u-blox
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GBalpha announces Ranger GPS unit for Nintendo DS
There hasn't exactly been a rush to flood the market with Nintendo DS-based GPS mods over the years -- and when we have seen them, they've been largely DIY affairs. Looking to fill a niche that most reasonable folks assume does not exist, GBalpha has announced the upcoming release of Ranger, its new touchscreen solution for those of you wishing to saddle your handheld with navigation duties. If you're curious, this bad boy sports a u-blox GPS module, 32MB extended memory, Google Earth map integration, and optional Mandarin and Cantonese voice prompts. Are you stoked? What if we gave you a price and a way to order it? Well, we can't do that for you. Sadly, large swaths of the product website are mum on those details.[Via Max Console]
u-blox kicks out 50-channel LEA-5 GPS module
It's been a hot minute since we've heard from u-blox, but the outfit definitely caught our attention thanks to a new 50-channel GPS receiver that "boasts an acquisition performance of less than one second" when combined with its AssistNow A-GPS service. These fifth-generation devices have been stuffed into the industry standard LEA form factor, which should make embedding them into a wide range of automotive, consumer and industrial applications a breeze. Moreover, it sports a -160 dBm acquisition and tracking sensitivity, operating temperature range of -40 to 85°C and a Flash EPROM that allows for easy firmware upgrades in the future. Currently, engineering samples of the 17- x 22-millimeter chips can be ordered for $119 apiece, but they don't look to be shipping (let alone finding their way into consumer devices) until January of next year.[Via NaviGadget]
Tranzda's PM328 smartphone does GPS on Linux
Linux is getting ever and ever more play in the mobile space, though the hardware frequently leaves something to be desired in the design department (we're just playin', Trolltech -- bright green phones are awesome). There's something starkly attractive about this here PM328 from China's Tranzda, a smartphone with integrated GPS navigation from u-blox. The device clocks in at a reasonably thin 16 millimeters and runs Tranzda's own "Newplus" software stack atop a Linux core. Bluetooth and USB are along for the ride, too, though the remainder of the phone's specs are a bit hazy; just as well, since we'll never have a shot of seeing this one stateside.[Via LinuxDevices.com]
