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As the number of GPS receiver devices increases significantly, so does our dependency on the GPS, but satellites are subject to wear out and age.
THE U.S. Air Force has since launched 2010 the second constellation of GPS satellites, named GPS Block IIF, or GPS IIF, built by Boeing. These satellites will replace the GPS IIA satellites of the first constellation, launched between 1990 and 1997, with lifespan design about 7,5 years.
This summer, It's decided, We rent a large catamaran with our family ! Finally, It would be better to say "in extended family" : four adults, Two grown teenagers + their respective boyfriend + a child of 11 years old. We thought of everything : ride, Victualling, clothing, sunscreens, spectacles, Caps, Masks and snorkels, fishing lines… all ! A week before our departure, The skipper sushered us :
— You've thought about phone charging ?
There, a silence, then the answer :
— Uh,, isn't it, What for ?
"You will be nine on board, That's as many smartphones and certainly half of tablets… and there are only two cigarette lighter sockets on the boat !
— Diantre…
The iTabNav company sent me information regarding all current owners of a GPS Bluetooth-powered for iPad Wi-Fi, like the GNS2000 or BadElf.
Currently Apple iOS 8.3 No longer working with external Bluetooth GPS receivers. It seems that the Apple Location Services in latest version iOS 8.3 doesn't transmit the GPS data Received from these GPS GNS2000 to the application for navigation.
Apple Inc. is aware of this bug iOS and Promises A solution as soon as possible. I hope that this issue will be resolved in the coming days.
Multiple manufacturers applications for navigation Have Warned before The update iOS 8.3 like BadElf, see : http://bad-elf.com/blogs/bad-elf/18013536-alert-compatibility-issue-with-apple-ios-8-3-and-external-gps-receivers
Let's hope for the affected users that an iOS version 8.3.1 will quickly fix this bug. We can hope so because an update should quickly fix another bug that is much more important for Apple : the troubleshoooting of the Touch ID on many devices.
A few days before the opening of the Nautic Paris boat show where, I remind him, I will be present on the stand iTabNav (Hall 2.1 – D31), An overview is in order. And precisely, in our immediate horizon we shall have, like every year, proximity to marine electronics manufacturers and their representatives.
At the previous edition of the boat show, I had noticed the reluctance – not to say hostility – of manufacturers towards the growing phenomenon of tablets and other smartphones on the navigation market. By dint of promoting these devices and their applications, I probably didn't just make friends in this business. However, Strong pressure from boat buyers, and therefore navigation electronics, has forced those manufacturers to integrate a minimum of interactivity between their own hardware and the mobile devices now owned by a majority of browsers.
This prompts me to take a quick look at the status of the applications provided and the progress of the proposed functions.
The company ShipModul website has made a Mac OS X version of the configuration utility MPX-Config configuration utility for the multiplexer Miniplex-2Wi (¹). It is now available in Downloads section of their website. This utility allows you to make the settings of the multiplexer without going through Windows.
[Update 2/11/2014] MPX-Config V.3.70.0 is compatible with OS 10.10 "Yosemite". He manages the firmware 3.30 and sup. of Miniplex-2Wi. You'll need to connect your Miniplex to a Mac (as Windows PC) with USB cord, after downloading and installing the latest version beforehand, as well as the latest USB driver provided on the ShipModul website (²). You must be connected to the Internet, or in WiFi, either in 3G/4G, in cellular connection sharing if necessary.
The war is open between the two leading operators worldwide satellite phone. After the announcement of the GO! by Iridium (¹), here is IsatPhone 2 by Inmarsat.
Inmarsat will deliver its new mobile satellite phone on March 24 next. IsatPhone 2 Targets the high-end of the satellite telephony market. Described as "a fine device combined with a feeling of high quality", it has additional options and more features than the previous IsatPhone Pro model (²), such as GPS tracking, an emergency button or the reception of calls with the antenna folded. Read more …
March, the 14 th 2011 I had announce the opening of an e-commerce website focused in accessories, mounts and connexion devices dedicated to iPhone and iPad for marine navigation : iPadNav.fr. Since then, its founder and I maintained a close collaboration, our complementary actions allowing us to provide an effective response to all new users of these wonderful tools perfectly suited to nautical activities. Many of you were able to meet me several times on his stand, both the Grand Pavois de La Rochelle and the Paris Nautic boat show.
After three years of existence, Dominique Gauthier company has grown considerably, to the point of wanting to expand its offering to users other than boating : outdoor sports, hiking, trekking, fitness, and all leisure activities for which numerous targeted applications are now available, both for Apple devices and for the fast-growing market for Android devices.
Thus, iPadNav has just announced in a press release the change of name of its website to iTabNav.fr July 1st 2014, in a desire to open his offers to all useful accessories for tablets and smartphones, regardless of brand or operating system, and for all leisure activities.
Hope that this new extended offering meet the same success as for leisure boating and sailing, because iTabNav.fr will offer specialized products scattered across multiple foreign websites on a single French website. With local French service and support as a bonus.
After the announcement with great pump of the GO! by Iridium few month ago, but not yet available, Inmarsat has introduced IsatHub at CommunicAsia show which just closed its doors in Singapur. The competition is tough between the two industrial, but unlike Iridium more oriented towards mainstream users, Inmarsat is aimed primarily at a professional market.
IsatHub is a WiFi hotspot allowing to connect all mobile devices to Inmarsat satellite network. No need cellular towers, IsatHub provides aworldwide connectivity to your tablets and smartphones.
Read more …
Done ! Furuno annouced on 7 th 2014 until Stockholm Boatshow his new radar DRS4W – W comes for WiFi – allowing display on iPad and iPhone. Would be available in May in France. The relevant application DRS4W is available for free on all AppStores.
DRS4W is the first radar that features WiFi to, finally, change iPhone and iPad in a real radar display. After satphones connection, Here are the last bastion of marine electronics that falls. More exactly, a leader in marine electronics finally takes into account the irreversible evolution of consumer technology. Read more …
For those who do are not yet fully convinced, despite my assertions in many posts (¹), Here's another example of the accuracy of iPad GPS, cut off from any cellular or terrestrial Wi-Fi network. Already lived in 2011 during a stay in La Reunion (²), this time back from a recent trip to London I brought back the "proofs" below, screenshoted aboard an Airbus A320 : Read more …