I’ve started becoming interested in the more peripheral uses of a GPS. One is GeoTagging. GeoTagging involves storing the lat/lon where a picture was taken in the JPG (or RWA) header. You can then look at photos that were take in similar places.
Sites like Flickr and SmugMug take good advantage of this. You can zoom in on a map and see pictures taken in that area. (try Flickr)
So, how do you get the GeoTagging info into your images. Well, you can do it manually. Photoshop allows you to edit the meta tags directly. You can look up the lat/lon on a map and type it in. But, that doesn’t sound very fun.
You could also try the PhotoFinder from ATP. This is a small device that you can hang on the outside of your camera bag. It receives the GPS signals and tracks where you are at each minute.
After you’ve taken your photos, you insert the memory card into the PhotoFinder. The PhotoFinder then matches the time stamp on each image with your location at that time and updates the file header with the location. Perty slick. Currently, it only works with JPG. You RAW shooters will have to wait. It’s compatible with Compact Flash, SD and Memory Stick. Another plus…you don’t need a computer to tag the files.
Learn more at http://photofinder.atpinc.com/
Update: Expect this product to cost about $100. It seems to be available in several other countries, hopefully the US will come soon.
There are two other products that offer similar features…but they’ll be covered in another article.
I visited the Dash site and got a little hands-on with the the new Express. Besides all of the normal GPS functionality, they have a wireless (cellular) link built in that allows for lookups through Yahoo! Local.
This is kind of a cool feature, when searching for a restrant, you don’t have to get a hit on the name (like with most GPSs). The Yahoo! search can go deeper, like to a type of food. Or, when searching for gas, it can give you the cheapest gas nearby. It will even include movie times when you search for theaters.
You can also create your own feeds…using GeoRSS. This is really cool. I could, for example, create a list of all Masonic Lodges in California. This list would then be available to me in the car at any time.
And, the last cool thing is the Send2Car functionality. They have an add-in for Explorer and Outlook that let’s you send an address to the GPS from your computer. Because the GPS has it’s own connection to the Internet, you don’t even have to bring the unit into the house. The address will be waiting for you when you get to the car.
I see Dash moving into more of a software provider. I think the Express is a reference design. The real power is in the software not the device. I’d like to see them license the software to others (Garmin, Magellan, etc) and make the functionality more broadly available.
I’m still trying to convince my wife that this is a good upgrade from my Lowrance…but it’s an uphill battle.
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Garmin has a new line of handheld GPS units out. It’s the Colorado. There are four versions for different interests.
Shown here is the 400t. This one shows terrain in the form of topos. It can also project the topo info in a 3D image of the terrain. Very nice.
They have a large, hi-res display that looks really good. At the top is a round control that has a button and a rotating ring. The ring allows for menu selections and data entry. It’s very fast and easy to use.
It runs on AA batteries, good for being out in the field. There is also direct support for geocaching and the new WhereIGo.com stuff.
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