Hasta La Gadget!

Per usual, it seems as if this deal has happened in the dark of the night, but thankfully for the curious among us, it’s a bit difficult to disguise a caravan of humans escaping Québec and fleeing to Cupertino. According to a report in The Sun as well as an independent confirmation on our end, Apple has picked up a small Canadian firm by the name of Poly9. As of now, every last employee has been relocated to California, with the couple who declined left to find other work in the Great White North. Poly9’s official website is also blanked out, but in the past, the company has been credited with developing loads of web-based mapping programs (primarily in Flash, crazily enough) as well as APIs for a handful of monolithic clients like Microsoft, Yahoo!, NORAD and MSNBC. Generally speaking, Apple tends to integrate its purchases into the workflow at a rather rapid clip, so we’re actually expecting something to come of this in the not-too-distant future. What, exactly, remains to be seen.

[Thanks, Anonymous]

Apple acquires web mapping firm Poly9, probably has something up its sleeve originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 14 Jul 2010 10:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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When we got a chance to let the Garmin-Asus Garminfone send us around town for a review, we found it to be about the best nav-focused smartphone on the market. But, its $200 price made it a tough sell compared to many far more powerful alternatives. Now it’s finally dropping to a somewhat more easily palatable asking price of $129.99 with the usual contract restrictions. That’s a great price for a great phone with great navigation, and while we’re still guessing that users here will not get invited out for FroYo anytime in the future, at this price you can afford to buy yourself some real ice cream.

T-Mobile Garminfone gets a much-needed price drop to $129 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Jul 2010 09:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Given the size of Dell’s Streak (it’s rocking a 5-inch screen, in case you were wondering), you’ve probably considered using it as a dedicated routing machine with Google Maps Navigation at the helm. The only problem? Using your arm as the window mount. We heard a few weeks ago that the Streak’s official car dock was finally on sale over in the UK, and it looks as if the bugger is finally shipping there, too. The best news? It seems to hold up pretty well to some of Britain’s bumpiest roadways — see for yourself after the break.

Continue reading Dell Streak’s car dock gets a video unboxing, early road test

Dell Streak’s car dock gets a video unboxing, early road test originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 06 Jul 2010 10:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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July is upon us — do you know what that means? For starters, it’s Canada Day, but secondly, today marks the first day that turn-by-turn capable GM vehicles as old as 2006 can search for destinations using Google Maps and have those destinations beamed directly to their vehicles. The OnStar eNav feature is now fully Google-fied, and we’re desperately hoping that other factory navigation systems take notice of the awesomeness and begin to do likewise in the not-so-distant future. Till then, have a peek at the GM demonstration vid just past the break, and feel free to let us know how it works for you in comments below.

Continue reading OnStar users now sending Google Maps directions to their cars, definitely living in the future

OnStar users now sending Google Maps directions to their cars, definitely living in the future originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 01 Jul 2010 17:50:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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For the most part, standalone navigators have retained their same form factor for the better part of the last five years. Each one looked like the other, with the main differentiators being a fold-out or integrated antenna and a big or small display. With intense competition coming from the smartphone space (yeah, we’re looking at you, Google), the bigwigs at TomTom and Garmin are obviously thinking of ways to innovate and keep their consumer PNDs relevant. We aren’t exactly convinced that shaping said navigators like said smartphones is the best answer, but you won’t find us kvetching about the sleek lines and slim nature of the nüvi 3790T. Announced back in April alongside the 3760T and 3750 models, the king of the 3700 series packs a 4.3-inch WVGA multitouch display and a frame that’s just 9mm thick; what you’re left with is the most stunning personal NAV system on the planet, and we’ve had the opportunity to test one out before it hits US shelves in July. Care to see if this beaut is worth $449? Head on past the break for our two pennies (and a video overview, too!).

Continue reading Garmin nuvi 3790T review

Garmin nuvi 3790T review originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 Jun 2010 11:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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