We reckoned IFA would be an exceptionally busy show, and now that we’ve combed through all of our coverage and condensed it here, it’s clear the event lived up to our expectations. Sure, the venerable CES may have topped IFA in show floor square feet, but the announcements in Berlin generated perhaps even more excitement than those that came out of Las Vegas in January. A pair of high-profilesmartwatches, two titanicsmartphones, a duo of lens cameras, 4K displays and a bevy of hands-ons await you in a neat, yet massive, roundup after the break.%Gallery-slideshow83286%
The connected car concept has gained plenty of traction, but not everyone can afford an Audi or BMW to get that functionality built in. Deutsche Telekom’s hoping to bring a taste of that luxury to the masses by pairing its Navigon Telekom Edition app with Garmin’s heads-up display. This version of the app, available exclusively for German customers, brings heads-up directions, speed limit and other important stats to the HUD, provided it’s connected to your smartphone via Bluetooth. Garmin’s dash-mounted hardware is already available stateside for $150, but it’s up for grabs here at IFA for €149. We go eyes-on in the gallery below.
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Zach Honig contributed to this report.
Follow all of our IFA 2013 coverage by heading to our event hub!
Despite tremendous technological advancements over the last several decades, there are still numerous challenges which face the world every day. The Air Force has just launched a new website to encourage collaborative problem solving, and to create solutions which could someday be used in the field to help save troop and civilian lives or improve operational efficiency.
The newly launched website is called The Air Force Collaboratory, and it presents different projects which could use your help. The site introduces participants to situations which could use innovative technological solutions, ranging from search and rescue operations, to using quadrotor technology to autonomously navigate its surroundings, to helping to launch its newest GPS satellites.
Participating in The Air Force Collaboratory is open to anyone. You start out by watching a briefing video before joining a specific project, and then have access to research on the subject to help provide a foundation for your contributions. Of course, you’re encouraged to bring your own perspective and experiences as well.
The site then poses brainstorming challenges to stimulate ideas and encourages discussion among participants which may drive further research and development.
There are already some fascinating ideas that have been posted to this particular thread, including one submission that suggests that a set of quadrotors could be used to generate X-ray and thermal imaging to help locate trapped survivors and determine their medical condition.
Individuals on the site are rewarded with achievement badges for their participation, and the site offers real-time leaderboards so you can see how well you’re doing compared to your peers. There are even special achievements handed out by the Air Force project lead for those with truly outstanding contributions to the program.
The site is definitely a great idea, taking a cue from the popularity of crowdsourcing, and applying it to real-world challenges the military faces. But it goes beyond simple crowdsourcing and provides a truly collaborative experience where you work with real Airmen to solve problems. The Air Force just isn’t asking for ideas and implementing the best ones, they are working with the students step by step to bring these ideas to fruition. It’s also a great interactive experience for students and an opportunity for them to both contribute and learn from their peers.
If you’d like to check out the site for yourself and start participating, head on over to The Air Force Collaboratory now.
Nokia took the wraps off its Here Auto connected car platform today. Consisting of in-car software, cloud services and a mobile app, the system lets users instantaneously share planned routes between computer, smartphone and dashboard nav system. Next step is to start courting car manufacturers, but Here Auto will be demoed at Germany’s International Motor Show on September 10th.
Nokia’s no newbie to navigation, but its latest product raises its involvement to the next level. The Here Auto connected car platform is comprised of an application that can be embedded to a vehicle’s navigation system, a mobile app companion and a cloud service. Any in-car navigator with the Here Auto software can offer voice-guided navigation with or without a data connection, along with 2D, 3D and street-level satellite maps. You’ll need internet access to tap into the cloud service for real-time data, including traffic and weather updates, but previously downloaded maps work just fine even when you’re offline.
The Auto Companion mobile app complements the software and the cloud service, giving you a way to pre-plan trips or find your car through a phone. Currently, it only works on Windows Phone devices, but Espoo’s developing ones for iOS and Android. Nokia has partnered with Continental (the same parts supplier working with Google and IBM) to find carmakers willing to integrate Here Auto into their navigation systems. It might take a while before we see the system hit the market, but it’ll be demonstrated at the International Motor Show in Germany on September 10th.
Summer is coming to a quick close as Labor Day weekend is nearly upon us, which means you soon won’t be able to head down to your local beach, lake or pool and take a quick dip as it’ll the temperatures will start to dip very soon. Although if you live in the southern part of the U.S., you can completely disregard that last sentence as it’s pretty much party time for you any time of the year. Which is exactly why you need this real-time shark tracker more than any of us. (more…)
The folks in Mountain View told us it was on the way, but now it’s official: Waze has updated its app to use Google as its default search provider. It’s a subtle change, mentioned only on the company’s blog, but it’s a strong show of good faith between the recently acquired traffic app and its new owner. The application’s Google Play page outlines the rest of its updates, noting that the search bar is now visible on the map screen, which itself has been updated with a smoother user interface. Waze has also been updated with full support for 1080p, and has laid the groundwork for auto-complete, which should roll out to users over the next few weeks. Users with a special love of Bing, Yelp or Foursquare can still search with those providers, of course, but we can’t fault Waze for giving its parent company a little love.
Garmin is a name that pretty much everyone closely associates with GPS navigation. Garmin is also a significant factor in cycling computers for bicyclists. The company has announced two new GPS devices designed specifically for navigating via bike called the Edge Touring and the Edge Touring Plus. Both are preloaded with maps that are bicycle […]
We know you’ve got questions, and if you’re brave enough to ask the world for answers, then here’s the outlet to do so. This week’s Ask Engadget inquiry is from Eric, who needs help overcoming a memory condition with regards his wallet. If you’re looking to ask one of your own, drop us a line at ask [at] engadget [dawt] com.
“Hello! I’ve got a problem whereby I can forget things, and I’ve lost my wallet on more than one occasion. Naturally, the lack of technology makes it difficult to find, so is there a way I can add a tether (to alert my phone when it goes out of range) or a GPS tracker to save yet more tedious calls to cancel my credit cards? Thanks!”
That’s an interesting puzzler, and certainly one that we think we should throw straight out to the wider community. What have y’all seen that’d help our friend Eric overcome his burdens and keep his wallet close to hand? You know where to leave your comments.
After years of keeping watch over the likes of Android and iOS in the premium GPS navigation realm, the folks at Telenav have revealed their intentions with their current brand Scout for Windows Phone 8. This Scout app has been optimized for the Windows Phone 8 environment, taking its already diverse user interface and giving […]
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