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Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers and location-based services are finding their way into an increasing number of PDAs and smartphones. Either integrated right into the device (e.g. Garmin, Navman, & Mio handhelds, HP's upcoming iPAQ hw6500 Pocket PC Phone, Audiovox XV6600 smartphone, RIM BlackBerry 7520, & Motorola i836) or as an add-on.

Today, palmOne extended its part in the GPS fray with the introduction of two new accessories, a GPS Car Kit and a redesigned GPS Navigator.

The GPS Car Kit features an integrated GPS receiver that mounts to a car windshield or dashboard and holds a Tungsten E2 or Tungsten T5 handheld in place, while a vehicle power adaptor provides power to the GPS receiver and the handheld. It includes customized TomTom Navigator 5 software (see description bellow) and a built-in speaker for voice-guided directions.

PalmOne has also reconfigured its GPS Navigator for use with the LifeDrive mobile manager, Treo 650 smartphone, and Tungsten E2 & Tungsten T5 handhelds. The company asserts the GPS Navigator's compact Bluetooth enabled receiver is suited for cyclists and pedestrians, as well as for use in cars.

It, like the GPS Car Kit, uses TomTom Navigator 5 software plus Tele Atlas map data to provide real-time location information, turn-by-turn directions, maps in 2-D and 3-D, and millions of points of interest.

The company plans to ship the GPS Car Kit in August and the GPS Navigator in July. Both peripherals will sell for $250 each.

Other Accessories
Other new accessories from palmOne include an aluminum hard case ($40) designed to fit a Tungsten E2 handheld with a palmOne Wi-Fi Card ($100) in use. PalmOne says the case also provides secure storage for the Wi-Fi Card when not in use. For LifeDrive, there's a new aluminum hard case ($50), a protective leather case ($40), and a travel charger ($30).

More On GPS
If you're a boat owner, pilot, or orienteer, you've known about the Global Positioning System (GPS) for years. Matter of fact, some owners of upscale automobiles have had some face time with the satellite-based navigation technology. To most of the rest of us, though, it's been just another meaningless three-letter acronym.

Due to a confluence of factors, including continuing miniaturization and falling cost, GPS technology has begun turning up in a host of electronic devices aimed at the general consumer market, notably PDAs and phones.

Here's the short course:

A GPS receiver gathers pulsed signals from as many of the two dozen or so GPS satellites orbiting the earth as it can lock in. Using triangulation -- by measuring and comparing the travel time of individual signals - the receiver calculates its position, and it's accurate to within twenty yards or so.

Technology called A-GPS, short for Assisted-GPS, improves the performance of GPS receivers by providing data that is normally downloaded directly from a GPS satellite either locally, on a mobile device, or via a server that relays information to the GPS receiver. With A-GPS, GPS receivers operate faster and more efficiently.

Some mobile phones use cellular tower triangulation rather than satellites to determine locations. Even HP's new iPAQ (the hw6500 series), for example, which has a GPS satellite receiver, turns to towers when reception from satellites isn't possible.