The Advancements of Mobile GPS Technology

Even though today's GPS technology doesn't require a great deal of space, the software that allows the device to function does. Once software, is created, it gets improved upon and will get smaller. All of the functions that come with the GPS device aren't needed by every consumer.

A GPS unit really only requires a radio emitter and a clock to work. The emitter sends the time reading of the clock to a overhead satellite. Then the satellite calculates the amount of time that it took for the radio signal to reach it, and then the satellite calculates the distance from this information. Three or four satellites will compare their locations with the amount of time that it took the signal to reach them. This is how they are able to determine your location.

If the GPS device is transmitting your location to a third party, the GPS unit will be small enough to clip to a pet's collar or fit inside of a cell phone. Thanks to the technological advancements in GPS devices, an expensive watch virtually impossible to steal.

The portability of a mobile GPS unit allows consumers to use them in a variety of different ways. Besides plotting navigation or tracking objects and living things, these devices can use the data as information for a variety of different applications. Recently, small digital cameras with GPS units installed in them are being sold to consumers. These cameras keep track of places where pictures were taken, and they can be used to create digital maps using the photos that were taken to mark locations.

Though they are larger, laptops are just as portable as mobile GPS devices. A GPS device can easily be attached to a laptops with a USB cable. A laptop with a GPS unit attached to it can be used in a car to navigate a route, and store the information for business report later on.

Before you use a mobile GPS unit on a flight, check with the airline to make sure that you are allowed to use it on the flight. Most airlines will allow you to use unit during the flight, however there are some that don't allow them to be used during the flight.

Everyday, more uses for GPS devices are being developed, and I bet that in a few years from now, we will wonder how we ever managed without them.