GPS chip records now, triangulates later
Put a GPS unit in your camera and it’s going to get a bit larger. That’s because it needs to crunch the numbers it gets from the satellites, which takes power and more circuitry.
These guys realized that your camera doesn’t need to know where the pictures were taken until you get home. So their solution is to record the satellite readings onsite when the picture is taken. The result is a very tiny chip, and very little power consumed.
Is this the best solution? I don’t know, I’d probably pick the slightly bigger camera that can tell me where I am. But then, modularizing the antenna is a smart design move. Given the huge number of general purpose computers out there, it makes sense to split the receiver from the brains, wherever possible. I could see this being used in smartphones. The iPhone, for instance…
