November 30th, 2009 in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Apparently us Yanks have been spoiled by the warm embrace of Google Maps Navigation, forgetting that our friends in the UK don’t have the same luxury. Leave it to Electricpig to connect worlds, finding a somewhat hack-induced way to bring the app upgrade to British Android 1.6 devices. Instructions are pretty easy, so if you’re game, don your DIY hat and click over.
Update: As indicated, the gang at xda-developers forum have been doing this for some time now. Consider the tutorial provided here as very straightforward and easy to follow — anyone with an Android 1.6 device would be remiss not to give Navigation a shot now.
Filed under: Cellphones
Google Maps Navigation makes trip across the pond, thanks to some hackery originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 30 Nov 2009 20:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Comments
November 28th, 2009 in Uncategorized | No Comments »
We heard earlier this month that Magellan was looking to one-up TomTom by outing an iPod touch / iPhone GPS car kit of its very own, but a few critical details were missing: namely, a price and a release date. Thanks to a new product listing on Amazon (capped after the break), we at least have a clue as to when this thing will be shipping stateside and for how much. If you’ll recall, this one’s compatible with the 2nd and 3rd generation iPod touch as well as the iPhone 3G and 3GS, and aside from providing a built-in speaker, charging capabilities and a noise-canceling handsfree speakerphone, it’ll also work with any navigation or location-based app — not just Magellan’s own $79.99 RoadMate program. The unfortunate part here is that Magellan has somehow managed to produce a cradle that’s actually more expensive that the ludicrously overpriced TomTom variant, but those willing to part with $129.99 can place their order now and look for a December 11th ship date.
[Thanks, Mark]
Continue reading Magellan’s GPS Car Kit for iPhone and iPod Touch: $130, coming next month
Magellan’s GPS Car Kit for iPhone and iPod Touch: $130, coming next month originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 28 Nov 2009 01:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Comments
November 27th, 2009 in Uncategorized | No Comments »
What do you get when you throw cellular and GPS radios in with an accelerometer, a thermometer and a light sensor? If you answered a decently featured phone, you’d be almost right. FedEx has concocted the above tracker to be able to tell you everything about the package it’s in — if it has been opened, dropped, outside of temperature range, or insufficiently loved by its deliverator. The GPS and cellular signals are used to provide a real time position, and all that data is fed through a web platform for the increasingly obsessive sender to monitor. It is now being deployed with 50 medical clients — who actually have a use for all the intel — and once production ramps up and economies of scale kick in, the opening price of $120 a month is expected to drop rapidly. You can expect the Senseaware tracker to show up worldwide some time next year.
FedEx Senseaware tracks everything about your package, probably causes OCD originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 27 Nov 2009 08:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Comments
November 26th, 2009 in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Google has taken much of the wind out of the turn-by-turn navigation industry’s sails this Fall thanks to the introduction of fee-free Google Maps Navigation, but it’s got a fatal flaw for the moment: it’s only available in the States. Navigon must be banking on the fact that Mountain View is going to take its sweet time spreading the love around the world, because it has announced at iCE Amsterdam today that it’ll be releasing its own app for Android on December 10. Pricing hasn’t been revealed, but for comparison, Navigon’s European solution for the iPhone runs a stout $140 — and as long as Google doesn’t tell everyone that European navigation is no longer a valid business model as they’ve done in the US, that could very well be the number we can expect on the Android side. It’ll be compatible with devices running anything from 1.5 to 2.0, so Dreams and Milestones alike should be welcome to apply.
Navigon announces nav app for Android, Google threat looms originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 26 Nov 2009 11:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Comments
November 25th, 2009 in Uncategorized | No Comments »
It may only produce enough power to heat an electric kettle at the moment, but Norway’s Statkraft says that its new, first-of-its-kind osmotic power plant could be producing as much energy as a small wind farm by 2015, and continue to grow from there on out. To do that, the company guides fresh water and salt water into separate chambers that are divided by an artificial membrane, and when the process of osmosis takes place — salt molecules pulling freshwater through the membrane — the pressure is increased on the sea water side. That, of course, doesn’t get you power on its own, but the pressure is apparently enough to drive a power generating turbine, and if you have enough of those you have a power plant. A bit of effort, to be sure, but the process doesn’t emit any greenhouse gases, is completely renewable, and it doesn’t depend on the wind or the sun being out.
Norway’s Statkraft kick-starts world’s first osmotic power plant originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 25 Nov 2009 14:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink 
BBC News | 
Statkraft | Email this | Comments
November 25th, 2009 in Uncategorized | No Comments »
If the
Pomera Digital Memo DM10 appeals to anyone (and we figure it must appeal to
someone), you can chalk it up to the device’s narrow scope: it’s for writin’ with, and for folding up and puttin’ in your pocket — and that’s it. The DM20, our friends at Engadget Japan tell us, expands the brief ever-so-slightly, bumping up storage to 89MB, upping the display to 5-inches, and adding USB cell phone tethering (for emailing documents). Seriously, though, in the end it’s really just a word processor. Is that how you want to take notes? We didn’t think so. Expect to see it hit the shelves in Japan on December 11 for ¥34,650 (just shy of $400).
Pomera DM20 Digital Memo puts your old Brother to shame originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 25 Nov 2009 13:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink Engadget Japan, Akihabara | King Jim | Email this | Comments
November 25th, 2009 in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Welcome to the Engadget Holiday Gift Guide! The team here is well aware of the heartbreaking difficulties of the seasonal shopping experience, and we want to help you sort through the trash and come up with the treasures this year. Below is today’s bevy of hand curated picks, and you can head back to the Gift Guide hub to see the rest of the product guides as they’re added throughout the holiday season.
What luck. The Secret Santa recipient that you drew already has everything, so there’s little you can buy him / her that they’ll actually be impressed with. Thankfully, the peripheral market is here for you, and while some may considering these things “trinkets,” others will be downright giddy to unwrap ‘em. And whether you’d care to admit it or not, these are easily the most fun to shop for. Yeah, we said it — what of it? Hop on past the break for a few recommendations on knickknacks, or “accessories,” as it were.
Continue reading Engadget’s Holiday Gift Guide: Accessories
Engadget’s Holiday Gift Guide: Accessories originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 25 Nov 2009 13:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | | Email this | Comments
November 25th, 2009 in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Inbrics, a company known in Seoul for its VoIP solutions, looks set to rock your world with an
Android MID early
next year at CES. All we have for you at present are the barest of specs, machine translated Korean PR that declares “a full convergence of the future,” and one of those vague, uplifting videos that demonstrates the myriad of ways that its one platform can dramatically change your life — without ever really telling you what it does. The device itself is a QWERTY landscape slider that features an AMOLED touchscreen, GPS, compass, WiFi, and an ARM Cortex A8 800MHz processor. Experience the inspirational moment after the break.
Continue reading Inbrics announces Android MID, promises ‘inspirational moments’ (video)
Inbrics announces Android MID, promises ‘inspirational moments’ (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 25 Nov 2009 12:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink JKK Mobile | Inbrics | Email this | Comments
November 25th, 2009 in Uncategorized | No Comments »
The iPhone keyboard (or the lack thereof) has been a polarizing point for many, and while we’ve seen a workaround or two in our day, we’ve yet to see a solution to the lack of tactility as beautifully simple as this. 4iThumbs is a screen overlay that adds minuscule bumps on your iPhone display — bumps that correspond to where the keys are when using the vertical keyboard. ‘Course, these things are apt to bug you when using the horizontal keyboard (or no keyboard at all), but we’re guessing the heavy texters in the crowd won’t mind. Have a look at the videos below the break for a better idea of what you’re about to get yourself into. Oh, and be sure to pick up a pair of Awethumbs while you’re at it — we hear these two go great together.
Update: A horizontal version is available, hooray!
Continue reading 4iThumbs overlay adds a tactile keyboard to your iPhone… sorta (video)
4iThumbs overlay adds a tactile keyboard to your iPhone… sorta (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 25 Nov 2009 12:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | 4iThumbs | Email this | Comments
November 25th, 2009 in Uncategorized | No Comments »
If you managed to catch the last Engadget Show, you inevitably saw our own Paul Miller carve it up a bit on Tony Hawk: Ride. Of course, Mr. Miller is known ’round these circles as a “professional skater,” so there’s a solid chance he could’ve handled just about anything the guys and gals at Activision threw his way. The reality of the matter is that not everyone feels safe and secure on something resembling a skateboard, and now we’re being let in on the world of prototypes that were used to land on the final design. Within the read link you’ll find randomly placed arcade buttons, trucks with no wheels, a terrifying amount of sensors and a comical amount of duct tape. Yeah — even the whiz kids that make your dreams a reality start with duct tape. Go on, have a peek if you’re in disbelief.
Tony Hawk: Ride prototype skateboards employ arcade buttons, duct tape, love originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 25 Nov 2009 11:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink Joystiq | Develop | Email this | Comments
