Navigation has come a long way since the days of the astrolabe, invented around 100 or 200 BC, the mariners astrolabe invented in 1295, the sextant, marine chronometer and almanac used by mariners to determine their latitude based on the position of a celestial object such as the sun or a star relative to the horizon.
Not forgotten is the compass which shows direction relative to the Earth’s magnetic poles.
The advent of satellites, essentially man-made celestial bodies precisely positioned in space, have enabled modern navigation systems to determine one’s latitude, longitude and height on the ground based upon time signals transmitted from several satellites above.
To date, several global navigation satellite systems have been proposed or being deployed, including Russia’s GLONASS (Global Navigation Satellite System), the European Union’s Galileo global navigation satellite system due to be operational by 2013, China’s experimental Beidou-1 Satellite Navigation & Positioning System and the proposed Beidou-2 or what’s now called COMPASS with 35 satellites and the proposed Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System approved by the Indian government in May, 2006 with the first satellite due to be launched in 2009.
So far the only fully operational global navigation satellite system is the NAVSTAR Global Positioning System or “GPS” for short. It was developed by the United States Department of Defense and managed by the United States Air Force 50th Space Wing.
Unsurprisingly, NAVSTAR GPS was initially used for military purposes. For example US soldiers fighting in Iraq, Afghanistan and in other places are equipped with GPS navigation aids to find their way around in the desert, plains and so on.
US President Ronald Reagan directed that the GPS be made available free-of-charge for civilian use, following the shooting down of Korean Airlines Flight 07 in 1983. This opened the way to GPS being widely used as a navigation aid worldwide and for map-making, land surveying, commerce, and scientific uses.
The GPS also provides a precise time reference used in the scientific study of earthquakes, the synchronisation of telecommunications networks and others.
Fishermen, small boat operators, aircraft, taxis and other vehicles have GPS systems for navigation, often using expensive, professional GPS equipment, such as the Magellan GPS Blazer12.
Since 2000, CDMA chips from Qualcomm incorporate GPS technology, partly to comply with the US government’s E911 mandate requiring wireless carriers to provide search & rescue authorities with the precise location of emergency callers.
To comply, US GSM operators Cingular Wireless and T-Mobile first adopted alternative techniques such as TruePosition’s Uplink Time Difference of Arrival technique which determined the callers location from the time it took for his handset’s signal to reach the operator’s base station.
However in 2007, GSM phones started appearing with integrated GPS to meet GSM specifications.
Searching on “GPS, uptake” on Google yielded many links to articles on GPS integrated into phones, while a recent Yahoo News.com article noted that consumer navigation devices have gone “from expensive to mainstream” in three years and that indications are that the market for stand-alone GPS devices has reached a “turning point.” Analysts believe GPS-enabled mobile phones and other handheld devices have overtaken them, while stand-alone devices are becoming as cheap as pocket calculators.
Several years ago, strong enthusiasm for GPS came from a fairly exclusive group mostly of tech-savvy professionals who had the funds to afford dedicated GPS receivers, the personal digital assistants (PDAs), the GPS software and digital maps to complete their system.
Many of these individuals are members of PDA user communities, such as MyPDACafe.com, PDACrafters.com and others, who usually meet online or occasionally in person at appointed venues to share tips and tricks in PDA use, including about GPS.
Obtaining the software and maps, then installing and configuring on a PDA and getting it to work with the GPS receiver, wasn’t a simple business then.
However, just as even the best digital music players are only as good as the songs on them and their quality, likewise even the best GPS receivers need local maps with good detail and software to perform accurate navigation.
These maps provided by companies specializing in mapping make the difference between good and lousy navigation assistance.
When working properly and with the right software, devices would work like magic. These devices would be able to guide a traveler from Point A to Point B better than any backseat driver ever could. If the map software relied on old data that does not take into account changes to road systems, the results could be hilarious.
For example, we once reviewed a GPS-enabled smartphone, which directed us to drive our vehicle through the Nasi Kandar Penang restaurant next to the HSBC bank in Petaling Jaya New Town Centre, turn right into the back lane, then right again into Jalan Yong Shook Lin, then left past the Petaling Jaya police headquarters as part of the route between Section 14 and Jalan Pencala in Petaling Jaya. If we had followed that route, we wouldn’t have ended up in Jalan Pencala in one piece.
Today, in-car GPS devices such as the two we’ve reviewed in this issue now cost between RM1,000 to RM1,500 or comparable to prices of low-end smartphones.
Meanwhile, we ask Ahmad Tarmizi Mahayuddin, founder of PDACrafters.Com and GPS enthusiast about the history of consumer GPS in Malaysia.
 How long has GPS been available in Malaysia?
Unfortunately, I don’t have any official records but a friend of mine in Kuala Lumpur has been in the GPS retail business for the past 12 years.
As for me, I became acquainted with GPS since way back in 2001 through the tourism portal, VirtualMalaysia.Com which provided free digital maps of Malaysia for the free Mapopolis GPS map software running on Palm OS and Windows CE (now Windows Mobile).
In late 2002, I acquired an Emtac Bluetooth GPS Receiver from its distributor in Singapore (Itochu) for RM1,200. It was the most expensive purchase I’ve ever made on a small device but I’ve no regrets as the experience of such a new technology after I had paired it with my HP iPAQ 3870 Pocket PC device was simply awesome.
Since when has it been affordable to the end users, firstly business users such as fishermen and transport operators, high-end enthusiasts and hobbyists, than average consumers?
From my personal observations, GPS receivers have evolved from being expensive devices many years ago to become mainstream devices affordable to Malaysian medium income earners in the past two years or so.
With GPS receives now costing as much as a mid-to-high range mobile phone ie between RM1,000 & RM2,000, how do you see the trend in consumer GPS uptake?
There are three types of users – namely of stand-alone GPS receivers, users of external Bluetooth-enabled GPS receiver paired with a PDA or notebook PC and lastly, users of convergence devices such as PDA-phones with built-in GPS functionality.
With PDA phone manufacturers now offering a wide range of converged devices with embedded GPS functionality, consumer uptake of GPS, especially of such converged devices is fast becoming a trend and I foresee such converged devices with built-in GPS soon becoming low-margin commodity products, much like pocket calculators today.
How aware is the public in Malaysia with GPS and what educational, professional, trade or other demographic factors do they fall into?
The level of excitement in GPS is catching up fast, compared to several years ago and I foresee positive growth of GPS use in Malaysia, moving in tandem with the current availability of many convergence devices with built-in GPS functionality in the market.
Unfortunately, public awareness on GPS in Malaysia is still low based on my personal observations with many new GPS users asking that very same question about whether they must pay to access the satellite signals. Without proper guidance, such perceptions may hinder new GPS users from further embracing GPS technology.
What trends do you see happening in the availability and affordability of GPS equipment, accessories and GPS maps?
Demand for GPS is good now. You can easily get GPS maps, standalone GPS receivers, PDAs or PDA-phone with built-in GPS receivers at any PDA or mobile phone retailer. There are so many available choices and their pricing seems more or less cheaper now.
What are the most popular sources of GPS maps, which one of them are free of charge and which cost something?
For free downloads, Malsingmaps.Com offers digital maps of Malaysia and Singapore. For shareware that are mostly compatible with Windows Mobile devices, you have MapKing, iMap and quite recently, Agis Map. Shareware maps cost between RM300 and RM450.
What are the most popular uses of GPS navigation ie. just to track one’s movement on a map or direction guidance?
That depends on one’s needs. Usage of GPS can be for leisure (e.g. for direction guide to an unfamiliar destination), hobby (e.g. geocaching, jungle trekking) or even business/commercial (e.g. vehicle trekking).
How accurate and optimal are GPS directions?
Accuracy can deviate by about 5 to 10 metres from the actual position upon which the GPS device has established a fix. Nevertheless, the following two main factors should be considered when getting accurate and fast GPS directions:-
First is the SiRF III chipset used in most GPS receivers these days, which achieves a faster time to fix and is more accurate.
Secondly is the need to have regularly updated maps, which is a very important factor in ensuring a more productive navigating experience, where you can find your way to a destination more accurately with the latest Point of Interest (PoI) updates.
What kinds of GPS maps are more accurate? Are dedicated GPS devices generally more accurate than converged ones with integrated or accessory GPS function?
The accuracy of GPS maps depends solely upon the provider. If they provide planned regular updates and accept customer feedback positively, their maps will definitely be more accurate in locating desired destinations.
As for accuracy, it doesn’t matter whether the GPS receiver is a dedicated or converged one, such as PDAs or phones with integrated or accessory GPS functionality, since its accuracy depends very much on the GPS chipset it’s using, and that if it’s using a SiRF III chipset, then you’ll definitely get a more accurate & faster time to fix.
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