC suspended a key waiver that would have allowed it to build its 4G network, citing concerns over potential interference with critical GPS equipment. The denial of the waiver effectively turned the company into the walking dead.

While the FCC may have officially stamped out LightSquared's hopes … Read more