The addition of a digital compass to the iPhone 3GS has turned it into an essential city navigation tool for many pedestrians, but what if you’re more commonly found on a bike? Japanese firm Ubiquitous Entertainment have put together a prototype called iPhone ARider, which uses a retractable head-mounted display and a 3GS to show live navigation to a biker.
Video demo after the cut
Many cars today come with in-dash navigation systems pre-installed. For those vehicles that didn’t get in-dash navigation from the factory, several aftermarket in-dash units can be added that look factory. Pioneer offers a couple really cool in-dash navigation devices.
iriver’s latest product is out, and unlike their more traditional range of PMPs they’ve branched off into “eco-friendly bike navigation”. The iriver NV mini bike edition is a sliced-down version of their NV classic, keeping the touchscreen, GPS and media playback but dropping the integrated DMB TV tuner.
Every time I see a new PND unveiled I wonder how long it will be before the smartphone does to the PND what it did to the PDA by making PDAs obsolete. I suspect that eventually the smartphone will kill off the PND since most smartphones today handle navigation with aplomb. PNDs are still popular right now though, and Mio has announced two new navigation devices on the cheap called the Moov M300 and M400.
We have talked a bit about the sleek Garmin nuvi 1690 back in August. Garmin has offered up more details on the PND today, and the device sound pretty cool.
It’s fair to say that we’ve been watching TomTom’s iPhone PND app more than its standalone navigators recently, but that doesn’t mean the company’s own development team have given up. TomTom have just announced their latest two models, the XXL 540S and XXL 530S, complete with wide-aspect 5-inch touchscreen, mapping for US and Canada, and the company’s own IQ Routes intelligent guidance system.
Chalk another one up to bizarre branding: you’re looking at the Pierre Cardin PC-729 UMPC, the handiwork of Shenzhen Industries, and while you might assume the Chinese firm have “borrowed unofficially” the designer branding, in actual fact this is the result of a legitimate licensing deal. The PC-729 has a 7-inch 800 x 480 WVGA resistive touchscreen, 1.2GHz VIA C7-M processor and 16GB SSD, and is set to hit Chinese shelves priced at 2980 yuan ($436).
Nokia’s high-end 8800-series handsets have been in need of a new poster-model for some time, and according to the latest leaks that might just be the new Erdos. The Nokia Erdos is a compact slider with a 2.4-inch 320 x 240 OLED display, 3G WCDMA, WiFi, A-GPS and a 5-megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss autofocus optics and dual LED flash.
However what makes the S60 Erdos special is that all of that is packed into a compact, stainless steel casing that’s apparently carved from a single block of metal. The OLED display is covered by a mirror-finish glass panel that’s only transparent when the display is active.
Video after the cut
Garmin-ASUS’ nuvifone has been a long time coming, and in fact if it’s the original you’re waiting for then you’ll have to hold on a little longer. If, though, you’re willing to make do with the nuvifone M20 – the collaboration’s Windows Mobile 6.1 model – then phoneArena’s review will be of interest. They’ve been putting the compact PND/smartphone hybrid through its paces, to see if you’re better off putting all your eggs in one basket or not.
Nokia’s Booklet 3G has shown up for preorder on the company’s Italian webstore, priced at €699 ($1,019) unlocked and SIM-free. The Finnish netbook – announced at Nokia World last week – packs a 720p-capable 10.1-inch display, integrated 900/2100MHz HSDPA/HSUPA and AGPS. It’s expected to begin shipping at the end of October 2009.
Chrome OS: Waiting Is The Hardest Part…Though Necessary
Apple is no longer the Nordstrom of Tech, they’re the “New Nordstrom”
Can Anything Replace Windows XP As the Best Netbook Operating System?
Hey, Premium Notebooks or Netbooks, Get the Basics Right!
SlashGear Japan
