GPS Orientation and Smartphones An excellent explanation of why GPS takes so long to figure itself out when you dig it out after months of non-use. In a nutshell, it needs to set its clock and orient itself, and for that it needs to collect packets of data from 25 satellites, which are broadcast every 30 seconds. So it could take 25×30 secs = 12.5 minutes. Also explains how smartphones end-route the problem.
State of Play I would've loved something like this when I was a kid, in fact I'd still like to do things like play with a digger even today. The marketing is just wrong though, there's nothing stopping them using fake brands if it really needs to be kept for realism. Bar greed of course.