Epson's tiny GPS receiver will make everything location aware

Small, right? That's Epson's Infineon XPOSYS chip, its next generation Assisted-GPS device set for mass production in late 2009. The chip measures just 2.8 x 2.9-mm making it 25% smaller than other A-GPS chips on the market, according to Epson, while consuming half the power. The sensitivity has also been improved for a more accurate location fix while indoors. Between this, Google Latitude, and the ever expanding lineup of Skyhook positioning devices, you can kiss your location anonymity goodbye.

[Berka @ Feb 12th 2009 7:12AM]

new technology ;-)

[Shinigami @ Feb 12th 2009 1:26PM]

If it really makes it possible to put GPS into every phone and increase battery life during GPS sessions, its a great thing. But I wonder if its also 500% more expensive than those alternatives.

[Stupidiot @ Feb 12th 2009 7:13AM]

I'm a little freaked out. Just as I read the last sentence the radio blared out "Na na na na heeeyy goodbye"

[Magallanes @ Feb 12th 2009 7:15AM]

It is the second biggest matchstick that i even see it.

[Andrew @ Feb 12th 2009 7:44AM]

Yeah, everything looks small next to a giant match!

... Wait, what? Second biggest?

[Plothole @ Feb 12th 2009 8:10AM]

You're Monkey Island reference amuses us greatly.

[Ollie @ Feb 12th 2009 12:35PM]

yorly?

[TNP @ Feb 12th 2009 7:36AM]

Chips macht frei

[Sisyphus @ Feb 12th 2009 7:44AM]

Sssssh, guys.

DO NOT CALL the government to let them know!

[Plothole @ Feb 12th 2009 8:09AM]

Already did!

Oh and I'm sure you mind, but I also signed you up as the first test subject.

[dfgdfgdfdfg @ Feb 12th 2009 7:47AM]

Errrrrm... you are aware that Infineon is a company, right?

[Tony C @ Feb 12th 2009 8:20AM]

Correct! It's a joint venture product announced by Epson AND Infineon, not the product name.

[Jim @ Feb 12th 2009 8:24AM]

I needed this. My wife often will 'decide' it is of critical importance that an item lost for year must be found at this exact moment in time, even though it is not needed. If low powered enough i would tag every sheet of paper and item in the house and feed all the data to a real time Database with full query support. That way every item in the house could be tracked.

BTW: My desk at home is a big pile of paper, wires and other odds and ends and yet I when I need something out of the pile I know it is in the pile and the general area and depth in the pile. Really pisses the wife off.

[Rob S @ Feb 12th 2009 8:44AM]

More importantly, it's small enough (and hopefully cheap enough) that every device with a clock can now get its time from GPS, which means:

a) no more setting clocks after, say, a power outage
b) no more having 3 or 4 clock devices in a room with different times (think of a kitchen - stove, microwave, wall clock, and weather station in mine).

[kal326 @ Feb 12th 2009 9:16AM]

They already have stuff like this. Its the atomic clock radio broadcasts. I have a watch that picks up on it and they also sell wall clock with it. Keeps everything sync with the national atomic clock in CO, syncs somelike 4 times a day.

[Shinigami @ Feb 12th 2009 1:29PM]

@kal326
I bet the price is ridiculous.

[one @ Feb 13th 2009 2:49PM]

@Shinigami
Nope, I have a $15 Sony Dream Machine alarm clock and a $20 wall clock that does this. I have seen watches that do this from $100-$400. Not so extravagant.

[Shodan @ Feb 12th 2009 11:04PM]

Looks like that test thing from this week's Fringe. Can Oliva disable this one as well?

[Jamus @ Feb 12th 2009 10:01AM]

Give me a way to voluntarily disable it and I won't have problems with it. Otherwise, it might have a little "accident"...

[NoAndThen @ Feb 12th 2009 10:16AM]

Amen!

This stuff and google latitude are the perfect ground floor for high tech fascism...

But so long as we end up with video walls man, who cares right?
Seriously the adavancement with this tech scares me.

I'm moving to backwoods Maine.

[VS Dude @ Feb 12th 2009 10:02AM]

Another fine product from the folks at Eurkeka!

[jmv290 @ Feb 12th 2009 10:44AM]

Coming soon to drivers' license near you!

[mke @ Feb 12th 2009 2:07PM]

Licenses tags or tires too, if states like Oregon have their way. (You do realize that RFID tags have been placed in new tires in the US for almost 8 years now, thanks to the US Congress.) Oregon is upset by falling gasoline sales (which means decreased gas tax revenue). They're on the verge of mandating GPS in everyone's vehicle and imposing an annual "milage" tax based upon how many miles you've driven--they even want to tax out-of-state residents who drive anywhere on their roads. (Don't expect to see them abolish the gas tax if they actually impose this new tax. I suspect the new tax will simply be additional revenue.) I can see a new federal travel tax (and not just based on travel by auto--why not get walking, flying, sailing, biking? Heck, all 50 states might impose their own state travel tax. Ain't technology grand.

[mrpysnik @ Feb 12th 2009 10:51AM]

I didn't know they made oversized novelty matches similar to those "Texas Fly Swatters." Interesting.

[Ryan @ Feb 12th 2009 11:34AM]

Yes... because everyone should know where everyone is. Time to move to the mountains.

[Staggs @ Feb 12th 2009 11:52AM]

Soon, not even the Mountains will hide people.

[mke @ Feb 12th 2009 1:56PM]

Sorry to break the bad news to you, but I retired to a 520 million acre forest in the northern US Rockies and can attest that GPS works just fine in heavily-forested mountains. (Truthfully, there's no getting away from those damned satellites wherever you are on the planet. You're only hope of escaping constant surveillance is that other dead satellites orbiting the earth start crashing into them, like the incident on Tuesday. However, given the fact that Europe is putting up GPS satellites too, I think it might take space invaders to knock them all out--their numbers are growing so quickly.)

[Wwhat @ Feb 12th 2009 11:22AM]

I was going to ask why you say epson when the chip says infinion, which is another company and not the name of the chip as you suggest, but I see it's a joint venture project
Still, epson and infinion are 2 companies and it's not "Epson's Infineon XPOSYS chip" but "Epson and Infinion's XPOSYS chip"

[OneLove @ Feb 12th 2009 11:53AM]

did someone spit in your coffee this morning?

[marko190 @ Feb 12th 2009 3:46PM]

u mean they will finally find Osama?! PHEW!

[Shinigami @ Feb 12th 2009 1:28PM]

@OneLove
he ran out of coffee this morning

[Josh @ Feb 12th 2009 3:41PM]

This means gps's in smaller products, Hurray Big Brother :D
This also means location of pretty much everything will be cake since these will end up in everything from cars to new electronics even if it isn't listed as a gps

[007craft @ Feb 12th 2009 7:24PM]

wow. This is gonna make the next gen Garmin GPS watches (forrunner 505?) look just like 100% regular watches, but with all the gps in them, and longer battery life. I cant freaking wait.

[davidpsmithii @ Feb 12th 2009 8:13PM]

correct me if i'm wrong, but these are GPS reciever chips, right? They don't tell people where you are...they tell YOU where you are. There would have to be some other sort of broadcaster pushing that info to a cell network, radio tower, etc. in order for anyone to track you. Try tracking someone who steals the Garmin out of your car...can't be done. Half the cell phones in the world have GPS now, but it doesn't let people track you unless you turn it on and have an app that periodically sends your location data back to be processed.

[suicycle.com @ Feb 12th 2009 8:51PM]

Exactly! I was wondering what everyone was getting so freaked out about.

[Webhost Deals @ Feb 12th 2009 11:45PM]

Instead of the chip, I'm more interested to know how they write those English Letters there!!

[granny down east @ Feb 12th 2009 11:47PM]

Ruh-roh, this gives new meaning to "breast implants"...

[Jason Freeman @ Feb 13th 2009 1:29PM]

Wow, that is truly amazing! Who who have imagined 20 years ago!

RT
www.anon-tools.us.tc

[Kevin @ Feb 15th 2009 12:45AM]

That's actually pretty terrifying.

[tomokazu.osada @ Mar 21st 2009 3:27AM]

my sediments exactly

tomo

[D. @ Mar 21st 2009 12:07PM]

I don't think Big Brother is watching us by himself anymore. ;o)