Hasta La Gadget!

Garmin announced at IFA today that it’s gearing up to roll out a set of updates for its smartphone apps on both iOS and Android. These updates will be adding a number of helpful tools for Garmin users, including in-depth details on public transportation routes and support for Google Street View. Get ready to hand over some extra cash if you want these features though, because some of them will only be offered as in-app purchases

It would seem that Garmin’s “Urban Guidance” system is the main star of these updates. After these updates hit, the app will begin considering various public transportation routes – including water taxis – when trying to plot the most efficient pedestrian route. If public transportation is suggested as part of your route, the app can guide you to where you need to be on foot, and you can even look up schedules and stops to know precisely where you need to hop on and off. To make things easier, the update will also allow for color-coded public transportation routes, matching the transportation lines in your city – something that will undoubtedly be appreciated by tourists.

Urban Guidance will be coming to StreetPilot Onboard for iPhone and NAVIGON for iPhone and Android. You won’t be getting it for free, however, as it will cost $4.99 as an in-app purchase. Those who act quick after the update hits can get the feature on the cheap though, with Garmin bringing the price down to $2.99 for its first two weeks of availability.

Next up we have Garmin’s “Last Mile Navigation” feature, which gives users a “streamlined navigation experience when continuing by foot after parking the car.” When you’re getting close to your destination, the feature will suggest nearby parking lots and structures for you to park in. After you’ve picked one and parked your car, the app will switch to pedestrian navigation mode, saving the location of your car so you can easily find it once you’re ready to leave again. Android users should already be familiar with this feature, as it’s currently available in their version of NAVIGON. It’ll be coming to NAVIGON for iPhone with this update, but sadly it will be giving StreetPilot Onboard a pass for the time being.

Finally, we come to the integration of Google Street View and Panorama View 3D, which are both being included to give users a better understanding of their surroundings. Features like these will obviously come in handy when visiting an unfamiliar face, as Google Street View can show you what the area surrounding your destination looks like. Both of these features are already available in NAVIGON for Android and iPhone, and will be added to StreetPilot Onboard once these updates land. Keep in mind that you’ll have to pay extra for Panorama View 3D, which Garmin is charging $9.99 for.

We don’t have a solid release date for these updates yet. In its announcement, Garmin only said that they would be coming in fall 2012, so they should be arriving relatively soon. Keep it tuned here to SlashGear and we’ll have more information for you once Garmin releases it.

Garmin smartphone apps getting public transportation features soon is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

After last year’s awesome mind-controlled and small transparent television, we made naturally a beeline to the Haier booth on the floor of this year’s IFA. While it wasn’t yet fully unpacked, we were still pretty impressed with what we saw. The first stop on the visit: this year’s version of the transparent TV prototype. So, how’s it different than its predecessor? For one thing, it’s a lot bigger. At 46-inches, this set feels a lot less like a toy. In fact, it’s actually intended for retail usage, and as such, the company had it set up in front a group of mannequins showing off the fashions of Kaska Hass. You can see them quite well through the other wise of the set in the videos and images.

The display is connected to a Windows PC at the moment, a tower visible in a nook below the set. You can use touch to control the interface — it’s capable of detecting up to six touch points at once. We used the display to open Quicktime and launch a video, playing, not surprisingly, some footage of Kaska Hass fashion shows. The touch was fairly responsive, the image, on the other hand, is quite dark and not particularly hi-res, particularly when surround by a booth of much nicer sets.

Again, keep in mind, this isn’t intended to be a consumer technology — at least not for the time being, and retailers may well not be quite as picky as people sitting in their living room — and, like a lot of the more forward thinking products, it’s not quite ready for prime time. Still, you can check out a video of what we saw after the break.

Continue reading Haier’s 46-inch transparent display shows up at IFA, we go eyes-on (video)

Filed under: Displays, Home Entertainment

Haier’s 46-inch transparent display shows up at IFA, we go eyes-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Aug 2012 06:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Dell XPS One 27 isn’t a new all-in-one PC, but with Windows 8 and full multitouch it really comes into its own. Fronted by a huge 27-inch Quad HD LCD – that’s 2560 x 1440 – and mounted on an adjustable stand, it’s an interesting alternative approach to all-in-ones to what we’ve seen from the other big name in the marketplace, Apple’s iMac.

Dell’s plastic bezel isn’t as attractive as the brushed metal of the iMac, but the materials don’t feel cheap, just more subdued. The company is aiming for business as well as home users, who might be more conservative but still want a machine that will last.

As for the stand, that’s reasonably stiff so as to support the heavy screen, but once you get it moving it’s no problem tilting and raising it to suit standing use. We’d like to see it lift a little higher, though being able to tilt the touchscreen back and interact with your fingers is a good compromise, and almost like a smaller version of Microsoft’s SUR40.

Windows 8 touch still has to fully convince the market, and while the Metro-style UI is suited to finger interaction, regular Windows apps have hopelessly small buttons on a 2560 x 1440 screen. How much of a problem that will be to end-users will depend on what software they use most often.

Dell will announce pricing and exact specifications for the XPS One 27 later in the year, when Microsoft releases Windows 8 officially.

Dell XPS One 27 Hands-on is written by Vincent Nguyen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Dell is playing things coy with the XPS 10 tablet, keeping things behind glass for the most part, but we managed to coax the 10-inch slate out for some hands-off photography. Actually playing with the Windows RT tablet isn’t an option here at its IFA launch, unfortunately, but we’ve at least seen how slick Dell’s industrial design is for the metal slate.

It’s obviously from the XPS family, bearing the same crisp edges as the ultrabooks already on sale, and at 10mm thick it’s akin to the iPad that it will inevitably be compared to most frequently. The LCD screen is bright, crisp and vivid – again, Dell isn’t saying specifics, but it’s HD resolution and most likely an IPS panel, just as has been used on XPS ultrabooks – but we obviously couldn’t test touchscreen responsiveness.

The keyboard dock is slim and will suffer shortened key travel too as a result; again, that’ll take more prolonged access to figure out for sure. It’s also yet to be seen whether the top section of the slate will overbalance the dock, something we noticed affecting Samsung’s ATIV Smart PC Pro.

So, plenty of questions, and the specter over them all is price. Can Dell bring the XPS 10 in under the cost of the new iPad, and will that include the keyboard dock? We’ll know more closer to Windows RT’s official release date.

Dell XPS 10 tablet eyes-on is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Dell has joined the Windows RT tablet crowd, with the new Dell XPS 10 making its official debut at IFA today. A 10-inch slimline slate that – as we saw from Samsung yesterday – comes with a removable keyboard dock, the biggest selling point for the XPS 10 is likely to be its impressive battery claims: Dell says it’ll run for 20hrs on a single charge.

That’s 20hrs without full Windows apps, of course, since Windows RT runs only a smaller subset of specially created software for the ARM-based platform. Dell’s chipset partner in this case is Qualcomm, though the company won’t say exactly which of the silicon specialist’s Snapdragons is found inside.

Up front is an HD touchscreen, while Dell has squeezed both microUSB and microSD connections into the 10mm thick slate. We’re guessing on Bluetooth and WiFi inside, and hoping that Dell does road warriors a service by including integrated 3G/4G options.

Pricing is yet to be announced, and in fact Dell is keeping most details on the XPS 10 close to its proverbial chest. We’ve got more live shots coming up very soon.

Dell XPS 10 Windows RT tablet revealed with 20hr battery is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.