PND
Latest
Asus R600 GPS sports auto light sensor
Asus is wondering back into the wilderness that is the portable GPS market with the R600, but we'll admit, it certainly did a fair job differentiating this one from all of the middle-of-the-road alternatives. For starters, you'll find a 4.3-inch WQVGA touchscreen, Samsung 400MHz processor, 128MB of Flash ROM, 64MB of SDRAM, a SIRFstarIII chipset, SD expansion slot for up to 4GB of additional media, a rechargeable battery good for six hours or so, optional TMC module, a multimedia player, and handsfree calling via Bluetooth 2.0 for good measure. Additionally, it features an auto light sensor which automatically adjusts the LCD backlight when the time comes to make viewing the screen a bit more pleasurable. Unfortunately, mum's the word on pricing and availability at the moment.[Via FarEastGizmos]
Mustek's GPS 200 falls out of the ugly tree
Although it probably didn't hit every branch while plummeting, Mustek's GPS 200 doesn't do itself any favors in the attractivity department, and sadly, the specs themselves don't exactly come to the rescue. What we've got is a 4.2-inch touchscreen LCD with a paltry 320 x 240 resolution, a 200MHz Centrality processor, USB connectivity, a Li-ion rechargeable, SD / MMC port, and Desinator 6 navigation software that includes NAVTEQ maps of 30 countries in Europe. Additionally, you'll find text-to-speech abilities, an MP3 / video player, image viewer, and Windows CE.net 4.2 runnin' the show. Unfortunately, the fold-out GPS antenna leaves much to be desired, but considering the modest €249 ($335) pricetag, we'll give it somewhat of a pass.[Via NaviGadget]
Sanyo bumps the memory on its 1seg-equipped GPS receivers
When it comes to spec bumps, there's not much that's less exciting than a simple capacity boost, so you'll have to excuse our lack of excitement over Sanyo's new NV-SB250DT and NV-SD200DT Gorilla-brand personal navigation devices. Both models share almost the exact same feature sets as their predecessor, the NV-SD10DT -- 4.5-inch, 400 x 234 pixel touchscreen, built-in 1seg tuners with EPG, and 2GB of storage (up from 1GB on the SD10DT) -- and only differ in that the SB250DT sports a rechargeable battery where the SD200DT (pictured) takes replaceable ones (Eneloops, hopes Sanyo). April 24th is when these two 'new' models will hit Japan, with the 250 marked at ¥99,750 ($833.91) and the 200 sporting an open price. [Via Impress]
Sony debuts NV-U92T, U82, U72T and U52 nav devices for Europe
Just in case we were running into some sort of personal navigation device shortage, Sony has come to the rescue with four new NV units for Europe, which are sure to cover any gaps that might've been left by the myriad of other GPS devices announced in the recent weeks. At the top of the heap, the NV-U92T (pictured) sports a 4.8-inch wide-format touchscreen display, 2GB of flash memory, Memory Stick updates and live traffic info. Of similar ilk, the NV-U82 matches the U92T on display size, but only house 512MB of memory and skips the traffic updates. Both devices are 0.79-inches thick, and feature accelerometers to keep rough track of your location even when you've lost GPS coverage. If that's too much screen for you, Sony is also busting out the NV-U72T and NV-U52, which aren't quite so thin as their pricey companions, lack accelerometers, and sport 3.5-inch touchscreens, but otherwise mirror the specs of the U92T and U82: 2GB of flash and traffic info on the U72T, 512MB of flash in the U52. No word on price, but the big ones should be coming out in late spring, with the other two following this summer.[Via Mobile Whack]Read - Sony NV-U92T and NV-U82Read - Sony NV-U72T and NV-U52%Gallery-2340%
GlobalSat's GV-380: another PND with DVB-T
We wish that could we tell you that GlobalSat's new GV-380 was gonna be the last multimedia PND you ever saw, but we all know that's far from the case. Instead, the SiRFStar III-powered device is the latest in a long line of portable GPS receivers that spice it up with a little video content, in this case OTA TV courtesy of a DVB-T tuner. Also on board are a 400MHz processor, 4.3-inch touchscreen display, SD slot for loading up maps, and the claimed "high performance stereo speaker." Since the 380 just made its debut at CeBIT, pricing and availability details aren't exactly clear, and even though GlobalSat gear is pretty readily available Stateside, that tuner pretty much precludes any appearances in our neck of the woods.[Via NaviGadget]
Celrun's Freesat do-it-all handles GPS / DMB / PMP
While the PMP / GPS market continues to converge and pop out more and more jack-of-all-trades devices, Celrun is looking to join the ever-growing fray by dishing out an (admittedly impressive) all-in-one unit of its own. Starting with the sleek black / silver design scheme and ultrathin frame, this Windows CE-powered conglomerate does a fine job of packing the features in a sexy enclosure, and offers up a 520MHz Intel PXA270 processor, navigation, DMB, a text viewer, MP3 player, video playback, and a seven-inch 800 x 480 touchscreen to boot. Moreover, all the buttons are of the side and top-mounted variety, and while it doesn't appear to house any type of internal storage, SD / CF cards are more than welcome here. Although we're sure you saw this coming, only folks camped out in Korea will be receiving this here luxury, but we're not sure just how long they'll have to wait, nor how much coinage it'll end up demanding.
Cobra to launch five-inch GPS device, another for truckers
While most of the recent attention pointed at Cobra has been in regard to its controversial red-light camera / radar detector, the firm is purportedly looking to bust out another navigation unit before the year's end. While the nitty gritty details are scant, the firm is slated to unveil a five-inch personal navigation device (PND) during 2007, but a concrete release date wasn't given. Additionally, a trucker-centric rendition that presumably offers up every truck stop in the continental US as a POI should follow suit once "new software from TeleAtlas" is available for use. Interestingly, the company insinuated that offering "niche PND products" was one way for it to avoid competing with the smorgasbord of other options strictly on price, but unless this elusive device packs some seriously off-the-wall features that we're not aware of, entering the already saturated five-inch GPS market won't be a cakewalk.[Via GPS Tracklog]
Switched On: Dashing through the slow
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about technology, multimedia, and digital entertainment: Last week's Switched On explained how Dash Navigation's use of wireless technology intends to teach the GPS bloodhound some new tricks, but the company plans to primarily use its new design to tackle two of the hottest trends in portable navigation. Many GPS units now offer real-time traffic information based only on incident reporting, and the devices are not very intelligent about weighing the traffic in alternative routes to determine the fastest path. As a result, you could drive off of the freeway and into the fire. In contrast, Dash's traffic esimates are based on traffic flow. It begins with a historical database of what traffic speeds are like for sections of highways at specific times of the day. Beyond that, Dash GPS units act as probes, reporting back on actual speed of cars on those segments. This clues in those who come after them about construction and other aberrations from traffic patterns. To do this effectively, though, Dash must take advantage of a network effect; the company estimates that a few thousand Dash units should provide good coverage of major roadways within large cities. While the Dash unit includes a point of interest database, it can use its connectivity to query a local search engine such as those offered by Yahoo! and Google, leveraging the efficient if fallible semantic categorizations that these Web-based local search engines offer. Typing in practically any word will return listings, even if they are not in the title of the business. For example, typing "burrito" might return local Mexican restaurants that have them on the menu. Dash is also exploring RSS feeds -- a natural fit for this kind of device -- as well as enhanced business listings that might include, for example, hours of operation.
Switched On: Dash puts wireless in the driver's seat
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about technology, multimedia, and digital entertainment: No one would ever accuse the Dash team of low self-esteem. "What the TV did for entertainment and the cell phone did for communication, Dash will do for driving." the company's Web site crows, A more accurate analogy for Dash, though, would be what TiVo did for television, that is, give consumers a greater degree of control over the media or information they're trying to manage in a contextually relevant way. Dash plans to achieve its five-star impact rating via a portable GPS device. The portable GPS market shifted into high gear a few years ago when Magellan offered a hard disk inside of its Roadmate 700 units. Consumers no longer had to deal with cumbersome PC downloads; street-level maps of the whole country could be pre-loaded. A year later, a gigabyte or two of flash memory is enough to include street-level maps for the United States. Magellan representatives recently noted that it plans to switch completely from hard drives to flash in the next generation. The TomTom Go 910 can even hold maps of the U.S. and Europe for those leisurely drives across the Atlantic Ocean.
