April 3, 2008 5:43 PM PDT

Motorola launches Smart Rider at CTIA

Posted by Wayne Cunningham

Smart Rider combines the features of a phone and portable GPS device.

(Credit: Motorola)

Motorola broke a few molds when it announced the Smart Rider at CTIA this week. Smart Rider is a cross between a phone and a portable GPS device, using a 2.8-inch high-resolution screen for map display and turn-by-turn directions. It also has voice command and Bluetooth hands-free calling features. Although the news release is a little short on details, it seems to say that you can pair your phone with the Smart Rider, and transfer contact information. However, Smart Rider also has its own GSM connection, so presumably it would have its own phone number, and its cellular connection would be used to download maps. It also has live traffic and local search, services that would also come over a cellular connection. Smart Rider is scheduled to be available in June 2008.

(Source: Jalopnik)

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Originally posted at The Car Tech blog