Asus’ newly announced R710 portable navigation device features an optional Heads-Up Display, or HUD, that helps you keep all eyes where they should be... on the road. The directions, speed and all other pertinent information is projected on the windshield. The device has the tradition touchscreen like most other navigation devices out there, as well as an enhanced Bluetooth 2.0; cementing this device as the it machine for the safety conscious.
A light-sensing chip optimizes the HUD’s visibility; making it easier on the eyes. While the microSD card slot supplies media playback that makes everything seem easier.
Asus has not announced release or pricing information, and no specific maps are available for North America, only worldwide. Russia, China and Taiwan navigation support have been mentioned so far.
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Friday, October 10, 2008
Asus Newest Navigator has your Safety in Mind
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Pioneer Introduces New GPS Models
Pioneer announced four new in-dash navigation head units; two double-din receivers, the AVIC-HRZ099/88, and two single-din the AVIC-HRV022/11. All of them feature a 40GB HDD, and text-to-speech. The $2495 HRZ099, flaunts an 800x480 pixel count on its 7-inch widescreen, while the others proudly display 480x234 on the same size monitor. To optimize and tailor to each person, the new product line, dubbed carrozzeria for the Japanese market, features “My Set-up” or customizable user preferences. These are stored for quick recall.
Revolutionary networking capabilities have been integrated into Pioneer’s latest latitude and longitude pin pointers. They use... a social network-like “Smart Loop” system; where traffic information can be shared with other device users in a "smart traffic information loop". The high-end model is set-up to provide you with additional information through this network by giving you a “Smart Loop Drive Report”. Information in this report may include which route will be the most fuel efficient, or how safely other drivers are driving.
If that “smart loop” traffic info isn’t cutting it, you can flip on the TV tuner and get a traditional traffic report. TV tuners are present in all but the lowest price model of the line. While on the subject of tuners, every new model uses a signal amplifying radio tuner, for improved reception in those dark, foreboding urban canyons.
The 50W x 4-channel amp provides the top two units with punchy power, while the disc player supports CD, DVD-ROM, DVD-VIDEO, DVD-R/RW, CD-ROM, CD-DA, and CD-R/RW formatted discs. Additional media can be loaded onto the HDD through USB drives (additional equipment maybe required). Supported media file formats are: DVD, WMA, MP3, DivX, WAV, and MPEG-4, units are also iPod ready with video playback.
These are set to drop on the pacific island of their origin by Halloween night. Prices will range for $1795 to $2495. No word on when these beauties will be making landfall in Cali, and consequently blessing the rest of us with possible ownership.
Press Release
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Thursday, May 8, 2008
Clarion MAP780 using iGO My Way 8
Clarion's two newest Personal Navigation Devices the MAP680 & MAP780, from Clarion's German site, reverberated through the vascular system that is the blog-o-sphere by way of Navigadget on Tuesday.
These impressive GPS units, that were announced in April and include iGO 3D mapping software, have also made their there way to Youtube. Showing the device in action, the video demonstrates a no-joke navigator with mad 3D rendering skills provided by iGO's My Way 8 software, a 3D map rendering application designed for portables.
This upgrade gives you access to so much terrain/building mapping data you may never have to look at the road again. Well, there's still that bit concerning other cars and people getting in your way. Although, these units will have you wanting to keep them in front of you.
Clarion has included all the functionality you'd expect from a high-end PND, but they also added some you might not.
These knowledgeable navi's boast SMS (texting) capabilities, and can connect to a streaming audio service. The differences in the units are mainly disc space and what maps are loaded on those flash memories.
The Clarion MAP680 includes regional map information only, the region in this case is Germany so that includes four countries on it's 1GB internal storage. The MAP680's partner in 3D map rendering touts quite a bit more mapping data, 43 European countries are stored on it's 2GB Memory. Both devices can be expanded and accept SD cards.
No word on when Clarion will grace us with an American version of these mapping moguls but the software is available, a manufacturer just needs to bring it to market in the US.
Panasonic Strada CN-GP50U Portable Navigator w/ 5" Screen
Pioneer AVIC-S2 Portable Smart GPS Navigation with 3.5" Touch Display
Uniden GPS402 Portable In-Vehicle Navigation System features: 4" EZ Touch display
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Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Car Electronics are on the On Ramp to the Information Superhighway
or Computers to Replace Common Sense
Today Honda announced their newest GPS units will let drivers know if they're about to leave their economically viable ride in an economically challenged area.
The new system alerts drivers if they have picked a less than desirable spot to park, places were the chances of the car coming out unscathed are slim to none.
The GPS’ calculated decisions are made by accessing local police records for any specified area. A crime rating is issued for each area you park in that has a higher than normal level of crimes against cars. Using the law of probability, the GPS alerts you when the chips are stacked against you and your car.
Don’t expect this system in the US anytime soon, on the fly access to local US law enforcement data systems seems like a logistical nightmare. Not to mention the cries of socioeconomic profiling that will be sure to follow.
Implementing this system should prove to be a good incentive to clean up crime ridden areas, especially if people started avoiding certain places based on this new GPS’ recommendations, which they will.
People are very willing to give over thinking to a computer as the folks in Wedmore, England know all too well...International Herald Tribune...via physorg.com..via AFP..
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Monday, March 31, 2008
Rockford Fosgate T1 12" Power Series Bumps
Saying the Rockford Fosgate T1 12” Power series subwoofer gives you ‘more bass for your face’, is putting it lightly. Power is Rockford Fosgate’s premier subwoofer series; described as ‘sonically overwhelming’, this decibel factory is packed full of extras to make sure nothing comes between you and those precious low frequency punches you crave.
Tap Read More! to see a video of these air pushers in action.
Rockford Fosgate 4FRP6002 2-Channels Amplifier/Refurbished
Rockford Fosgate T5001bd 500 Watt Class-bd Mono Amplifier
Rockford Fosgate Punch P3D410 10" 4-Ohm Subwoofer
Rockford Fosgate Punch P3SD412 12" 4-Ohm Shallow Subwoofer
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Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Magellan's New Lineup, iPhone Inspired?
Magellan Elite 2370
Magellan, seemingly taking a play from the iPhone play book, has announced that a borderless 3.5” touch-panel display will adorn one of their latest PND, the Elite 3270 (not pictured). By removing the traditional beveled plastic case, Magellan hopes that the resulting form will be considered more “elegant and high-tech” by users, thus setting them apart in a crowded PND market.
Along with its new edge to edge flat screen, touch sensitivity is also enhanced. If brought to market today the Elite 3270 would be the industry’s most compact PND standing 3.24” tall and 0.7” thick. The model will ship with all the necessary accessories for easy installation into your vehicle. Alas it’s not out yet. The list price is $499.
Maestro™ Elite 5340 (pictured above)
Improved processor speed and a dedicated graphics accelerator are good reasons to choose the Maestro™. But, if display size is a driving factor in your GPS purchase decisions, than you might be interested in the 5” screen that beautifies this newest flagship model of Magellan GPS.
For the majority of us this alone is not enough to make the sale. So what other goodies does Magellan have up their sleeves?
Besides giving you 35% more viewable area, Maestro™ is a highly customizable device. With the “One touch” interface you can identify and store your favorite destinations, like which chain restaurant you like to eat at or what superstore you like to buy underwear from. Then, with one touch the Maestro™ instantly accesses directions to the nearest store in that chain from your present location. This would be great for traveling through unfamiliar territory. One touch is also touted as a safety feature minimizing driver distraction by streamlining access to destinations and POIs.
Further contributing to driver safety is the SayWhere™ voice command. Simply speak the destination address and Maestro™ calculates the appropriate route in seconds or search POIs with voice commands like, “Nearest Indian Restaurant”. The Maestro is equipped with a dual microphone to decipher your voice, and for Bluetooth® enabled phone calls. After you tire of your selected voice telling you where to go, switch over to the media player with built in FM transmitter to broadcast your MP3s through the car stereo.
Traffic data isn’t over looked either. This subscription based traffic update also makes alternate route calculation based on historical traffic data taking into account the time of day. The smartness of this traffic data system might make it worth continuing the subscription after the three month trial period expires.
General Packet Radio Service (GPRS)
Is too much information every really *too* much information? We don’t think so. Magellan is betting most of their information age demographic feels similarly. To that end, Magellan has partnered with Google to provide their Maestro Elite 5340+GPRS with the uncanny ability to provide overly comprehensive location specific information through Google local search, "simply type in what it is you're looking for and Google displays relevant results around the your current location or a specified location". List price 1,299.
These are said to be scheduled for release sometime in the first quarter of 2008.
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Monday, December 10, 2007
Alpine Type-X: Upgrade or Absurd?
Alpine announced last week it would begin shipping the newest upgrade to their mobile speaker lineup, the Type-X Pro and Reference Speakers. Alpine’s combination of high output fiberglass cones and ring radiator tweeters, on the Pro series, are aural assassins of the highest caliber. Even so, the price jump is a bit hefty from its predecessor with an MSRP of $650 (but we'll have them for way less). This, Type-X, upgrade includes smaller neodymium magnets. So, if you’re shelling out multiple Benjamins for these fancy cans, anyway, you don’t to have to drop a bunch more cash on car interior customization just to fit them in your ride.
Type-X Pro
One thing you might want to customize is the speaker tuning. The included interchangeable ‘Phase Link’ modules are setup to cope with the most popular speaker placements, and ring radiator tweeters allow the tweeters to swivel around giving more precise control over the direction of the sound.
The SPX-17 Pro boasts 100W max and 300W peak handling power. The SPX-13 Pro holds it down with 80W max and 240W peak. Because of the size difference, SPX-13 Pro has slightly less frequency response than its bigger brother.
As the name and price indicate, these component speakers are not really for the audio enthusiast. These are for those freakish audiophiles that are a bit obsessed with perfect unabated sound reproduction or, to put it nicely, audio connoisseurs.
Type-X Reference
If the Type-X Pro series seems a bit much to you, then the Type-X Reference speakers maybe more to your liking. Type-X Reference speakers are a very slight step down, somewhat in tweeter performance, but mostly in watts pushed. You’d be hard pressed to tell the difference between dome tweeters, which the Type-X Ref uses, and ring radiator tweeters that adorn the Type-X Pro. Dome tweeters have less moving parts, and less that can brake. Plus, you’re already installing the tweeters in such a way as to focus the sound where you want, more control is overkill.
Another nice thing about the Type-X Ref speakers is, you can convert this component speaker system into a coaxial system, adding to the installation options. The wattage of these cans is a bit diminished when compared to the Pro Series. The SPX-17 REF pushes 75W max and 225W peak, its partner in thumping, the SPX-13 REF, has a respectable 60W max and 180W peak. Being the low-end of these high-end speakers the SPX-13 REF has the lowest frequency response range of the four new offerings but at an MSRP of $400 they should both be mind altering.
Are They For Real
The price for this new Alpine upgrade is, as with any product, a combination real value and branded value. The trick is figuring out which is the reason the price is…what it is. These speakers offer some impressive features, but Alpine’s pricing it out of range for many in their loyal demographic. Most people spend $50-$60 dollars on a set of car speakers, and are perfectly happy with their performance. The new Alpine Type-X is cutting edge, but taking into account the fact that you can get the current model for $200, what makes these worth the extra bucks?
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Monday, December 3, 2007
Spotlight: Powerful LED Flashlight for the Car
Small, powerful, and at mere two inches it’s definitely not compensating for any anatomical shortcomings (those enormous Maglights most assuredly are),Spotlight LED in-car flashlights scream preparedness, practicality, and security all while maintaining the driver’s ultra hip image. You see, what the Spotlight lacks in the way of an imaginative moniker, it gains in the creativeness of its concept. The Spotlight is a LED flashlight that charges in the auto’s cigarette lighter adapter.
It is fully charged in three hours, and gives you an hour or more of supplementary light. Now you can easily find those French fries along the side of your seat, change a tire, or blind cops...before they can do it to you (not recommended). If you're a car enthusiast you probably purchase all manner of useless gadgets for your car, which usually means no room for useful stuff. Why not get something you know you need, but will still get those, "Ooh, what's that?" responses. An always ready, at your fingertips, Spotlight.
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Monday, November 12, 2007
In-Car Robots..."R2" Cute
On the Horizon
Who couldn’t use a little company on those long road trips? The advent of radio gave drivers that sense of riding with someone else. Obviously, radio falls way short of being a replacement for human interaction. Well…there’s always the phone. Cell phones quench that thirst to converse, surely. What if your needs are more diverse? Say you can’t drive another minute without your favorite tune blaring in your ear or you need to search a location on your GPS while speeding along the highway. Should you distract yourself from driving long enough to complete these tasks? These and many other minor dilemmas will soon be a thing of the past for drivers. In-car robots promise to “serve as a driver's partner to share the driver's feelings, react to the driver's situations, and communicate with the driver.”
Facial recognition software can already read and copy facial expressions successfully. Through constant video monitoring, these Robots would be able to read your facial expressions and determine your emotional state or level of alertness. The system would then offer music and lighting that would complement your emotions by calming you, waking you up, or just helping maintain your pleasant state of mind. The in-car robot possibly would suggest for you to pull over and rest, or maybe even attempt to cheer you up. In addition the robot would have control over all car electronics that required your input. Car gadgets would be controlled by the robot via voice command. These robots are in the developmental stages, car manufactures and after-market manufactures (Pioneer) have started displaying these technologies on the car show circuit. Lovable ‘toy-ish’ robots have popped up in concept cars like the Nissan Pivo 2 which was unveiled at the Tokyo Motor Show last week.
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Monday, November 5, 2007
Blaupunkt TravelPilot Lucca 3.5 (to be 'round' or not to be 'round')
The Germans invented the limited access highway...the Autobahn (a.k.a. the interstate to us in the U.S.). They arguably make the most refined automobiles available anywhere mainly to deal with the speeds at which they are driven. Point being they take their driving pretty seriously. Plus, they’re German; they’re kind of serious all around. So who better than Blaupunkt Travelpilot to tell you how to get where you are going and how fast you should drive to get there.
Blaupunkt TravelPilot Lucca 3.5 Edition GPS is no square. Why did they go round? Well…not being present at the design meeting, one can only speculate, but my opinion is the round design serves to better mesh with the round display features that are present on most cars like the speedometer or tachometer. Also, in the crowded GPS market it stands out, on several blogs people are talking and debating about why it’s round. Simply put, in terms of free press this is a stroke of genius. The practicality of this round design is questionable. It needlessly takes up space.
Enough with the fluff let's get to the nuts and blots of the device. Its specs aren’t groundbreaking 400 MHz processor, 64MB SDRAM, 3.5in screen, 1GB on board memory that is expandable through MMC/SD/SDHC card slot 256MB - 4GB. It has preloaded in the flash memory all major European roads and detailed maps of UK/Ireland. There are some more impressive things about the Blaupunkt. You can use the card slot to play music or view pictures while still getting guided navigation. The device comes with a DVD loaded with detailed maps of 21 European countries (most of the time you have to pay separately for this information). It is also touted for being forgiving to bad spellers when typing in a destination.
The Blaupunkt TravelPilot Lucca 3.5 (round) Edition is a square in the sense that it doesn’t like speeders. It knows the speed limit and will warn you audibly and visually when you foot gets too heavy. One would assume this has got to be an optional feature. It uses TMS for live traffic rerouting even if you’re not using the GPS to calculate your route. So as Blaupunkt points out, “Rest assured: the round TravelPilot will always keep you on the straight and narrow.”
For drooling purposes only not available in the US…yet. We’ll keep you updated.
..Via..Navigadget
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