| Military gain
However, John Pike, a space policy analyst at the Federation
of American Scientists think tank, believes the action was not
entirely altruistic.
The US plans more, upgraded GPS satellites
He said the US would benefit from the continued global use of
its system, meaning the US military retains control of the technology.
Offering the better US system for free takes away some of the
incentive for another country or consortium to build a competing
system, he added.
Announcing the GPS upgrade, US President Bill Clinton said: "The
decision to discontinue [signal degradation] is supported by threat
assessments which conclude it would have minimal impact on national
security."
GPS uses
Transport: air, road, sea and rail
Telecommunications
Emergency response
Oil exploration and mining
Precision farming
Construction
Scientific research
He continued: "Civilian users will realise a dramatic improvement
in GPS accuracy. For example, emergency teams responding to a
cry for help can now determine what side of the highway they must
respond to, thereby saving precious minutes."
Car
satellite navigation Restricted access
GPS was originally developed by the US Department of Defense
and the military have developed even more accurate systems than
are now available. They have also reserved the ability to degrade
the signal in particular regions of the world, if military objectives
make that desirable.
It took four years of deliberation to decide to increase the
precision of GPS but it will be a major boost to the GPS industry.
This is already expected to double in the next three years from
$8bn to more than $16bn.
Car Satellite Navigation Now Affordable For Everyone
Car satellite navigation manufacturers typically
charge £2,000 or more for a built-in satellite navigation
system, while a dedicated GPS (Global Positioning System) unit
with an integrated map display can cost as little as £200.
Sitting in the middle of this price spectrum, and offering several
unique benefits, is Compaq's iPAQ Navigation System (iNS), which
costs £850.21 (ex. VAT; £999 inc. VAT) for the full
handheld/GPS/software bundle. If you already own a 3000-series
iPAQ handheld, the GPS receiver with 64MB of maps (covering south-east
England) on CompactFlash costs £424.68 (ex. VAT; £499
inc. VAT). With 128MB of maps (covering most of the UK), the price
is £552.34 (ex. VAT; £649 inc. VAT).
The Compaq iNS is based on a GPS jacket from NavMan, into which
the iPAQ handheld slides. The jacket is bulky compared to many
standalone GPS units, incorporating a chunky aerial and a CompactFlash
slot for storing maps downloaded from a PC. Unlike many GPS units,
the jacket has no connector for an external antenna, which is
slightly disappointing given that reception may often be sub-optimal
when the unit is mounted inside a car. A special in-vehicle mount
allows the GPS-iPAQ combination to be attached to the car's windscreen,
and there's a car charger to keep the show on the road. The iNS
is supplied with a 64MB or 128MB CompactFlash card, a CD containing
TravRoute's Pocket CoPilot 2.0 route-finding software and the
maps.
The iNS is straightforward to set up. The GPS jacket is automatically
recognised when the handheld device is inserted, and the Pocket
CoPilot software can be installed from the supplied CompactFlash
card via the jacket's CF slot. Both Pocket PC and the new Pocket
PC 2002 operating systems are supported. You also need to install
the desktop component of Pocket CoPilot from the supplied CD,
which contains the maps that you will download to the handheld
via the docking station.
Map downloads are handled by the Data Download Wizard, which
provides three options -- City, Map Area and Trip. The City option
downloads data within a user-defined radius of a city centre;
Map Area lets you make a rectangular selection from the main map
and download that; and Trip downloads map data from the start
and end points of a journey (within a user-defined radius), plus
a corridor of user-specified width between them. These options
allow you to conserve storage space on your handheld or on the
CompactFlash card supplied with the GPS jacket. Usefully, the
Data Download Wizard lets you specify the destination for the
map data, and calculates the amount of space required for your
selection. Obviously, you'll need to take care not to be caught
on the road without the appropriate map for a proposed journey,
although this shouldn't prove a problem if you go for the full
128MB CF option.
Planning a trip is simply a matter of entering start and destination
points -- you can specify streets, post codes, junctions or regions
-- and any stops or points of interest along the way. Address
entry is speeded by a type-ahead feature that tries to 'guess'
what you're inputting; you can also store up to 25 frequently
used addresses or places for easy access, in addition to your
Home and Work locations. Pressing the Go button when in Planning
mode delivers full turn-by-turn directions and trip maps, so you
can preview your journey before setting off.
The fun starts when you switch to Guidance mode, which brings
in the GPS. Given a good view of the sky, the unit will initially
require about half a minute to pinpoint your location (generally
to within just under 7m), whereupon a pointer will appear on the
map showing your progress. The iNS's main advantage over other
systems is its voice guidance: as well as on-screen maps and clear
written directions, you get spoken instructions -- in a human
rather than a robotic voice, and in an English accent to boot!
The only problem we found was that unless your car is whisper-quiet,
the iPAQ's internal audio subsystem may not deliver enough volume.
If your car's stereo can accept an input from the iPAQ's headphone
socket, you should be OK, but otherwise you may occasionally struggle
to hear the instructions.
Another key advantage of the iNS is its ability to recalculate
the route on the fly if you should depart from the original plan.
It really is impressive to see the GPS register that you've missed
a turning, spend a short while processing the data, and then come
up with revised routing instructions. At all times the guidance
screen shows where you are, how far it is until the next turn,
and the distance to your final destination. Guidance screens come
in two variants, Driver and Passenger, the latter displaying a
map at all times and the former periodically dispensing with the
map in order to minimise distraction.
Compaq's iPAQ Navigation System is an impressive solution, although
there is scope for improvement. Support for an external antenna
would improve reception in sub-optimal conditions, and the iPAQ's
lack of volume could prove problematical for some users. Although
the price may seem high in comparison to route-finding software
running on an existing notebook equipped with a GPS, it's much
more convenient, and a lot cheaper than any built-in system.
ZDNet
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