gps

Mediocre Mercedes-Benz SL550 mobile GPS device

Mercedes-Benz is getting into the crowded portable navigation market, and we have just taken receipt of its latest device, the SL550. On first impressions, we have to admit that we're not overly impressed. The SL550 portable GPS receiver has a very plain, black-plastic design with hard buttons down either side of its 6.5-inch color LCD display. Unlike the Garmin StreetPilot c580 or the Delphi Nav200, the SL550 is not a touch screen, so destinations have to be input using a four-way cluster of buttons on the bottom right of the unit. Programming the system is intuitive, but it … Read more

WHERE: widgets for your phone

With the release of Apple's iPhone just a few months away, we're already seeing phone companies scramble to to keep customers by adding value to their phones and services. WHERE, from start-up uLocate, is no different, providing a bevy of GPS-enabled widgets for mobile phones while managing to use a drag-and-drop Web interface. Subscription to and use of the widgets requires a monthly fee of $2.99. For now, the service works with only six of Sprint's handsets, though about a dozen more are being added next Monday.

The widgets range from weather information providers to locators … Read more

All-in-one dashboard PC

And here we thought the sun-visor theater was a bad idea. As if we don't have enough traffic problems already, SNT Korea has developed a dashboard PC that runs Windows XP to divert our attention from the road too. The touch-screen unit can be used for everything from GPS navigation to live TV, which Newlaunches says can be recorded on a built-in hard drive that can be transferred to a disc later. Claiming "broadband-like" speeds, the in-dash computer will also work with a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse to set up a mobile office. We pray that drivers … Read more

CD player for scooter culture

We're not quite sure why anyone would want something so cumbersome (and vulnerable to theft) as a CD system for a scooter. But we're not sure why anyone would want to risk their lives on a scooter in Tokyo traffic either. Nevertheless, Clarion has provided just such a product for the Japanese market to be mounted on the handlebar, which Akihabara News calls a "Drip-Proof" CD player--presumably meaning waterproof (we hope).

GPS remembers photos when you don't

We can't remember the number of times we've come across an old photo and couldn't remember where it was taken. (Sometimes a new photo, even.) That's why we, and our deteriorating brain cells, appreciate Sony's development of a GPS unit for the camera.

The elegantly named GPS-CS1KA saves the location, time and date of photos taken in all areas that have satellite coverage, according to Tech Digest. The device stores about a month's worth of tracking data for the photos, which can be tagged on a Google map as well.

The unit weighs under … Read more

A different approach to GPS-enabled cameras

Photography's essential use of GPS differs from the typical GPS application in one significant way: You don't need it to tell you where you are, only where you've been. Why does this distinction matter? Because the former requires far more real-time horsepower and precision than the latter does. For digital photography, that translates into the difference between bulky, expensive power-draining solutions or small-footprint, cheap, energy-efficient ones.

At least, that's the thinking behind NXP Software's swGPS technology, and I think it has a lot of merit. With the swGPS software embedded in a camera along with … Read more

Deutschlanders: E-mail Google Maps to your BMW

Google has announced on their blog a new partnership with BMW's Assist driving service--but only in Germany, so far. BMW drivers using Google Maps Deutschland can now "send" selected geographic data from their PCs directly to their in-car navigators. Consequently, there's no need to look it up at home and then look it up again in the car. (Above: Check out Google's promotional video. Don't worry, it's in English.)

It's not available stateside yet, or with non-BMW navigators, but Google has stressed that this is only the first step in the introduction … Read more

FCC reveals TomTom's product road map

GPS maker TomTom has been pretty quiet as of late, but thanks to some FCC slips, it looks like we'll be seeing several new in-car GPS devices from the company soon. Details are pretty light at the moment, but here's what we know so far. First, there's a product called the TomTom One XL. A follow-up to the no-frills TomTom One, the XL is said to feature a larger 4.3-inch touch screen and integrated Bluetooth so you can use it as a hands-free speaker system. You'll also have the option to receive real-time traffic updates, … Read more

All-in-one anti-surveillance device

Forget about all those traffic radar detectors that have come on the market recently. The truly paranoid need far more sophisticated equipment to find out who's watching them, such as this "All in One Professional Counter-Surveillance Device."

The $350 piece of hardware can supposedly detect GPS trackers, wireless hidden cameras, audio bugs, phone taps and laser eavesdropping systems, as well as disable their transmissions. There's just one problem: As Navigadget points out, it may very well jam every other digital device in your home.