That snazzy new smartphone or satnav that you've just bought might start to have problems getting a location lock by 2010, if reports are to be believed that the Global Positioning System is in trouble.

The network of 24 satellites is under...

What is it?
Standing for Global Positioning System, it is a radio based technology that measures the distance from a device with access to GPS onboard such as satellite navigation products (sat nav), then calculates that distance to the satellites...

It won't be at full capacity until 2013 but the bid to set up a European satnav system took a giant step forward today. A "demonstrator" satellite for Europe's Galileo sat nav system has been launched from Kazakhstan.

The Giove-B satellite...