I like to tag my photos with GPS coordinates when no private information is revealed, but currently I have to do it manually via online photo sites such as Flickr and Zooomr because my photo gallery software has no such feature. This is not optimal because my own local copies remain geo-tagless and the coordinates are just best guesses.

I suppose by now you can understand my excitement when I read about the GeoPic II product for Nikon DSLRs. The GeoPic II appears to be a GPS receiver that attaches to the camera’s flash hotshoe, thereby making it somewhat portable. I still don’t know how well it would work, but it looks promising.

Then I peeked at the price. US$408!

Then I read the specs. No support for my D80!

[Via Engadget]

What we have here, folks, is my brand spanking new Garmin Nuvi 350 freezing on me. Oh, so cold…

There was no manual in the box, so I had to search online for instructions to reset it.

PS, I checked, it doesn’t seem to be running any flavor of Windows.

This afternoon my wife phoned from a trail and told me that Charcoal almost went missing again. Charcoal is nice and all, but he really, really needs to learn to stick with us whenever he is off leash.

Global Pet Finder is supposedly a solution that tracks wandering dogs such as Charcoal. Too bad I am not Global Pet Finder’s target (rich) audience - I am too cheap to spend $349 for the GPS device and $17.99-$19.98 monthly for the subscription plan.

I guess our $20 leash will have to do for now. Until I strike that huge lottery, that is.

Garmin Nuvi 350 GPS
Originally uploaded by gadgetdude.

I just spent a few minutes playing with the Garmin Nuvi 350 GPS at Fry’s Electronics. It’s truly small and slim, just like all the online reviews have said. The screen was sharp, and the menus were easy to navigate. I especially liked the little tactile feedback I got from the touch-sensitive screen. During navigation the Nuvi also anounced street names instead of phrases like “turn left in 400 feet”. On the other hand the keys in the virtual kayboard were arranged in alphabetical order instead of the QWERTY layout. Hopefully that can be configured.

Signal vs. Noise’s Jason really likes Garmin’s Nuvi 350 GPS device. It looks nice - small, portable, touch-screen, street-name prompts, etc. The big downside to me is the $900 pricetag. Guess it will be a while before I can replace my Garmin StreetPilot III.

Autoblog has a review of the new TomTom Go 300. The review isn’t as detailed as I would like, but it’s the first one I have come across. Maybe there will be followups with screen shots and routing accuracies and limitations.

$620. Not bad for a complete and yet small GPS system. It’s a much better deal than my Garmin StreetPilot III, which unfortunately is showing its age.

Tom’s Hardware Guide has a in-depth look at two portal hard-disk-based GPS solutions. For a while last year the Magellan Roadmate 700 was my favorite, so this article was quite a good read for me - it took me two days to read it, but it was a good read nonetheless. I like the screen captures, they finally showed me what the Roadmate looks like in action. The store display models could only be run in demo mode, and unlike Garmin’s, that mode doesn’t show what the display is like during routing.

My favorite GPS-to-be is the Tom Tom Go 700. Yap, another “700″.

Looks like TomTom Go 700 would be my favorite GPS device from now on (or at least until something better comes along). Hope it’s available in US and won’t cost too much.

It has a remote control, a 2.5GB hard disk, and bluetooth capability that allows hands-free calls and GPRS data connection via your cellphone.

The 700 boasts hands free communication by channelling the phone call from your mobile to the tom tom go unit much like a Bluetooth headset would, the on screen GUI allows calls to be answered, but it does go one step further giving the ability to access the phones contact list and to make calls from the unit.

…

Finally the last change which was widely expected is the inclusion of tom-tom’s data services now branded “TomTom plus”, this allows the go unit to deliver the tom tom traffic service we had previously reviewed, the required GPRS connection is made via your enabled mobile across the Bluetooth connection. The service has been broadened to go beyond real time traffic info to include weather, news and additional mapping and POI downloads.