Navin miniHomer keychain GPS will lead you to your car, won't help find your keys
By Donald Melanson 
posted Oct 2nd 2009 2:44PM
posted Oct 2nd 2009 2:44PM
Still have a bit more room on that keychain ring next to your DAP, photo frame, Atari controller and, um, keys? Then you might want to keep an eye out for Navin's new miniHomer GPS compass, which won't give you actual turn-by-turn directions, but will at least point you towards up to five different locations of your choosing (including your car's spot in the parking lot). To ensure the device keeps on ticking during particularly arduous trips away from your car, the miniHomer is also waterproof to IPX7 standards, and it promises a "low power consumption," although Navin doesn't seem to be making any firm promises about battery life just yet (it's recharged via USB). It also isn't saying anything about a price, but it looks like this one should be out sometime in November.
[Via SlashGear]
[Via SlashGear]
I feel like if you're able to lose something as huge and important as your car, you wouldn't be able to find this when you needed it either.
women.
Buying one for my mom!
How can't you? The thing is like a freak'n brick. They need to seriously revamp and 'mini me' that thing....
um ...there are apps for that..
for people who bought an iPhone.
Is there an app for pretentiousness as well?
well not just iPhone, other phones. But yeah I would rather use this.
No, there's a whole line of computers, music players, and phones for that.
There's a slap in the face for that.
Or, you know, you could always just use the voice recorder on your phone (what pitiful device doesn't come with this feature nowadays?) and make note of your row, section, and level. Won't cost you anything, and it won't leave a huge lump in your pocket. Unless you're counting on the latter as an ice breaker...
Well your mom didn't have GPS, so it took the cops sometime to find her body...
this was supposed to be under CaramelZappa. Blogsmith ftw
Too bad GPS wouldn't work in a parking garage. Even if it could, it wouldn't be able to distinguish between the levels. Unfortunately, I don't think GPS is the answer to all of life's problems
Of course not, that's what beer is for...
You could just remember where you parked, it's pretty darn reliable
What happens if someone finds your keys? I hope this thing is passworded...
Perfect. Now if I happen to lose my keys, the finder will know exactly where to find my car. That's a real time saver for any would-be car thieves
A good memory doesn't cost a thing.
obviously you don't smoke weed....
If you need a GPS to find your car, THERE ARE TOO MANY DAMN PEOPLE ON THE PLANET AND NONE OF THEM ARE CARPOOLING!!!
You buy a car to NOT have to use public transport, so to them make it public transport again by carpooling is defeating the purpose isn't it?
doh
This sounds like it's heading for Brookstone @ $99 then $79 the $49 then clearanced for $19.99.
i want miniBart!!!!
This could be a good xmas gift for the incompetent people in my life
Yet another toy to dumb down the human race.
People who lose the second most expensive thing in their life = idiots. How the fuck do you not remember where you put your 15-50k car/truck/suv? We should take away their licenses, same sort of people who rundown and kill other responsible motorists.
So because I thought I parked in row 4, spot 2 instead of row 2, spot 4 I am now responsible for running down and killing other motorists?
I'm not going to debate the usefulness of this feature, but I have serious reservations about the implementation.
First, this is an automotive device, so why is it recharged through USB and not a cigarette lighter plug? (Or whatever they call those outlets, now that they aren't actually used for lighting cigarettes).
Second, since it's not electrically connected to the car, it wouldn't know when you parked and got out. Presumably you'd get out of the car, turn on the device, wait for it to acquire satellites and get a fix, and *then* start walking away from the car? It's either that or get out of the car, realize the device was on all the time and the battery is about to die soon.
It would make a lot more sense to have a docking/charging cradle on the dashboard, so whenever you are driving, the device gets its battery topped off *and* continues to update the position. Then just remove it and carry it with you.
Then again, some GPS navigation systems already have a "find my car" feature; the GPS unit remembers where it was removed from the cradle. Garmin calls it the "Garmin Locate" feature, I imagine other brands have similar features. This would make a lot more sense than a stand-alone device specifically for finding your car.
Guess what, you can buy USB chargers that plug in the lighter socket most everywhere, and they are even included free with many devices.
Guys, get off of the 'how stupid do you have to be to lose your car' kick.
This could be a life saver. Camping, boating, hiking... Set your embarkation spot, and never worry about getting lost.
Okay - here come the 'how stupid do you have to be to get lost in the woods, mountains, or oceans' rants.
For the people that can only think of using this to find their car and to insult the people that use a device like this:
You do realize it can be used for other things, right? This is similar to the Bushnell GPS BackTrack Personal Locator, which is way too big. I used the Bushnell when I was in Vietnam so I can just tour the towns without having to worry about finding my way back to the hotel. It was much better than just having a cab take me on the tourist routes.
I also used it when I was going back to the airport and train station to make sure I wasn't taking the "scenic route". This is also great for people going on complex trails or whatever so they can explore without having to worry about getting lost.
Worst idea ever. You drop your keys on the ground, and you've just lost $40,000 or more.You basically give the criminal directions to your car, now that they have your keys.
Seems there's an awful lot of people dropping their keys left and right on this site.
Perhaps they should ad an acceleration sensor that makes it shout 'you dropped your keys again you feeble-pawed fool'
Looks like the bastard child of Navigon and Garmin
Laugh all you want infidels and unbelivers!
One of these comes in handy when you can't remember where your car was parked in a sea of cars at Wally World, Disney World, etc. I had a silver rent-a-car. You know how many silver Camry's were there that day? There even was an identical 2008 silver Camry parked next to mine when we left at 5PM.
It even came in handy when we were in Italy and Swtizerland in March. Try finding your way back to the bridge at the train station in Venice from the south side without one of these. You make a wrong turn in Venice or step off the curb and you are swimming with the fishes.
I have the Bushnell version of this thing. It uses 2 AAA batteries and cost ~$60 from Adorama. It has the digital compass plus 3 favorite locations. It has a 999 mile range from your set points.
That thing is BIG........Reminds me of the old saying:..Is that a pistol in your pants, or are you just glad you found me?.....
There's an app on WinMo for this already:
http://www.cradle-software.de/en/software/gpsspot
There's an awesome FREE app for Android that does just that... except it's much cooler.... Carrr Matey!
They may have an iPhone version too (not sure)...
http://www.lionebra.com/apps.html
I'll say this. If that thing let you put in coordinates by hand, it would make for an AWESOME geocaching gps with built in eletronic compass. Dang, I wish it did.
Can this thing be used if your car is stolen? That would be cool.
My son's bike was stolen a few months ago. I'd love to be able to track down the jerks that stole a 9 year old's bike.
I use G-Park for this very conundrum...on my iPhone. It is a slick little app that allows you to stamp your location and will easily get you back to it without any hassles. This Nuvi actually looks pretty big and probably more expensive then the .99c that I paid for G-Park.