Customarily, you want your GPS navigation system to provide you with the quickest way to get to your destination. But with gasoline prices hovering just below the $4 a gallon mark — and in some cities above $4 — you might be more interested in knowing the route that uses the least amount of gasoline.

That’s where eco-routing GPS tracking comes in. Also referred to as “green routing”, eco-routing is taking into account real-time traffic information, road grade, road type, passenger weight, and cargo weight.

In addition to providing you with the route that attempts to minimize your distance travelled, newer-generation GPS systems that have this eco-routing technology can factor in emissions and energy consumption. Read the rest of this entry »

What will they think of next? Apparently it’s GPS tracking for Dog Walkers.

If you’ve signed Rover up for a dog walking service, but have suspicions that your dog walker isn’t holding up her end of the “walking” requirement, you now have a few solutions. That’s right, you can now stalk your dog and your dog walker.

There are a few ways you can go about ensuring that your pooch is getting the right amount of his daily exercise, along with ample time to sniff. Read the rest of this entry »

Through its Boeing Space and Intelligence Systems (S&IS), Boeing, the world’s leading manufacturer of geostationary satellites, has shipped its third of twelve Global Positioning System (GPS) IIF satellites for the United States Air Force. The satellite was shipped from its Satellite Development Center located in El Segundo to Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

The GPS IIF system is a next-generation satellite system that boosts GPS constellation performance by not only providing two times the navigational accuracy of older satellites, but will also provide enhanced signals for commercial aviation. Improved search-and-rescue and GPS tracking applications are other likely benefits of the GPS IIF system. Lastly, the IIF satellites will offer greater resistance to jamming, which is particularly beneficial in hostile environments. Read the rest of this entry »

Radiation treatment therapy can be highly effective to treat many types of cancer. However, for some types of cancers — like prostate cancer — it can be tricky. In order to radiate the area that has cancer effectively, oncologists must figure out the location — precisely — of the cancer. Considered a moving target, the prostate shifts during radiation depending on how full or empty the bladder or rectum is. That, coupled with the goal to avoid radiating healthy tissue, and the job of pinpointing the tumor precisely is harder than it seems.

But that may be about to change. Calypso Medical Technologies, Inc., which is headquartered in Seattle, has devised a technology to treat prostate cancer patients using GPS tracking and electromagnetic beacons. Read the rest of this entry »

The state of California is the latest state to consider attaching GPS tracking devices to San Francisco nine-county Bay Area motorists’ vehicles in order to track miles driven. In one of our previous posts we reported that the states of Florida, Minnesota, and Oregon are also investigating a similar arrangement.

If the proposed law is approved, motorists would be require to install a GPS tracker device in their car, which officials would use to track miles driven — and calculate a tax based on every mile the drivers travel.

The Metropolitan Transportation Commission of San Francisco is proposing the new law as a way to not only reduce pollution, but also cut down on traffic congestion. But pollution and traffic congestion reduction aren’t the only two reasons that the commission is looking into the new law. The additional income derived from the proposed Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) tax would also be used to repair and improve the Bay Area’s roadways and enhance public transit services. Read the rest of this entry »