Garmin has taken the wraps off its latest portable navigation device. The new Garmin GLO is designed to bring 'high-integrity GPS capability to mobile devices.' The device works with both iOS and Android devices and offers up to 20 percent faster position locks than just by using GPS technology alone.
The European Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) Agency has struck a deal with the Czech government to have Prague serve as the headquarters for Galileo, the European rival to the US' Global Positioning System (GPS). The European network of 30 satellites orbiting the globe is expected to start operation in 2014. The Europeans claim that Galileo is more accurate and reliable than GPS, which began full operation in 1993.
Sony’s forthcoming Xperia S and Xperia Ion phones will support both GLONASS and GPS, the result of using the latest generation Qualcomm Snapdragon chipsets. According to Sony’s Magnus Persson, existing Xperia phones that use Qualcomm’s Snapdragon S2 or S3 chipsets also offer support for the Russian equivalent to GPS. By using both systems in tandem, Sony’s Xperia smartphones can get a position lock in half the time it would normally take using GPS only.
Qualcomm has planned to boost location detection of its mid-tier Snapdragon S2 and S3 mobile processors. Currently, the chips use the 24 satellite GPS network to get a fix on a device's location. It will soon be adding support for the 27-satellite GLONASS network Russia uses.
The iPhone 4S supports a Russian version of GPS known as GLONASS, an update to Apple's specifications page shows. The country only just launched the last of 24 satellites needed for global GLONASS coverage at the beginning of October. GLONASS first became fully operational in 1995, but a funding crisis crippled the ability to keep working satellites in orbit. Improvement in the Russian economy since the 2000s and interest from ruler Vladimir Putin has allowed GLONASS to come back to life.
Russian firm AFK Sistema said it had co-developed a phone that would purportedly beat the iPhone 4. Shown to Prime Minister Putin this week, the ZTE-made A918 Android phone uses Russia's native GLONASS GPS system and a matching 90 nanometer Qualcomm chip to get directions. The win over Apple reportedly comes from the accuracy, which at 93 percent is much higher than a claimed 64 percent for the iPhone 4.
