Leikr GPS Sports Watch: Is Bigger Better?

If you’re active, it’s good to have a GPS watch. They have plenty of uses, especially if you run or cycle. Keeping track of your workout is one of the best features. The ones that also feature active navigation will make sure that you won’t get lost. However, most GPS watches can be bulky, counterintuitive to use, and the screen usually isn’t that great.

leikr sports watch gps

The Leikr sports watch is supposed to link to GPS satellites faster than others on the market. It’s also is supposed to be less bulky and easier to operate than other GPS watches, though it still looks pretty big to me. That’s probably because of it’s 2-inch widescreen, 320×240 color display. The low-glare Gorilla Glass covered face is bigger than average watches, but it’s only 1.065 cm thick. Having such a large display allows for more legible maps than other GPS watches, as well as the ability to display all of your pertinent stats – time, distance, speed, pace, calories burned and heart rate – on a single screen.

leikr sports watch gps wrist

It’s got 8GB of onboard storage and has a 500 Mhz processor, and can communicate with other devices using Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, and is also ANT+ compatible. Its rechargeable battery is supposed to last 6 hours of active use. Its maps are powered by OpenStreetMap, so I’m not exactly sure how accurate the map data will be. You might want to swing by their website to verify that the maps for your regular haunts are complete and up to date.

The project is currently raising funds for production over on Kickstarter, and you’ll have to pledge at least $279(USD) to reserve one.

[via TechCrunch]

Ask Engadget: best smartphone car mount?

Ask Engadget best smartphone car mount

We know you’ve got questions, and if you’re brave enough to ask the world for answers, then here’s the outlet to do so. This week’s Ask Engadget inquiry is from Sam, who needs to find a new way of attaching a Galaxy S III to a windshield. If you’re looking to ask one of your own, drop us a line at ask [at] engadget [dawt] com.

“I’ve ditched my GPS unit for a Galaxy S III in my car, but I can’t find a good windshield mount. Are there any models that don’t use suction cups? For some reason they won’t stick to my window, and yes, before you ask, yes I do keep it clean. Thanks!”

While we wouldn’t recommend doing anything unhealthy, we’ve found a good lick on the suction cup before attaching it sometimes helps. Your mileage, however, may vary. Still, you could always try one of TomTom’s generic smartphone dashboard mounts or perhaps even using a Bean Bag mount? As for a window mount that doesn’t use suction cups? That’s a question we’ll leave for our friendly commenters to join in on.

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Move Over GPS, a New Positioning System Has You in Its Sights

GPS is now so widespread that we take it for granted. But it’s not always perfect—so what if a new technology could achieve more than those triangulated military satellites in the sky? More »

Insert Coin: Leikr GPS sports watch has 2-inch screen, ex-Nokia engineers on its side

In Insert Coin, we look at an exciting new tech project that requires funding before it can hit production. If you’d like to pitch a project, please send us a tip with “Insert Coin” as the subject line.

Insert Coin Leikr GPS sports watch has 2inch screen, exNokia engineers on its side

Granted, the Garmin Fenix already does decent GPS from your wrist, but there’s a limit to what it can accomplish on its basic little LCD. Enter Leikr: a Gorilla Glass beast with a 2-inch, 320 x 240 display that can throw out a wide range of endurance stats simultaneously or switch to a color navigation mode using up to 8GB-worth of onboard OpenStreetMap data. It’s designed by former Nokia engineers who claim they’ve used their mobile skills to make the Leikr catch a quicker GPS signal, connect directly to a cloud-based, Endomondo-integrated exercise portal using WiFi and Linux-based software, and at the same time stick to a smartphone-like 10mm thickness.

The project’s Kickstarter page has just gone live, with early bird deals still available — at the time of writing, a minimum $229 buy-in is required to lock down a final production Leikr by the summer. That’s hardly cheap, but it’s not at $400 Fenix proportions either, so take a look at the video after the break and the funding link below (scroll to the bottom of that page for full specs) and then, you know, dwell on it.

Continue reading Insert Coin: Leikr GPS sports watch has 2-inch screen, ex-Nokia engineers on its side

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Source: Leikr (Kickstarter)

BluTracker lets you locate your stuff within 2,500 feet, we go hands-on (video)

BluTracker lets you track down your stuff within 2,500 feet, we go handson video

Yesterday, we told you about StickNFind, a nifty electronic sticker that lets you locate anything you tack it to, and MeterPlug, the smartphone-compatible power monitor with cost estimates and realtime consumption readouts. Now, the folks that brought you those Bluetooth-enabled tools have a new connected toy to share. It’s called BluTracker — a “StickNFind on steroids,” according to its creator. Both devices are tasked with sending location information to a smartphone app, but BluTracker adds GPS and a whole lot of power, offering a range of 2,500 feet or more outdoors, or a few hundred feet if you end up with some walls in between you and the compact rechargeable device. Inside the water-resistant housing, you’ll find a Bluetooth module that “uses WiFi chips” to boost the range, along with GPS for providing realtime location information and a battery that can reportedly keep the device powered for at least two months.

This isn’t a tracking device in the traditional sense — while it provides location info, it doesn’t retain coordinates, so you can’t pop this on a vehicle to see where your kids really go after school. It will help you find your dog that’s wandered a bit too far from the front yard, though, assuming he’s still within a half mile or so (like walls, trees can get in the way of the signal, too). An onboard motion sensor can trigger an alert on your smartphone, letting you know that whatever you’ve tagged is on the move, so that bicycle thief won’t get far before you’re on the trail. We tested the device indoors — located near a window, it picked up a GPS signal easily, and transmitted its location to a map within the iOS app even as we walked 100 or so feet away, past several walls. That figure may not be terribly impressive, but we didn’t exactly push the BluTracker to its limits during a quick Manhattan office demo. The device just hit Indiegogo with a $69 “pre-order” price and an estimated April ship date, and it’ll likely retail for just shy of $90. Check it out now in the video after the break, then hit up the source link to get your name on the list.

Continue reading BluTracker lets you locate your stuff within 2,500 feet, we go hands-on (video)

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Source: BluTracker (Indiegogo)

LockStar Announces GPS-Enabled Watches To Help Track Family Members

 LockStar Announces GPS Enabled Watches To Help Track Family MembersFamilies who are caring for children, the elderly or anyone with a mental illness have enough to worry about, one of which is completely losing them and not knowing where they are or where to find them. If your family member doesn’t know how to work a mobile phone or can’t recall your phone number in order to ask for your help when they need it, then losing them could potentially end in tragedy.

LockStar Tracking and Monitoring Services are introducing a line of GPS wristwatches and bracelets that can be used to track your family member if they become lost via any computer or the LockStar application on your smartphone. The LockStar watches and bracelets offer GPS support for both indoor and outdoor locations, 2-way voice calls, an SOS button and even has geo-fencing support.

LockStar’s call center is also available for 24/7 to help families by giving them real-time locations of their family member equipped with a LockStar device. As of now, no pricing or availability for LockStar’s products have been announced, but we’ll be sure to let you know once they’re announced.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Panasonic’s Emergency Flashlight Lets You Use Any Kind Of Battery, Samsung Reveals Robotic Vacuum Cleaner With Longer Reach,

Foursquare to display full user names, share more data with local businesses

Fond of your family name? Good — it’s about to get a bit more visible. Foursquare is planning to display full user names on profile pages, explaining in a recent community email that the old policy has become confusing. “If you search for a friend on Foursquare, we show their full name in the results, but when you click through to their profile page you don’t see their last name.” The team says these abbreviations made sense in Foursquare’s early days, but recently users have been asking for change. “We get emails every day saying that it’s now confusing.” The social network hopes that displaying users’ full surnames will help mitigate confusion between the John Smiths and John Smythes of the world.

The company’s tweaked privacy policy promises to share more data with businesses, too, giving store owners greater visibility of customers who have recently checked in. Users who want their quests for coffee to remain anonymous still can, of course — Foursquare was careful to remind users that they can change their “full name” whenever they want, and can opt out of sharing their location information with businesses. We wouldn’t want to step on any toes, would we? Head past the break to see the email for yourself, or check out the adjacent source link to read Foursquare’s “Privacy 101” summary.

Continue reading Foursquare to display full user names, share more data with local businesses

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Via: TechCrunch

Source: Foursquare

Tech’s biggest misfires of 2012

Tech's biggest misfires of 2012

You can’t win ’em all, right? Sure, 2012 saw its share of high points, but there were plenty of missteps along the way from companies both large and small. Unfinished products, serial delays, lawsuits and layoffs — after the break, we’ve got a list of some of the not-so-pretty moments in tech.

Continue reading Tech’s biggest misfires of 2012

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China launches GPS-like Beidou satellite services across Asia-Pacific region

China launches Beidou satellite GPS services across AsiaPacific region

China has kicked off commercial and public services of its Beidou satellite navigation system across the Asia-Pacific rim in earnest, after finishing trials it started last year. Civilians in the region as far away as Australia are now able to navigate using the satellites to a distance of 30 feet and speeds as low as 0.5 mph — comparable to (WAAS-less) GPS, according to officials. Currently the nation has 16 navigation satellites aloft along with four experimental models, and expects to provide worldwide coverage by 2020 when it’ll have as many as 40 additional units in orbit, according to China Daily. China launched the project in 2000 to avoid reliance on the US GPS system, and joins that service, Russia’s GLONASS and eventually Galileo in the EU at the sat nav soirée. Check the source for the party line.

[Image credit: Xinhua]

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Via: Space War

Source: China Daily

Panasonic outs the VS-HPS200S Tablet for landline

Panasonic announced in Japan the VS-HPS200S a unique cordless phone with a 7” Android Tablet companion dedicated to offer are more “connected” experience at home.
The VS-HPS200S Tablet is a pure Android 2.3 tablet and can be used such as in order to surf the web, read books, play games and purchase software on the Google Play Store but also give you the possibility to be used as a landline phone or VoIP phone via Skype as well as a fax!
The VS-HPS200S Tablet comes with a 800×480 7” screen, …