Emprum's UltiMate GPS

It's been a while since we first started our GPS adventure back in February 2008. Back in the early days, the iGPS360 was the only GPS accessory on the market for the iPhone and the iPod touch. The iPad was not on the market yet back then. There was also no App Store in those early days.

Now, in 2011, we all have seen big changes over those past few years. We have had the App Store for a number of years now, Apple has allowed third party accessories through their Made for iPod program and the iPad is already on its second generation.

Development of GPS accessories has also not come to a standstill. There are various official Apple licensed GPS accessories on the market now.

Features, quality and performance varies among them of course. I have done some extensive research and comparisons between most of them and I am happy to hereby endorse Emprum's UltiMate GPS.

The Emprum UltiMate GPS is a fairly new Apple licensed accessory that has been on the market since August 2011. It is based on the same GPS technology as the iGPS360 is based on: a proven MTK GPS engine that has been on the market for a number of years now and that outperforms most of the newer GPS engines.

From my own testing on various newer generation GPS engines and accessories, I have found that they are supposed to have higher sensitivity and faster update rates, but in reality and practice there are a few catches to that. They actually don't perform as well in the real world as the older workhorses. I will dedicate a future post to explaining this in more detail.

Based on testing and comparing various official Apple GPS accessories on the market, I am hereby endorsing Emprum UltiMate GPS. It is the best unit on the market, not only in terms of GPS performance, it also is an accessory that has many added features, e.g. besides being an accessory for your Apple device, it will also work on a laptop or desktop computer over USB, it comes with a custom USB cable that is rated at 2.1 Amp charging capability required for your iPad, and has easy to read indicator lights that can be customized.


Emprum's UltiMate GPS Product Features:

• Licensed through Apple's Made for iPod program and does not require a jailbreak.


• Only accessory on the market that communicates GPS data to App Store apps at a 5Hz refresh rate! I have looked at other accessories that claim higher update rates, but they only work at 1Hz with App Store Apps. Emprum's UltiMate GPS accessory is the only accessory that I am aware of that truly updates at 5Hz.


• Turns your iPod touch, iPhone, iPad or computer into a state-of-the-art GPS receiver. And this is where one added feature lies: the UltiMate GPS also works with your regular computer: desktop or laptop, Mac, Linux or Windows. They all work with the accessory over USB.


• Use it in your car, on your bike, on your boat or in your plane. Use it for geocaching, hiking, golfing, cycling, running or any other outdoor activity you can think of. Basically any App Store app that has implemented Apple's CoreLocation framework correctly will work with the UltiMate GPS.


• Comes with the free UltiMate GPS App, available on the App Store, giving you full control of your UltiMate GPS accessory. The UltiMate GPS App is a professional designed app that allows you to interact with your UltiMate GPS. It also provides a GPS satellite signal screen to check your satellites in view and their SNR. Very handy.


• Works with all location-based iOS apps available on the App Store.


• Made for iPod touch (1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th generation), iPhone 4S, iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 3G, iPhone, iPad and iPad 2.


• Does not require an external power supply. The UltiMate GPS is powered directly by your Apple device or over USB and this can be handy compared to some of the bluetooth units out there whose battery you will need to keep charged separately.


• This feature list is not complete, so I recommend that for a full product description, you visit Emprum's UltiMate GPS Product Page.

If you have had your iGPS360 for a while now and are tired of having to keep jailbreaking your device, we recommend upgrading to Emprum's UltiMate GPS. It is the best unit on the market and follows in the footsteps of the iGPS360.

You can place your order for the UltiMate GPS accessory by visiting Emprum's website. Emprum fills and ships orders worldwide, typically same or next day.

If you have questions or need additional information on the UltiMate GPS, feel free to ask in the comments and I will do my best to answer them for you.

I wish you all the best for the upcoming Holiday Season!

Falun Gong: after 12 Years, the Persecution Continues

Wednesday July 20, 2011 marks the 12th anniversary of the persecution against Falun Gong by the Chinese communist party.

Hopefully most of you, and those who have ordered from Orange Gadgets, know that our humanitarian cause in life is raising worldwide awareness about the brutal persecution and human rights violations against Falun Gong by the Chinese communist party, a persecution which started on July 20, 1999.

Another year has passed and as such, this post today is dedicated to the many Falun Gong practitioners who have suffered or been killed at the hands of the Chinese communist party and the many that have disappeared or have been imprisoned innocently as well as their families and relatives who have suffered as a consequence.

On July 20, 1999, China's former president Jiang Zemin (now presumably dead or in a coma) started a brutal persecution campaign against the practice of Falun Gong (also known as Falun Dafa) with his policy of extinction: "Ruin their reputation, exhaust their financial resources and destroy them physically."

Twelve years later, the persecution has not ended and innocent people are still being killed.

Falun Gong teaches people to be truthful, kind and tolerant.

Inform yourself. You can find more information at http://www.faluninfo.net

Recent in-depth newspaper articles can be found at http://www.theepochtimes.com

GPSSerial 1.4.1 released: allows for multi-tasking

A new version of GPSSerial (version 1.4.1) is available now from the Orange Gadgets website here.

Note: GPSSerial (version 1.4.1) that is currently on Cydia is not working correctly, so please follow the link above instead and install the new version manually. Make sure to first remove the old GPSSerial package completely and reboot your device as outlined in the above link.

Version 1.4.1 of GPSSerial has quite a few bug fixes and upgrades to it:

• The new version allows multiple CoreLocationManagers to access the external GPS module. GPSSerial will route GPS data to each of them. Certain AppStore apps instance multiple CoreLocationManagers which sometimes caused problems with the older GPSSerial (version 1.3.x). This has been resolved now so a lot more AppStore apps will work correctly with GPSSerial.


• The new version allows multiple applications to run simultaneously and GPSSerial will route GPS data to each of them from the external GPS module.


• On iOS4, you can have multiple apps running without having to fully close them before switching to the next location aware app.


• On firmware 3.x, you can install Backgrounder through Cydia and also run multiple location aware apps at the same time.


• Apple's built-in Maps.app functions correctly on both firmware 3.x and iOS4.


• If you switch the settings in the GPSSerial user interface from e.g. iGPS360 to iPhone GPS, GPSSerial will switch from the external GPS module (in this case the iGPS360) to your iPhone's built-in GPS or if you don't have a built-in GPS (e.g. if you are on an iPod touch or an iPad WiFi only), it will use WiFi triangulation and forward that to the running application.

The above upgrades and bug fixes have taken up a great many hours and they would not have been possible without the feedback of all of you.

Try out the new version and post your feedback in the comments or visit the xGPS forum here.