Archive for October, 2008

nokia N85 ready for UK launch

Oct 31, 2008 , ,


Nokia N85 will hit the stores very very soon in the UK: October 31st 2008 to be exact. Before you go out and read this review of Nokia N85 we’d like to mention a few of the amazing features of this phone mobile computer:

First off it has a big 2.6″ OLED which can be used to view 5MP pictures you take with Carl Zeiss optics. It even has dual LED flash so go ahead and record a almost DVD quality video at 30 frames per second.

Nokia N85 is also a top of the line audio player which can store up to 8GB of music and deliver it with its high-fidelity sound through the 3.5 mm audio jack; or if you’re in your car just direct all the audio to your car speakers using the built-in FM transmitter.

Yes, you’re on Navigadget, and as you expect Nokia N85 has an integrated GPS receiver. Getting turn-by-turn directions isn’t free but the service is there if you’re interested.

The GPS system inside the N85 features Assisted GPS for faster location times and geo-tagging of your pictures. The Nokia Maps service is excellent and a three-month trial is included in the package, but you’ll have to pay for voice guidance once this time is up.

Other features include 3.5G HSDPA and Wi-Fi connectivity, N-Gage gaming, bluetooth, and more…

You can expect to pay something around 450 €.

Tags: , ,

Garmin GPSMAP 696 GPSMAP 695

Oct 31, 2008 , , ,


Garmin just announced two new portable aviation systems: Garmin GPSMAP 696 and Garmin GPSMAP 695.

Both devices are already available and will cost $2,695 and $3,295 for GPSMAP 695 and 696 respectively. The GPSMAP 696 is the new flagship product from Garmin as far as aviation goes. It is quite similar to GPSMAP 496 but the screen is three times larger and provides extra features such as airways, electronic charts and expanded weather.

GPSMAP 696 and 695 are a tablet-style devices with a 7″ portrait sunlight readable screen that makes it possible to view an entire approach plate on the display; day or night.

GPSMAP 696 comes with a receiver for XM radio and XM WX Satellite Weather (U.S. customers only) that gives next generation radar (NEXRAD), aviation routine weather reports (METARs), terminal aerodrome forecasts (TAFs), temporary flight restrictions (TFRs), lightning, winds aloft, turbulence forecasts, and several other important weather products.

GPSMAP 695 Americas that has similar features to the GPSMAP 696 except that it does not include the GXM 40 smart antenna and does not do XM datalink without an upgrade.

We do not know too much about aircraft navigation systems so we’ll make it short and point you to the press release.

Tags: , , ,

magellan OneTouch

Oct 30, 2008


Magellan is trying to push their Maestro 4350 and Maestro 4370 GPS navigation systems by focusing on their user interface which they now call “OneTouch”.

Both devices have a large 4.3″ touch screen, offer real time traffic updates, support bluetooth connectivity, and have a lane guidance feature. In addition they each can stream the directions to your car’s audio using the built-in FM transmitter. The maps cover all 50 states plus Canada and Puerto Rico.

The only difference between Maestro 4350 and Maestro 4370 seems to be type of the display they’ve used.

  • 4.3″ WVGA on 4370
  • 4.3″ VGA on 4350

Maestro 4350 retails for $413 on Amazon whereas 4370 for $360 on Bestbuy. Maybe we’re missing something…

Tags:

Navigon 2000S review

Oct 30, 2008 , ,

In May I reviewed the Navigon 2100 Max. I guess someone over at Navigon read the review because this new model has all the tweaks I was craving before. The unit is faster and smaller than the 2100 (Weight: 121 g, Dimensions: 95 mm x 72 mm x 17 mm (that’s less than ¾” thick!)) and still has the great display quality from its big brother. The display is smaller 3.5” touchscreen display with a 4:3 aspect ratio but still vibrant with colors.

The Navigon 2000S still has the Speed assistance, Text-to-Speech, 2D & 3D Reality View Pro plus an added bonus, the Lane Assistant Pro!

Lane Assistant Pro provides a depiction of the intersection showing all the lanes from a top view and shows which lanes are designated for turning. This can help you prepare and make your way through even the most hectic traffic situations!

Another new feature from when I reviewed the 2100 is the Smart Speller feature. So when typing a location or POI, the keyboard only shows you letter combinations that makes sense with the Navigon’s database of destinations.

It’s always frustrating when the unit doesn’t have a destination you are looking for, but at least this way you’ll know sooner than later as you’re typing in the address and the next letter isn’t available. In the 2100 review I complained on the size of the keyboard which was only half the width of the screen. The 2000S amends this flaw with a full screen keyboard which is much easier to operate. Another complaint that was corrected from big brother to the 2000S was the sound quality. Even at full volume the sound is much crisper on the 2000S.

Navigon took the Day / Night mode one step further than from the 2100 where now the 2000S automatically switches between the modes. I really enjoyed this enhancement but if you don’t, you can always turn off this feature.

Conclusion
In conclusion I was impressed by the Navigon 2000S. The quirks I disliked in the Navigon 2100 Max have been corrected so hat’s off to Navigon for that. The Smart Speller feature, the Lane Assistant Pro, Multi-Destination Trip Planning plus more make this a great pocket size unit. My biggest complaint is that the unit there was no LED to indicate if the unit is charging/charged or even on which I think is a simple enough feature that every unit should have. If that’s my only complaint, its not so bad :)

–by Gautam Khattak

Tags: , ,

MainNav MG-950d giveaway

Oct 30, 2008 , , , , ,


Hello Readers, we’re back giving away stuff. Yes, that means free. Today we’re giving away a MG-950d GPS Data Logger from MainNav. We had mentioned the MG-950d here before and since then we’ve been using this small GPS logger on a regular basis. It may look a little cheap first but MG-950d does what it promises to do with no compromises and therefore has earned our respect.

There’s no question MG-950d is mostly targeted towards cyclist but you can pretty much use it anytime you need to track of your speed, altitude, max speed, average speed, distance traveled and more.

A nice extra is that you can use MG-950d as a GPS receiver when you’re traveling to unfamiliar places. Just pair it up with a handheld, laptop or a phone with navigation software and you’re ready for driving directions.

The rules are the same. To participate you need to subscribe to our feed and leave a comment below with an email address we can reach you at.

We will ship this out to a U.S. address only. Sorry rest of the world. Also duplicate entries, emails, IP addresses will be disqualified.

We’ll close this article for comments a week from today and after that we’ll announce the winner.



Tags: , , , , ,

nuviphone coming early 2009

Oct 30, 2008 , , , ,

Reuters just mentioned yesterday that the highly expected Garmin Nuviphone; which already have been delayed twice is on target for release on first half of 2009.

However now the question becomes will nuviphone still have enough umph to compete with iPhone, G1, Blackberry Storm, Samsung, and god knows what else in early 2009?

Tags: , , , ,

dell to offer GPS enabled smartphones

Oct 29, 2008 ,


Dell apparently leaked some info on their website yesterday and revealed their plans to enter GPS enabled smartphone market with to Pharos branded models called Traveller 117 and Traveller 127.

Here is some of what we know so far:

  • manufactured by Inventec
  • 7.2Mbps HSDPA network
  • A-GPS receiver
  • Windows Mobile 6.1
  • 2MP camera
  • 0.3MP front camera

Soon after all the information was retracted so we don’t know when this will be available or for how much…

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: ,

Nextar SNAP5 and SNAP7

Oct 29, 2008


Nextar is expanding their GPS navigation system lineup with two new models called SNAP5 and SNAP7.

Announced today, both devices feature a really slim body measuring only 0.7″ and text-to-speech feature which can speak in English, French, and Spanish. The maps cover all 50 states and Canada and come on a 2GB SD card for easy installation and upgrade.

If you haven’t already guessed SNAP7 is the bigger model with a 7″ screen, and SNAP5 is the little brother with a 5″ screen.

Both devices are expected to be available at the stores starting Spring of 2009. SNAP5 should cost $300, and SNAP7 $350…

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags:

iRiver NV MINI

Oct 29, 2008 ,


iRiver NV now has a smaller version conveniently named iRiver NV Mini. iRivers hardly ever make it to the U.S. from its motherland of Korea so do not get your hopes up.

iRiver NV MINI has a 3.5″ screen (half of the original iRiver NV), runs on Windows CE 5.0, and can last about 2.5 hours on a single charge. The maps and navigation software come from Gini of Korea which all fit on a 4GB memory card.

It only costs 188000KRW which is about $131…

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: ,

put this on my iphone please

Oct 29, 2008 , , ,


Here is a screenshot of a navigation software which we wish we had here in the States. Unfortunately it is only available in Korea. Speaking of Korea, we would appreciate if a Korean reader would translate this page for us. Thank you.

For more screenshots of this navigation software follow link.

Tags: , , ,

« Older Entries