GPS

Rick Broida is so cheap...

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Rick Broida is so cheap, he uses AOL CDs for Christmas-tree ornaments. He thinks Black Friday should be a declared a federal holiday. And he's stealing his neighbor's Wi-Fi at this very moment. (Kidding!)

Who better to blog about the Web's best deals and steals? Every day I'll be scouring the Interwebs for amazing bargains and bringing them to you right here. Even now, my Cheapskate senses are tingling...

FM transmitters are nothing new, and neither are devices that stream audio via the advanced A2DP profile. But we haven't seen many devices that use both wireless technologies in the same application. That's exactly what Motorola's T505 does: As well as being a slick-looking in-car Bluetooth speakerphone, the visor-mounted T505 can be used to stream music from an A2DP device directly to the car stereo, without the need for the latter to be equipped with the advanced Bluetooth profile.

It manages this feat with a digital FM transmitter, which searches frequencies in the FM range with the … Read more

There is a lots of talk these days about computers in cars, but it mostly refers to the technology in the vehicle's drivetrain, GPS navigation device, or active safety systems. When are we going to see a real computer in the car, you ask: one that can browse the Web, edit Word docs, and perform all the functions of a desktop. Jensen has an answer to that question with the NVX3000PC, on show at SEMA 2007. The portable device has a 7-inch touch-screen display and comes with a Windows Vista operating system, a 30GB internal hard drive, an integrated … Read more

In a recent J.D. Power and Associates survey, users ranked the navigation system in the Infiniti G35 as the most satisfactory. Coming in at a very close second was the system in the Lexus IS 250/350, then a little further down, in third, was the Acura TL. We are not terribly surprised at these rankings, as we've been very impressed with these navigation systems in the past. However, the landscape will change dramatically in 2008, as we've seen more and more hard drive-based systems released, which access data faster than on DVD-based systems. Another feature we … Read more

Panasonic is using this year's SEMA show to launch the CN-GP50U, its first portable navigation device. The CN-GP50U features a 5-inch touch-screen display and comes with text-to-speech technology for reading out road names when under route guidance. A real-time traffic service from Clear Channel is available on the device with the purchase of a separate receiver. It also comes with built-in Bluetooth for hands-free calling and an industrial-strength in-car mount. Check out our first look.

About a month ago, we reviewed the Alpine IVA-W205, an innovative aftermarket in-dash unit that works as a multimedia player and a navigation system. The latter function is provided by docking the Alpine PMD-B200 (aka Alpine BlackBird II) portable navigation system into the IVA-W205, but the cool thing is that the PMD-B200 can be used independently as a standalone GPS unit. This is the subject of this review.

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If there was ever a comic book hero named Mapman, this would be his ride. Tele Atlas, a map content company out of Netherlands, is the owner of this orange van and the attached equipment. It creates maps of the roads it plies using a potpourri of location capture devices.

Mounted on top are four cameras, each capturing three images per second. The van can be configured with up to eight cameras depending on the landscape it is mapping, making it possible to capture 24 images per second when needed. Those are accompanied by laser scanners that help to determine … Read more

Following Nokia's high-profile acquisition of Navteq last month, it's not surprising that the world's largest phone maker is using SEMA 2007 for the debut of its N500 portable navigation device. The N500 boasts a 4.3-inch color touch-screen display and a built-in speaker for giving turn-by-turn voice guidance; the system also features text-to-speech technology for reading out the names of individual streets. An integrated FM transmitter allows drivers to stream spoken directions via their car speakers. Being a Nokia device, the N500 naturally comes with cell phone compatibility and can be used as a hands-free Bluetooth calling … Read more

One of the newcomers to this year's SEMA show is Raytel, a subsidiary of German company Funkwerk, which is using the event to launch five new products: The Ego Drive, Ego Talk, Ego Flash Ego Look, and Ego Cup.

Ego Drive, the flagship product in the lineup, is a combined portable and dockable GPS navigation and multimedia device with a wireless rotary remote control. The device features a 4.3-inch color touch screen with 3D map view, and it comes with text-to-speech functionality to read out road names during turn-by-turn route guidance. For multimedia, the Ego Drive supports MP3 … Read more