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330

Add GPS to Notebooks

330 points posted to Laptops by andrewmilnermobile 02/28/07

Start integrating GPS into all Dell Notebooks. This would be a big incentive to buy a Dell because people wouldn't have to buy external GPS devices. This could be an option that is bundled with Microsoft Streets and Trips, or some other GPS software.

Also, you could try addidng support for GPS into anti-theft software to literally track down a theif. Have the laptop report its location whenever it has a connection to the internet after it has been reported stolen.

guardianxps
02/28/07		 Garmin makes some fantastic software used on portables, which are used by the police departments where I live. This would be very cool. :)
mentallyprovoked
02/28/07		 Lojack is another option on this for preinstalled.
nicu
03/01/07		 GPS systems require line-of-sight with satellites... It would be very difficult to get your laptop to have line of sight with a satellite. Offer a Bluetooth GPS unit that will work with your laptop.
henkpoley
03/01/07		 Thumbs up! Relatively fresh idea. In the end it's probably inevitable that some sort of positioning device ends up in mobile computers. Who wants to enter where they are when the computer itself can already know where it is?
andrewmilnermobile
03/03/07		 Actually new GPS devices use ground stations also (I think it used to be WAAS, or something like that, but there is a new ground station technology now) so you no longer need line of site. And I agree that it would be sweet if Lojack made their software able to report coordinates from the GPS. My original idea was that Dell could program that in but it would be even better if Lojack did that, and if all Dell's laptops had GPS then I'm sure Lojack would at least have a huge incentive to do a lfew ittle easy programming changes.
guardianxps
03/21/07		 Another good GPS company is Pharos
johnwhelan
03/30/07		 Our interviewers spend time typing in street addresses. They sometimes make mistakes which is costly trying to resolve them. Because of security concerns we do not want a GPS system that transmits anything but a passive one that could be read programatically would save us time. We cost some of our surveys out at $10,000 per minute to give you an idea of the potential savings for us.

There are military solutions that can work round the problems associated with lack of line of site to the satellites.
penguinsa
Jun 27		 Dell have been caught napping - this feqature is (supposedly) now available on the Toshiba Qosmio F55.
Personally, I'd like to see a laptop with a modular GPS.... and removeable WiFi / Bluetooth.

The idea being- if I'm remote enough (or mobile enough) to use GPS, chances are I don't need WiFi at the same time.
AND- the interchangeable modules could both use a built in antenna array, sitting behind the LCD panel.
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