Hasta La Gadget!

We’ve just gotten the inside line on Garmin’s CES spread, and let’s just start this intel off on the right foot: it looks like we aren’t going to see a Nuvifone II at the show this year. Here’s what we’ve got in the pipe:

• Garmin Voice Studio: This might be the coolest announcement, but if you’ve got friends with compatible devices, it’s going to get old real quick. Basically, it’s a PC-based app that lets you record your own nav instructions (which we’re guessing is going to result in some extraordinarily NC17-rated Nuvis). The company is saying it’ll take about 20 minutes to complete a set of commands — and naturally, it won’t do text-to-speech for reading street names and the like. It won’t work on the Nuvi 3xx and 6xx series, but otherwise, you should be good to go.
• Zumo 665: Have a rider in the family? The 665 is Garmin’s latest motorcycle-centric nav unit, which appears to be little more than a 660 with the XM weather, radio (with A2DP out), and traffic on board. It’s got a slightly newer firmware build than the current 660 that adds additional map layouts and data fields; and don’t worry, 660 owners — you’ll get it in the Spring.
• ecoRoute HD: The long-discussed ecoRoute cable will be confirmed (again) at $149.99, this time for a launch somewhere between the first and second quarter of the year.
• Approach G3: This looks to be a downmarket version of the G5 for high-tech golfers looking for a little assistance on the green; MSRP comes in at $349 (compared to $449 for its big brother).

And as far as we can tell, that’s it. Start warming up your best navigation voices, folks.

Update: It’s official.

Garmin’s CES lineup leaked: golf, cars, and do-it-yourself navigation voices originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 04 Jan 2010 19:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Well, it seems like South Korean companies aren’t fooling around when it comes to getting us riding that newly minted Mobile TV bandwagon. In the wake of LG announcing its first Mobile DTV devices this morning comes Cydle with the P29A PMP. It sports a 2.9-inch touchscreen (see what they did there?), an accelerometer for automatic reorientation, a world clock, and voice recording via a built-in mic. That’s a somewhat disappointing goodie list, considering the currently available HD radio-playing P29H (pictured for illustration purposes) also has GPS onboard. Still, you can snap up the A model in Q2 2010 for $199, which seems like a keen price when compared to the $499 Mobile DTV car tuner we’ve seen before.

Cydle P29A spices up mundane spec sheet with Mobile TV capabilities originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 29 Dec 2009 09:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Navigation apps are hot in the iTunes Store, and–thanks to a price war–are surprisingly affordable. But before you go driving with your iPhone, please get yourself a window mount. You can’t navigate with the iPhone in your cup holder, and holding it by hand is no better.

Three weeks ago, Magellan unveiled its version, the Magellan Premium Car Kit. Now the company says the product will ship on January 7 and is available for pre-order. It’s a good buy if you’re getting an iPhone or iPod Touch as a gift.

Not simply a window mount, the kit includes its own GPS chip so 2nd generation iPod Touches can work as navigators, as well. That chip will also boost the GPS reception of iPhone 3G and 3GS models. The kit includes a car charger, Bluetooth button for call answering, and speakers. I like that it’s size-adjustable, so that users can leave their iPod Touches and iPhones in their cases. I just wish the price was a little lower: at $129.99, it costs far more than the software itself (Magellan RoadMate 2010 North America is currently only $59.99 in the iTunes Store).

Google announced that with the new Audi A8, Audi will be the first car manufacturer to build Google Earth services into a vehicle’s entertainment system.

The service gives drivers 3D satellite imagery, terrain information, and other geo data relevant to their current location. It also combines seamlessly with the car’s existing Audi navigation system. In addition, it lets drivers hook into Wikipedia for more location information, and displays Panoramio images for additional views.

The Audi A8 also gets Google Maps and Local Search for finding business listings. It connects into a desktop account; drivers can look something up on a PC, send the info to the car, and then navigate there. Pretty slick.

We were sort of hoping Google would turn a blind eye to the Android hackers who’d enabled Google Maps Navigation for use internationally, but it appears we’re just hopelessly optimistic: El Goog’s shut Navigation down outside the States. The changes are apparently “anticipated,” and the hackers in charge are hard at work getting around it, so there’s hope yet — and at some point Mountain View is going to have to actually launch Navigation abroad for real, so this all just seems a bit petty.

[Thanks, Ace of Spades]

Google blocks hacked Navigation from international use originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 08 Dec 2009 14:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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