sat nav
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Galileo sat-nav system back on the map, said to be 'up and running' by 2014
Remember Galileo, Europe's proposed GPS-like satellite navigation system? It's back in the headlines, and according to the Telegraph, UK-based Surrey Satellite Technology and Germany's OHB System have jointly secured €566 million (that's $815 million in US currency) to build 14 more satellites. The funding continues until 2013, whereby 22 satellites will be order. Full satellite navigation requires 27, and ultimately the European Union wants 32 technological waypointers. Launch date? Apparently 2014 -- we're hopeful, but this road has been wrought with delays before.
Audi A8 MMI adds handwriting recognition to list of 2011 features
The A8's Multi Media Interface (a fancy name for a nav unit with media player attached) is already a pretty sophisticated piece of tech, but Audi has opted against resting on those laurels and has pushed out a new feature for the luxury saloon's next iteration. The 2011 A8 (available in Spring 2010 -- crazy, we know) will benefit from the same handwriting recognition as promised for the next-gen R8, wherein the user is able to scribble his destination all John Hancock-like and then use the touchscreen to complete his instructions. With Cyrillic, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean character support, this could be a particular boon for gadget lovers of a more Eastern persuasion. And just in case you're fretting that the rest of your gear won't get as much love, there are further plans afoot for connecting the car via UMTS and distributing WiFi goodness to the devices inside it. The only thing this is missing is a Snoop Dogg voiceover for the ultimate in convergence tech. Video after the break.
TomTom Car Kit for iPhone review
Boy, TomTom sure has chosen the worst possible time to release its Car Kit for iPhone, and to make matters worse, its decision to not include the iPhone app is now set in stone. That's right, the hardware alone will set you back the cost of a TomTom ONE nowadays, and the $99.95 app works on the iPhone 3G and 3GS without it. So here's the question: is the car kit worth the extra $119.95? To find out, we got hold of a review unit for a sunny road trip around London. Surprisingly, the car kit uses Bluetooth to connect the GPS receiver and the hands-free function to the iPhone, even though there's a dock connector for charging. Bluetooth connectivity does have its advantages: according to TomTom it can work as a generic Bluetooth GPS receiver for any satellite navigation app -- including Google Maps -- on the iPhone, or any smartphones at all for that matter. TomTom even confirmed that the car kit could potentially compensate for the first-generation iPhone's lack of built-in GPS, but since its app won't run on anything but a 3G or 3GS we'll have to wait and see if that's actually useful. Meanwhile, the company is cooking up a compatible app for the original iPhone and the iPod touch, which could make the car kit more worthwhile. [Update: the app has now been updated to work with the iPod Touch and the original iPhone, but you'll need to get a separate (and slightly cheaper) model of the Car Kit for the iPod touch. Thanks, Philippe!] Read on for our hands-on impression and test videos. [Thanks for being our driver, Sam] %Gallery-76686%
CSR debuts SiRFstarIV location-aware architecture, kisses slow fixes goodbye
Nary half a year after snapping up SiRF, CSR is already tooting its horn about an all new SiRFstar architecture. The predictably titled SiRFstarIV technology takes quite the leap over its three-pronged predecessor, all but promising to nix those annoyingly long location fixes that are all too common on existing PNDs. The new location-aware, self-assisted, micro-power tech enables devices to be continually aware of location without requiring network aide; furthermore, there's hardly any power drain to speak of, which ought to please smartphone owners who can literally watch their battery meter drop with GPS enabled. CSR's first SiRFstarIV product is the GSD4t receiver, which is optimized for mobile phones and "other space and power-sensitive consumer devices." We're told that samples of the chip are shipping out now, with mass production slated for October and device integration happening shortly thereafter.
Becker readies Z100 Crocodile GPS system for IFA debut
Believe it or not, the Berlin-based IFA trade show is nearly upon us, and Becker is more than prepared. Reportedly, the Z100 Crocodile will be making the journey, complete with a 4.3-inch display, an SD card slot, European NAVTEQ maps, a SiRFstarIII GPS receiver and RDS-TMC support. Furthermore, the unit will sport an ultra-rugged exterior meant to handle nearly any jungle excursion you set out on. Expect to hear more (a price and release date would be just fine, Becker) when IFA commences late next month.[Via NaviGadget]
Trucker blindly follows GPS, gets wedged in farm lane
At first glance, we seriously assumed that we had mentioned this exact same story before. Turns out, one particular Maxi Haulage driver doesn't tune into Engadget, as he pulled the exact same trick in (almost) the same circumstances. Reportedly, this timber haul was cut short as the driver followed his personal GPS system down a "farm lane" suitable only for (presumably small) tractors, and needless to say, the 45-foot vehicle has been wedged ever since. Additionally, the owner of the property is quite irate, as the mishap is forcing her to drive an extra two miles until rescue arrives. Still, the motorist did cruise right by a sign noting that the upcoming road was unfit for heavy goods vehicles, so at least the sat nav can't take all of the blame this go 'round.[Thanks, Carl H.]
Binatone's Carrera S350 navigator is nail friendly
We're not exactly sure what makes a navigator one that women swoon over, but hooking it up with a pink or zebra striped faceplate is probably a good start. The Carrera S350 is pretty neutral right out of the box, sporting just a white frame, a 3.5-inch LCD, integrated MP3 player, camera alerts and 2D / 3D maps of the UK and Ireland. But this piece gets all kinds of wild when the aforementioned fascias take over. Furthermore, Binatone even asserts that a stylus is included "for those with nails to protect," and just in case you aren't up to speed on your technobabble, the firm informs you that a stylus is simply "a wand for pressing the screen." Don't be too insulted, ladies -- it's only £99.99 ($197).[Via Pocket-lint]
UK blames sat navs for damaging 2,000 bridges per year
We've already seen plenty of evidence of the potential damage that sat navs can cause, but the UK's Network Rail has now put a figure on at least some of it, saying that the devices are responsible for damaging some 2,000 bridges per year and causing 5,000 hours of delays. That, thankfully, is not from the satellites falling from the sky, but rather from over drivers relying a little too heavily on GPS units (in particular those driving trucks too large for the bridges), a problem apparently so bad that some places in the UK have taken to putting up signs warning of the dangers. That's apparently not quite enough to solve the problem, however, and now , in addition to warning people to use a little common sense, Network Rail is also reportedly attempting to map all of the UK's low bridges and level crossings so that the information can be added to GPS software.[Thanks, Charles H]
Honda's 1981 Electro Gyrocator: vintage navigation at its finest
If you've balked at the prices automakers are charging for integrated navigation systems, you should really take a look at what ¥300,000 ($2,746) would buy you in 1981. That atrocity you see above was an actual option in Honda's Accord during Ronald Reagan's presidency, and while it didn't sync up with any satellites, it did help to guide you along in some form or another. The Electro Gyrocator, as it was so eloquently named, accepted transparencies of maps and utilized a gas gyroscope that allowed the map to move with the motion of the car and plot your progress. Once a certain map ran out of road, you just popped the next one in and kept on cruisin'. And here we are kvetching about whether our portable navigator has 10 or 11 million POIs...[Via Autoblog]
GPS leads driver into tight spot, stays wedged for three days
Every few months, we happen upon yet another story involving a motorist who simply believes that their GPS system would never, ever lead them astray. This go 'round, a Czech lorry driver continued down an incredibly narrow lane at the request of his sat nav, and even though his ginormous camion was clearly too large to make it around the 90-degree turn, he threw common sense to the wind and continued onward. Needless to say, his ride ended up wedged so tightly he couldn't reverse his way out, so he decided to set up shop for three whole days rather than calling for "an expensive weekend rescue." Interestingly enough, the fellow managed to acquire food after befriending a couple that lived nearby, and while we're sure he uttered Michael Scott's words in a different tongue, we've little doubt that "the machine knows!" was heard by nearby wildlife shortly before this situation turned sour.
Hackers next target: your in-car navigation system
We hate to break it to you, but that oh-so-reliable GPS system that you simply obey each day could eventually lead you down a dark, perilous path. No, we're not referring to the blind faith drivers who throw caution common sense to the wind and drive directly into sandpiles and bodies of water, but a new discovery has found that the unencrypted data that's beamed to drivers everyday via RDS-TMC navigation systems could be undermined with relative ease. Andrea Barisani, chief security engineer with Italian consultancy Inverse Path, has claimed that the wireless signals could not only be intercepted, but incorrect directions could actually be used to lead motorists into a trap, direct traveling competitors away from a sales presentation, or create a massive gridlock by instructing the weary working crowd to all take the same "detour" home. It was noted that some firms are already looking into more secure methods of delivering such critical information, and considering the lessons we've already learned about GPS-addicted drivers, the updates can't come soon enough.[Thanks, Andrea B.]
UK posts signs to ignore navigation systems, avoid perils
Once upon a blue moon, we can only assume that the advent of GPS meant easier navigating for all, as humans thought less about finding a map and more about focusing on the road. Apparently, blokes (and dames) over in England need to revert back to the paper-based method, as the government has been forced to erect warning signs in specific areas in order to get folks to pay attention to their surroundings. Odd as it may sound, the "Do Not Follow SAT NAV" cautions have actually quelled accidents on a narrow road in which drivers of wide vehicles were blindly driving themselves into a literal pinch. The vivid yellow signs have been posted in Exton, near Winchester in Hampshire, and embarrassingly enough, we wouldn't doubt if more make their way around given the Brits' long history of choosing outdated GPS instructions over common sense.
The BMW commuter train
One more reason to trust common sense over the little voice coming out of your nav system.[Thanks, Max G.]
When growing pot, don't leave the crops' coordinates in your GPS receiver
We should start off by saying that growing and selling marijuana for a living isn't the best idea -- besides being illegal, it doesn't look very good on your resumé, and the lack of a 401k option is detrimental to your retirement plans. And if you're absolutely dead set on a career in chronic cultivation, driving around with 18 pounds of the stuff in your trunk is something that you'd want to avoid. But a gentleman in Racine, Wisconsin named Dean Brown must be far dimmer than the average dope grower, because not only was he caught with a car full of freshly-harvested wacky tobacky, he was actually stupid enough to have stored the coordinates of all his grow sites in a portable GPS receiver hanging around his neck. After sheriff's deputies discovered the huge stash in Brown's car, they proceeded to plug all of the locations from the nav unit into Google Earth, giving them a handy map that has led to four separate plots of pot so far. As a repeat drug offender, Brown faces up to 59 years in prison and a steep fine for his latest brush with law, although there's a slight chance that he'll get off if the arresting officers are unable to pull themselves away from their marathon screening session of "The Wizard of Oz" synced up to Pink Floyd's "The Wall."[Via 27B Stroke 6]
Dotel's Navi Box brings GPS to your in-car A / V system
Although a lot of in-car entertainment systems come equipped with navigation these days, you were unlucky enough to have to pimped out your fleet of luxury vehicles before the bubble burst, and now that all your loot's all gone, you're one of the only people rolling around in a GPS-free Lambo. Well, friend, all is not lost, as we've just stumbled upon an external GPS receiver from Korean manufacturer Dotel that eschews the fancy Bluetooth radio for a good old-fashioned wired connection; this means that you can hook the Navi Box DOTN120 to any in-dash unit with a screen via RGB or composite A / V cables. On the specs tip, this device runs Windows CE.Net 4.2 powered by a 300MHz Samsung processor, sports 64MB of RAM / 32MB of ROM (expandable to 1GB), pumps out QVGA resolution, and features an IR receiver and GPS port for use with an optional remote control and external antenna, respectively. You also get an SD slot to store your maps and multimedia content, so you can load up some MP3s and videos to complement your collection of CDs and DVDs. Unfortunately there's no word on pricing or availability here, but we imagine that you won't have to pawn too many more possessions in order to get your hands on one.[Via Navigadget]
Nokia to offer GPS solution for 770 Internet Tablet
Besides being quite a handy portal to the internet while you're out and about, Nokia's 770 Internet Tablet is about to acquire some navigation functionality as well, thanks to an upcoming hardware and software suite from Navicore. Called the Nokia Navigation Kit, this bundle will include the Navicore Personal 2007 software, an unspecified Bluetooth GPS receiver, and a car-mount rig, priced at €199; for the equivalent of $248, you're getting TeleAtlas- and Navteq-based maps of continental Europe and the UK, although if you live elsewhere in the world (like we do), you'll have to shell for additional street-level map packs. Since Navicore's software will also run in UIQ 3, it can presumably be used on other S60- and S80-powered devices to boot. Not content with giving love to just Nokia owners, Navicore has also released a Bluetooth receiver that will work with any smartphone or laptop equipped with the proper software, giving you the power of SiRFstar III in a 30-gram package. You can check out the diminutive receiver after the break, although since it's really just a rebadge of Holux's GPSlim 240, there's a good chance that you've seen it before...
TomTom sues Garmin, but surprisingly not for patent infringement
As you probably already know, there's nothing we love more around here than some intense courtroom drama (our Series3 is already at capacity thanks to 24/7 Law & Order), so we were excited to learn that the age-old grudge match between GPS kings Garmin and TomTom is about to enter a thrilling new chapter. To quickly recap the events so far: American manufacturer Garmin sued its Dutch rival over patent infringement in February of this year (something about technologies designed to calculate which streets are important enough to a driver's route to be displayed), after which TomTom countersued with infringement claims of its own. Garmin then fired back at TomTom in August with yet another patent claim, but instead of continuing this amusing game of tit-for-tat, TomTom decided to go after its rival in familiar territory, filing a suit in The Hague that accuses Garmin of copying the look and feel of its devices. As The Register notes, Garmin and TomTom split the US market 50.8% / 26.9% and the European market 16.7% / 30%, respectively, so the stakes in this battle are pretty high, with each company fiercely trying to one-up the other on its home turf. Since all of these legal proceedings will probably take years to get sorted out, your best bet is to just sit back, enjoy the show, and don't let either combatant lure you off a cliff or into a big pile of sand.
Porsche Design's P9611 sat nav is real, coming November
The rumors that Porsche Design was contributing to the design of a satellite navigation system have turned out to be true (don't you just love it when that happens?) now that Navigon has shown off the device at the IFA. The specifications are almost identical to the rumor, with the device featuring a 4.3-inch 480 x 272 pixel 16:9 display, a 520MHz XScale processor, a dedicated graphics processor, 64MB of RAM / ROM, an SD / MMC slot, a Bluetooth hands-free kit, and a removable battery, all running on Windows CE. The system will warn the driver of radar speed traps and of traffic in the 37 mapped European countries, and will even play MP3s -- albeit on the undoubtedly tinny speakers. The only downsides appear to be the roughly $960 price tag and the weak USB 1.1 support, but if you can cope with these niggles then keep your eyes open during November, because that's when it's expected to ship.
PSP GPS add-on in the wild
You're probably getting pretty sick of toting around all those cables, adapters, and antennae required by the GPSP mod to get sat nav functionality on your PSP, so you'll be happy to know that Sony's official GPS add-on for its portable console has just been spotted in the wild. We've already seen pics (albeit crappy ones) of the wayfinding peripheral, but now we've got proof that it exists somewhere besides on a PowerPoint slide. Unfortunately there's really not much to see here (it's a little gadget sticking out of another gadget -- wow), and we've got no new info regarding functionality, pricing, or release dates. Still, when we come across something that we think you'd be interested in, we write a post about it -- that's how we do things around here. Sharing is caring, right?[Via DigitalBattle, thanks Tom]
Porsche Design working on a GPS receiver?
We've seen the Porsche Design team try its hand at radios already (both self-branded and in conjunction with Grundig), and now it's apparently looking to enter the GPS game with an upcoming receiver powered by Navigon software. Dutch site Pocketinfo is claiming that their mole contact inside Navigon has revealed a device known as the P9611 (supposedly standing for Porsche 911 + Mobile Navigator 6 -- seems like P9116 would make more sense, though) which features a 520MHz Xscale processor, 4.3-inch, 480 x 272 pixel display, built-in traffic update support, and even an embedded Bluetooth car kit from Parrot. Details are still pretty thin at this point, but Pocketinfo is reporting that the unit will start shipping in October, for a Porsche-like $950. Apparently the P9611 will also work in non-Porsche vehicles, but it'll be pre-programmed with the locations of all Porsche dealerships worldwide, and will beep like crazy every time you pass one until you finally cave in and pick up at least a Boxster.
