Bluetooth EMTAC GPS
 - August 2002 -
- Updated 10/29/02 -

 

Intro

Let me first state that I’m not affiliated with either EMTAC or the US distributor for the BT GPS in any way and that I’m simply an early adopter who was given the opportunity to purchase a pre-production version by Steve at TransplantComputing. I’d had it for about 10 days when this was written and think I have a good feel for its features/possibilities.
On October 16, 2002, it was announced that "Socket Communications, EMTAC Technology Corp., and Transplant Computing Collaborate To Bring Wireless Bluetooth GPS Capabilities to Mobile Computing". So it looks like it will be making its way to retail in December.

As far as my previous GPS experiences are concerned, you can read about them here

Having stated all that, I feel quite confident in saying that this is a truly amazing device on many different levels.

Starting with the big picture, well…remember when you used your first wireless phone at home, then your first cell phone, then your first 802.11b PDA/Laptop, well get ready to experience another “wireless thrill”. Although well versed in wireless technology, it took me a while to really muster any interest in Bluetooth. The first applications were supposed to let you print wirelessly from your desktop to your printer, huh…not much of a killer app IMHO ! With the current emergence of BT enabled PDAs, Cellphones and Headsets, it seems BT is finally taking off. The "wireless GPS thrill: works like all the previous “wireless thrills” in the sense that you’re first amazed and then quickly take it for granted thanks to its ease of use and “obviousness”.

Specs:

From Emtac's site: specs

Size and Appearance:                                                    

It’s roughly the size and weight of 3 stacked PC CF adapters, albeit rounder and not quite as deep. Very small and light really.

The design is quite sleek with its combination of grey and black. Very inconspicuous, except maybe in France where the police might confuse it with an illegal radar detector…

Battery Life and Power Supply:                                     

See the "Battery Life" page for details

It’s powered by an ultra-thin Lithium battery that, thanks to the device's ubiquitous iPaq/Casio/Toshiba power connector, can be recharged in a variety of ways. With a standard AC adapter of course, but also with a cheap and portable battery extender that can be bought for $9.99 here.

While the battery life quoted by a manufacturer is generally akin to the quoted fuel economy of a car, i.e. something that leaves you dumbfounded, I've found in my limited testing that, in a stationery position and connected to my laptop, the fully charged BT GPS does indeed provide a battery operation of 6 hours. No mean feat, especially since one can expect to double this with the aforementioned battery extender, if need be.

I found the recharge to be faster than I expected (one hour or so) even with the GPS being active.

Another item of note is that in the pre-production version, the GPS is only turned on when the BT connection is active, thus saving battery life at the expense of a slight delay in position acquisition when a connection is made. It's generally very fast to acquire the position so I'd view this as a good design option in fact. This might still change though. It's also got end user configurable trickle modes, but I haven't tried and they hardly seem necessary.

Overall I'd say they've made clever design options in the power department, providing for a plentiful built-in battery life and ensuring that it's easily and cheaply extendable

Operation:

Couldn’t be simpler really.
        1. GPS Side - You just flip the switch in the back and the lights turn on, see the following picture (click to enlarge):
                             BT On             BT Off !
 

        2. PDA/Laptop (I used the BT sleeve with my iPaq and a USB dongle for my laptop)
            - The first time you connect to the BT GPS, you'll have to go through the standard BT device setup process which takes about 2 minutes.

            - You'll also need to tell your mapping/routing program what port the virtual BT serial connection uses and that's it.
            - Then, each time you launch your mapping/routing program it should connect to the GPS and get a fix within a few seconds.
               With the new unit, you now get a fix instantly since the GPS stays on all the time.
 

         3.  "Snooze" mode
           - when you exit your program or turn off the PDA, the GPS module will switch off, leaving the BT module on and ready to reconnect
             No longer the case with the new unit
 

Settings:

If you need some help setting up a connection with your PocketPC, you can read this thread on the forums
 

Update: Steve tells me you can no longer "lose" the BT GPS as described below. I got around to testing this and it works, great improvement, thanks for listening !

1) Baudrate:

The GPS adapts its baudrate to the one requested by the mapping/navigation program. I believe this is unique and sure makes setup easy. Just remember NOT to try to change the baudrate and the protocol at the same time (see next paragraph for details). I  found that it will set itself automatically to the baudrate requested by the mapping/navigation program, anywhere between 1,200bps and 115,200bps (didn't try higher) in either NMEA or Sirf mode. This means that it should normally be compatible with the much anticipated software version of the upcoming Navman 3420 that requires NMEA/57,600bps.

2) Output Protocol or language:

The BT GPS is built around the SiRF II chipset so it outputs in SiRF and like all such devices it can be switched to NMEA mode. Actually it's set to NMEA by default. It can be switched back and forth either on a PPC using Leadtek's CE Monitor or on your laptop/desktop using Sirfdemo or other more sophisticated programs like u-blox. One word of CAUTION though, the BT and GPS modules talk to each other internally at 38,400bps, so when you switch protocols you must select that same bitrate if the option is given. I found out the hard way that requesting a protocol switch with a baudrate setting other than 38,400bps will CUT the link between the BT and GPS modules, leaving you unable to connect to the GPS. This quirk is not limited to the SiRF chipset configuration programs like CE Monitor or Sirfdemo as I initially thought, GPS driver programs that have SiRF/NMEA capabilities like TomTom GPS and potentially Destinator's GPS configuration utility have the same ill effect if you simply select a different protocol and a different baudrate at the same time while connected to the GPS.

"Losing" the connection to the BT GPS like this is not much fun especially since you have to disconnect the battery and wait for the backup battery to run dry, which takes about...a week ! You've been warned ! Make sure that the baudrate reads 38,400bps EACH time you switch protocols !

Update
3) WAAS:

While the old unit was WAAS capable, there was no easy way to activate it. With the new unit and hanks to the free (other companies charge $150+ for similar software) utility (Crux View) that ships with each BT GPS, you can now activate or deactivate WAAS from your PocketPC. While WAAS probably won't help much on the road, it can be of use for some specific outdoor uses. In any case, it's nice to have the option

Satellite Reception:

This is another area where the BT GPS excels. We're all used to GPS receivers that more or less need a clear line of site  to the sky to get a position fix. My Magellan M330 does need that even though it's supposed to be one of the more sensitive receivers out there thanks to its quadrifillar antenna. We've all read the stories about the CF GPS receivers that need an external antenna..,

Well, when you use the BT GPS you can pretty much forget all about this...I've put it in my pocket while walking or driving, put it in my backpack, put it in the glove box of my car and...it never skipped a beat. Very impressive. Of course it will see more satellites if it sits on your dash, but it's not a requirement. It might also use more power to get a fix.

So now you can have a  GPS that you turn on in the morning, shove in a safe place in your pocket, backpack or car and...forget about. And unless you're constantly connected to it, chances are you'll get a full days worth of GPS fixes too, remember it only really uses power when a BT device is connected. It's also easy to imagine using it when hiking or walking around an unknown city. All you need to do is pull out your PDA, no bulky CF GPS sticking out, attracting unsolicited attention and guzzling up battery life !

Update

The new unit offers easy activation of the trickle mode. While increasing autonomy sounds nice on paper, the sheer complexity of the process actually hurts operations when the satellite is difficult (in your glove box for instance ;-)

Compatibility with mapping/routing software:

In my limited testing, I've found the BT GPS to operate perfectly with all the programs I tried.
- Destinator (make sure you use switch to SiRF mode)

- Pharos Ostia - NMEA

- Teletype - NMEA
- Mapopolis - NMEA (Mapopolis couldn't get a connection with COM8 on the iPaq 3975 though)

- TomTom Route Planner USA - NMEA

- TomTom GPS plug-in (used by CityMaps, TT Online and TT Navigator). Using the NMEA mode because for some reason in SiRF mode TT (still not fixed in 1.40 but Navigator still works ok according to this post in French) wasn't reading the position properly. Unlike the current version of Destinator however, TomTom GPS works fine in NMEA mode.

- There are others out there, but they should all work provided you can select COM ports easily (on my iPaq the BT hardware set it to COM8), except those that are locked to a receiver like Travroute's CoPilot or Distefora's mobile navigator.

Conclusion:

One word: positive. I'm generally quite a "nit-picker" but in this case, I'm at loss to find any...nits to pick ! Price is expected to be between $300 and $350 upon launch.

An outstanding device, kudos to Emtac and to Transplantcomputing for bringing it to the US !

 Discuss the contents of this page here

 

Revisions:

08/20/02 - Clarified some language in Settings following some questions.
08/21/02 - Warning for concurrent baudrate/protocol change
09/21/02 - Added comments for the revised model

10/28/02 - Added note about Socket Communications distribution agreement