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SpaceX will launch ESA navigation satellites amid delays with the EU's own rockets
SpaceX has struck a deal with the European Space Agency (ESA) to launch four of Europe's Galileo navigation satellites into orbit.
The UK buys a 45 percent stake in broke satellite startup OneWeb
It's part of the government's post-Brexit plan to replace the EU's sat-nav system.
Europe's sat-nav network crippled by 'technical incident'
Europe's Galileo satellite network, freshly approved by the FCC for US smartphones, has suffered a serious outage. The system has been down since Friday due to what officials at the European GNSS Agency (GSA) have described as a "technical incident related to its ground infrastructure." That means users with newer smartphones that support Galileo will be relying on GPS, Russia's Glonass or the Chinese Beidou networks for navigation, instead.
TomTom's new GPS uses IFTTT to interact with your smart home
TomTom is mostly focusing on driverless navigation after stepping away from wearables and action cams. However, it still makes consumer GPS units, and to keep up with smartphones, has unveiled the TomTom Go Premium with IFTTT home automation tech built right in. The idea is that you can link up actions on the GPS to household devices and have it automatically open your garage door when you arrive at home, for instance.
The automated in-car navigator that predated satellites
Standalone navigation devices are a dying breed. These days vehicles tend to have navigators plumbed into their dashboards, and as long as there's a smartphone to hand... well, there's an app for that. Demand for the devices nosedived years ago, but the technology underpinning them is alive and well, floating out there in space. What we all know as GPS wasn't operational until the mid '90s, though this was predated by Transit, the first satellite-based geolocation network completed in the '60s. But the first automated in-car navigation system was developed long before we had the technology to put anything into space.
Waze adds Liam Neeson as its latest navigator
Liam Neeson seems like the kind of guy you'd want around in a crisis, and while the chances of him appearing when your pipes have burst or someone's fallen down the stairs are slim, you can now rely on him to help you navigate a killer traffic jam. Waze users in the US can enjoy Neeson's confident, dulcet tones until January 14, thanks to a promotion for his upcoming flick The Commuter. Just make the switch through voice directions, under settings, in the app. This isn't the first time Waze has introduced celebrity voices to its services, but having Neeson ride shotgun has got to be less stressful than Arnie.
UK driving tests to include sat nav skills from December
In biggest shake-up of the standardised driving exam since the introduction of the theory test, UK drivers will be required to demonstrate that they can navigate using a sat nav. The Driver & Vehicle Standards Agency has confirmed that from December 4th, learners will be required to drive independently for 20 minutes -- double the current length -- with four out of every five candidates being asked to follow directions displayed on a navigational device.
The new UK driving test will use a sat nav
Over the years, the standard UK driving test hasn't changed all that much. Since 1996, learners have had to prove their road-worthiness by completing a set of multiple-choice questions and demonstrating decent hazard perception, but it's always been about proving you're a safe driver. In its biggest shake-up since the introduction of the theory test, the government will require new drivers to demonstrate their ability to navigate using a satellite navigation (sat nav) device in the hope it will promote safety, boost confidence and widen potential areas used for practical tests.
Researchers use satellite launch blunder to test relativity
Pop quiz, hotshot. You've just launched a pair of GPS satellites into the wrong orbit, rendering them useless for navigation. What do you do? If you're the European Space Agency (ESA), you re-purpose them to precisely test Albert Einstein's theory that clocks slow down near heavy objects. Since the Galileo satellites were placed in elliptical, rather than circular orbits by Russian Soyuz rockets, they pass closer to Earth at certain points. Our planet bends the fabric of space-time, so the super-precise atomic clocks on-board the satnavs will theoretically slow during those times, then speed up again when the craft move away.
Uber signs up TomTom to provide navigation for its drivers
After losing out to a consortium of Germany's biggest car makers over the purchase of Nokia's HERE Maps, Uber has set about building its own mapping and navigation services. They're not quite ready for prime time, so the company has had to rely upon a number of popular mapping services, including Google (which also serves as an investor), to help both users and drivers understand exactly where they are. Today, Uber has added TomTom to the list, with the Dutch company confirming that it will also support the private hire taxi firm.
Get delightfully lost with this route-enhancing motorcycle sat nav
We love a bit of "Choose your own adventure" action, and if a recent Twitter game is anything to go by, so do many of you. The problem with most formats is that they're, well, embedded in a book, or behind a screen. What if you could straddle your Harley, twist the throttle, and go on a real-life adventure? With TomTom's new RIDER bike-centric sat nav, you can. It's actually more about spicing-up an otherwise boring A to B route, than solving The Mystery of Chimney Rock. Or, as TomTom puts it: "bikers can choose the level of twists and turns they want to ride to create their own adrenaline-filled adventure." It does all that other sat nav stuff, too (audio navigation, glove friendly screen, route planning) of course. But hey, now that you can finally afford that Enfield, it's time to soak up whatever those Delaware back roads can throw atcha, right? Adventurers will have to wait until April though, when the RIDER becomes available for an as-yet unspecified price.
Frozen fuel lines made those European satellites go off course
Remember those two European satellites that went spectacularly off-course in August? Well, it turns out that the reason the vessels entered into the wrong orbit was due to frozen fuel lines. Space Travel reports that pipes containing the Russian Soyuz rocket's (which put the satellites into space) propellent were placed too close to some pretty frigid helium lines, which in turn restricted the flow of fuel to a pair of altitude control thrusters and subsequently caused a lack of power. The good news is that this "design flaw" is apparently fixable easily and immediately for future missions. That won't help the Galileo GPS satellites for now however, because they don't have enough fuel to reach the intended orbit. Assuming there's enough money to go around there's always next time, at least.
Waze navigation app now reads destinations from iOS and Android calendars
Google-owned Waze updated its navigation app for iOS and Android just before the new year, improving the user experience with all manner of tweaks. Evidently, it neglected to add one specific feature, hence another update dropping today that'll allow Waze to talk to the calendar apps on both those platforms. It means that if you're organized enough to associate locations with calendar appointments, you can ask Waze to take you there with but a single prod from inside the calendar app. The navigation list within Waze will also auto-populate with destination info poached from appointments. Waze is eager to highlight the feature is easily disabled from within your device's settings -- you know, if you'd rather that Miley Cyrus concert date be kept as discreet as possible.
Garmin demos futuristic sat-nav display inside Mercedes S-Class concept
In-car navigation HUDs may be safer than dash systems, but let's face it, they can't yet claim to be pretty. Enter Garmin's modular K2 infotainment system, which has been specially modified to suit the futuristic look of Mercedes' new 4.7-liter bi-turbo V8 Concept S-Class Coupé. Gone are the flat designs of old, replaced with Garmin's advanced 3D city models, which include parks, rivers, textured buildings and, of course, navigable roads. We don't know when or if Garmin's in-dash system will make it into a production model but Mercedes says its S-Class concept provides a "concrete vision" of its next generation car designs.
Nokia to update Here Drive and Transit apps, release Drive+ for all WP8 handsets
Nokia's Here Drive+ global sat-nav app for Windows Phone 8, currently exclusive to certain Lumia handsets, will be available to all devices running Redmond's mobile OS when it gets updated "by the end of this week." In addition to wider availability, the app refresh will see the integration of local traffic information and bring a "more intuitive user interface." Also, the new My Commute feature will make its debut, which monitors traffic along your common route and gives you an estimated travel time so you can plan accordingly. It'll also let you know if things change while you're on the road and offer up different routes if it spots a jam up ahead. An identical update will be applied to Here Drive, the non-exclusive version of Drive+ that's tied to one country (read: local navigation license). In tandem with the Drive apps, Nokia's Here Transit app for planning journeys on public transport will be updated with a redesigned user interface. Drive+ global navigation doesn't come free, however, even for those packing a Lumia 720, 520 or 521 variant (those handsets only have the standard Drive app pre-installed). A global license which turns Drive into Drive+ costs 15.49 euro (nearly $20) in some countries, such as the US, Canada and the UK, and 34.99 euro (almost $45) elsewhere; Here Transit will also come at a price of 1.99 euro (around $2.50) in these regions. There's table after the break which neatly lays out what costs what where, and you can hit up the PR if you feel you haven't done enough reading already.
CoPilot comes to Windows Phone 8: free offline sat nav, £18 for premium features
It can't be easy, developing a Windows Phone sat nav app in the heavily publicized shadow of Nokia Here, but when we met the folks at CoPilot recently they were brimming with confidence. They've already counted 4.5 million downloads on Android and iOS, and today they've finally gone live for owners of WP8 devices too. The free app comes with CoPilot's own, slightly different approach to laying out navigation info and options on a small screen, plus an offline map for the country of your choice, but you'll have to scroll through directions manually. For the full works, which are only free for 14 days, you'll need to spend £17.99 (the equivalent of $28) on an in-app upgrade that brings voice guided turn-by-turn instructions, a year's worth of live traffic flow info, 3D maps and a few other features. You'll find more screenshots and a growing number of reviews over at the source link.
Garmin's 2013 nüvi sat nav lineup detailed on company's website (update: hands-on photos)
Yep, more Garmin stuff we haven't seen before. The website for the 2013 range of nüvi GPS sat navs is live, and there are a ton of new models in "Essential," "Advanced" and "Prestige" categories. As you can probably guess, models in the Essential series are the most basic, with standard navigation features and 4.3- or 5-inch screens. The Advanced series has slightly more to offer, such as traffic alerts and "Garmin Real Directions," which uses "easy-to-see buildings and landmarks" to guide you; there are a couple of 7-inch models in the Advanced series. The nüvi 3597LMTHD is the most feature-packed model, and the only one worthy of the Prestige label. It's got a 5-inch display, Real Directions, "HD Digital Traffic," free map updates forever and more goodies. The most basic model in the Essential line is listed at $120, while the 3597LMTHD is the most expensive, at $380. The full breakdown of every model can be found at the source link below. Update: We've added some hands-on and press pics, and the CES announcement PR can now be found after the break. It focuses mainly on the Prestige offering, but gives more detail on features which are also found on some of the cheaper models, too. %Gallery-174929% Zach Honig contributed to this report. Follow all the latest CES 2013 news at our event hub.
Samsung announces Drive Link, a car-friendly app with MirrorLink integration
Until self-driving cars become mainstream, it's best to keep eyes on roads and hands off phones. With this in mind, Samsung's debuting Drive Link, an app that balances in-car essentials with driver safety, complete with approval from the no-nonsense Japanese Automotive Manufacturers Association. It's all about the bare essentials -- navigation, hands-free calling and audiotainment from your phone-based files or TuneIn. Destinations can be pulled from S Calendar appointments or texts without trouble, and the text-to-speech feature means you won't miss a message, email or social media update. The best bit is that via MirrorLink, all these goodies can be fed through compatible dash screens and speaker systems. Drive Link is available now through Sammy's app store for Europeans sporting an international Galaxy S III, and will be coming to other ICS handsets "in the near future."
Garmin GLO Portable GPS and GLONASS receiver hit the FCC, get torn down for good measure
Hasty, no? Merely hours after being announced to the world, Garmin's GLO Portable GPS and GLONASS receiver have touched down in the FCC's database. Per usual, that's a fairly solid indicator that the devices will be available for sale on US shores within a few weeks, and if you're curious, there's even a draft user guide tucked in the source link below. Truth be told, there's not a ton here that wasn't already made public -- it's obviously "Made for iPod / iPhone / iPad," and Garmin asserts that the included battery will take three hours to charge but 12 hours to deplete. The manual also asserts that Android users "may need to use an application to allow the sensor to properly communication over Bluetooth," and just in case you're thinking of getting wet and wild, the outer casing is said to be "rugged, but not water-resistant." For shame -- we were totally looking forward to geotagging our next romp down the Gauley. %Gallery-160289%
Garmin GLO Portable GPS and GLONASS receiver: location refresh rate 10 times faster than typical GPS
Maps. Everyone loves 'em. But while plenty of companies are showing off some very fancy map updates, we're still being left somewhere, staring at tall buildings, waiting for our location to update and lead the way. Garmin reckons it's solved the problem with its first GPS and GLONASS-compatible receiver, which can connect to both iOS and Android devices. Initial lock-on times are apparently 20 percent faster than typical GPS, while GLONASS' additional 24 satellites will make faring through canyons and urban sprawls less of a struggle for signal pick-up. Garmin has also upped its position refresh rate to 10 times per second: typical GPS receivers will update just once every second. It connects to devices through Bluetooth and will offer a 12-hour navigation boost on a single charge. If you're a pilot, there's even a GLO for Aviation package, which throws in a mount, power cable and six-month trial for its Pilot navi app. The standard receiver will launch in August, priced at $99, while those with wings can skip the queue and nab their version now for $139.
