Hasta La Gadget!

If you land a kickflip and no one’s around to watch, did it really happen in the first place? Should ActiveReplay secure its $150,000 Kickstarter goal, skaters may never have to grapple with such existential crises again. The company, which includes a number of fairly impressive pedigrees like the former CTO of Magellan, is looking to bring a new action sports tracker to market. Trace is sort of a pedometer for skaters, surfers and snowboarders, clipping to a mount on the bottom of your board and collecting data via nine-axis inertial sensors. The info collected is transmitted via the module’s built-in Bluetooth 4.0, allowing you to share tricks and other metrics via sites like Facebook and Twitter. Still need some convincing? There’s a Kickstarter pitch video after the break.

Filed under: GPS

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Source: Kickstarter

Students from the University of Texas gave us another reason not to mess with the Lone Star state: they’ll hack your yacht. In cooperation with a luxury boat’s owners, the Longhorns manipulated their $80 million vessel’s nav system, covertly guiding it off-course — all without the crew ever suspecting foul play. By transmitting spoofed global positioning system signals toward the craft, the students tricked its drivers into correcting a non-existent, three-degree course deviation, thus leading them off track. With their work done, the Texans believe this shows exactly how easy it is to exploit civil-band GPS signals. College kids may have conned the helm this time, but it isn’t too far-fetched to think pirates could do the same. Our timbers are shivering just thinking about it.

Filed under: GPS, Transportation

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Source: The Houston Chronicle

It looks nearly the same as it did in 2007, but Spot’s outdoor beacon has evolved quite nicely on the inside. Now in its third incarnation, the Spot Gen3 is designed to help wandering argonauts keep their loved ones informed of their location for an even longer period of time. Engineered to be worn by those intentionally heading off of the conventional grid, the Spot Gen3 adds unlimited tracking (enabling wearers to pre-set the device to send tracks every 5, 10, 30 or 60 minutes), motion activated tracking and longer battery life. According to the company, this guy will last nearly twice as long as prior versions, and you can also power it via battery or USB. The downside, of course, is that you’ll need to pay $149.95 for the unit itself, along with a required annual subscription plan that starts at $149.99 per year. No one ever said adventuring was a poor man’s sport, eh?

Filed under: GPS

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Source: Spot

If you thought Foursquare was going to abandon the smallest of the small, the cheapest of the cheap in smartphone technology, you were wrong. Here this week the folks developing Foursquare have released the app for the Nokia Asha 501. This is a device that does not have GPS abilities – this would normally hinder an app that largely depends on such data – but no worries! This version of the app will use location data picked up by your network connection.

This app is one of the few available on essentially any smartphone you’re able to pick up – here on the Asha 501, it deserves a medal for good effort. What you’ll be doing here is checking in as you normally would on any other smartphone with Foursquare, here working with a simplified user interface to make sure the entirety of this smartphone’s relatively tiny and low-resolution display is made use of.

Users will still be able to add friends, seek notifications, and work with location searching. Supposing your connected to mobile data you’ll be able to search nearby locations for places of interest, check the locations you’ve been to make sure you’re still Mayor, and check information on locations such as, for example, if they’ve got free wi-fi.

You can see photos from locations, keep track of your own profile, and of course: check in. The graphics are simple, the app is small, and the whole experience looks to be just about as cut-down while remaining usable as it possibly could be.

Sound like a winner? This app is free – of course – and should be available for download by you immediately if not soon, if you’ve got a Nokia Asha 501 on hand, that is. If you’ve got any other smartphone – you’ll probably be able to download Foursquare there as well.

VIA: Nokia Conversations

Nokia Asha 501 gains Foursquare app: even without GPS is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
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In contrast to its happy visits to the Eiffel Tower and Burj Khalifa, Street View’s exploration of Dead Island may have given you the wrong impression of Japan. Luckily, one of the country’s most picturesque symbols, Mount Fuji, was recently scaled by what must be some of Mountain View’s most athletic trekkers. The fruits of the 12,400-foot climb and incessant photo stops are 14,000 separate panoramas, including many sunrise shots only available to diligent night climbers. They’re now live on Maps, so hit the source or panorama after the break for a far less taxing peek.

Filed under: Software, Google

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Via: TNW

Source: Google Maps (Blog)