The last time we saw a simplified GPS homing device about, we weren’t too terribly impressed. Sure, the premise was solid: press one button to lock in the position of your car (or the gold of Dresden), and it will return you to its location after your day at the mall (or after you’ve successfully evaded capture). But who wants to spend $80 on a glorified key fob? Not us, that’s for sure. For a less pricey alternative, you might want to check out a little something called the Travel Honey. Distributed by Chinavasion, this bad boy not only functions as a stand alone unit, lighting up as you zero in on your target, but it can also connect to your PC via USB for use as a full-blown GPS unit (software not included). And if all that weren’t enough, it will also log your various locations in a text file (perfect for keeping track of mileage and geotagging photos). Available now for $53.87.

[Via Oh Gizmo!]

Filed under: GPS

Travel Honey GPS functions as a homing device, photo tagger, party favor originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 28 May 2009 22:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Despite new cameras being riddled with borderline useless features and modes, useful functionality like automatic geotagging is getting little love from the big players. All the more reason for third parties to sneak in and make a few bucks, and ATP certainly seems to be on top of it. We liked the idea of the company’s PhotoFinder, but that base station looked like needless desk clutter. The new PhotoFinder Pro does away with it, featuring an integrated SD, Memory Stick, and MMC card reader. Just sync up the clock in the unit with that of your shooter, clip it onto your camera bag for a day of scenic photography, and then pop your card in before downloading the pics that night. It’ll automatically add coordinates to each photo’s EXIF information, drastically reducing the likelihood of future spousal arguments about the whereabouts of certain Kodak moments. That sounds like a beautiful thing, and at $119 a good deal, too.

Update: Dan commented to point out that, with the help of an external USB card reader, the PhotoFinder Pro can also tag pics on CF, xD, or any other FAT/FAT32 formatted cards you might have sliding around in the bottom of your junk drawer.

[Via Photography Blog]

Filed under: Digital Cameras, GPS

ATP PhotoFinder Pro loses the base station, takes us to geotagging nirvana originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 28 May 2009 10:18:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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While it’s not too hard to get general information about the air quality in a particular city, it’s considerably tougher if you’re looking to break things down on a neighborhood by neighborhood basis, or get actual real-time information. The folks at Sensaris seem to think they can change that with this new GPS-equipped wearable sensor of theirs, however, which is not only able to monitor air quality, but noise pollution as well. Of course, that information isn’t all that useful on its own, so the device makes use of its built-in Bluetooth to link up with your cellphone and broadcast the data to a central service, which in turn makes it available to the public at large. What’s more, while there’s no word of it being put into use ’round these parts, it is apparently going to be deployed in Paris, which Sensaris hopes will just be the first of many cities to hop on board.

[Via ReadWriteWeb]

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets, GPS, Wearables

Sensaris wearable sensor promises to track noise and air quality originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 26 May 2009 05:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sanyo was among the first to cram solid state storage into navigation systems when it did so back in May of last year. Nearly 12 months to the day after said introduction, the company is delivering its newest duo, which ups the ante by including “SSDs” (which is likely just a fancy title for flash storage) that are four times as capacious. The NVA-GS1409DT and NVA-GS1609FT systems, which are both in the AV Gorilla family, each boast a QVGA (480 x 240) display, 3D maps, an integrated DVD player, CD ripping functionality and even a digital TV tuner for catching OTA shows whilst parked in Tokyo traffic. There’s also a 16GB slab of flash memory, half of which is already claimed by maps and POIs; still, that leaves 8GB of super-speedy storage for hosting your favorite playlists. Unfortunately, such a sweet solution demands quite the premium, with prices on the June-bound units starting at ¥135,000 ($1,423).

[Via Impress]

Filed under: GPS, Transportation

Sanyo intros two new flash-based in-dash navigation systems originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 26 May 2009 02:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We know things may not be all hunky-dory in the world of PNDs, but seriously Magellan, you owe us an explanation here. After MiTAC snapped up the outfit’s consumer products division way back in December of last year (yeah, half a year ago), we’ve heard absolutely zilch since. Until today, naturally. If documentation found in the always-telling FCC database is to be believed, it looks as if the long standing Maestro line is about to grow another member. The Maestro 4700 user handbook explains that the unit will boast support for voice commands, a OneTouch user interface, Bluetooth, traffic alerts and a presumed 4.7-inch display. We’d expect the company to come clean with an official price and release date in short order. [Warning: PDF read link]

[Via GPSTracklog, thanks Rich]

Filed under: GPS

Maestro 4700 slips by FCC, proves Magellan still has a pulse originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 22 May 2009 09:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Responding to a Government Accountability Office report that warns of major GPS failures as early as next year, U.S. Air Force Col. Dave Buckman has responded, saying: “No way! As if! The issue is under control.” If anything, he said, “there’s only a small risk we will not continue to exceed our performance standard.” Whew, that’s a relief… we don’t know what we’d do without our Knight Rider GPS to keep us company on those long, lonely car rides.

[Via Pocket-lint]

Filed under: GPS

Air Force says that GPS situation is ‘under control,’ urges you to ‘chill out’ originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 21 May 2009 16:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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In theory, we’ve no qualms with TomTom’s LIVE services. Sure, they’re over-hyped, overpriced and generally slow to react, but they’re definitely nice extras on an otherwise vanilla PND. That said, we simply can’t (and won’t, ever) justify the crazy monthly rates for having access to basic information that even a dumb smartphone could find. Nevertheless, TomTom’s doing its darnedest to push those very services to the masses by trickling ‘em down from the GO 740 LIVE to its popular XL model. Folks across the pond can pick one up next month for €219 ($301) or €249 ($342) depending on whether you need a regional model or one with 42 European nations, but you’ll still be asked to shell out €9.95 ($14) per month if you want those LIVE services.

Filed under: GPS

TomTom brings costly connected services to mid-range XL LIVE originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 21 May 2009 11:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Volkswagen has been known to dabble in exotic places when it comes to in-dash entertainment, and while it’s latest initiative isn’t totally far-fetched, it’s still worth a peek. The automaker has recently teamed up with Intel in order to develop a prototype head unit that’s completely self-enclosed, meaning that there’s no carputer hanging out in the trunk handling the dirty work. The touchscreen-based infotainment center shown in the video past the break is rocking Windows XP underneath and gladly accepts a number of gesture-based inputs. For example, motorists can swipe down to play or pause a track, while swiping left or right anywhere on the panel moves the playlist forward or back. The project manager doesn’t bother to say when this stuff will actually hit the showroom floor, but CNET has it that you’ll be waiting at least three years — and that’s if you’re lucky.

[Via CNET]

Continue reading Video: Intel-backed Volkswagen infotainment system gets demonstrated

Filed under: Displays, GPS, Transportation

Video: Intel-backed Volkswagen infotainment system gets demonstrated originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 20 May 2009 18:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Navigation devices are everywhere and just keep getting better and better thanks to the 3D maps provided by the likes of Tele Atlas (owned by TomTom) and NAVTEQ (owned by Nokia). Now Tele Atlas is announcing its photorealistic “Advanced City Models” destined for in-car and portable navigation systems and mobile devices. In June, Tele Atlas will release 40 maps based on BLOM arial imagery for cities across Europe — hundreds more cities, including those in North America and Asia, will be available in 2010. Remember, Google already has laid ink to paper to give it rights to Tele Atlas maps for use in Google’s mobile, desktop, and on-line offerings. And with Tele Atlas maps loaded on PSPs and navigators from Pioneer, Mio, and of course TomTom, just think of this as a hint of what’s to come.

Continue reading Video: Tele Atlas’ photorealistic city models to aid navigation, terrorism

Filed under: GPS, Handhelds

Video: Tele Atlas’ photorealistic city models to aid navigation, terrorism originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 20 May 2009 06:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Get all of your geocache games in while you can, kids… if the Worst Case Scenario(R) goes down, the nation’s GPS system could begin to fail sometime next year. According to a Government Accountability Office report, the Global Positioning System has been so mismanaged that when aging equipment starts to fail, there may be no new satellites to take their place. “If the Air Force does not meet its schedule goals for development of GPS IIIA satellites,” the report states, “there will be an increased likelihood that… the overall GPS constellation will fall below the number of satellites required to provide the level of GPS service that the U.S. government commits to.” All we can say is that between this, Internet Doomsday, and the imminent Robot Apocalypse, it’s gonna be a fun couple of years.

[Via Fox News]

Filed under: GPS

GPS System might begin to fail in 2010, Government Accountability Office warns originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 19 May 2009 21:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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