You may have heard of Google's autonomous Priuses that have clocked more than a 190,000 miles on the open road, but you may not be as familiar with the company's fleet of self-driving golf carts.

The technology giant has been tinkering with a fleet of autonomous golf carts that some engineers use to travel between campus buildings. Users request these low-speed vehicles online, and at the scheduled time, the carts automatically depart the parking garage to meet the passenger at their designated pick up zone. Passengers can drive the cart themselves, or let the system ferry them to their destination so they can focus on work. After they exit the vehicle, the carts park themselves--no valet needed, no tip required. … Read more

The cars of the future will use vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-to-infrastructure communication for advanced safety technology that will help them avoid accidents, but what about the old clunkers sharing the road with them?

To make sure all cars have this new capability, GM is working on an aftermarket device that could work in all cars to communicate road and traffic hazards with other vehicles.

Unprotected turns, inclement weather, and road hazards are scenarios that can lead to automobile accidents. But V2V technology could help avoid these and up to 81 percent of all traffic accidents, according to a study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (PDF).

Using sensors already installed on the vehicles, the system gathers information about traffic and weather and transmits this information to other vehicles, so drivers have more time to react to road obstacles. The system can also activate a vehicle's accident avoidance technologies, such as electronic stability control. … Read more

Testing GPS devices can be a grind--a dull, boring grind. So when a device comes along promising to revolutionize portable navigation devices, I tend to perk up and take notice. The TomTom Go Live 1535M is one of those attention-getters.

When this portable navigation device (PND) was announced a few weeks ago, I was intrigued by its integration of travel apps that enable the user to tap into Yelp, Trip Advisor, Expedia, and Google Local Search services for up-to-date point-of-interest data and reviews via the same Live data service that beams in its HD Traffic data. I was even more … Read more

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but those of you who got excited about the announcement of a "Top Gear"-edition GPS navigator by TomTom will be saddened to know that the brakes have been applied to the project.

According to the Guardian, the BBC states that its presenters "must take particular care not to endorse any product or service which could be covered in the programs on which they work." In a nutshell, because GPS navigators are car accessories and "Top Gear" is a show that reviews cars, there is … Read more

If your car knew the speed limit, it could help you avoid getting speeding tickets. If it knew of a hill up ahead, it could gear down ahead of time. New technology from Navteq and M/A-COM Technology enables just this kind of behavior.

The companies partnered to come up with the Map and Positioning Engine module (MPE), a device designed to communicate location information to a car's drive systems. This module makes it easy for automakers to include location-aware behavior in their cars.

The MPE uses Navteq's mapping data, which includes elevation changes, along with protocols to … Read more

As promised a few months ago, Navigon announced today that its mobile turn-by-turn navigation application is now available on the Windows Phone 7 platform. The app, Navigon for Windows Phone 7, works only on the newly released version 7.5 of the mobile operating system, aka Mango.

Similar to the company's iOS and Android apps, Navigon for Windows Phone 7 doesn't require a live cellular data connection to work as it stores maps on the phone. This means you can continue to navigate even when the phone is away from cell coverage. Navigon says the app includes spoken turn-by-turn directions, visual lane guidance, and live traffic information and rerouting, among many other features.

Taking advantage of Windows Phone 7.5, which offers developers better access to the operating system's functions, the app has an augmented reality function called Reality Scanner, providing an instant and easy way to identify nearby destinations while on foot; an option to select address information directly from the phone's contact list; and the ability to save a favorite or home address as a shortcut on the start screen.… Read more

Could parking garage maps be coming to BMW's ConnectedDrive navigation system? BMW released a video demonstrating its micro-navigation technology, which shows drivers the most exact route to their destination, down to the parking space.

BMW announced that it was developing this technology last year, and while the new video doesn't show much more detail than what was previously released, it could suggest that this feature, which was developed in conjunction with the 3-series sedan, could be making its way to production. … Read more

TeleNav announced this morning that its GPS Navigator app for Android phones is getting a major update soon.

Designated version 7.1, this new update starts with a new My Dashboard home screen that presents a local map, commute times and traffic, shortcuts and a search bar at the user's fingertips upon launching the app. Users may not immediately notice once their trip is under way, but behind the scenes the maps feature a revised rendering engine that TeleNav claims is both smoother and faster.

Of course, no good Android app would be complete without a widget, so TeleNav … Read more

It would seem that you couldn't swing a cat these days without hitting something with the "Top Gear" logo on it. Assets from the madly popular automotive show--including the colorful commentary of the show's most popular presenter, Jeremy "Jezza" Clarkson--are featured in both Gran Turismo 5 and the upcoming Forza Motorsport 4 racing games for the PS3 and Xbox 360, respectively, and even in an iOS game. Today brings the news that you can now put ol' Jezza on your dashboard with the announcement of the TomTom Go Live Top Gear Edition, the first &… Read more