Car Tech
Navigon 2200T with Free-Real-Time Traffic Unveiled
Posted: Sep. 04, 2008 10:09:50 a.m.
The new GPS media darling isn't a Garmin, TomTom or Magellan. It comes from relative newcomer and industry upstart, Navigon, and is generating buzz as one of the first entry-level GPS devices with free real-time traffic updates for life.
"That's right: free for life," says CNET's Bonnie Cha. According to her, with the Navigon 2200T, "traffic capabilities are available right out of the box without a subscription and will show you areas of congestion on the maps ...
Ford Develops OnStar Competitor
Posted: Sep. 03, 2008 10:09:25 a.m.
The next generation of Ford's SYNC system will take on GM's OnStar directly, according to Engadget. The current version of SYNC, developed in partnership with Microsoft, is sold as an "infotainment" platform. It allows Ford owners to control iPods, cell phones and other electronic devices with voice commands, operating through the car's stereo. GM's OnStar is marketed as a safety feature, calling 911 automatically in the event of an accident and providing vehicle diagnostic reports to ...
New TomTom GPS Lets You Warn Other Drivers of Speed Traps
Posted: Sep. 02, 2008 10:09:52 a.m.
After much speculation and a U.K. electronics store leak, TomTom launched its new HD model, the TomTom Go x40 LIVE, along with two other Go LIVE models, the 740 and 540 at Berlin's IFA consumer electronics conference.
According to Jalopnik, the new x40 "allows users to update maps on the fly with the positions of police speed traps and traffic cameras...alerting other TomTom users in the area of their presence," in addition to storing travel time data ...
Pictures, Video of Production Chevy Volt Leaked to Web
Posted: Aug. 29, 2008 10:08:59 a.m.
Despite General Motors' attempts to keep the final shape of the production Chevy Volt secret, photos and video of the car leaked onto several websites overnight. The images come from the set of the upcoming film Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen. GM has loaned many vehicles for feature roles in the film, including several which are not yet available for sale -- leading automotive writers to pay close attention to the set of the film over the last six months ...
Crime Fighting GPS Turtle Nabs Ganja Grower
Posted: Aug. 29, 2008 10:08:12 a.m.
This is not a GPS story for a portable car-centric device. But it's just too good to pass up.
According to numerous reports, a GPS-equipped turtle aided in a recent drug bust, when it meandered across U.S. park land near the Washington D.C-Maryland border to discover marijuana growing
The Washington Post says the turtle is one of 135 Eastern box turtles that calls the park home "and one of three puttering in the woods with tiny radio ...
Researchers: Heated Seats Threaten Male Fertility
Posted: Aug. 28, 2008 10:08:54 a.m.
Attention, male drivers: turn off the heated seats. Seriously. The optional equipment could be damaging…well…certain…standard…equipment.
Australia's Drive explains, "Heated car seats bring relief in cold winter weather but new research suggests this luxury extra might be damaging men's chances of conceiving children." According to report published in New Scientist magazine, "Tests on German men have shown that the heated seats found in many European cars and new model Asian-designed vehicles raise scrotum temperature above ...
Is the First HD TomTom on the Horizon?
Posted: Aug. 25, 2008 03:08:14 p.m.
It's that time again folks. Another consumer electronics trade show. Berlin's Consumer Electronics Unlimited conference, known as IFA (we're assuming that stands for something German), starts this week and is certain to bring the debut of several cool gadgets.
One of those items is probably TomTom's GO 940 LIVE, an updated version of TomTom's 930 and the first TomTom with HD traffic. There have been swirls of Go 940 LIVE news all weekend, ever since ...
College Students Don't Remember a World Without GPS
Posted: Aug. 20, 2008 10:08:26 a.m.
This year's incoming college students can probably read a Marauder's Map better than they could a Thomas Guide. If you don't get that reference -- go ask your teenager.
Every year Beloit College releases a "Mindset List" of 60 cultural landmarks for college freshmen. This year's incoming class, mostly born in 1990, are more familiar with Harry Potter than they are Thurgood Marshall. They have never lived in a world without Seinfeld, caller ID, karaoke, and GPS ...
Prediction: Every Car Will Be Hybrid in 2020
Posted: Aug. 18, 2008 10:08:50 a.m.
Toyota, the world's largest automaker, knows a thing or two about predicting the future of the automotive industry. They invested in hybrid technology at a time when gas cost just over $1 a gallon and America's Big Three were focused only on high-profit SUVS. The Japanese automaker was prepared with a fleet of attractive and functional small cars when gas hit $4, and has weathered a difficult 2008 far better than most of its competition. So how is ...
Next PSP Probably Won't Include Navigation
Posted: Aug. 18, 2008 10:08:29 a.m.
If you were waiting for the newest PSP to solve your navigation woes, brace yourself. Although a Sony VIP recently gave hints of GPS integration on the latest PlayStation Portable system at the 2008 Electronic Entertainment Expo, the testing documents that landed on the Federal Communications Commission desk for a PSP-3001 have no plans for GPS receiver anywhere in sight. Gaming and GPS blogs are collectively calling the 3001-blueprint an all-around disappointment.
Engadget reports, "We can tell you that the ...
