outdoors
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Garmin announces rugged, camera-equipped Montana GPS, trademarks name of another US state
Watch out Oregon, Garmin's getting ready to throw you to the grizzlies. Montana, the GPS-maker's new handheld series, offers three models, including two with a built-in 5 megapixel camera. We wouldn't expect image quality to best that of a good cellphone, but we assume you'll at least be able to get a fix for your geotags. The base model Montana 600 includes a 3-axis compass and 4-inch sunlight-readable touchscreen display for $550, while the 650 adds the camera for $630, and the 650t pairs that cam with pre-loaded topographic maps for $700. All three rugged models include a 16-hour battery, or you can toss in three AA's for up to 22 hours of juice on your next off-road or whitewater rafting adventure, or whatever else you do for fun in Montana. [Thanks, Kyle]
TUAW's Holiday Gift Guide: Taking to the great outdoors
Welcome to the TUAW Holiday Gift Guide! We've sorted the treasure from the junk and are serving up suggestions to make your holiday gift-giving a little easier. When you live in a state of amazing natural beauty like Colorado, it's not just a given that you'll be spending lots of time outdoors using Apple products, it's the law. State troopers will regularly stop by and knock on your door to remind you that it's a beautiful day out there -- and don't you want to get away from your Mac and go enjoy it? Or maybe I meant your mom instead of state troopers. Whatever. If someone you love is an outdoor enthusiast, there are many ways that you can find just the right gift to enhance their enjoyment for getting out of the house, without having to leave their Apple products at home. Here is our TUAW holiday gift guide for the great outdoors. Phone Gloves. With capacitive screens, iPhone devices aren't particularly receptive to gloves. As the weather grows cold, users might find it harder and harder to keep taking off their gloves to manipulate their screens. That's where touchscreen-capable gloves come in. You can buy gloves that work with the iPhone anywhere, from Walmart to high-end fashion retailers. Prices start at around US$15 and go on up. These gloves work by providing a contact that allows the electrical charge from your body to transmit through to the iPhone. That means the gloves are going to have touch points that won't feel uniformly soft and flexible at their tips. So, caveat emptor. But anyone who has tried to make a phone call while waiting in the winter wind for their child's school to dismiss will appreciate the convenience.
Joby tempts the argonauts with Switchback headlamp / lantern
Call us crazy, but we're guessing that the Joby you knew last year will look nothing like the Joby that we see this time next year. Once famous for crafting flexible tripods for simple point and shoot cameras, the outfit has branched out quite significantly since. Case in point: the Switchback. Joby's still relying on its flexible mount expertise by including a tripod with this here lighting instrument, but it's the device itself that steals the show. The water resistant Switchback is a two-piece product; there's a headlamp that can be worn around your dome, and it can be shoved into a lantern container for those sit-around-the-campfire moments. The light itself has a central white beam with two power levels, and it's surrounded by a foursome of Cree LEDs that shine blue or red (and can be toggled with a button press). Joby throws a pair of AA batteries in for good measure, and in our testing, we found it sufficient enough for backyard gatherings and the like. The lantern apparatus has a clip on the bottom in order to affix the aforesaid tripod, but in practice we found it fairly simple to tip over when not wrapped around a tree limb. At any rate, it's on sale today for $59.95 for those looking to hit the forests in the near future.%Gallery-105428%
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!
Run app updates: News on the Nike+, Runkeeper, and Runmeter fronts
I admit it. I've always thought that the Nike+ shoe sensor thing was kind of lame. Even though I actually do own the right shoes, I never thought it worth while to pick up the optional pedometer sensor just so I could take advantage of the built-in iPhone feature. I know that there are people out there who really loved using the Nike+ features on their iPhone but I've much preferred using other tracking apps and skipping the shoe tie-in. Now, several years after GPS debuted on the iPhone 3G, Nike has finally made the move to shoe-less positioning. For $1.99, you can pick up a copy of Nike+ GPS. The reviews on the iTunes site have been generally positive, but it's clear that this is a slick yet limited application.
Magellan busts out 510, 610 and 710 eXplorist outdoor GPS for all you... outdoors types
Magellan's just updated its eXplorist handheld outdoor GPS units. The 510, 610 and 710 (as they are called) all feature 3-inch, touchscreen displays, 3.2 megapixel, auto-focus cams, plus a microphone and speaker for recording notes along the way. They're also waterproof, and come pre-loaded with maps of the entire world. The 710 unit comes with the most detailed on and off-road maps of the series, and both the 610 and 710 feature 3-point compasses. The new eXplorist units are available now, and the 510 will run you $349.99, the 610 is $449.99, and the 710 is $549.99. Full press release is below.
Eight ways the iPhone pwns the iPad
We love our iPads. We wouldn't dream of giving them up. And yet, there are ways and situations where the iPhone simply works better. Without taking potshots at our beloved iPad, here is TUAW's respectful list of mega-win scenarios where the iPhone takes first place in usability. Making phone calls. Yes, you can use line2 to convert your iPad into a quasi-phone that accepts incoming calls, or fire up the Skype app, but for real-world use, nothing beats a device that you can stick into your pocket and then forget about. It rings, you answer, you talk, you hang up. It's a lot easier to use an iPhone than an iPad to make phone calls. Grocery lists. I don't know if you've tried hauling around an iPad in your shopping cart at SuperTarget or Publix, but it doesn't work very well. It's the pocket size, again. The iPhone form factor provides a better match to tracking your chores with on-the-go use than the iPad can. Small wins for this one. Read on for more of our list...
Samsung Wave shows what's Super about its AMOLED display by going outdoors (video)
Direct sunlight -- is there anything more terrifying for an OLED screen? Up until now, you had to sacrifice some outdoor performance from your phone's display in order to get the spectacular contrast and viewing angles on offer from OLEDs. Up until now. Samsung's Wave has been taken for a quick spin by Dutch publication portablegear and while we've no idea what their feedback on the phone was, the moving pictures speak for themselves. The phone remains entirely readable and usable in spite of the bright environment around it -- if you question how much light is hitting it, just take a look at the hand of the person holding it -- and color saturation is maintained throughout. Samsung promised us a great media experience on the handset, but this quick demo places its Super AMOLED tech a clear step above... well, every other display out there. The wildly impressive video awaits after the break, and you can find more imagery and our hands-on impressions here.
Found Footage: MyNature Animal Tracks
I live in a suburban area south of Denver, Colorado, but that doesn't mean that I don't see animal tracks regularly. Quite the contrary -- our area is occasionally visited by mountain lion and black bear, there are herds of elk and white-tailed deer that frequent the area, and it's not unusual to see red fox and coyote loping through the neighborhood. Hiking in the foothills near my home is a sure way to see a variety of animal tracks MyNature, Inc. recently released MyNature Animal Tracks [US$6.99, iTunes Link] to help nature lovers easily identify 43 different species of North American animals. The video above shows the depth of the application, which includes: A searchable database on track size and shape featuring 7 search categories. Clear track drawings showing both fore and hind prints. Images of each animal's common gait and other gait patterns they may use. Photos of an actual track of each animal in the wild. Range maps for each species Sound files of each animal's vocalizations. An image of what the animal looks like in it's natural environment. A ruler to measure and aid in track identification. MyNature journal, for recording personal notes Tips on finding tracks, plaster casting and much more. MyNature Animal Tracks looks like a useful and educational app for anyone who likes to spend time outdoors, and at a price less than the printed track guides that are sold at museums and nature centers.
Garmin spits out new handheld, touchscreen GPS devices
If you're the outdoorsy, adventurous type, this will no doubt be of interest to you. Garmin's just outed two new touchscreen, handheld GPS devices -- the Oregon 450t and 450. These mid-range devices both boast 3-inch displays, weigh in at in 6.8 ounces, and supposedly get around 16 hours of battery life on their two AA batteries. They also have 850MB of internal storage, microSD card slots, and can store up to 2,000 waypoints, 200 routes, 5,000 caches and a track log of 10,000 points and 200 saved tracks -- good news for avid hikers, no doubt. The main difference between the two units here is that the 450t comes preloaded with topographic maps of the entire United States, with coverage of major trails, urban and rural roads, interstates, highways, coastlines, rivers and lakes, national, state and local parks, forests and wilderness areas. Both units are available to order now on Garmin's site, and the Oregon 450 retails for $399.99, while the 450t will cost you $499.99.
CoolerBot photographs nature, gets its power from it
If you're into real life bunny wabbits and other such wildlife, but not a fan of the cold, wet and windy outdoors, what do you do? We'd say just boot up the console and shoot you some pixelated peoples, but Steve Norris' idea might be just a tad more practical. He has authored the above mobile snap-station, which is equipped with an infrared video camera, a Nikon DSLR, and pairs of motors, 10Ah batteries, and solar panels. Power flows from the latter into the former to turn wildlife stalking into a pleasurable pastime for even the most indoorsy of folks. Video demonstration of the hardware after the break.
Power HotSpot for 12 volt 'noncritical' electronics and the survivalists who love them
Companies have been trying to get the ball rollin' for a few years now, but we haven't really seen a solar charger hit the sweet spot between convenience and performance that makes us want to shell out our hard earned dough (or ill-gotten booty). Regen's ReNu doesn't look bad, for example, but it's not exactly something you can take camping. If you are a Grizzly Adams-type, however, Power HotSpot might be something worth looking into. The latest from Solis Energy, a company heretofore known for its commercial solar products, this is a portable unit that can power 12 volt "noncritical" devices via a standard car power adaptor, anywhere that gets a decent amount of sunlight. Retails for $375. PR after the break.
All-weather Satsports GPS handles navigation duties for snow bunnies, other athletes (video)
Ripxx is already targeting athletes-in-training with its GPS-enabled Personal Measurement Device, but it looks as if that very unit may have a little competition. Satsports GPS claims to be the world's first device to combine "true real time interactive navigation for skiing, snowboarding, golfing, running, cycling and automotive enthusiasts in a portable, all-weather device." Granted, it's not like you couldn't get your hands on a rugged navigator before, but the software here is what takes things to another level. It promises athletes real-time routing and data logging, and after your runs are through, you can sync the data with Google Earth to get a good look at what all you just accomplished. As for specs, you'll find a 2.7-inch touchscreen, 400MHz Samsung processor and a microSD expansion card. Oh, and if you're not down with dropping $490 on this, you can opt for the Satski, Pocket Caddy and / or Sports Log apps for WinMo and Android. Check the details in the press release and demo vid after the break.%Gallery-75662%
Ask Engadget HD: Best outdoor projector setup?
It's that time, even HDTV watchers want to get outside and enjoy the summer -- but how do we get our HDTV kicks outside? We've reached out for suggestions on outdoor flat screen televisions, but our friend Alpha Kanu wrote in with a slightly different question: "I was just curious to know whether you guys have any recommendation for me in terms of a very good out door projector for showing movies in a tropical climate. In addition to that do you know of any compatible system like a DVD, Blu-ray or VHS and DVD that can work with it? Thanks for your answers." So, there you have it, anyone picked up an outdoor projection screen and 1080p PJ to go along with their fireworks show last weekend? If you've got any experience or suggestions, drop a line in the comments. Got a burning question that you'd love to toss out for Engadget HD (or its readers) to take a look at? Tired of Google's blank stares when you ask for real-world experiences? Hit us up at ask at engadgethd dawt com and keep an eye on this space -- your inquiry could be next.
Garmin launches Dakota line of handheld GPS units for the great outdoors
Garmin's already firmly entrenched in the GPS for outdoorspeople game with its Oregon line of handhelds, and now the company's announced a new series, the Dakotas. Two models -- the 10 and 20, respectively -- have been launched. These bad boys supposedly have a 20 hour battery charge life, a 2.6-inch LCD (diagonally), and store up to 200 tracks. The higher-end Dakota 20 boasts a MicroSD slot, an electronic compass, a barometric altimeter, and wireless data transfer between compatible units. They're expected in the 3rd quarter and will run you $299.99 for the Dakota 10 and $349.99 for the 20. Full press release after the break.[Via GPS Tracklog]
Garmin launches Oregon 550 and Oregon 550t outdoor navigators
Did you seriously shell out to have ARGONAUT plastered on your license plate? Oh, yeah? Listen up. Garmin has just pushed out a new duo of navigators aimed squarely at you, the Oregon 550 and Oregon 550t. Both of the touchscreen-based devices boast a 3.2 megapixel camera, a 3-axis compass, waterproof chassis, 850MB of internal storage and USB connectivity. Each unit packs a 3-inch, sunlight-readable display, two precharged AA NiMH batteries, loads of waypoint storage and the ability to route you while on the road, on the trail or in the wild. The standard 550 is set to arrive with a worldwide basemap in shaded relief for $499.99, while the 550t comes with preloaded topography maps for the entire US for $599.99. The full release is after the break.
Open Air Cinema brings its 16x9-ft projection screen to market
Open Air Cinema's seasonal timing on bringing out its 16x9-ft inflatable projection screen is a bit off, but who knows -- maybe picking one up now will give you something to look forward to once the ground thaws. Or, be our guest and set up what's billed as "the largest screen available for backyard use" in the snow, call the neighbors over and break out the hot cocoa. For $999, you'll get a 220-inch screen that should put an end to any arguments about who has the biggest TV, and -- mercifully -- a blower that will inflate the rig in seconds so you can spend time getting the projector (not included) set up "just so." We figure that if you're going to be outside, you might as well splurge on the largest screen, but there are also 12-foot and 9-foot versions available for $599 and $449, respectively.
FON CEO teases ruggedized outdoor Foneras
While this isn't the first device we've seen of its kind, new images of a wireless-capable, ruggedized la Fonera router have surfaced on the FON head honcho's personal blog. CEO Martin Varsavsky clearly states that "this is not a product announcement," and that the pictured devices are part of an R&D project, so pricing and availability info are certainly out of the question. Still, it's promising to see FON working to extend the reach of its network beyond the current Fonera / Fontenna combos. Just let us know when this one hits the market, okay Mr. V?[Thanks, Joas]
Ask Engadget HD: What's the best outdoor HDTV?
Granted, it's not the most fitting time to ask this question in the majority of North America, but they always say the best sales are in the off-season. Have a look at Jonathon's request regarding outdoor sets:"We just put in a new deck and pool this summer, and now I'm looking for HDTV options for the outdoors. Ideally, I'd like a set that could withstand the rain and elements so I'm not stuck hauling it in and out each time we want to use it. Obviously, I'm trying to spend the least amount possible while still getting a good product, but I've had zero experience with those rugged, waterproof HDTVs. Anyone out there who could help?" We know a few of you have splurged on a set to sit by the pool, so let's hear it! Are you happy with your Runco / Pantel / etc.? Had any problems with it standing up to the elements? Chime in below.Got a burning question that you'd love to toss out for Engadget HD (or its readers) to take a look at? Tired of Google's blank stares when you ask for real-world experiences? Hit us up at ask at engadgethd dawt com and keep an eye on this space -- your inquiry could be next.
SpeakerCraft introduces outdoor OG speakers for pool owners, lawn mowers
The speaker-in-a-rock was hot stuff back in the day, but now, it's pretty played out. SpeakerCraft has applied its jungle influences to the OG outdoor speaker, which is modeled after an exterior landscape lighting fixture and can be hidden away in flower beds, under bushes or in between statues of Tiki Men. The unit itself includes a 3-inch full-range aluminum cone driver, but it seems as if you'll need to phone up your nearest SpeakerCraft dealer for pricing information. Full release after the break.
