A SELF-CONFESSED "blur queen" when it comes to directions, Ms Lina Abdul, 36, once got lost fetching her husband from his office.
The usual 15-minute journey from Siglap became almost an hour of misery. Turning out from the wrong expressway exit, she got confused in a maze of small roads around the Kallang industrial area.
"My husband had to wait for about 45 minutes while I tried to find my way.
"Calling him for directions was no help because I couldn't tell where I was," she recalled.
What's a good man to do?
Buy the wife a GPS device, of course. Into the family sedan went the $600 gadget, and out went navigation woes. (Well, almost.)
"It's fairly easy to use - you just have to key in the address or postal code, and the GPS device will direct you to your location," said Lina.
Follow the voice
ORIGINALLY developed by the United States Air Force in the 1970s, the system uses a group of over 20 satellites that continuously feed signals to earth.
Anyone with a GPS receiver can tune in to these signals and get a fix on his location anywhere in the world.
In fact, GPS technology can also determine speed, direction and elevation, not just location.
In the military, GPS is used, among other things, to direct missiles and aircraft to their targets.
Since the technology went public, it has been used in land surveying and mapping, oil and mineral prospecting, air-traffic control, sea and space navigation, and more.
In civilian life, GPS has been adapted to aid drivers like Lina find the best route to any point. It does this by visually showing you the route on the device's screen - with coloured arrows telling you to turn left or right.
There are also voice instructions. For example: "Turn left at the next intersection" or "Turn right in 500m".
GPS devices work in tandem with maps of a particular area in a country. Good GPS devices come with at least two pre-installed country maps.
The Packard Bell Compasseo 780, for example, comes with maps of Singapore and Malaysia. Good maps have local knowledge of everything from tourist attractions to food haunts - even speed cameras.
For project manager G.S Wee, 39, a GPS map that can be updated regularly is a must-have.
"When I travel to Malaysia, a GPS device with an updated map really helps me move around, especially in areas where the roads change regularly," he said.
Despite the advances, there are limitations. Satellites require line-of-sight, that is, an unobstructed view from the orbiting satellite to the receiver on the ground. So, GPS devices will not work in multi-storey carparks or tunnels.
Nor where there are many tall buildings, such as the Central Business District - your GPS device may not get good reception from the satellite.
As for Lina, all that matters is that she has not got lost since, and her husband gets home on time.
