Sep 03

TomTom iOS app update invites iPads to the party, provides directions

Posted in: app, apps, AppStore, gps, ipad, iPhone, minipost, navigation, Today's Chili, tomtom, update

Have you been navigating that cross-country trip via the recently updated TomTom iPhone app while carrying along an iPad on the excursion as well? Soon, you’ll be able to find your way by slate alone, as the company has announced an iPad-optimized version of their GPS app. To make things even better, if you already have the download, you can grab it for your Apple tab for free this Fall. Well played, TomTom… well played.

Continue reading TomTom iOS app update invites iPads to the party, provides directions

TomTom iOS app update invites iPads to the party, provides directions originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 03 Sep 2011 16:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sep 02

GPS Pet-Tracker Lets You Stalk Pooch

Posted in: Accessories and Peripherals, gps, Today's Chili

Now you can follow your dog from the comfort of the nearest browser. Photo credit PetTracker

Photocopied “lost dog”” flyers taped to lampposts and stapled to telegraph poles are so 20th century. The modern day approach to a mislaid canine is GPS tracking. Specifically, the Tagg Pet Tracker.

The Tagg is a collar-mounted tag with GPS and cellular radios. Using it, you can track pooch on a map and find him, wherever he may have wandered. And if he strays from a preset “Tagg zone,” you’ll be notified immediately so you can go grab him before he digs up the neighbor’s petunias. Again.

The Tagg will last for up to 30 days on a charge, and can even be worn for brief swims — it can be submerged up to a meter deep (just over a yard) for 30 minutes — more than enough time to chase a duck.

The $200 kit consist of the Tagg itself, a base station for charging, a collar clip mount and a year’s worth of service. Pre orders can be made now, for September delivery. Further Taggs can be had for $140 apiece.

Tagg product page [Pet Tracker]

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Aug 30

World’s only turbine-powered Batmobile up for sale on eBay, recession hits Bruce Wayne, too

Posted in: Cars, gps, ipad, Today's Chili

Remember that Boeing-powered Batmobile we ran across last month? Well friends, it could be yours via eBay auction in about a week. Currently, the highest bid is you can buy it now for $620,000 — which would be enough to cover the cost of several cars not fit for the Caped Crusader. However, none of those come equipped with a helicopter turbine, now do they? Putsch Racing reminds interested parties that the mean machine is street registered in the US, so you can roll like the Dark Knight without fear of the police pursuing you. An iPad loaded with digital avionics helps you monitor the jet engine, and you can use your choice of three fuel sources to power the thing: Jet A, kerosene, or diesel. Hey now, we never said it was environmentally friendly. If you, like Jay-Z, are “planking on a million,” check out the detailed auction shots below and bid on Batman’s ride yourself.

Gallery: Turbine-powered Batmobile up for sale

World’s only turbine-powered Batmobile up for sale on eBay, recession hits Bruce Wayne, too originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 30 Aug 2011 08:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Aug 29

TomTom announces Go Live 1535M in all its app-wielding glory, offers dashboard tweeting

Posted in: apps, car, gps, navigation, Today's Chili, tomtom, touchscreen, twitter

If you’re a fan of TomTom’s Go Live series of nav units, you’ll get a kick out of what the company announced today. Hitting retail and online stores in October is “the world’s first portable navigation device with a suite of popular travel apps,” the Go Live 1535M. That’s right folks, this piece of dashboard flair will allow you to use Yelp, TripAdvisor, Expedia and Twitter all from the comfort of its 5-inch touchscreen. In addition to the new application integration, the GPS juggernaut’s classic features will be available as well: hands-free calling, real-time traffic info, local search, fuel prices and weather forecasts. Sounds great, right? But what’s that… you already sprung for the 2535M model? No worries, mates — you’ll be able to download the new features this fall via software update. Pricing for these app-enabled navigators will start at $250 which includes a free 12-month subscription to TomTom Live services. Pretty soon, you’ll be able to make that dinner reservation while TomTom tells you how to get there, seconds before you tweet about it.

Continue reading TomTom announces Go Live 1535M in all its app-wielding glory, offers dashboard tweeting

TomTom announces Go Live 1535M in all its app-wielding glory, offers dashboard tweeting originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 29 Aug 2011 16:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Aug 24

Nokia Nearby tells your S40 where the action’s at

Posted in: gps, mobilepostmini, nokia, symbian, Today's Chili
Just because you’re packing an S40 or S60 device doesn’t mean you should have to miss out on the haps. That’s why Nokia Beta Labs is debuting a pilot app called Nokia Nearby, a hyper-local search app — geared toward emerging markets with a heavy concentration of S40 handsets — that helps you find restaurants, movie theaters and other locations within close range of your current location. Fortunately, GPS isn’t required for the service to work properly, which makes it even more tempting to at least try out. Glance at the video below the break to get a quick demonstration, and move over to the source link to download the beta program.

Continue reading Nokia Nearby tells your S40 where the action’s at

Nokia Nearby tells your S40 where the action’s at originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 24 Aug 2011 15:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Aug 24

Garmin nüvi navigators get refreshed, countless new models for 2012

Posted in: gps, navigation, Today's Chili
Garmin 2012 Navigator Lineup

It’s time for Garmin to refresh its lineup and flood the market with a slew of dash-mounted GPS devices. In total there are six new series of navigators, with countless models scattered amongst them. The “essential” nüvi 30, 40 and 50 (top left) lines come in three sizes: 3.5-inch, 4.3-inch, and 5-inch sizes (we’re sure you can guess which is which), and cover all the basics including a lifetime’s worth of free map updates. Stepping up a notch to the “advanced” 2405 (top right) and 2505 series (4.3-inch and 5-inch lines respectively) nets you Garmin’s Guidance 2.0 system. The software includes niceties like 3D traffic updates (for free, of course) and photoReal junction view for finding the right lane at off ramps. Last is the “prestige” line — the nüvi 3400 series — ultra-thin, 4-inch devices that looks more like a phone than a navigator. The 3400s turn in the frustrating resistive screen for a capacitive panel and upgrade to Guidance 3.0. The 3.0 edition sports all the same features as its lower numbered sibling, but adds pinch-to-zoom, lane guidance and text-to-speech for incoming SMS messages. Not overwhelmed enough yet? Check out the PR after the break.

[Thanks, Devin]

Continue reading Garmin nüvi navigators get refreshed, countless new models for 2012

Garmin nüvi navigators get refreshed, countless new models for 2012 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 24 Aug 2011 14:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Aug 24

Fujifilm FinePix XP30 hands-on: a week of underwater testing (video)

Posted in: gps, hands-on, review, rugged, Today's Chili, video, waterproof

One thing’s for sure: we’re utterly thrilled with the direction that ruggedized cameras are heading. Canon’s PowerShot D10, while impressive, was more like a small stone than a bona fide P&S, but it wouldn’t take much convincing to make someone believe that Fujifilm’s FinePix XP30 was just another run-of-the-mill compact. Our pals over at Photography Blog already ran this thing through the wringer earlier in the year, but we couldn’t resist the opportunity to take it to a few other places for testing. Namely, the Big Island of Hawaii. We spent a solid week with the XP30 and Samsung’s W200, and while neither ended up impressing us from a visual standpoint, they both shared one common lining of the silver variety: price. At just $184, the XP30 is quite the bargain given its neatly trimmed exterior, but was the performance enough to warrant a recommendation? Head on past the break for out thoughts, as well as a heaping of sample shots and even an underwater video taken… after dark.

Gallery: Fujifilm FinePix XP30 hands-on

Continue reading Fujifilm FinePix XP30 hands-on: a week of underwater testing (video)

Fujifilm FinePix XP30 hands-on: a week of underwater testing (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 24 Aug 2011 13:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Aug 24

Nikon’s First Ruggedized Compact With GPS, Maps

Posted in: gps, maps, nikon, rugged, Today's Chili, waterproof

The rugged AW100 welcomes your abuse, master

Today is shaping up to be a big day for new camera announcements. First we had the new P7100 from Nikon, and next up will be some news from Sony. Now, though, we look at Nikon’s first ruggedized point-and-shoot, the Coolpix AW100.

As you’d expect of a rugged camera, it can be used underwater (to 33 feet), survive drops from five feet and keep working down to a chilly 14˚F (-10˚C). It also comes in a hard-to-lose orange (as well as black and boring blue), and weighs in at just 6.3 ounces (179 grams).

But that’s just the entry fee to this game, and Nikon ups the ante with some very smart outdoorsy extras. First is GPS, which not only geotags your images but tracks you as you trek. There’s also a digital compass which can be displayed on the rear screen, and built-in maps.

Also very clever is the shaky-cam feature (a name I just made up). You can assign one of several functions to be switched when you shake the camera, letting you keep your gloves on.

As to the camera functions, the sensor is 16MP, the LCD three inches, the top ISO is 3200, the 5x zoom goes from 28-140mm (35mm equivalent) and the movies are 1080p (with a slo-mo option up to 240fps).

In short, it has pretty much everything you need, and is tough enough to come with you. The AW100 will cost $380 when it goes on sale in September.

Nikon Coolpix AW100 product page [Nikon. thanks, Geoff!]

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Aug 23

New York judge denies government warrant for Verizon location data

Posted in: gps, Law, Today's Chili, verizon, Verizon Wireless, VerizonWireless

Beating the man at his own game on Monday, a federal judge from the Eastern District of New York denied the US government’s application asking Verizon Wireless to hand over 113 days of customer location data. Washington has long debated whether or not the Constitution protects modern day communications that include a third party (like cell phone conversations supported by a carrier company), and non-conversational meta data (like cellular GPS location data). Some say that buying a cell phone and using a carrier’s services waives one’s privacy rights in that data, while others claim we have a reasonable expectation of privacy in such info under the Fourth Amendment. In making his decision, Judge Nicholas Garaufis held that “the fiction that the vast majority of the American population consents to warrantless government access to the records of a significant share of their movements by ‘choosing’ to carry a cell phone must be rejected.”

As communications tech continues to change, these questions will likely be revisited. That’s why Judge Garaufis went on to say that “in light of drastic developments in technology, the Fourth Amendment doctrine must evolve to preserve cell-phone user’s reasonable expectation of privacy in cumulative cell-site-location records.” Get the full opinion by clicking the source below.

New York judge denies government warrant for Verizon location data originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 23 Aug 2011 20:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Aug 18

Garmin Edge 200 is a GPS cycling computer for riders on a budget

Posted in: gps, Today's Chili
Garmin Edge 200

The Garmin Edge 500 and 800 are pretty sweet GPS-enabled cycling computers, but they’re also pretty expensive. The new Edge 200 shaves a cool Benjamin off the price of the aging 500 by cutting back on non-essential features. There’s no navigation function or even the ability to pull in data from power meters, heart rate monitors or cadence sensors. It will, however, map your rides, let you download them over USB and share them via Garmin Connect. The 200 offers up basic info like speed, distance, calories burned and time without the need for additional harfware or a complicated set up. You can keep on pedaling for quite a while too, thanks to the roughly 130-hour memory and 14-hour battery life. The Edge 200 should start popping up sometime in Q3 for $150 and, before you go, check out the PR after the break.

Continue reading Garmin Edge 200 is a GPS cycling computer for riders on a budget

Garmin Edge 200 is a GPS cycling computer for riders on a budget originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 18 Aug 2011 17:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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