GPS Tracking Devices Now Monitor Police Too

GPS Tracking Devices

Police officers get a lot of bad press. They are stereotyped as donut lovers who are continually taking coffee breaks and who abuse the speed limits. And many of the police officers portrayed on TV are either seen as unintelligent or lazy. Police departments around the country are cracking down on their officers, demanding that they be consistently working and not taking unauthorized breaks. But how are they doing this?

The answer comes in the form of GPS trackers. These days GPS tracking devices are used for more than just monitoring shipments and keeping young drivers from speeding. They are being used to monitor police officers too. Real time tracking systems placed on a vehicle will send out signals to satellites. These signals will then be used to determine the unit’s exact location, direct of travel, and speed. This information can be viewed on any computer with internet access. The information from GPS tracking devices can be viewed on a digital map to create a precise picture of everywhere the vehicle went in a day and how long it remained parked in a specific location. This digital map can be used to verify that individuals are in the places that they claim to be.

In April of this year, a policeman in Massachusetts was asked to resign because of information that a GPS tracker attached to his vehicle had collected. According to the tracker, Ronald Goulet had been running personal errands instead of patrolling. The tracker proved that the former police officer frequently left the car idling or parked at his home or other residences. After this information was gathered, the police officer was suspended and he eventually resigned. The police department that he worked for has since been tracking all of their officers with GPS tracking devices.

Because of the findings of this Massachusetts police department, many departments will likely begin using GPS trackers in the next few months. It is always important that employees are consistently working hard while they are on the clock, but this is even more important for those who are employed by the government. It is the job of law enforcement officers to keep the citizens of their town safe, and they cannot be doing that if they are using their working hours for social visits and personal errands. Companies all over the country are severely punishing the employees who misuse company time and company vehicles. Police departments should be no different.

R

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garminfone coming to T-Mobile

We’ve talked about garminfone here before but it was just officially announced by T-Mobile with a release date of June 9th. T-Mobile Garminfone will cost $200 after a two year contract and a $50 mail in rebate. Specs for Garminfone haven’t changed: Integrated GPS, HSPA 3G, bluetooth, WiFi, Webkit browser, 3.5″ screen, 3MP camera, and 1150mAh are some of the highlights.

T-Mobile already has a mini site where you can sign up to get notified when it hit the stores.

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This entry was postedon Saturday, May 29th, 2010 at 2:27 pmand is filed under gps navigation.You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. Leave a Reply

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Nuvifone M10 coming to U.S. shores

Nuvifone M10 recently made an appearance at FCC site meaning U.S. release is just around the corner – though no official word from Garmin has been released.

Nuvifone M10 has already been out in Europe and Asia to please users who would like WinMo as their operating system. 6.5.3 to be more specific.

We’ve already mentioned the specs here but some of the highlights are still worth mentioning such as the 1500mAh battery, 600Mhz processor, 512MB of RAM and ROM, 4GB of internal flash, and a 5MP camera.

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GPSMAP 62

Successor to the GPSMAP 60 series has been leaked. It is the new Garmin series which include GPSMAP62S, GPSMAP62ST, and GPSMAP62STC where C is for Canada.

Rumor has it that we’ll be able to get our hands on the GPSMAP62 series starting this July. The series will keep quad helix GPS antenna and support paperless geocaching, custom maps, BirdsEye aerial imagery, and tri-axial electronic compass and barometric altimeter on some models. They all have a 2.6″ sunlight readable screen, 500MB internal memory, and microSD card slot for expansion.

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MotionX GPS HD for iPad

If you’re looking for a mapping interface and navigation for your iPad other than Google Maps you may want to consider MotionX GPS HD.

The fact that it only costs $3 and it recently got a decent review maybe good enough reasons to give this app a shot.

MotionX GPS HD for the iPad is recommended for people looking to find a reasonably priced, do-it-all navigation app that covers land, air and sea. The app provides all the tools you’ll ever need, anywhere in the world. MotionX GPS HD works best when used on an iPad 3G but will also work with the Wi-Fi only version as long as there is a network available.

Some features of this app include the ability to use both Google Maps and Bing, and MotionX’s own maps, satellite, road, and hybrid views, turn by turn directions, and more.

Check out some serious action shots here.

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Pioneer AVIC Z120BT

Pioneer just recently announced a new in-dash GPS navigation system called which has a 2-DIN form factor and has a 7″ screen.

This is apparently their new flagship model which now adds the ability to listen to Pandora in your vehicle – but it actually streams the data through your iPhone using Pioneer’s own PandoraLink app for the device.

has all sorts of audio/visual specs but as far as GPS navigation it runs on TeleAtlas maps which covers all 50 U.S. states and Canada, has 12 million POIs in its database, and more importantly implements a voice recognition feature so you can enter addresses just by speaking.

MSRP for Z120BT is $1600 and Amazon already has it for $1400

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Garmin nuvi 1100

This is the wallet friendly nuvi GPS navigation system from Garmin for those on a budget. It is called the . This specific model found itself a place on Garmin’s site rather quietly – without a press release or anything. I guess they don’t want to advertise a GPS navigation system that lacks pretty much every modern day feature.

Nuvi 1100 has a 3.5″ screen and can provide turn by turn directions. Battery can last up to 4 hours. It does not do text-to-speech, lane assist, traffic updates, or speech recognition. However it is compatible with FM traffic, and MSN Direct.

We’re guessing this will be sub $100. If you find this on an online retailer let us know. Price not announced yet.

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Keeping America Healthy With GPS Tracking

GPS Tracking Devices

Emergency rooms across the nation overflow with patients, making efficient use of time a top priority for doctors and nurses. As hospitals look for ways to increase effectiveness, treat more patients, and make sure each patient receives excellent care, some are looking to GPS tracking to help monitor the process.

One hospital in South Carolina now utilizes GPS tracking to monitor patients from the moment they check in. As each patient arrives, he or she receives a GPS tracking device to wear on the wrist, allowing hospital staff to see where that patient is at all times. As the person progress through emergency care and eventually receives a room assignment, each nurse or doctor can see the patient’s exact location, enabling faster and more efficient treatment. So far, the technology has been well received among both patients and hospital staff.

Before a patient arrives at the hospital, the ambulance or helicopter he’s traveling in will most likely be equipped with GPS vehicle tracking, enabling faster response time and most effective use of the vehicles in the fleet. When emergencies occur, knowledge of which vehicles are in the vicinity and which ones can reach an injured person the fastest could save lives.

In addition to patient monitoring, GPS tracking can also help hospitals keep track of equipment before, during, and after surgeries or procedures. Nurses report an average savings of fifteen minutes per shift when they can locate equipment with GPS tracking rather than spending time tracking down the items themselves. In a hospital setting, fifteen minutes could make the difference between life and death.

Outside the hospital, GPS can help monitor patients who have a tendency to roam and become lost. Many Alzheimer’s patients benefit from carrying tracking devices which allow caregivers to keep an eye on them remotely. If a patient should wander from home and become lost, the caregiver can pinpoint his or her location immediately. More and more GPS companies have begun catering to Alzheimer’s patients, with life alert systems and even GPS equipped shoes helping to make the safety of these elderly citizens a top priority.

Advances in medical care save thousands of lives each year, giving families more time to share with one another and a greater appreciation for the value of life. As more and more hospitals implement GPS tracking into their daily routines, the new capabilities will give doctors and nurses the support they need to continue the work of keeping people healthy.

Read more about GPS Tracking Devices on my blog.

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Vehicle Tracking System to Beat Your Speeding Ticket

GPS Tracking Devices

Recently, a man in Ohio tried to use GPS technology to challenge his speeding ticket in court. His vehicle was supposedly timed from a police airplane at a speed of 84 mph, but the man claimed to be going only 50 mph, because of the heavy traffic in the 65 mph zone. But the GPS technology did not help and he was proven guilty. Why? He wasn’t using a vehicle tracking system.

Jason Barnes may have done his best to fight his ticket in court, but he needed the help of a GPS expert. Unfortunately, having someone to vouch for the accuracy of a cell phone GPS tracker may not have been helpful, given the problems with cell phone GPS.

Jason Barnes tried to fight his speeding ticket with information from the GPS tracker on his cell phone. However, cell phones with GPS capabilities have been known to be inaccurate and unreliable. One of the major problems with Barnes’s defense is that his cell phone could only give an estimated speed, because the cell phone only recorded his speed once every two minutes. But if Barnes had been using a vehicle tracking system, he most likely would have won the case.

Vehicle tracking devices beat GPS tracking cell phones in virtually every aspect. They are more reliable, because the battery is not also being used for many other functions. Also, signals are sent out to a satellite, not a cell phone tower, so the tracking is not reliant upon cell phone service. Traditional vehicle tracking units are also more accurate because they send signals every second. These signals create a detailed log and can prove more decisively how fast the vehicle was going, without any room for sudden un-tracked bursts in speed. These tracking devices can also place the vehicle within 5 feet, not 500 feet like many cell phone GPS systems.

A vehicle tracking system can also give more information than a cell phone tracker. Most cell phone GPS trackers cannot send text message alerts, but this is a common function of vehicle trackers. These alerts can be sent if they vehicle is exceeding a certain speed limit or if it has violated the parameters set up by the geo-fence.

Vehicle tracking systems have already been proven to be accurate and reliable in courts around the country. Don’t put your trust in your cell phone to get you out of a costly ticket, when you know that a vehicle tracking device can do the job with a better guarantee of success.

Read more about GPS Tracking Devices on my blog.

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SafeNav: GPS navigation system for airport runways

This is called the SafeNav and it’s an airport vehicle navigation system designed to make airport runways safer.

SafeNav is powered by Garmin and it enhances the situational awareness of airport vehicle operators regardless of visibility and other conditions. It provides a moving map of the vehicle’s location on the airport just like any other car GPS navigation system. It includes built-in maps of 950 U.S. airports, provides real-time tracking of vehicle location on the airport on its 4.3″ touch screen, comes with geofencing to keep vehicles off runways and other sorts of alarms for potential runway incursions.

Not sure how much this costs.

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Sony Ericsson Aspen coming out in U.S. very soon

This is called the Sony Ericsson Aspen and we had talked about back in February when it was first announced. We now that the Aspen has finally made it through FCC meaning that it will be out in the U.S. very very soon.

Some of the features of the Sony Ericsson Aspen include the Windows Mobile 6.5.3 operating system, full QWERYT keyboard, 3.5 standard audio jack, 3.2MP camera, QVGA TFT screen that measures 2.4″, microSD card slot for memory expansion, and a lot more including A-GPS support which paired with the on-board Google Maps application can turn this Aspen into GPS navigation system.


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Garmin Nuvi 295W

Garmin just came out with a brand new GPS navigation system this last week called . It is already available for $280 from Garmin website. 295W is a very slim looking GPS navigation system that makes you want to hold it up to your face and make a phone call. But you can’t. Even though it very much looks like a smartphone it is not but packs most of their features.

First and foremost you’ve got the WiFi connectivity which lets you surf the net with its browser and also you can do webmail and POP3 and IMAP, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and PDF attachments. You can also do Google Local Search.

Then you have the dual orientation 3.5″ glass touchscreen, a decent 3MP camera with geotagging feature, audio player, and a 2.5mm headphone jack.

Here are a couple of videos:

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Rightway Spotter, Tony Stewart Edition GPS

We’ve already talked about their Dale Earnhardt version of their GPS navigation system. This time people at Transplant just announced Tony Stewart Edition featuring NASCAR Sprint Cup series driver.

There’s isn’t much creativity here. It’s just a good old GPS navigation system bringing CoPilot’s navigation engine together with some NASCAR licensing to make product appeal to some motorsport fans – not that there’s anything wrong with that.

With this SPOTTER you can either be the Office Depot or Old Spice car, and have Tony’s voice guide to your destination.

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new QSTARZ Q1000XT GPS travel recorder

QStarz just announced a new GPS travel recorder called Q1000XT. Q1000XT looks similar to some of their previous GPS data loggers but it seems like they’ve upgraded some of the specs and included their newest software with this product – namely QTravel. One of the highlights is of course the 66 channel tracking – more than any other GPS tracking device out there.

Here are some of the hardware specs:

MTK II latest chipset with high sensitivity -165dBm and 66 channel trackingultra lower power consumption up to 42hrs operationless than 15 seconds AGPS fix support: download almanac data to realize faster TTFF and positioning under warm startstand alone travel recorder to log up to 400,000 recordsPOI button design to record your point of interest immediately 3-level Switch for easily switch Travel Recorder to LOG or NAV (Navigation

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Kapten screenless GPS navigation system

Kapsys’s been here on Navigadget before. We’ve even talked about their GPS navigation system with no screen called Kapten.

It looks to be a really handy device letting you play your tunes, geotag locations, and even hook up with your smartphone via bluetooth – but what’s more is that it can even act as a GPS navigation system giving your turn by turn directions – how much you can get out of a navigation system without a screen is questionable though.

It is made by the French so it is sure be crowd favorite here in the U.S! You can pick it up from Amazon for a whopping $425

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TomTom does Star Wars

TomTom just partnered with Lucasfilm and they’re bringing voices of Star Wars characters to your TomTom GPS navigation system. First one available is Darth Vader which is going to sell for $13 in the U.S. There’s even a “making of” video which is pretty funny. Also coming soon is C-3PO. And in July you can get yours hands on Yoda’s voice, and Han Solo in August. Check out some sample voices and a few other freebies such as start-up screens, sounds, and car icons here.

Lord Vader commands you to turn to the Dark Side. Will you be able to resist as he guides you to your destination? Obi-Wan has taught you well but now it is time to choose your path. Light sabers at the ready!

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