GPS obsessed

• More shoppers use smartphones to study, find, buy – USATODAY.com
  Really interesting article citing a few studies about the rise of the smartphone and mobile web in retail purchasing.
  (tags: mobile mobileweb advertising)

• FedEx’s cellular sensor-package for your important shipments – Boing Boing
• DFJ-Backed Clixtr Marries Photos With Location, Launches Website
  Clixtr…"aims to turn smartphones into what they refer to as ’smartcameras’ or ’social cameras’. The basic idea behind the service is that when you’re at an event, be it a birthday party at your home or at a massive rock concert, photos from multiple people attending could be turned into one single, centralized photo album for all to enjoy.
• Navigon announces nav app for Android, Google threat looms — Engadget

TomTom ONE 125SE

Geez, I’m not so sure if Black Friday deals mean anything in the GPS industry anymore. GPS prices continue to erode as mobile navigation continues its ascent-the latter bolstered by Google’s recent announcement revealing a future of free turn-by-turn GPS direction software. This year we’re seeing the cheapest prices ever for GPS devices, the plummeting led by TomTom’s ONE 125SE which is selling for a ridiculously low $59, and followed up by the TomTom ONE 325SE for $89 (both of which will be available at Walmart beginning at 5AM tomorrow morning). Garmin is standing a little bit stronger with its lowest price point this Black Friday at $79.

The TomTom ONE 125SE sports a 3.5-inch touchscreen, text-to-speech, preloaded maps of the United States, a POI database, and an included TomTom Easy Mount. The step-up TomTom ONE 325SE has a larger 4.3-inch touchscreen, while both have Map Share, 30 days of free map updates, and are traffic-ready though the service and its associated fuel price database are optional.

• FriendLocator – ProgrammableWeb Mashup Detail
  A Google Maps mashup that places your Facebook friends on a map.
  (tags: googlemaps mapping mashup facebook)
• OS mapping data: a new landscape unfolds | Technology | The Guardian
  "The Free Our Data campaign has scored a major victory, with the announcement by the government that it intends to make Ordnance Survey maps free for use online by any organisation – including commercial ones – at resolutions more detailed than commercial 1:25,000 Landranger maps from April next year."
  (tags: maps government ordnancesurvey opendata)

• MapQuest Send to OnStar Integration Video – MapQuest Blog
  (tags: mapquest onstar maps mapping gpsnavigation)

DeLome Earthmate PN-40 GPS Unit $299.94

Garmin GPSMap 60CSx GPS System $299.94

Garmin Nuvi 255 GPS System $99.99

Garmin Nuvi 255W GPS System $149.94

Garmin Nuvi 755T GPS System $219.94

SPOT 1 Satellite Messenger $49.99

Okay, so it’s a single deal but it’s not a bad one…

Magellian RoadMate 1440 GPS — $119.99 as opposed to Amazon which has it for $142 regularly.

• GeoCam
  Haven’t read about this yet but it’s important. They won the Random Hacks of Kindness competition.
  (tags: maps gps google research photography activism)
• GeoAPI.com: Read-Write Mapping now with Media Layers and iPhone SDK
  (tags: api cartography coding geo geocoding geodata geolocation geospatial geoweb gis googlemaps gps map mapping maps)
• Skyhook wants to patch poor Nokia location performance
  All the major platforms will be powered by Skyhook very soon.
  (tags: nokia lbs skyhook wifi gps)
• Pioneer sues Garmin over navigation technology | Mobile Mac | Macworld
  Here we go. Given the struggles the PND industry is facing, maybe companies such as Pioneer should focus on innovating rather than protecting patents that won’t matter in a couple of years.
  (tags: pioneer garmin patents gps gpsnavigation)
• How to use Foursquare API with OAuth and PHP – Andrew Mager
  Interesting tutorial.
  (tags: foursquare php tutorial programming social api location oauth)
• Location Sharing FourSquare Finally Shares Its API
  The title says it all I think. It’ll be interesting to see if the API attracts as much attention as Twitter’s has.
  (tags: api foursquare locationbasedgames lbs)

Magellan iPhone GPS app

Nipping at the heels of Google’s evil plan to decimate the navigation industry, Magellan has joined the iPhone app party with a new GPS app today. The application basically replicates the functionality of a typical Magellan PND, right down to the interface. In fact, rather than give the Magellan iPhone app an ‘Apple-y’ look, Magellan chose to stick to its own look, right down to replacing the iPhone keyboard.

Features include turn-by-turn directions with spoken street names, 3D landmarks, lane guidance, a “Find My Car” GPS function, address book integration, in-app music controls, a pedestrian mode, and Magellan’s OneTouch feature that places oft-used features within one tap of the touchscreen.

One downside of the Magellan iPhone GPS app is its size. At 1.3 GB, it takes up a fair amount of space, but at least in areas with poor carrier coverage you’ll still be able to navigate. Magellan will aim at TomTom in the iPhone dash mount space as well, with a dedicated dash mount, coming in the near future. The dash mount will have its own built-in GPS receiver, in-car charging, Bluetooth hands-free calling, a speaker, and iPod Touch compatibility as long as you’ve purchased the GPS app. No word on iPhone GPS dash mount price, but the Magellan iPhone app is available now for $59, though that price could increase in the future.

Magellan’s RoadMate 1700, the company’s monstrous 7-inch GPS navigator, has been reviewed by PCMag. While the review is mainly positive, there are some trade-offs to be had. Sure, you’re getting the best deal out there when it comes to dollars for screen real estate. But the RoadMate 1700 is also missing some must-haves. Among them: real-time traffic updates and speed limits. If you’re just looking for a decent GPS navigator that will get you from point A to point B, with a huge screen and a fair price tag though, the RoadMate 1700 GPS might be for you.

Magellan RoadMate 1700-At Amazon