hov
Latest
Waze adds hands-free navigation to keep your eyes on the road
Waze has a number of measures to reduce distractions and keep your eyes on the road ahead, but there has been one inescapable distraction: you usually have to touch the screen to get things done. That's a problem, especially in areas where distracted driving laws make it illegal to poke at your phone while on the move. It shouldn't be a problem for much longer. Waze's latest update includes a hands-free navigation option that lets you handle most tasks using only your voice. Say "OK, Waze" and you can navigate to a destination or report a traffic jam without losing focus.
California carpool exemptions expire, quashing yellow-sticker envy
It looks like it's time to kiss that sweet HOV goodbye for lone California hybrid drivers. No, there hasn't been a spike in Clean Air Vehicle sticker thievery -- this time it's official. According to the California DMV, those little yellow stickers that once gave hybrid owners the right to ride solo in carpool lanes have expired, leaving some 85,000 drivers to fall in line with the rest of the state's commuters. You'll forgive us if we don't shed a tear over this announcement.
Ford adding HOV logic, ability to download outside Mapquest destinations to 2011 NAV systems
Ford's been keeping itself busy on the navigation front, and while you may have noticed that 2010 just began a few weeks ago (on the Gregorian calendar, anyway), 2011 model year vehicles are already on the minds of those in Dearborn. 2011 models with voice-activated navigation systems will be getting an update that brings along HOV logic, helping users who travel with a buddy to get from point A to point B more hastily if carpool lanes are nearby. Of course, only 2,500 miles of those blanket America, so a few other updates might be intriguing to those of you who are sane enough to live outside of the rat race. Branded POI icons, higher density street labeling and HD Radio will come standard on voice-controlled NAV systems, and potentially most interesting is the notion that "integration with SYNC Traffic, Directions and Information (TDI) app -- enabling new features like the ability to download destinations sent from a home or work computer from Mapquest" -- will hit later on in the year. Full release is after the break.
Hour of Victory Achievements; crickets chirp
So, the Hour of Victory demo dropped onto Marketplace last week, and the general vibe we got was "unimpressed". Well, given that, we're proud to present to you the Achievements, in hopes that perhaps it will give the game some redeeming qualities. It has some diamonds in the rough, like being the top ranked player on the losing team, which is at least original. As for the two secret Achievements, we're guessing the 100 GS involves beating the campaign on a higher difficulty than "any", and the 0 GS one is either a "here's for sucking", or a viral Achievement. Do the multiplayer heavy Achievements do anything for you, or is this even worth your time?
Hour of Victory demo now Live
The only question is, will the Hour of Victory demo now on Xbox Live provide an hour of fun? Also, did Activision release new Call of Duty 3 content today specifically to distract you from this fellow first-person double-dub dos shooter? Wait, well we guess that's two questions. So, the only questions are the two we've already asked. Oh, and will Midway please develop Hour of Victory Airborne so we can fire up the Joystiq Acronizer 3000 and use up these Jay-Z jokes we bought a few years ago on clearance? So, three.Come to think of it, will the less-than-stellar reception the demo is receiving so far keep you from downloading it? And, lest we forget the most important question: What did you think? So, just those five questions, no more. We promise.Update: The Hour of Victory demo has now apparently been pulled from Xbox Live. We don't know if has anything to do with the game's negative reception as this thread suggests. We'll let you know if anything changes.
Thieves swiping HOV exemption stickers from hybrids
For those of you enjoying the free-flowing high-occupancy vehicle lane on the Capitol Expressway (in your HOV-exempt hybrid, no less), stay sharp, as it looks like those oh-so-valuable stickers that reside on your ride appear as gold to thieves. Apparently, "two to three dozen" victims per month are surfacing in California, where the now-extinct stickers are presumably fetching a pretty penny on the underground markets. The labels -- which were handed out to some 85,000 hybrid owners in years past to give them the same speedy privileges are carpoolers -- are no longer being administered by the DMV, which means that those that were able to take advantage are now targets. Interestingly, hybrid vehicles that are up for sale in the area are fetching "nearly $4,000 more" than comparative models so long as they come with the coveted sticker pre-installed. Notably, the DMV claims that the "carpool stickers are treated chemically so they crumble apart if tampered with," but that wee tidbit isn't likely to slow down a desperate bandit.[Via Fark]
