FineDigital’s FineDrive iQ Special helps commuters learn FineEnglish

Ah, those crazy-beautiful multi-purpose navigation devices of South Korea, is there anything they can’t do? If your answer is that they can’t teach you English, think again. The iQ Special features a language trainer built on voice recognition software from its predecessor, the FineDrive X700, alongside the usual fare of goodies we westerners rarely get to see: SiRF-based GPS, DMB digital TV, video and music playback, and even TPEG traffic alerts. Priced at 469,000 KWN ($384), this PND is available today, and it’s probably redundant to note that it won’t be making its way to English-speaking countries any time soon — not that we doesn’t need it, mind you.

[Via AVING]

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FineDigital’s FineDrive iQ Special helps commuters learn FineEnglish originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 04 Aug 2009 05:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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TeleNav GPS Navigator comes to T-Mobile’s myTouch 3G

TeleNav has already launched its subscription turn-by-turn navigation service for the G1, so it stands to reason that official myTouch 3G support would be close behind — and sure enough, the company has announced that its GPS Navigator app will be available for download to T-Mobile’s second Android device starting tomorrow, August 5. The app features all of the goodies that TeleNav users have come to know and love, including traffic and incident monitoring with automatic rerouting, gas prices, business information, and a choice between 2D and 3D maps; additionally, you’ve got automatic day / night coloration, carpool lane and tollroad avoidance, and speech recognition for destination input — a big plus when you’re on the road and you need to keep distractions to a minimum.

We’ve been playing with a cut of GPS Navigator on our myTouch recently, and it delivers a totally usable car navigation experience — a perfect complement to the comprehensive pedestrian capabilities of Google Maps. Most of the warnings from our G1-based review of the application carry over here — you need true GPS reception, not merely cellular triangulation, so your phone will need a view of the sky to have a shot at picking up satellites (this also means that getting a location lock is a more time-consuming process, though it typically didn’t take longer than a few seconds to do its thing). We’re not digging how the colored lines that convey traffic information on highways flash; we’d rather they just stayed a solid color, the way most GPS systems handle it. We also found that the menus are a little wonky — bringing your finger in contact with a menu item and swiping up or down to scroll would occasionally trigger the first item you touched, which ends up being a fairly annoying bug in practice. All told, though, if you can justify the expense, your $10 a month is going to net you a genuinely reasonable way to consolidate all of your help-me-I’m-lost needs — whether by foot or by car — into a single device.

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TeleNav GPS Navigator comes to T-Mobile’s myTouch 3G originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 04 Aug 2009 00:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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nuvi GPS with EDGE data makes its FCC debut

Sure, you’re still waiting for your Nüvifone, but in the meantime it looks like the kids at Garmin have taken all that hard-won knowledge and applied it to their latest PND. The nüvi 1690, which recently popped up at the FCC, features GSM, GPRS, and EDGE connectivity. The unit won’t support voice calls, although with Bluetooth you should be able to use it as a hands-free unit for your current cellphone. Garmin has thus far been mum on this guy, but as GPS Tracklog points out, the IFA show in Berlin is just around the corner — certainly the company will have something to say about all this by then. To check out the FCC bit for yourself, hit that read link. [Warning: PDF.]

[Via SlashGear]

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nuvi GPS with EDGE data makes its FCC debut originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 03 Aug 2009 11:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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M&Soft launches 7-inch Mappy AP1 PND in South Korea

M&Soft’s Mappy navigation software seems well established in Korea, and now the company has decided to offer its own hardware for it in the shape of a 7-inch SiRF-based touchscreen device. Of course, it wouldn’t be a South Korean PND if it didn’t include a DMB digital TV tuner, video and audio playback, and a photo / text viewer, but the company’s gone one better by offering the elaborate, gimmicky GUI you see above. Pricing is pretty decent too, set at 349,000 KRW ($283) with a 4GB SDHC card, or 399,000 KRW ($323) for an 8GB unit. The AP in the model name stands for “Absolute Pride” — sure, make your jokes, but maybe it’s that wise-guy sense of humor keeping this sort of tech away from Western shores.

[Via Slashgear]

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M&Soft launches 7-inch Mappy AP1 PND in South Korea originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 31 Jul 2009 10:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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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.

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CSR debuts SiRFstarIV location-aware architecture, kisses slow fixes goodbye originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 28 Jul 2009 08:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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SPOT intros refreshed, smaller Satellite GPS Messenger

Globalstar’s SPOT personal GPS tracker made waves amongst outdoorsmen and argonauts the world over when it was introduced back in 2007, and now the outfit is finally gearing up to ship the second iteration. The newly revamped SPOT is some 30 percent smaller than the previous model, and it also boasts an enhanced antenna for picking up signal whilst deep in the brush, a GPS acquisition light, “Message Sending” indicator light, illuminated buttons and a dedicated pre-programmable Custom Message button. There’s also a protective cover over the all-important S.O.S. button to prevent inadvertent message transmissions (wouldn’t want that, now would we?), and in a move to give fashionistas a choice, this one will be available in both silver and orange. It’s expected to be available in select retailers this fall, but you’ll have to wait until then to get a handle on pricing.

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SPOT intros refreshed, smaller Satellite GPS Messenger originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Jul 2009 12:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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OnStar debuts Remote Ignition Block to shut down stolen vehicles

OnStar’s already rolled out a method for slowing down stolen vehicles once the cops have ’em in sight, and it looks like it’s now come up with a solution for the ones that get away as well. Dubbed Remote Ignition Block, the new sevice does just what it promises and uses GPS to prevent the vehicle from starting again once the ignition has been turned off. As with most of these systems, however, the police will first have to confirm that the vehicle is in fact stolen before OnStar flips the switch, so you’ll have to come up with something else for your next grand workplace prank. No word on specifics just, but OnStar says it’ll be making the service available on over two million GM 2009 and 2010 model year vehicles.

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OnStar debuts Remote Ignition Block to shut down stolen vehicles originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Jul 2009 06:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Navigon 8410 GPS debuts, packed full of features for the trendy Euro jet-set

It’s been a few months since Navigon ceased doing business Stateside, and already the company’s back on our radar with a device that made us wish they’d stuck around these parts a while longer. The Navigon 8410 features a 5-inch touchscreen, a polished steel frame, and a righteous assortment of features, including: DVB-T digital television tuner, City3D’s photo-realistic 3D mapping software (only for select cities on the continent), and a media player for all your fave tunes, flicks, and pics. Available only in Europe, we don’t have a ship date for you yet, but we do know it’ll cost €449 ($630). Now, if you excuse us, we were due in Bonn hours ago.

[Via Engadget Spanish]

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Navigon 8410 GPS debuts, packed full of features for the trendy Euro jet-set originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 18 Jul 2009 10:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Alpine’s NVE-M300 black box brings navigation to top head units

If you’ve been putting off that GPS purchase in hopes that Alpine would deliver a sleek, fully compatible solution for the head unit that you already splurged on, your lucky day has finally arrived. The altogether simplistic NVE-M300 GPS Navigation Drive is a simple black box that measures just barely more than 4- x 4- x 1-inches and is designed to interface with the company’s top two selling in-dash AV head units: the iXA-W404 (4.3-inch display) and the IVA-W505 (7-inch touchscreen). The device features the outfit’s own OnPoint Advanced GPS Positioning, turn-by-turn guidance, a solid-state gyro sensor and accelerometer, text-to-speech and pre-loaded NAVTEQ maps of the US and Canada. Unfortunately, all this beautiful harmony will cost you, and by “cost you,” we mean “450 bones.”

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Alpine’s NVE-M300 black box brings navigation to top head units originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 15 Jul 2009 15:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ricoh announces new GPS unit, new firmware for 500SE camera

It’s been a while since we’ve seen any major updates for Ricoh’s 500SE camera, but if you’re in the mood, here’s a heads up: the company has just announced its new SE-2 GPS module. Designed by EKA Technologies, Inc., this bad boy sports a new helix antenna, which should provide better reception and accuracy, and smaller fix times. Available in two flavors, the SE-2g (GPS only) has an MSRP of $169, while the SE-2c offers GPS and a 3-axis compass for direction information for an MSRP of $399. And if that weren’t enough, the company has just announced new firmware for the camera that enhances its ability to store field data and embed it into images for GIS mapping applications. The new firmware also allows up to three attributes as well as GPS position, azimuth, and UTC (satellite time) to be imprinted directly onto images as they are captured. Pretty awesome, right? Full PR available after the break.

Continue reading Ricoh announces new GPS unit, new firmware for 500SE camera

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Ricoh announces new GPS unit, new firmware for 500SE camera originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 15 Jul 2009 14:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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