Bluetooth GPS at GPS Gazette

MainNav, the Taiwanese GPS manufacturer that recently released the MG-920 Bluetooth GPS receiver with an FM transmitter is releasing another interesting GPS product, a GPS watch with optional bluetooth. The watch looks kinda bulky and it’s size is 69 x 55 x 28mm (I couldn’t find how much it weights). Nonetheless, it’s an interesting concept, a GPS watch that can also be used as a bluetooth GPS receiver. Inside the watch resides the high sensitivity SiRF Star III LP chip that is responsible for tracking the wearer’s location. The system also features a digital heart-rate, speed and distance and a temperature sensor. Finally it is waterproof as expected for most systems that are mainly for outdoors use and is equipped with a Li-ion 400mAh battery. Although, I like the concept behind the MW-705 (and kudos to MainNav for not just producing cookie cutter products) my two reservations are it’s design and the battery life when using the optional Bluetooth (v2.0) module. Whether we will see it in Europe and the USA depends on whether western distributors decide to bring it to us.

Source

Motorola announced today the stylish Motorola T805 and T815 at the 3GSM World Congress 2007. According to the press release the T805 is a “phone-based Navigation System” and the T815 is a “Smartphone-based Navigation System” , both featuring Motorola’s new MOTONAV solution. According to the announcement, both units through a bluetooth connection with a compatible phone or Smartphone provide precise locations, turn-by-turn directions, on-screen maps and clear spoken and visual instructions. The systems also boast a rich set of location-based services through MOTONAV.

SUMMARY OF FEATURES
• Portable, just clip and you are ready to go. Visor clip, vehicle power adaptor, and cell phone mount included in the box
• 12-month free national subscription to MOTONAV services
• Mini-USB connector for easy charging
• One convenient multi-function button for multiple operations
• Bluetooth wireless technology system is quick and easy to set up with EasyPair technology
• Works with compatible Version Bluetooth 1.1, 1.2, or 2.0 Bluetooth enabled phones
• Local search for point-of-interest searching in your vicinity

The two new Motorola bluetooth Navigation systems will become available sometime in Q2 2007.
For more Information
T805
T815

Wonde Proud GPS-BT760 is yet another bluetooth GPS by a Taiwanese manufacturer. To be honest I have never heard about this brand in the past but after some searching it appears that its products are distributed under the XAIOX brand in Europe. This latest GPS device is a standard bluetooth GPS receiver that is equipped with the 20 channel SiRFStar III GPS chipset. However, its biggest selling point is battery life. According to the manufacturer a single charge of its built in 2400mA/h battery can give you up to 55 hours continuous use to stand-by time up to several weeks. No word on pricing or availability yet but since Wonde will be at this years CeBIT we may be able to learn a bit more.

Haicom released a new Bluetooth (v1.1) GPS unit with an SD interface. The unit features a standard miniSD to SD adapter that allows users to use a miniSD card of any size. The unit is equipped with a 20 channel, high sensitive SiRF StarIII GPS module and doesn’t need a battery since it is powered by the device it is attached to. This hybrid of Bluetooth GPS and SDIO GPS has the benefit that it doesn’t tie up the SD slot of your device. The main disadvantage that this unit might have is the fact the it main drain the battery of the device that is attached to very quickly. Of course that is just speculation and we will have to wait for the first reviews to see if this is a better format than the traditional Bluetooth and SDIO GPS receivers or not. Finally, the device with the use of some optional cables can be transformed to regular GPS mouse.
For more information you can visit the Product Page

The Haicom HI-505SD is expected to start shipping mid-February with a price of $109.95

Amaryllo Trinity is a stylish Bluetooth GPS receiver that can also receive real time traffic information as broadcasted via TMC same as the Globalsat BTT-100 that we have posted about before. Trinity was introduced mid January and it features the 20 Channel SiRFstar III LP (Low Power) chipset and has a built-in patch antenna while its removable lithium-ion rechargeable battery (1000mAh) allows it to operate for about 11 hours on a single charge. Of course the reason that sets it apart from the current competition is the fact that it receives real time traffic information. However, if you want to take full advantage of this feature you need to have a compatible navigation software installed. At this time the Amaryllo Trinity is compatible with the Smart2Go software by Gate5 that was acquired by Nokia last year. The suggested retail price of Trinity is 129 Euro and it should now be available in Europe. Amaryllo products are not distributed in the USA but according to their website they are looking for distributors, so it isn’t unlikely for Trinity to make an appearance in the USA as well.

Announcement

Globalsat has announced a new Bluetooth GPS receiver that has TMC (Traffic Message Channel) capabilities, the Globalsat BTT-100. This new GPS unit will be using the SiRFStar III chipset, a Built-in ceramic patch antenna. The Traffic Message Channel (TMC) will be using uses the FM Radio Data System (RDS) to broadcast real-time information of traffic, weather, etc. The device is really small and has a eight of just 70 grams and it sounds like a really good way to add TMC functionality to a navigation system or even a PDA.

Some of it other announced features include:

• Bluetooth Version 2.0
• Supports WAAS and EGNOS
• Battery life up to 14 hours of operation time, in continuous mode.
• Power saving mode (powers down after 10 minutes of inactivity)
• Dimension: 82mm x 42mm x 22mm
• Requires external FM antenna
• Hot start: 1 sec average
• Warm start: 38 sec average
• Cold start: 42 sec average

No information on pricing and availability yet.

Product page

GPSlim240 is Holux’s latest bluetooth GPS receiver. The dimension of this stylish GPS receiver are 64 x 22 x 15 mm and weights just below 35gr. It has a lithium-ion battery that according to Holux will last for 8 hours and a built in antenna. The device is Bluetooth™ version 1.2 compliant however it can also transmit data through a data cable to a device without Bluetooth interface. The Chipset used by GPSlim240 is SiRF Star III for low power consumption and the device also has a power saving mode built in.

Via Holux

Haicom HI-407BT is the second bluetooth GPS receiver that is powered by the car lighter after the Holux GPSlim239. This new device from the Taiwanese company comes equipped with the 20 channel ultra high sensitive SiRF StarIII GPS chipset. In addition to that Holux provides a large range of optional accessories and cables that according to them can easily tranform the HI-407BT to a regular GPS mouse, USB GPS receiver, RS232 GPS receiver, PDA GPS receiver, etc.

Holux GPSlim239 is the new bluetooth GPS receiver from Holux the Taiwanese company. What makes this device stand out is that you won’t have to worry about recharging it or battery life. The reason is simple, it is powered by plugging it into your car’s cigarette lighterc plug. Some of the features of the GPSlim239 include:

20 parallel satellite-tracking channels for fast acquisition and reacquisition.
Support NMEA0183 v2.2 data protocol or SiRF binary code.
Compatible with Bluetooth Serial Port Profile (SPP) completely.
Minimum signal tracked: -159dBm
Weight : < 80g.

No information about when it will become available and pricing have been announced yet.

Globalsat has announced a new bluetooth GPS receiver the Globalsat BT-359. One of its features that make it stand out is the fact that it supports the new Bluetooth standard, Bluetooth 2.
Some of the main features of the Globalsat BT-359 include:

20 channel SiRF III GPS receiver
1700 mAh Lithium-Ion battery
11hours of battery lifetime
Power Saving mode
Bluetooth 2.0
New attractive design

The BT-359 is expected to become available in June with an estimated price of 150$

Via GPSandCo
Technorati Tags: GPS, Bluetooth, Globalsat, Globalsat BT-359