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NAVI hack uses a Kinect to let the blind see, wear awesome headgear (video)
They're getting ever more practical, these Kinect hacks. Two days ago it was creating 3D models in free-space, today it's letting the blind see. Well, not really see, but better navigate through and stay informed about their environment, at least. A Kinect is attached to a helmet and connected to a backpack-mounted Dell laptop. Also connected to the laptop is an Ardunio-controlled belt that has three separate regions of vibration and a Bluetooth headset of the "obnoxious guy talking loudly to his stock broker on the train" variety. Finally, thanks to a little C#, the whole package allows someone to walk down a hall and receive verbal and tactile notifications of obstacles in their path. Wearers can also receive navigation to different areas and, thanks to ARToolKit identifiers stuck on the walls, even have signs read to them. It's called NAVI (Navigational Aids for the Visually Impaired), created by Michael Zöllner and Stephan Huber at the University of Konstanz, and it's all demonstrated for you below. Dig that hat, man. Dig that hat.
Pioneer engineers Android-powered cyclocomputer, might remind Landis to stop doping
Think Android has reached its limit when it comes to applications? Think again. Pioneer has conjured up a new cyclocomputer, and compared to the antediluvian rivals available on the market today, this one looks like a bona fide supercomputer. It's designed for mounting on the bike's handlebars, where riders can then see speed, cadence, heart rate, and power at a glance. The device is engineered to play nice with the ANT+ wireless specification, and it can also pull data from optional crank sensors that can be installed to monitor one's pedaling force. Furthermore, it's equipped with GPS, and we're guessing it's a prime candidate for running Google's own My Tracks app. There's no time table for release, but we're guessing the International Cycling Union will have one out in no time... one that continuously tests riders for illicit substances, of course. Video's after the break, if you're down for more.
TomTom's Map Share update brings crowdsourced navigation to iPhone GPS app
Buckled early and sprung for TomTom's iPhone GPS app, did you? If so, that very app just got a lot better today, as version 1.6 has brought TomTom's Map Share -- a crowdsourcing aspect that'll keep your maps more up-to-date than you ever thought possible. Map Share enables iPhone users to make changes instantly to their own maps and to benefit from free map updates made by the TomTom community and verified by the company itself. That means that users will now be able to edit street names, set driving directions and block / unblock streets directly on their maps, and if you're kind enough, you can share those updates with the rest of the TomTom community. Furthermore, the app will automatically check for new verified updates (including turn restrictions, speed limit changes and crossing changes), so the previously tried-and-true "my maps were old!" excuse will sadly no longer work. Give and take, as they say.
Google Latitude makes brief appearance in App Store, gets yanked post-haste
Ah, the games that grown-ups play. It's a situation that's beginning to feel an awful lot like the Google Voice fiasco that made the rounds in mid-2009, but if it ends in a similar fashion, you won't find us kvetching about the teases. As the story goes, a bona fine Google Latitude app made its appearance in Japan's App Store hours ago, only to be yanked before it could sashay over to any other nation. TechCrunch reckons that it was El Goog doing the pulling -- it's quite possible that the folks in Mountain View weren't quite ready to publicly reveal it, and with all that Chrome action going down yesterday, it's not hard to imagine how an impending launch was overlooked. At any rate, the description of the app as well as most of the screenshots were in English, so we're cautiously optimistic that it'll resurface in the near future once a few Is are dotted and Ts crossed. With iOS 4 supporting background location, there's hardly a reason to wait any longer, right?
Garmin launches OpenCaching community, pushes caching closer to the mainstream
What's that? You've never heard of caching? For shame! In all seriousness, we're surmising that quite a few of you out there may have overlooked this up-and-coming jewel of recreation, but Garmin's doing its darnedest to change that. The GPS maker has just opened up a new online community at OpenCaching.com, hailed "a completely free online community for creating, sharing and finding geocaches around the world." For those out of the loop, caching is akin to a sophisticated game of hide-and-seek, where individuals download GPX files and then head out on adventures that'll lead them to various surprises and / or treasures. A two-month old honey bun, an original script from Step Brothers, or maybe even a sealed bag of Deutsche Marks from last century -- you know, things of that sort. The site even lets users rank the 'Awesomeness' in addition to size, terrain and difficulty, and while it's obviously hosted by Garmin, it's platform agnostic in nature. Head on over if you're looking to blaze a few trails over the holiday break.
Bing's detailed mall directory maps improve Paul Blart's livelihood, should be on mobile
Mall maps integrated into an online mapping system? It's not exactly a minty fresh concept, but Microsoft has managed to seriously up the game with its Bingified mall directory maps. These zoomable, highly detailed maps help you see the layout and store count at a glance, with each click inside of a store yielding an exact address, phone number and links to 'Directions' / 'Send to Mobile.' Heck, you can even use 'em to discover the best place to park. Only problem? They aren't exactly mobile friendly just yet, which all but defeats the purpose. Except, of course, if you've got the photographic memory that every stressed-out college student in existence longs for. Hit the source link to see if your nearby shopping complex is one of the 22 listed -- if not, you can only pray that it's added prior to December 24th.
Magellan RoadMate GPS app updated for iOS 4, includes real-time traffic and multitasking
Magellan may not be the head honcho when it comes to standalone PNDs here in North America, but that's not stopping the outfit from keeping its iOS app up to snuff. With TomTom, Navigon and Garmin all introducing iOS 4-compatible apps over the past few months, Magellan has finally done likewise -- version 1.3 of the app now enables navigation to occur in the background, meaning that iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4 users will still hear turn-by-turn guidance while using another application. Better still, real-time traffic information is provided free of charge through NAVTEQ, alerting motorists to accidents, traffic flow and the nearest ice cream truck. If you've already sunk cash into this one, now's a solid time to check those updates -- otherwise, you can hit the source links for a trifecta of versions catering to various regions.
Garmin officially exits the smartphone business, reports mixed Q3 earnings
Based on our experience with relationships, we've learned that it takes two to tango. It also takes two to produce co-branded wares, and with ASUS already withdrawing (respectfully, of course) from the ill-fated Garmin-Asus smartphone partnership, this here is more a formality than anything else. That said, those worried that Garmin would try to loop in another handset maker in order to manufacturer yet another Garminfone that 3.4 people would consider buying can rest easy. In the company's Q3 2010 earnings, it confirmed that it is "winding down" its smartphone efforts, and rather than continuing on a path to doom and destruction, it'll be ramping up marketing efforts in the aviation and maritime sectors. As for quarterly results, the company did see net income rise to $279.5 million (up from $215.1 million a year ago), but shares fell as it issued a depressing outlook for Q4 amid weakening demand for standalone PNDs. Hate to say we told you so...
Visualized: Garmin's G5000 integrated flight deck looks hard to navigate
Still upset that you missed your chance back in '88 to attend NASA's Aviation Challenge? Don't be. Garmin's G5000 fully integrated flight deck is the real deal, and we're certain that you could be looking at one in just a few months. Train up, nab a pilot's license and then convince some sucker to finance a business jet for you -- a minor chore in exchange for dual 12- or 14-inch flight panels with touchscreen control, wouldn't you say?
TomTom maps get loaded onto HTC Locations, promise 'zero-wait navigation experience'
Look out, Google Maps Navigation -- here comes a little friendly competition from across the pond. While we'd heard the term HTC Locations bandied about a bit during the company's London launch of the Desire HD, now it looks as if both HTC and TomTom are ready to make their newfound friendship official. TomTom will be partnering with HTC in order to provide maps for phones loaded with HTC Locations, which is hailed as a new mapping system that results in a "zero-wait navigation experience." Initially, at least, it'll only be available on the new HTC Desire HD and HTC Desire Z smartphones in Europe and Asia, but the outfit promises to extend that to a wide variety of future phones and geographies. It should be noted, however, that while map and location content come preloaded on HTC Locations, turn-by-turn by guidance has to be purchased separately.
Garmin's $23 Chirp wireless beacon brings geocaching thrills to Oregon, Dakota GPS units
Looking for an avenue to join millions of others in geocaching, eh? We know, there's hardly a better way to spend a weekend than by playing a sophisticated game of hide-and-seek, and Garmin's right there with us. If you, like it, are stuck in Kansas with nary a Jayhawk game in sight, this here pebble is the answer to all of your boredom woes. The Chirp is a wireless beacon that's designed to work with any compatible wireless-enabled Garmin handheld (the Oregon, Dakota and the recently announced GPSMAP handhelds are mentioned by name), and once you've set it up to cooperate with your device, it'll automatically transmit program coordinates so other cachers can find each stage of your multicache -- it's touch-and-go in its simplest form. The whole thing measures just 1.3- x 0.9-inches, weighs under an ounce and can be had for just $22.99. So yeah, good luck sticking to Segway polo with an offer like that. Update: Video after the break!
Cafepress teams with TomTom to slather your GPS in color, make it totally unsellable
Has Colorware started a revolution that's now impossible to stop? Here's hoping the answer is contrary to the obvious. TomTom has -- for reasons unknown -- decided it best to give consumers the option of coating their future navigator in... well, whatever they want. We aren't generally ones to gripe about choices, but the demonstration photo here definitely caters to those in favor of all things vivacious. The outfit has teamed with Cafepress in order to make the magic happen on "select models," and amazingly, privilege of destroying any and all resale value will cost you absolutely nothing. Talk about an incentive to buy.
Sony brings TomTom to US-bound XNV-770BT and XNV-660BT in-dash head units
We heard back at IFA that Sony was making the absolutely brilliant move of incorporating a market leading navigational system into its Xplod line of in-dash A/V units, and now that love is being shipped across the Atlantic (or the Pacific, if you're taking the scenic route) in the form of the XNV-770BT and XNV-660BT. The beautiful Sony / TomTom partnership will soon be assisting clueless American motorists when both of the previously mentioned units ship in November, with the 770BT offering a 7-inch capacitive touchscreen and the 660BT stepping down to a 6.1-incher. They'll both feature rear USB ports for iDevice connections, support for multi-channel audio playback and most importantly, pre-loaded maps of US and Canadian roadways. TomTom claims that its maps offer more than one million more miles of roads than other GPS brands in America alone, and buyers will also be treated to familiar TomTom extras like IQ Routes, Advanced Lane Guidance, MapShare and six million POIs. We still wish Garmin would've received the nod here, but it's certainly better than some white label system -- check 'em soon for $1,300 and $1,000 in order of mention.
Canon's Wonder Camera, and other future concepts that tease us from behind glass
Canon had a lot to show for itself at its annual expo today, from the EOS 60D to the (working!) Multipurpose 4K concept, but the best goodies are of course the ones just a few steps outside of today's technological limits. One display in particular that caught our eye was the 2010 Image Creation set, featuring the bold Wonder Camera Concept from July. Nothing functional here, not even in sleight-of-hand video render form, but the models are quite the lookers. Joining the "SLR Style Concept" (as it was being called here, according to the accompanying placard) were the 3D Cam, Image Palette (display), Image Navi Cam (point and shoot), and MR HMD (helmet) -- all aesthetically Kubrick in nature. Not that we mind, of course; we find it best to go ahead and accept our future for the glossy white design motif that it'll assuredly become. Elsewhere, we happened upon the purported "world's largest CMOS sensor" -- not that we'd argue with what we saw -- and the more compact 120 megapixel CMOS, along with (separately) its panoramic camera prototype body. You can live vicariously through us in the photos below. %Gallery-101173%
Innocent glasses transform into GPS-equipped routing mechanism... on video!
The Powers That Be may think that they're pulling the wool over our eyes, but we can see the planned fate unfolding in front of us. Before long, our arms will be effectively useless -- after all, once you can game and navigate with just your face, why bother pumping iron and keeping those biceps toned? Over at Wireless Japan 2010, the Nakajima Laboratory at the University of Electro-Communications showcased a prototype that helps explain the latter. Dubbed a Wearable Personal Navigation System, this GPS-infused pair of glasses has integrated LEDs in the frame that wearers can see in their periphery; there's also a magnetic direction sensor, which detects the orientation of the user's head. Once you point your face in a given direction, the LEDs change color to let you know which way you need to head in order to walk, sprint or gallop to your destination. It's hard to tell how long we'll have to wait before we see these on Pearle Vision's Buy 1 Get 1 rack, but the video after the break ain't making it any easier to wait.
Google Maps Send-To-Car feature goes live on Ford SYNC systems
Avid OnStar users received this here functionality a fortnight ago, and BMW owners have been bragging about it for years. But it looks as if the world's other automakers are finally coming around to one of life's undeniable facts: Google Maps is top-notch, and in almost every instance, trumps whatever factory mapping system that any given consumer has overpaid for. Today, drivers of Ford, Lincoln and Mercury vehicles in the US enabled with Ford SYNC can send business listings or addresses found on GMaps directly to their cars (from a web browser, naturally). With the new additions, Google's Send-To-Car feature is now active in 19 countries and across 20 brands, but we're guessing that your brand isn't one of them. Or maybe that's just us moping and looking for company.
Apple acquires web mapping firm Poly9, probably has something up its sleeve
Per usual, it seems as if this deal has happened in the dark of the night, but thankfully for the curious among us, it's a bit difficult to disguise a caravan of humans escaping Québec and fleeing to Cupertino. According to a report in The Sun as well as an independent confirmation on our end, Apple has picked up a small Canadian firm by the name of Poly9. As of now, every last employee has been relocated to California, with the couple who declined left to find other work in the Great White North. Poly9's official website is also blanked out, but in the past, the company has been credited with developing loads of web-based mapping programs (primarily in Flash, crazily enough) as well as APIs for a handful of monolithic clients like Microsoft, Yahoo!, NORAD and MSNBC. Generally speaking, Apple tends to integrate its purchases into the workflow at a rather rapid clip, so we're actually expecting something to come of this in the not-too-distant future. What, exactly, remains to be seen. [Thanks, Anonymous]
Ford Eco-Route plots most fuel efficient path, tells you how much longer it'll take
Ford's been slowly but surely tweaking its MyFord Touch interface for months now, and the latest stroke of genius to come across will surely light up the faces of treehuggers. In an effort to provide more routing options to drivers, the automaker is showcasing its new Eco-Route function in the 2011 Edge, which may or may not cause velitation with the good folks over at Garmin's similarly titled ecoRoute project. At any rate, the new addition allows motorists to choose between the fastest route, shortest (distance) route or most fuel efficient route, and it places the estimated time of travel for each within eyesight. We're guessing that most of you would simply select the method that requires the smallest investment of time, but those with nothing but may enjoy the new option. And somehow, somewhere, Mother Earth is blowing you a carbon-free kiss. Check out a brief demonstration video after the break.
Motorola's Motonav TN765 navigator gets reviewed: a widescreen PND done right
Motorola doesn't exactly have a huge foothold in the portable navigation market, but it's not like the TomToms and Garmins of the world really need to keep on keepin' on sans any legitimate competition. Originally revealed at CES (and once again at MWC), the Motonav TN765 is one of the most bizarrely designed GPS units we've ever seen, taking on a Philips 21:9 Cinema type of layout in order to provide an ultra-widescreen view that can't easily be found elsewhere. Now, the 5.1-inch device is on sale in the US for around $270, and we've collected a number of reviews from those who've had the ability to whiz around town with one adhered to the windshield. For the most part, critics were duly impressed with the wide variety of features (Bluetooth handsfree calling, text-to-speech, voice dialing, auto map zooming and a litany of live data reports informing you of the local weather forecast, gas prices, etc.). Previously, Motorola's PND efforts weren't exactly lauded, but this guy's different -- most everyone found the robust feature set and stunning user interface to be more than satisfactory, with the main detraction being the intermittent MotoExtras service and dodgy reception in dense, urban areas. Hit up the links below before pulling the trigger (or switching on the safety, as it were).
Maplock chains GPS unit to steering wheel, dares thieves to interfere
Remember The Club? Sure you do. We can't say that Who-Rae's Maplock is destined to become just as goofy in the pop culture scene, but it's certainly one of the more absurd peripherals that we've seen this year. Put simply, this contraption provides a locking mount for your navigation unit and a presumably snip-proof cable that locks around one's steering wheel. We suppose the point here is to easily show pondering thieves that they should probably select another vehicle to jack, but the easier solution is to figure out a mounting setup that doesn't involve suction cup residue. For those who'd rather be safe than sorry, the Maplock can be procured for right around $50 -- just be prepared for all sorts of jeering from your car club mates. Vid's after the break, vaquero.
