PND - SlashGear

‘PND’ Stories

Garmin GPSMAP 62 series updates a geocaching icon

Chris Davies, Jun 2nd 2010 Discuss [2]

Garmin has taken the wraps off of their GPSMAP 62 series, an update to the popular GPSMAP 60 series. The new GPS handheld has a 2.6-inch sunlight-readable LCD display, high-sensitivity chipset with quad helix antenna, and up to 20hrs battery life; three variants will be on offer, ranging from the basic GPSMAP 62 with worldwide shaded-relief mapping, the GPSMAP 62s with a 3-axis tilt-compensated electronic compass, a barometric altimeter and wireless connectivity, and the GPSMAP 62st with preloaded 100K topographic maps for the entire US. Read The Full Story

Pioneer AVIC-Z120BT in-dash PND gets Pandora audio support

Chris Davies, May 25th 2010 Discuss [1]

Pioneer have outed their latest high-end in-dash navigation system, and it has brought along mobile Pandora access too. The Pioneer AVIC-Z120BT has a 7-inch WVGA touchscreen, 3D graphics accelerator, onscreen iPod/iPhone control, integrated Bluetooth for hands-free calling and wireless music streaming (along with USB connectivity and an SD card slot) and is SIRIUS XM satellite and HD Radio ready. As for Pandora, that's courtesy of Pioneer's PandoraLink for iPhone app, which as the name suggests requires Apple's smartphone in order to funnel streaming music through the head-unit. Read The Full Story

NaviRobo crab points your sat-nav directions [Video]

Chris Davies, May 21st 2010 Discuss [0]

Wikitude Drive's augmented reality directions too complicated for you? If you prefer a more straightforward guide to unfamiliar highways then Pioneer and iXs Research's NaviRobo might fit the bill. A crab-shaped robot, he squats on your dashboard and points to the direction you should take next, using illuminated eyes to indicate how close the turn is. Video demo after the cut Read The Full Story

Wikitude Drive AR sat-nav app for Android hits beta [Video]

Chris Davies, May 20th 2010 Discuss [0]

Wikitude have announced the first beta of their augmented reality PND app for Android smartphones, Wikitude Drive, which overlays directions and guidance information on top of a live view of the road ahead. Available in the Android Market today from 10am PST - though only for 2,000 downloads - Wikitude Drive is, the company reckons, safer than a standard PND because even when you're looking at the display, you're also seeing what's happening in front of your car. Video demo after the cut Read The Full Story

Featured

Nokia Ovi Maps SR4 released: faster, WiFi positioning & Qype

Chris Davies, May 20th 2010 Discuss [2]

Fifteen times around the world every day; that’s the distance Nokia’s Ovi Maps guides users every day, and with the quiet introduction of Ovi Maps SR4 (v3.0.4) that number is likely to get even bigger. The first significant update since Ovi Maps went free four months ago, Nokia have already passed the 10m download mark and, while they’re not talking updated figures quite yet, are still apparently seeing a new download every second. Ovi Maps SR4 brings with it over 2m kilometres of newly navigable roads, boosts points of interest (POI) to over 25m and speeds up zooming and searching, not to mention slipping in Qype reviews and recommendations. We sat down with Marcel Duee, Places project manager on Nokia’s Ovi Maps team, for an update on why SR4 is special and what’s still in the pipeline.

Update: Video demo of Ovi Maps SR4 on a Nokia N8 after the cut!

Read The Full Story

Magellan RoadMate range refreshed with 10 new PNDs

Chris Davies, May 19th 2010 Discuss [0]

Magellan have broadly refreshed their PND range with a grand total of ten new models, spanning the $169.99 4.3-inch RoadMate 2035 through to the 4.7-inch Bluetooth-toting $299.99 RoadMate 3065. All ten come with lifetime traffic updates and a touchscreen, while several also include inclusive map updates too. Read The Full Story

TomTom XL 350 and XXL 550 PNDs made official

Chris Davies, May 11th 2010 Discuss [0]

Having arrived without fanfare on the TomTom US site last week, the XL 350 and XXL 550 PNDs have finally been made official. As expected, the XL 350 has a 4.3-inch touchscreen and the XXL 550 has a 5-inch touchscreen; each gets TomTom's new EasyMenu UI along with preloaded US/Canada/Mexico mapping, MapShare access and IQ Routes. Read The Full Story

TomTom XL 350 and XXL 550 arrive in US

Chris Davies, May 7th 2010 Discuss [0]

TomTom have quietly added two new PNDs to their US site, though the mid-range models arguably don't deserve much of a fanfare. The TomTom XL 350 and TomTom XXL 550 each have 4.3-inch resistive touchscreens according to the company site, though there's some talk of the XXL 550 having a 5-inch panel like the rest of its XXL brethren. Various SKUs of the pair will be on offer, with either lifetime traffic, lifetime map updates, or both. Read The Full Story

Nokia Own Voice for Ovi Maps lets you tell yourself where to go

Chris Davies, May 4th 2010 Discuss [0]

Hot on the heels of TomTom's new Star Wars voices for their PND range comes Nokia's alternative: the ability to record your own voice prompts for the Ovi Maps Navigation app available free for multiple Nokia handsets. Fresh to the Ovi Store - as a free download, no less - Own Voice for Ovi Maps asks you to record 53 different speech prompts and then bundles them together into a custom voice pack. Read The Full Story

Motorola MOTONAV TN765t PND gets reviewed: beauty not brains

Chris Davies, Apr 29th 2010 Discuss [1]

At first glance, the Motorola MOTONAV TN765t PND should be perfect. Huge, 5.1-inch touchscreen, voice recognition, Bluetooth, text-to-speech and lane guidance, along with a lifetime traffic subscription and the ability to access Bing searches and other online content via your cellphone. Unfortunately, as GPS Tracklog's review reveals, it seems Motorola may have spent too much time on the slick UI and not enough getting the basics right. Video demo after the cut Read The Full Story

CoPilot Live HD offers turn-by-turn navigation for iPad 3G

Chris Davies, Apr 29th 2010 Discuss [0]

With the iPad WiFi + 3G already en route to preorder customers' homes, it seems somehow appropriate to hear about a PND app for the Apple tablet. CoPilot Live HD is expected to navigate its way onto the 3G-equipped iPad - which also has a GPS receiver - sometime in early May, offering turn-by-turn navigation, 3D and 3D mapping, and in-app access to iPod music controls. Read The Full Story

TomTom GO LIVE 1000 gets capacitive touchscreen, integrated Vodafone modem

Chris Davies, Apr 27th 2010 Discuss [0]

TomTom have unveiled their new flagship PND, the TomTom GO LIVE 1000, and it's the first from the company to pack a capacitive touchscreen and new, Webkit-based UI. The GO LIVE 1000 comes with a year's subscription to TomTom's LIVE services including HD Traffic - which can show congestion details on highways and smaller roads - via an integrated Vodafone connection, as well as TomTom's IQ Routes for intelligent journey planning that takes into account historic traffic patterns. Read The Full Story