Hasta La Gadget!

Navigation apps are hot in the iTunes Store, and–thanks to a price war–are surprisingly affordable. But before you go driving with your iPhone, please get yourself a window mount. You can’t navigate with the iPhone in your cup holder, and holding it by hand is no better.

Three weeks ago, Magellan unveiled its version, the Magellan Premium Car Kit. Now the company says the product will ship on January 7 and is available for pre-order. It’s a good buy if you’re getting an iPhone or iPod Touch as a gift.

Not simply a window mount, the kit includes its own GPS chip so 2nd generation iPod Touches can work as navigators, as well. That chip will also boost the GPS reception of iPhone 3G and 3GS models. The kit includes a car charger, Bluetooth button for call answering, and speakers. I like that it’s size-adjustable, so that users can leave their iPod Touches and iPhones in their cases. I just wish the price was a little lower: at $129.99, it costs far more than the software itself (Magellan RoadMate 2010 North America is currently only $59.99 in the iTunes Store).

Every year we hear more stories about Jesus-nappings from the our country’s nativity scenes, but one company has come forward to make a difference. BrickHouse Security is again offering free GPS tracking devices to religious institutions looking to protect their nativity scenes, menorahs, and other seasonal bric-a-brac.

The company is adding motion sensitive cameras to the program this year, making sure there’s always an eye above looking over your manger.  “We feel great to be able to report 100% success in protecting these cherished items,” said Todd Morris, BrickHouse Security’s CEO. “Still, we are sad that many institutions didn’t know about the program and experienced thefts or vandalism.”

Those interested in participating in the free program should click over to BrickHouse Security and give their background and contact info. If your organization is selected, you’ll get a GPS tracker to use over the holidays and perhaps a surveillance camera.

I’m not sure what’s up with these expensive car kits for iPhone GPS apps, but it looks like Magellan wants in on the action. The Magellan Premium GPS Car Kit works with the iPhone and any GPS app–including, of course, Magellan’s brand new RoadMate app.

The car kit mounts to the windshield, charges the iPhone while mounted, and includes a noise-canceling, hands-free speakerphone with a powerful amplifier. It rotates for use in both portrait and landscape modes. And interestingly, it features a built-in GPS receiver that enhances performance or adds it to an iPod Touch.

None of this comes cheap, though. The kit costs a whopping $130–more than some solid Garmin and TomTom standalone devices, I might add–and doesn’t come with the app either (same as with the TomTom kit). In other words, either one could put your iPhone GPS solution over the $200 mark in total. Despite the cost, Magellan’s kit looks good, and the iPod touch compatibility is a unique twist.

What do you do when everyone’s talking about the competition’s exciting new take on navigation? Why, you come up with your exciting new angle that’s way cooler than theirs then sit back and guffaw while high-fiving your co-workers. That seems to be what Symbian Foundation is attempting here, with a teaser of a tool that would let you not only easily interact with Facebook events but also get real-time augmented reality navigation straight to them. It looks fancy enough, but there’s a big catch: the company has no current plans of making it a reality, saying it’s “not part of the Symbian UI Roadmap.” Carry on, then, nothing to see after the break but a mobile Web 2.0 pipe dream.

[Via SlashGear]

Continue reading Symbian Foundation teases augmented reality/social networking tool, says you’ll probably never get it (video)

Filed under: Cellphones, CES

Symbian Foundation teases augmented reality/social networking tool, says you’ll probably never get it (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 04 Nov 2009 09:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The market for portable navigation devices (PNDs, or portable GPSs) will shrink 1% this year after 40% growth last year, then remain more or less flat through 2013. So says market researcher iSuppli Corp, which predicts worldwide sales will remain in the range of 41 million to 44 million over the next four years. All that is music to the ears of PND buyers going back for second, third, or fourth devices. With demand soft and manufacturing costs getting cheaper by the year, prices should continue to drop, meaning more $99 PNDs and lots more really good $250 PNDs. That’s our prediction, not necessarily iSuppli’s, though it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to assume better deals for consumers in times of oversupply, if you stayed awake in Economics 101 and understood the part about supply-demand curves.