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GPS Explained, 2011 Edition!
#267 | 24:50 |
Monday March 28, 2011
Lab Rats
Monday March 28, 2011
There have been a few changes in the world of GPS since we last tried explaining it with melons and tomatoes. This time out Sean and Andy look at the different types of GPS technology out there, show off some examples, and explain how people are using different types of GPS devices for different applications.
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iTunes Show Notes
How GPS works - Ep. 48 of Lab Rats
GPS: Global Positioning System: Orbiting satellites let GPS receivers on the ground (i.e. in your phone, dash-mounted or built-in GPS receiver) triangulate their position on the face of the earth.
With a view of three satellites, a GPS receiver an pinpoint its (and hence, your) latitude and longitude, aka your location on the globe.
With a view of four satellites your GPS, if your GPS receiver is so equipped, can also tell you your altitude.
A-GPS Assisted GPS Assisted GPS uses cell phone towers to get a general idea of where your cell phone is located. A-GPS used to be a pared down version of GPS. As GPS chipsets have shrunk though, now it's more likely that a cell phone has both cell tower triangulation AND regular GPS using orbiting satellites for positioning. This makes for a much faster fix when in range of cell towers.
GPS Timeline
WPS: Wi-Fi Positioning System: Similar to the way A-GPS will use cell phone towers to triangulate its position, WPS uses known Wi-Fi networks to judge position. WPS is used by services like Google Latitude to judge the location of devices that don't have GPS or A-GPS hardware, like a standard laptop computer.
TomTom Go 2405
$299
TomTom US and Canada for iPhone
$49.99
Yelp Mobile
foursquare
Griffin Tech WindowSeat HandsFree
$39.99
TopTom iPhone Car Kit
$99.99
Geocaching: Basically, geocaching is a GPS-powered scavenger hunt. Someone hides a "cache" and uploads details along with GPS coordinates. Geocachers use GPS devices to navigate to and find the cache.
GPS: Global Positioning System: Orbiting satellites let GPS receivers on the ground (i.e. in your phone, dash-mounted or built-in GPS receiver) triangulate their position on the face of the earth.
With a view of three satellites, a GPS receiver an pinpoint its (and hence, your) latitude and longitude, aka your location on the globe.
With a view of four satellites your GPS, if your GPS receiver is so equipped, can also tell you your altitude.
A-GPS Assisted GPS Assisted GPS uses cell phone towers to get a general idea of where your cell phone is located. A-GPS used to be a pared down version of GPS. As GPS chipsets have shrunk though, now it's more likely that a cell phone has both cell tower triangulation AND regular GPS using orbiting satellites for positioning. This makes for a much faster fix when in range of cell towers.
GPS Timeline
WPS: Wi-Fi Positioning System: Similar to the way A-GPS will use cell phone towers to triangulate its position, WPS uses known Wi-Fi networks to judge position. WPS is used by services like Google Latitude to judge the location of devices that don't have GPS or A-GPS hardware, like a standard laptop computer.
TomTom Go 2405
$299
TomTom US and Canada for iPhone
$49.99
Yelp Mobile
foursquare
Griffin Tech WindowSeat HandsFree
$39.99
TopTom iPhone Car Kit
$99.99
Geocaching: Basically, geocaching is a GPS-powered scavenger hunt. Someone hides a "cache" and uploads details along with GPS coordinates. Geocachers use GPS devices to navigate to and find the cache.
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