Your iPhone/iPad is watching you!

In scary Big Brother style, it turns out your iOS cellular enabled iPhone or iPad is tracking your every movement. The database found keeps data from the moment iOS 4 is installed, and appears to track even times when GPS location is not turned on (likely using cell tower triangulation).

Skeptical? I used this sample app to pull the data from my own iPhone. The image below. Note it's careful documentation of my trips to Bath and Houghton, NY, Lancaster, PA, Cherry Hill and Wildwood, NJ, and Delaware. Of course, my own privacy is not breeched because I had already posted photos from each of those trips here to Mod-Blog or to my twitter feed.

Please note, getting this info requires access to your device OR to any computer (Mac or PC) which your iOS device has synced with.

Star Wars on your GPS

I'm not a big fan of TomTom GPSes, but this is GREAT.

Remember, your GPS is not infallible

I love GPS technology. Unlike the rest of my family, I have NO sense of direction and a mental block against remembering street names. So my Garmin Nuvi 780 (and the Navigon app on my iPhone) have saved me from any number of near-disasters trying to get from point A to point B. But I am almost an Information Technology professional, and therefore know any system is only as reliable as the worst programmer/engineer/tester working on it. So, I always remember to question the device and not assume it has more common sense than I do.

In Oregon, GPS systems can direct drivers to thousands of miles of Forest Service logging roads that lace the state's mountain ranges. In the winter, they are often plugged with snow.
On Christmas Day, a Nevada couple took one such road in Evinger's County and spent three days stuck. They were rescued when a break in atmospheric conditions allowed them to signal their coordinates to 911.
Three Portlanders and their small dog got into trouble Monday when their vehicle slid off a forest road as they were using GPS directions to a hot springs in the southern Willamette Valley. Lane County officials said the three and the dog were exhausted and mildly hypothermic after walking 17 miles without survival gear to get into cell phone range and call 911.
Griffin's family was rescued when friends and relatives used a GPS like Griffin's and duplicated the route they assumed the family had plotted. That led them straight to the family. The three had been stuck about 24 hours.

Remember, whenever possible, double-check the GPS route against the map, and be especially aware that the GPS has no idea about the capabilities of - or lack thereof - your particular vehicle.

Do they have an App for THAT?

That sound you're hearing is the screams from Garmin and TomTom

Google has announced their own FREE turn-by-turn with voice directions GPS app for all Google Android phones, starting to the Verizon/Motorola DROID. And yes, they have confirmed it is coming to the iPhone as well. This could be the beginning of the end for the old GPS manufacturers.

NuviPhone shown for real?

It has been a while since we last heard about Garmin's NuviPhone - which is now a joint partnership between Garmin and Asus, it was still a prototype at best. And the few that had seen the light of day were buggy and hardly usable. But now, a working NuviPhone has been seen in Barcelona, and people were mostly impressed with it.

The phone has come a very long way since we last saw it, with a snappy, smooth interface, and nary a glitch or crash. The touchscreen keyboard -- usable in portrait and landscape modes -- is no pretender to the iPhone's throne, but is one of the best we've seen on a resistive touch device. We also found the WebKit-based browser to be one of the smoother ones we've seen outside the T-Mobile G1 and the iPhone.

I doubt this phone will gain a significant marketshare in light of the Apple iPhone, Google Android, and Palm Pre. But it is never a bad thing to have a good competitor in the market to keep the big guys honest. And I do love my Garmin Nuvi GPS.

New Tech, Old Traditions

Native South American tribes have to worry about protecting their lands from those who would try to take the natural resources out of it. Some tribes are now using GPS, Google Earth, and other technologies to monitor and defend their territory.

We felt like this

We felt like this once when we were trying to get back from the Statue of Liberty Ferry to the highway.

In car navigation, by Apple?

That is just what we could be expecting if we are to believe this article. The writer makes some good point for pros and cons. I tend to be skeptical on this one. I'll believe it only when I see it. Though it would be cool if Apple provided a place to sync your music library online that the car could access - but I doubt that as well.

Update: Here's the link.