We’ve seen iPod hacks run the gamut, from the useful to the just plain absurd, but no matter how rough around the edges such a project may seem, we always get a kick out of the ingenuity and hard work involved. Today’s DIY wonder comes from a cat named Benjamin Kokes, who’s using his engineering chops to put together a GPS peripheral for the iPod nano. As the project stands right now, he’s taken a reference board sporting a Nemerix GPS and written a screen driver for it, allowing it to do its thing on the handheld. Apparently, all this bad boy is capable of doing right now is finding a satellite and displaying your latitude and longitude — but we’d like to see your old nano do that! Hit the read link for the whole, sordid tale in geek-tastic detail, or to speak with the developer if you’d like to give this a shot your own self. Tell him Engadget sent you.

[Via Technabob]

Filed under: GPS, Portable Audio

iPod nano GPS hack ensures that you and your MP3s make it home safely originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Apr 2009 16:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s been a while since we’ve seen a new Mio navi hit Stateside — Mitac seems to be concentrating on the Magellan brand here — but it looks like there’s still some kick left in those boots: say hello to the Moov S401 and S501. Baby brother 401 will sell for $129 and has a 4.3-inch screen and four million preloaded POIs, while the $169 501 bumps it up to 4.7 inches and 12 million. Both have Mio’s newish “Spirit” interface, but we’re most intrigued by the repeated mentions of gas price searching and Google Send to GPS in the docs we were leaked, which suggest integration with a service like MSN Direct. We’ll find out soon — these are set to land in Radio Shack in mid-May.

Update: Mio just pinged us to say that these prices are wrong, but they didn’t tell us anything else, so stay tuned.

[Thanks, Anonymous]

Filed under: GPS

Mio S401 and S501 nav units leak out, due in May originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 29 Apr 2009 16:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Computerized GPs voices too dispassionate for you? K.I.T.T. too snarky? Mr. T always falling asleep? Maybe what you need is a good ‘ol boy GPS, something with a hint of southern drawl and Wrangler Jeans style. Dale Earnhardt Jr. is the man for the job, providing his voice to a special edition Rightway Spotter GPS from Transplant and ALK Technologies. He’ll give you distances, speak some street names, and even tell you to “park it” when you’re there (watch the video below to feel like you’re actually going somewhere). It’s got custom data for Junior’s favorite hangouts and naturally has all the NASCAR series tracks programmed in, too. For $229 all this can be yours; buy now and they’ll throw in the ability to turn right.

Continue reading Transplant’s Dale Earnhardt Jr. GPS will get you where you’re goin’, good buddy

Filed under: GPS

Transplant’s Dale Earnhardt Jr. GPS will get you where you’re goin’, good buddy originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 17 Apr 2009 09:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Just a month ago, Garmin came clean with the nüvi 1390T as part of its 1300 lineup, and today we’re being formally introduced to the numerical successor. The nüvi 1490T sports a chassis that’s some 25 percent slimmer than most nüvi models and an expansive 5-inch touchscreen. As with other new Garmins, this one also arrives with free lifetime traffic alerts and lane assist with junction view. Other expected amenities are also included, namely multiple-point routing, automatic time zone transition and a speed limit indicator that displays speed limits for most major roads. As insinuated, an integrated traffic receiver comes standard, and there’s even an ecoRoute feature that suggests the most fuel efficient path. Finally, prospective buyers can count on Bluetooth technology for making and receiving handsfree calls, and the support for optional CityXplorer maps makes this suitable for the pedestrian in you, too. Expect it on store shelves everywhere this July for $499.99.

[Via GPS Tracklog]

Filed under: GPS

Garmin intros super sleek 5-inch nüvi 1490T navigator originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 16 Apr 2009 08:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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There hasn’t exactly been a rush to flood the market with Nintendo DS-based GPS mods over the years — and when we have seen them, they’ve been largely DIY affairs. Looking to fill a niche that most reasonable folks assume does not exist, GBalpha has announced the upcoming release of Ranger, its new touchscreen solution for those of you wishing to saddle your handheld with navigation duties. If you’re curious, this bad boy sports a u-blox GPS module, 32MB extended memory, Google Earth map integration, and optional Mandarin and Cantonese voice prompts. Are you stoked? What if we gave you a price and a way to order it? Well, we can’t do that for you. Sadly, large swaths of the product website are mum on those details.

[Via Max Console]

Filed under: Gaming, GPS

GBalpha announces Ranger GPS unit for Nintendo DS originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 15 Apr 2009 12:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Motorola’s navigation line certainly isn’t the firms most notable, but the Garmins and TomToms of the world are probably taking notice after an intriguing quote from product line manager Blake Bullock. According to TWICE, Mr. Bullock stated that Moto was “absolutely making a bigger play” in the PND arena. Specifically, he mentioned that it could “bring something new to the table with Motorola’s vast experience in wireless connectivity,” noting that it has “aspirations to combine the best aspects of 3G smartphones with PNDs [to] create optimized experiences for consumers.” ‘Course, we’ve no clue as to when, where and how the company will get its hands dirty with a web-savvy GPS unit, but considering its current state of affairs, we’d say yesterday would be a great time to get things rolling.

[Via GPS Tracklog, thanks Rich]

Filed under: GPS, Wireless

Motorola looking to produce a connected GPS unit? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 14 Apr 2009 16:09:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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You wouldn’t expect GPS tech to have an impact on asthma research, but the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s David Van Sickle says it will — he’s planning on tagging sufferers so he can learn when and where they reach for their inhalers. The data will hopefully make sorting out environmental triggers of the disease much easier — it took scientists eight years to prove that soybean dust near the Barcelona harbor caused a massive asthma outbreak in the 80s, a timeline that might have been dramatically shorter if location information had been available from the start. The plan’s still in the early stages, but would-be participants can sign up already — let’s just hope the tracker is slightly more attractive than Kogan’s enormous watch unit.

[Via CNET]

Filed under: GPS

Researcher plans to use GPS to study asthma triggers originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 12 Apr 2009 19:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Wouldn’t you know it? That leaked Garmin Oregon 500 is indeed a real, bona fide product, and it’s on sale now for argonauts over in the UK. The outdoorsy navigator officially boasts a rugged 3-inch sunlight-readable touch panel (400 x 240 resolution), a tough, waterproof casing, a built-in electronic compass, barometric altimeter (seriously!), AA battery support, USB connectivity, a microSD card slot and a bundled carabiner clip to really set it apart. Oh, and there’s also an integrated camera for automatic picture geotagging, which seems to be a pretty rare commodity in GPS units these days. We’re not quite sure it’s rare enough to justify the lofty £353.97 ($519) price tag, but thankfully that’s not our call to make.

[Thanks, Jordan]

Filed under: Digital Cameras, GPS

Camera-packin’ Garmin Oregon 500 navigator on sale in UK originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 12 Apr 2009 12:38:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We tell ya, the Archos 5 is becoming more inviting by the week. Late last month we saw a much-wanted high-def video plug-in come to light, and now an even newer firmware is adding a few more fantastic amenities. For starters, the v1.6.53 software adds GPS car holder support — something the Archos 605 acquired last April. Essentially, it enables the device to comprehend map and routing data piped in via the hardware mount, and we should point out that it arrives with TeleAtlas maps for eight regions of Europe, North America and Russia. Additionally, users will definitely spot an all new file browser with drag-and-drop and multi-selection functionality, not to mention the TV Snap-on app that enables the unit to store several different channel lists. For the full changelog and to get that download rolling, give the links below some lovin’.

[Thanks, Christopher]

Read - Firmware v1.6.53 changelog
Read - Firmware download page

Filed under: GPS, Portable Audio, Portable Video

Archos 5 firmware adds GPS car holder support, new file browser originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 11 Apr 2009 12:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Not that it’s impossible to find a GPS for motorcyclists or anything, but your options are certainly limited. Mitac’s Mio branch is looking to give hog and crotch rocket riders one more alternative with the 4.3-inch C523 V2, a somewhat varied version of the 2007 original. The included “rider mode” supposedly enables motorcycle riders to not spend as much time glancing at the screen, though we suppose the tweaked interface could still work for folks in traditional motorcars. Crazily enough, the unit also supports 1seg digital TV tuning in Japan, though we wouldn’t recommend checking out your favorite programming whilst dodging those much, much larger automobiles whirring around you. Pricing is set for ¥44,800 ($446), but there’s no indication of when (or if, even) this will head stateside.

[Via NaviGadget]

Filed under: GPS

Mio’s C523 V2 navigator aims to route motorcyclists originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 09 Apr 2009 19:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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