It took just a few decades for the technology of global positioning systems (GPS) to go from being a rack of expensive kit that depended on military satellites to yet another feature on mobile telephones. For a few years, compact GPS systems for cars were lucrative accessories. But systems that once set a boy racer back a week's wages now sit on supermarket shelves. In cars, GPS quickly moved from an extra for up-market vehicles to a standard accessory like air conditioning.
The pace of change has been startling. About a decade ago, Qualcomm started to sell GPS for vehicle tracking. A few years later the company announced its first tests of chips for mobile phones. Now, it boasts, more than 500 million handsets contain its "gpsOne solution".
http://www.qctconnect.com/products/gpsone.html
While GPS technology itself is interesting, the applications are far more significant, which brings us to the reasons for considering GPS systems now. Earlier this month the European Commission placed the first contracts for the operational phase of the Galileo satellite navigation system.
http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/10/7&language=en
When the network of 30 satellites is complete – the EU talks of the system being operational "as of early 2014" – it will take GPS out of the hands of military operators. The EU makes the case that, thanks to Galileo, "European receiver manufacturers, application providers and service operators will all benefit from novel business opportunities."
The second event that brought GPS to mind was the growing pile of applications of vehicle-tracking systems on the blog of the same name. The site, a mixture of "comparative shopping" and news service, offers a steady stream of gratifyingly brief news items on aspects of GPS.
http://www.vehicletrackingsystems.org.uk/
The site comes without much in the way of supporting evidence, but anyone interested in how GPS technology could affect their activities will find enough ideas to get the ball rolling.
For example, one recent item asserts that "GPS vehicle-tracking systems are helping businesses who run fleets of vehicles cut down significantly on time and money investigating and settling disputes concerning themselves and employees, also themselves and customers." For example, a GPS vehicle-tracking system can, it suggests, "help to prove that an employee has broken a company rule through speeding, unauthorised breaks or vehicle mismanagement".
Another item refers to the police using stolen cars fitted with GPS systems to track and catch crooks red-handed. Insurance companies like the technology too because it makes it easier to trace stolen cars.
When it comes to mobile telephones, the craze for writing applications for mobiles could come up with novel uses of GPS tracking. One site already lists more than 450 free applications.
http://www.maps-gps-info.com/fgpfw.html
The personal value of GPS to the traveller became clearer when a small group of us arrived in Paris late last year. In search of our hotel, the widget lovers in the group immediately whipped out their GPS-enabled telephones and started to plot a route.
The downside of this development is that it makes it even harder to choose between the multitude of mobile telephones on offer.
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