iSaveAlot.com BLOG

Don’t count on your navigation unit seeing a sudden improvement anytime soon, but Raytheon has announced that it’s landed an massive $886 million contract from the U.S. Air Force to develop a new element of GPS called the advanced control segment (or OCX, somehow). Once complete, that promises to not only provide a range of ehancements for military GPS use (including anti-jam capabilities and improved security), but improved accuracy and reliability for civil GPS users as well.

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Raytheon scores $886 million contract to improve GPS capabilities

Ford’s been keeping itself busy on the navigation front , and while you may have noticed that 2010 just began a few weeks ago (on the Gregorian calendar, anyway), 2011 model year vehicles are already on the minds of those in Dearborn. 2011 models with voice-activated navigation systems will be getting an update that brings along HOV logic, helping users who travel with a buddy to get from point A to point B more hastily if carpool lanes are nearby. Of course, only 2,500 miles of those blanket America, so a few other updates might be intriguing to those of you who are sane enough to live outside of the rat race

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Ford adding HOV logic, ability to download outside Mapquest destinations to 2011 NAV systems

We’re used to seeing some ho-hum units with the GoGear name , so we were pleasantly surprised to hear (well, read) that Philips was getting much more ambitious for its upcoming GoGear Connect line of PMPs . Plans are said to include the Android 2.1 OS, Bluetooth, WiFi, GPS, and extensive skinning that plays up the media player / navigation device angle.

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Android-powered GoGear Connect PMP debuted in new, Godzilla-sized form factor

If you haven’t freaked out and given up on MiFi after they were shown to be, well, a little bit vulnerable , good for you, because there’s good things in store.

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Novatel shows off next-gen GPS-enabled MiFi, integrated ‘apps’ (video)

The Zanier Xplore.XGX gloves must be one of the finest examples of stuff you don’t need, but would probably dearly love to have. With an embedded GPS tracking unit and a monochrome screen, these multifunctional finger warmers will guide you to and from the lodge, but the real fun kicks off when you hit the piste

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Zanier GPS gloves let you Xplore without getting lost

Windows Phone what? Dell Mini who?

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AIS’ ultra-rugged PDA is so ugly it’s beautiful

Garmin-Asus phones, they’re like buses aren’t they — you wait for ages to get one, then two come along at the same time. Seeking to sate as many mobile OS appetites as possible, the partner company has quickly followed up its A50 Android handset with this here M10, sporting Microsoft’s latest Windows Mobile build. As only the second WinMo 6.5.3 device around, the M10 is as up to date as you can get on the software front, though earlier word of a slightly dated 600MHz Qualcomm MSM 7227 CPU will douse some enthusiasm on the hardware side

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Garmin-Asus nuvifone M10 offers Windows Mobile 6.5.3 with an obsession for navigation

Chip maker Broadcom has unveiled no fewer than three new mobile-themed hunks of silicon this week in preparation for MWC in just a few days’ time. You ready for this? Alright, first up we’ve got the catchily-named BCM20751, which performs the rather ordinary tasks of GPS, Bluetooth, and FM radio management but also throws in an audio processor to offload some work from the phone’s primary CPU, which the company says can reduce battery consumption enough to improve playback time by up to 100 percent in some situations.

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Broadcom announces Android support, three-pack of chips to make your phones more awesome

The sun’s activity isn’t usually a hot topic around these parts, but when it threatens to derail satellite navigation services around the world, it must surely take center stage. UK researchers have corroborated Cornell’s 2006 warning that our solar system’s main life-giver is about to wake up and head toward a new solar maximum — a period of elevated surface activity and radiation. It is precisely that radiation, which can be perceived in the form of solar flares, that worries people with respect to GPS signaling, as its effects on the Earth’s ionosphere are likely to cause delays in data transmission from satellites to receivers and thereby result in triangulation errors

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Solar flares set to wreak havoc on GPS signals