nav

Photos: 2009 Acura RL

The gadget-laden Acura RL has long been a favorite here at CNET Car Tech. As one of the first cars to offer a navigation system with real-time traffic data, and an active collision mitigation system, the current generation RL was ahead of the pack in terms of cabin and drivetrain technology. However, as we found in our recent review of the 2007 RL, the model has started to show its age. Acura is remedying that with the release of the 2009 RL. The 2009 RL comes with a new body style, a more powerful engine, and some more pioneering cabin … Read more

Sprint Navigation to arrive in April

Today, Sprint and TeleNav announced they are expecting a little cell phone/GPS lovechild sometime in April. They've named the location-based service (LBS) Sprint Navigation, and it brings a bundle of navigation joy, such as:

Text- and voice-guided turn-by-turn directions 3D maps Pedestrian mode Real-time traffic alerts Local search with more than 10 million points of interest Gas finder by lowest price

Sprint Navigation will be available on most Power Vision phones, including the Motorola Razr V3m, the Motorola Krzr, and the LG Fusic, with several data plan options. The new Sprint Power Vision Navigation Pack gives you unlimited … Read more

TeleNav Traffic brings road updates to Sprint cell phones

Nobody loves staring into a sea of red brake lights while enduring their daily commute, but TeleNav and Sprint are hoping to relieve some of that headache with TeleNav Traffic. A new feature of TeleNav GPS Navigator, a GPS-enabled navigation service for cell phones, TeleNav Traffic alerts you to congestion and accidents with voice and visual prompts on your mobile phone. In addition, customers can get alternate routes by pressing "0" on their phone, and can receive an estimated time of arrival based on real-time traffic conditions. Swanky.

TeleNav Traffic is currently only being offered to Sprint customers … Read more

Ferrari GPS or Etch-A-Sketch?

We have nothing against the Ferrari laptop and certainly nothing against the Dino. But of all the latest Ferrari-related announcements, this one just doesn't seem to live up to the legendary name above its face, at least in its appearance.

Granted, the Traffic Assist Pro (couldn't they come up with a better name?) is packed with features, including a state-of-the-art GPS system, 400-MHz processor, MP3-grade speakers and a touch-sensitive screen that Newlaunches says can support 65,536 colors. Perhaps most impressive of all to us, it can keep a list of speed radars in its internal database.

Still, … Read more

Cingular helps the directionally challenged

Well, Cingular's just having a field day today. In addition to announcing the availability of the long-awaited HP iPaq hw6920, the cell phone carrier launched its first location-based service, called TeleNav GPS Navigator, for its business and government customers. The service costs $9.99 per month for unlimited use (or $5.99 per month for up to 10 trips) and provides text- and voice-guided turn-by-turn directions and color maps so that you don't miss that important client meeting. In addition to the standard nav features, there are some extra handy tools, including a Biz Finder for searching local … Read more

Pioneer's nav unit: Turn on, zoom in

The nice people at Pioneer just took us out for a spin on wild streets of San Francisco to try to generate some more buzz around their now 10-month-old AVIC Z-1 navigation unit. While this kind of hands-on demo would have been more useful prior to our test-bench review of the unit earlier in the year, the chance to see the touch-screen double-DIN nav system working in a real-world situation was worth the ride. Aside from its plentiful entertainment- and communications functions (10GB of hard-drive media storage, Bluetooth interface, iPod adapter, MP3- and WMA-playback, XM and Sirius Satellite Radio pre-wiring), … Read more