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NAVIGON dizzies with navigation options, then gets us pointed in the right direction again
Do you like having a plethora of navigation choices, Jefe? You'll love NAVIGON's offerings unveiled at last week's IFA, then, a suite of devices that spans from the low end to the high, all featuring pedestrian navigation -- in case you don't already look enough like a tourist. The most affluently wealthy sightseers will be nervously clutching the 8410 or 8450 Live models, both of which offer 5-inch capacitive displays made of honest to gosh glass, Real City3D offering "photo-realistic" navigation, and optional DVB-T reception to catch some Simpsons re-runs when you get lost. On the next step down are the 4.3-inch 6310 and 6350 Live, which lose the glass screen, fancy rendering (though certain landscapes and buildings are still 3D), and digital tuner. Next are the 3.5-inch 2400 and 2410, which sport up to four hours of battery life when wandering untethered around the city, while the 1400 and 1410 models round out the lineup on the low-end. The two Live models, the 8450 and the 6350, offer wireless traffic, weather, and even speed camera updates across 32 nations in Europe; a tidy bundle for those exploring the continent, but at €79.95 ($115) per year you're certainly paying for it. On the hardware side prices start at €129 ($185) for the 1400, then run all the way up to €499 ($715) for the 8450 Live.
EU reaches agreement on Galileo satnav, Spain goes home angry
The European Union's next generation satellite navigation system has finally gotten to green light from all involved parties... except Spain. As we reported in July, the project had gotten the high five from US interests, but the works had been stalled as Spain fought to maintain a control center in Madrid. In the end, 26 of the 27 member states of the Union decided to move forward with the project, declining Spain's request, and leaving them to bow out of the agreement. As of now, there will only be control centers in Germany and Italy, but the project will begin to move forward once again, with a launch slated for 2013. Says EU Transport Commissioner Jacques Barrot, "Galileo will become the spearhead for European technology." We're all for the new system, but we hope a few satellites don't spark another Thirty Years' War.
Russia launches three GLONASS navigation satellites
It's a bit behind schedule, but Russia's GPS-challenging GLONASS satellite navigation looks to have just taken a fairly big step forward, with three satellites now on their way into orbit after hitching a ride on a Proton-K booster rocket that blasted off from Baikonur, Kazakhstan earlier today. According to Reuters, this is also the first launch of a Proton-K rocket since launches were suspended in September, after a booster failed and spilled highly toxic fuel into the Kazakh countryside. No word if Russia still expects the entire GLONASS system to be ready by 2009 as it has said earlier, but it has five more satellites to launch by the end of the year if it wants to keep up the pace it set out for itself.[Photo courtesy of RussiaToday]
Europe's Galileo satellite navigation system at a "dead end"
Europe's answer to GPS, Galileo, may be making some technological progress these days, but it looks like it still has some serious challenges of another sort to overcome if it's going to move forward as planned. According to the BBC, the main problem at the moment is that the consortium of companies building the system have yet to agree on a single company structure to oversee the ambitious endeavor, and they're now about the run against the May 10th date that had been set to get things sorted out. As a result, the European Commission is now reportedly planning to put forth new proposals to completely overhaul the project, which could see an increased cost to taxpayers in the EU. Whatever the problems, the parties involved had better not waste too much time getting their act together -- we hear the Russians are coming on strong with their own challenge to the GPS throne.[Thanks, Stewart]
Land Rover nav system used to guide C-130 cargo plane
In a publicity stunt whose failure would surely overshadow the on-camera mishap experienced by Mercedes while demoing their Brake Assist Plus last year, the Land Rover marketing team loaded a 2006 LR3 onto a C-130 cargo plane and had the pilots fly from France to Corsica using only the SUV's navigation system. Luckily for Team Land Rover, the flight originating in Nice went off without a hitch, and the resulting three-minute documentary will be available online to showcase the nav system's ability to to guide drivers (or pilots) even off-road. Meanwhile, earthbound drivers in the UK, birthplace of Land Rover, are still unable to use their own GPS receivers to avoid driving over cliffs and into rivers.
