Just before the Olympics started, I was given a new GPS gadget to play with, called the i-gotU GT-600 USB GPS Travel & Sports Logger. Since I was planning on doing a lot of travelling around during the games, this seemed like a perfect way to test it out.
So what is it?
It’s basically a GPS receiver with onboard memory that tracks your current location via GPS and writes out some data to the device. You can then later download this data and do all kinds of cool things with it like plot your travels on a map, geotag any photos you took while on walkabout with the map data and export the geo data to other applications like Google Earth where you can make movies from your travels.
I even took it dog sledding with me (the purple line is the trail we took along the river):
As you can see, the device is pretty tiny:
I just had it clipped onto my backpack for most of the games. Its onboard battery ran for days without recharging all the while it was downloading my location data.
The main thing I liked about this device over my other GPS photo gadgets is that it was always on, capturing data. My Nikon GP-1 needed a few minutes to acquire its satellite lock once I powered on my camera. It also has a motion detector so it goes into standby mode when you don’t move to conserve battery power.
What I didn’t like is the software support…unfortunately it only supports Windows XP and the 32 bit version of Windows 7 at the moment. No Mac support either. I have the 64 bit version of Windows installed on my MacBook Pro but had to use XP (under VMWare) to access the device and software. The good thing is the manufacturer is updating the software pretty regularly and once you do export the gps data, you can use it on anything. I’ve been playing around with my Whitehorse trip data file in Google Earth on my Mac. I haven’t had a chance to explore other gps apps that can accept the *.GPX data files. Also, while the geotagging option for photos is nice, I shoot RAW so I would have had to convert them down to jpegs then sync them with the software before being able to upload them somewhere like Flickr – a few too many steps for my workflow but I know lots of photogs that like the idea of being able to geotag without an expensive addon like the GP-1 (or they have a non-Nikon camera).
Overall I’m pretty happy with the device. I’ll be taking it with me to Austin later this week to track my SXSW attendance too.
Today Apple unveiled the latest iteration of the iPhone, the iPhone 3GS. The ‘S’ stands for speed. It will be available in North America on Friday, June 19th.
This is a big deal for a number of reasons. I won’t get into all the new features of the device (and 3.0 firmware update), just a few that stand out to me since there is a lot to talk about.
First of all, for me personally, it means that I’ll have a new, faster, bigger iPhone in less than two weeks as my iPhone 3G was stolen last December so I’ve been getting by with my first gen iPhone for 6 months now. While it hasn’t been that bad, I really do miss the 3G speeds, the GPS and having double the storage space (16gb vs 8gb).
We also finally get an improved camera now at 3 megapixels with touch auto-focus and macro! While 3mp isn’t the most amazing thing ever, it’s still an improvement. I’ve been a big fan of the iPhone camera and all the fun apps that have taken advantage of it. I can’t wait to have a little more pixels to play with. With it also brings the ability to shoot video (too bad it’s only VGA quality and not HD). It also will be able to do some minor editing on the iPhone itself. It’s unclear if the video function, combined with new APIs will open up the app store to Qik and UStream type applications. I guess we’ll have to wait and see what Apple approves.
The new Voice Control feature also comes with the 3GS. I’m going to reserve judgement on this one until I get to play with it myself…voice apps have always been disappointing and you ALWAYS feel stupid yelling at a device in public because it doesn’t understand your mumblings…although the voice activated bluetooth feature in my car is making think that voice recognition software may have improved a fair bit in recent years.
Pricing has been set at $199/$299 for the 16gb or the 32gb iPhones respectively and that appears to be the price in Canadian dollars according to the ‘Social Media guy’ for Rogers which is hopefully a welcome sign that Rogers might be catching on. Unfortunately as I write this, specifics about the upgrade path for those that got the iPhone 3G last July (11th) haven’t been released yet. Considering it’ll be about 3 weeks shy of a year between those dates, hopefully Rogers allows those that waited in line on launch day to simply extend their contracts from the July date forward and pay the new customer price. Rogers and Fido have also stated they will be reintroducing (for a limited time), the 6gb for $30 promotion. With tethering now a fairly straightforward affair for those with the 3.0 firmware, having that much bandwidth may finally start paying off.
It’s also interesting that the ‘older’ iPhone 3G will still be available at the very attractive price of $99 at Rogers and Fido on June 19th.
And finally, something that I’ve been eagerly awaiting is TomTom’s iPhone application which was finally announced today. Until the 3.0 firmware, iPhone developers were restricted from creating applications that used the iPhone GPS for turn by turn directions. TomTom even created a nice iPhone windshield mount which extends the GPS antenna and charges the iPhone. It can also rotate to hold the iPhone in portrait or landscape…which is also a nice touch for watching video in your car (while parked of course). I’ve used TomTom GPS units for years…I even had the software installed on my Treo 650 and used it with a bluetooth GPS module on my dash which worked perfectly since you could search for a location and even get and dial phone numbers for stores and restaurants.
Here’s their video demoing the application and windshield mount:
It will be interesting to see how they price both the app and the windshield attachment. I wouldn’t be surprised if they take advantage of the new subscription model (for the map data) the app store now allows under 3.0 not to mention the fact that the dedicated in-car units have seen quite a price drop over the last few years thanks to competition.
The fine folks at Phottix sent me their latest creation, the Geo One GPS module. This is an almost exact replica of the Nikon GP-1 GPS module I reviewed previously with a couple of minor differences.
The most notable difference is price. One of my main (if not only) issue with Nikon’s unit was it’s price. Listed at £95 on the Phottix UK site, it’s a fair bit cheaper than the Nikon version which comes in at slightly more than double that price. (I couldn’t find any North American pricing or availability – I’ll update the post once it is).
Like the GP-1, the Geo One comes with cables to connect it to a number of Nikon DSLR models including the D90 and D300 among others. It also has similar ports to the GP-1 except that the package also includes a wired remote shutter release which connects to the GPS module using a mini jack connection. A nice bonus that makes the price even more compelling since you have to purchase the Nikon cable separately.
As you can see in the photo above, the Geo One is slightly larger than the GP-1. This is barely noticible on the camera.
So how does it perform? Pretty much exactly like the Nikon version. Very fast satellite acquisition time, similar build quality and seamless interaction with the camera. EXIF data was captured exactly like the GP-1 and I had no trouble uploading photos to Flickr with the geotags being picked up and mapped correctly:
It also comes with a similar plastic strap clip to allow you to move the module from the hot shoe if you need to use it with a flash. As the module has the same USB port as the GP-1, you can use it with your computer and even came with a mini cd with some navigation software but I haven’t tried since it won’t fit in my MacBook Pro’s dvd drive.
Overall, an impressive module, if not a near exact copy of the GP-1. Assuming North American pricing is consistant with the UK, it should prove to be a nice inexpensive alternative to the Nikon module and I’m sure they’ll sell a ton of them. A lot of people seem interested in my GP-1…until I tell them what it’s worth. Phottix just may have hit the sweet spot with it’s extras and lower cost.
Last month I pre-ordered the Nikon GP-1 GPS Unit for my DSLR. It’s an addon that automatically geo-tags photos you take with the gps coordinates of your current location. I’ve always liked to geo-tag my photos (particularly when travelling) but only did when I remembered to do it manually after the fact. Now I don’t have to think about it.
Nikon has been somewhat mysterious in when it would be available with no firm shipping date. I was at a photography show and chatted with a Nikon rep that told me the GP-1 was in their warehouses and that I’d just need to order one from a camera store. I wasn’t expecting it to arrive as quickly as it did (only a few days after I ordered it). I’m still surprised why something like this is so hard to pin down a shipping date. It’s not like Nikon is new at this.
Don’t expect many stores to have stock of this item if you’re interested, you may have to simply order it. I think given the price point ($275 Cdn) and the type of gadget this is, there won’t be a huge market so many stores won’t carry stock. You will probably be able to find it cheaper online anyways.
As you can see from the above photo, it’s pretty small. This was one of the appealing features of this unit over some of the other options out there, not to mention the fact that it’s from Nikon and meant to work with Nikon DSLR cameras.
It comes with a cable specifically for the D90 which has a GPS port and a more standard cable for use on the other cameras which plugs into the left side of the unit. At the rear of the GP-1 is a mini-USB port that allows you to connect it to a laptop to use as a navigation GPS if you have the appropriate software. I haven’t tried this yet as I already have an in car GPS unit so I don’t really have a need to do this but it’s a nice bonus. On the right side, there is a pass through port for the wired MC-DC2 remote release cable should you wish to use it and the GP-1 at the same time.
The only other thing it comes with is the GP1-CL1 which is Nikon’s fancy name for a piece of plastic you can attach to your camera strap that has a plastic hotshoe spot for you to attach the GP-1 in case you want to use a flash at the same time. It actually works quite well and helps get the cable out of your way. I store my hotshoe cover (the hilariously named BS-1) there most of the time as you can see in the photo above. The cable is a little longer and stiffer than I’d like but it’s not too unruly.
When you first plug in the GP-1, the LED on the top glows red since it hasn’t acquired any satellites yet. Once it gets 3, it will blink green and when it has 4 or more, it will be solid green. That’s the extent of the satellite indications you get. With a cold start, it can take anywhere from 1-5 minutes to acquire a signal depending on the view of the sky (it doesn’t work so great indoors as you would expect). Warm starts are usually only 10-20 seconds to get a signal. When you navigate to the GPS menu on the camera itself, you have a choice of ‘Auto meter’ and ‘Position’. Auto Meter is simply an on/off option and means if the GP-1 is connected via cable, should it continue to track your location regardless of whether or not the camera is on. Of course, if it’s off and you’re not using it for awhile, it will drain your battery. When you choose the ‘Position’ option you see this screen:
Unfortunately, the Heading option never populates, even when moving. I’m not sure why this is but perhaps Nikon will fix this with a firmware update. You’ll also notice the time at the bottom is in UTC which doesn’t get stamped into your photo as a ‘taken on’ date….it’s simply for the GPS.
When you review a geo-tagged photo, this is what your display looks like if you cycle through the metadata options upon playback:
When you upload your photo to Flickr, the embedded EXIF data looks like this:
and when you click on the ‘map’ button on the bottom right corner of the photo page on Flickr:
I don’t use the Nikon software (ViewNX) which is also supposed to display the GPS data…since it’s a feature on Flickr, I simply upload directly there since that’s where it matters more.
A GPS icon get displayed on the INFO displays on the camera including the top LCD when you have a solid location fix:
Just make sure you see that icon before you start shooting (or look for the green LED) and all your photos will be geo-tagged.
Overall I’m very happy with the GP-1. I had researched other options out there and it just made more sense to go with this product rather than the others. There are third party products that do almost exactly the same thing except have on board batteries (great, something else to charge) and there has been numerous reports online of shoddy build quality on some of these third party units. I’d rather pay a little more for a first party product that is solidly built and just works.
Early on (before the GP-1 was announced), another option was using a geo tracker. These are simple GPS receivers you would attach to yourself somehow (hat, backpack, jacket, etc) that would always record it’s location. Then using some software on your computer, it would correlate the timestamp on your photos with the timestamp on the gps coordinates. Considering the gps trackers are barely $100 less than the Nikon unit and you have to use additional software to fix it all, I just figured my time was worth more than that and sprang for the GP-1.
I haven’t noticed any drastic battery usage having the GP-1 connected but I also have the MB-80 battery grip with two batteries attached to my D90 so power isn’t a big concern for me.
Unlike my Coolpix P6000 camera (also from Nikon and features onboard GPS), if there is no GPS fix or the GP-1 is not connected, you don’t get zeroed out gps location data. This results in photos on Flickr being geo-tagged at 0°0′00″N, 0°0′00″W which is apparently ‘a place with no name’ according to Yahoo Maps. But that’s an issue for my review of that camera which is forthcoming.
Bottomline is that the GP-1 a great accessory for your camera if you want to geo-tag and can stomach the fairly high price point and somewhat limited featureset.
for my DSLR. It’s an addon that automatically 
