TomTom Links GPS Devices to Google Maps – Information Week
TomTom, a maker of personal navigation devices, said Wednesday that customers can now use Google’s mapping service to find business addresses and then transfer them via a computer to a TomTom gadget. Clicking on Google’s GPS option after locating a business address sends the information to TomTom Home. Once the data is stored in Home, it can be transferred to a TomTom device via Bluetooth or wired connection. People can view the location on a map displayed in the TomTom device, which can provide directions to the address. The location can also be saved for a future trip…

Navigators Everywhere, Especially on Holiday Gift Lists – New York Times
JUDGING from the holiday-season popularity of G.P.S. navigators, there are few gestures more satisfying than telling the person you love, “You have no sense of direction, but don’t worry — modern technology can help.” This year, the Global Positioning System seems to have been invented merely to be tucked into great gadgets — smartphones, portable in-car navigators and even hand-held devices you can use on hiking trips or during workouts. Under this seemingly slim rubric is an array of products to fit many lifestyles and interests…

Secrets in Rare Cartography – EurekAlert!
Whales were the economic drivers of the 1850s. So important was this resource that the founder of the U.S. Oceanographic Office, Matthew Fontaine Maury, created a map showing the worldwide distribution of sperm and right whales in 1851. “Whale oil then was like petroleum is today,” says Christopher Baruth. “This is a graphic device that showed where the whales were located by type and season.” Quietly housed at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM) since 1978, the AGS Library contains more than a million items, half of which are maps and charts, some dating to 15th century, and some that aren’t available anywhere else, even at the Library of Congress…