GPS - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

May

[New App] Magellan Releases SmartGPS Turn-By-Turn App To Complement Standalone GPS Unit You Probably Won't Buy

Posted by Ryan Whitwam in Applications, Apps/Games, News

GPS veteran Magellan announced the SmartGPS system back at CES, touting its social networking integration and "cloud" stuff. The device has just gone on sale in the US for $249, but along with that comes the SmartGPS app. This is a free download that lets your smartphone talk to the GPS unit. If you don't want to buy a $249 GPS unit that duplicates the functionality of your phone, the app includes additional features for a price.

The free version of SmartGPS lets you search for destinations and plan trips. It contains a full US and Canadian map with tons of points of interest.

Apr

In California, Using Your Maps App Is Just As Illegal As Texting While Driving, Court Says

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Legal, News

Texting and driving is a pretty heinous crime. Bad enough that it's spawned entire ad campaigns devoted to educating the public on the dangers of such acts. Of this, you are no doubt aware. What you may be less aware of is the fact that figuring out where you're going is exactly as dangerous as sending someone a message that says "Doesn't the Peachoid look like a giant..."

California, despite having no known Peachoids, knows this very well and a court has ruled that using a mapping application is just as bad (and illegal) as texting behind the wheel. This isn't the first time California has come down hard against GPS in cars.

Apr

ASUS Announces Class Action Settlement, Transformer Prime (TF201) Customers Can Get $17 And A GPS Dongle

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in ASUS, News

The Transformer Prime (or TF201 if you're nasty) had its share of GPS problems when it first came out. So much so that the company began sending out dongles to fix the issue. Well, that didn't prevent a class action lawsuit from being filed and, as a result, ASUS has settled the case. What does that mean for you? Well, if you purchased a TF201 between December 1, 2011 and February 19, 2013 and you didn't get a refund, then you qualify to receive $17 and a free GPS dongle.

If you want to get in on this class action, you need to submit a claim by May 31st.

Feb

[APK Teardown] Google Maps 6.14.3 - Next Stop: Lane Guidance

Posted by Ron Amadeo in APK Teardown, News

Ok, here's a short and sweet edition of APK Teardown coming your way. Prepare yourself.

What's the one remaining thing a standalone GPS unit can do that Google Maps can't? (Besides work offline) Lane guidance.

Right now, Google Maps would best be described as "Turn guidance." It will tell you when to make a right turn, but that's about it. Lane guidance is a step further: Your next exit is coming up on the right, and a TomTom (pictured) will better prepare you to make the exit by directing you to the right hand lane in advance. This saves you the surprise "turn right" command which suddenly means you need to cut across 40 lanes of traffic.

Feb

[New App] Valarm Pro Monitors Sensor Data Remotely, Uploads For Detailed Tracking And Study

Posted by Jeremiah Rice in Apps/Games, News

Smartphones have a staggering amount of data they can monitor, and not just in terms of the Internet. Position, orientation, speed, sound, light, g-force, the list goes on - that's why academics are using them as self-contained sensor stations for cool stuff like blasting into space. If you need to monitor data remotely for decidedly less cool reasons (like seeing if your CDL contractor got four tons of gravel to the worksite without stopping at Arby's first) Valarm might be the right service for you.

Valarm monitors a handful of variables on a remote Android device: Accelerometer, GPS, light sensor, and other variables like battery life.

Feb

RunKeeper Updated To 3.0 With A Completely New Holo UI And Features

Posted by Ryan Whitwam in Applications, Apps/Games, News

RunKeeper is one of the top fitness apps in Google Play, and it just got a huge update to version 3.0. Not only does this version continue RunKeeper's trend toward a more modern Holo-inspired UI, it adds features that will make your experience better.

Here's what's new in this version of the app:

Visual redesign- Complete visual redesign from the ground up
In-activity splits- Shows your pace per mile/km or workout interval throughout the activity
‘Me’ tab- Central place in the app to view your goal progress, personal records, and activity tally over time
Audio cue improvements- More robust audio cues
Workout reminders- The ability to schedule your next workout when you finish the last one

RunKeeper is a solid way to keep track of your workouts, and provides you with gobs of data to dig through.

Dec

[New App] Twist Tells Your Friends How Late You Are Running

Posted by Ryan Whitwam in Applications, Apps/Games, News

We all have that one friend – you know the one. Always running a little late, and everyone has to wait for him or her to show up. Well, now that Twist is on Android, you can find out in real time how much longer you're going to be standing around. It's like putting one of those radio tracker animal collars on your friends.

Twist uses GPS and cell tower location to accurately determine how long it will take you to arrive at an appointment. You can share that information automatically with your friends so they know when to expect you.

Aug

Nikon's Coolpix S800c Runs On Android Gingerbread, Money, And Confusion

Posted by Jeremiah Rice in Gingerbread 2.3, News

Show of hands: who wants to pay $350 for a low-end point-and-shoot camera? How about it has a built in WiFi connection? No? OK, last chance: what if it ran Android... Gingerbread?

Anyone?

Nikon is hoping to hear more than crickets when it brings the Coolpix S800c to market in September, with a suggested retail price of $349.95. All joking aside, as a low-end camera it's got some pretty decent specs: 16 megapixels, a 10x optical zoom, a 3.5-inch touch-sensitive OLED display, and 1080p video recording. The hook is WiFi and GPS combined with what equates to a mid-range Android smartphone circa summer 2010: Gingerbread runs on that 3.5-inch screen, with (surprisingly) full access to the Google Play Store.

Aug

Instagram 3.0 Update Adds Geotag Photo Maps, Longer Descriptions, And Interface Tweaks

Posted by Jeremiah Rice in Applications, News

Last Updated: August 23rd, 2012

Are you the kind of obsessive-compulsive shutterbug that has to know exactly where and when you found the perfect pair of hipster glasses? Then Instagram's update is aimed right at you... for better or worse. The biggest update to version 3 of the Android app is the Photo Maps feature, which places all your photos on a selectable Google Maps overlay, assuming that you tagged their location when you took them. Because you can never add too much contextual information to a picture of a taco truck.

Other additions include some usability tweaks to the Profile page, though the rest of the application pretty much apes the ubiquitous iPhone version.

Jul

Security Researcher Demonstrates GPS Vulnerability That Could Let Hackers Track Users' Location, Take Over Phone

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in News

Over at Black Hat USA 2012, security researcher Ralf-Phillip Weinmann demonstrated a vulnerability in several Android devices that utilized A-GPS to send illicit messages to the device which could, he explained, be used to send a report of the device's location any time an A-GPS message was sent or even be used to gain complete control of the device.

In describing the attack, Weinmann pointed out that, for example, a malicious WiFi network could instruct a phone to relay all future A-GPS requests, even once the device has left the WiFi network's range. This even further drives home the point that you should not join any networks you don't trust.