NaviGadget

In November right before Turkey Day I did a review of the TeleNav Shotgun. Since then, the TeleNav engineers have been busy churning away and they provided me a new Shotgun with some update and some new added features. Let me start by saying I think the TeleNav Shotgun is an great product. It has a great interface, quality hardware and construction and a strong feature set! The problem with me reviewing a great product, especially a great product a 2nd time is that I tend to get even pickier when I’m using the device. SO, I might make some comments that sound nit-picky but that’s because they are nit-picky! TeleNav has done a great job in making the Shotgun great for most users, so now I’m going to point out the little tweaks I think could make it even better for at least this user. It may not sound fair, but its my $0.02 :) read »

While we were back at CES 2009 we came across really innovative devices and ideas. One of them was the GPS E-Care Hub called C103. Manufactured by GroupSense of Hong Kong, E-Care Hub is designed for patient tracking.

It has some amazing features that will help the care givers by giving them the ability to keep track of their patients remotely. It does GPS tracking which is also supported by server side features such as geo-fencing, and even A-GPS to make indoor tracking easier. It has a panic key which after pressed activates the voice monitor using the GSM module. Other patient focused features include fall detection, pedometer, and the ability to communicate with other health sensors.

GPS E-Care Hub comes with a charging dock and the necessary accessories to attach to a patient, like a wrist band. We hope none of our readers ever have to wear one of these at a hospital but if you ever do please feel free to write up a short review for us. More pics after the jump… read »

Motevo was at CES 2009 this year and they had a few decent 2-DIN in-dash GPS navigation systems. One of them was Motevo X5. Motevo X5 has a 6.2″ motorized touch screen behind which you can find the optical drive. It does door-to-door GPS navigation in addition to other car entertainment features such as support for MP3 files, DVDs, CDs, and more. It even can talk to your iPod, accepts USB sticks and SD cards for media, and does bluetooth connectivity.

If you’re a regular here on Navigadget you should already know about GPS navigation application Telenav on Blackberry Storm. We didn’t have any demo videos when we first talked about it though:

Here are a couple of videos to give you a better idea if it’s worth $10/month.

Clarion NX509 is a new addition to Clarion’s in car entertainment line-up. NX509 is a 2-DIN system that has built-in navigation and supports media from CDs, DVDs, and USB sticks and can read MP3 and WMA formats.

It has a 7″ touch screen LCD monitor however also does 2 zone entertainment. There’s a USB port in the back fro iPod Control in addition to being ready for XM Satellite Mini Tuner, and CeNET Sirius Satellite Radio.

You can also soup up your Clarion NX509 with optional additions such as the steering wheel remote, bluetooth connectivity, and more.

We’re not sure when Clarion NX509 will hit the stores or for how much but we’ll be sure to give you an update when it does.

Viliv was showcasing their X70 Atom Communcation MID at CES 2009 – which was quite different than other Viliv X70’s we’ve talked about before.

This device runs on an Intel Atom Silverthorne 1.33Ghz processor, 7″ WSVGA touch LCD screen, 8/16GB SSD or 30/60GB HDD, and uses Windows XP or Linux.

It comes with 1GB of RAM, and for connectivity you’ve got WiMAX, HSDPA, WiFi, and Bluetooh.

Viliv X70 Communication MID does come with GPS hardware; SiRF Star III GPS receiver to be more precise. But for software we know very little. All we know is that it offers location based services and navigation out of the box… read »

Orion Technology from Taiwan has a few GPS tracking modules. Most of them are pretty basic; GPS, GSM enabled devices which are usually placed somewhere under the hood – use your car’s battery and have antenna connections for placing the receivers somewhere outside. However one of them stood out from the rest. Called Suntrac – this device is a solar powered GPS tracker which could be very useful where 12V power is not available. This could be your trailer, boat, caravan, or more industrial stuff such as shipping containers.

Suntrac is an all in one waterproof tracking device that contains GPS and GSM modules that can work around the world ( Tri-Band GSM / GPRS modules ( 850 / 1800 / 1900 and 900 / 1800 / 1900 ). And when cellular network signals are not available you can rely on Suntrac to record the position onto its 4MB internal memory.

It measures 320×280x41mm and weighs about 2 kgs. It is not the most discrete and portable thing out there but sometimes it is the only solution.

We haven’t seen Orion’s product anywhere in the States side yet but if you have do let us know.

Mio was displaying a mobile internet device (MID) at CES 2009. Being used to seeing GPS navigation systems from Mio we were quite surprised.

What’s really interesting about Mio MID is that it is running Windows Mobile, not a “full” OS. It has a nice 7″ screen, weighs 600 grams, and can last up to 8 hours on a single charge.

We would be a little disappointed if Mio failed to put a GPS receiver in there, but they didn’t let us down. Mio MID does have an integrated GPS receiver – which they say make this the ideal travel companion. However we do not know if they’re going to install their new Spirit navigation software in there as well.

Mio MID also includes WiFi connectivity. The final specs as well as launch schedule are expected to be revealed in second quarter of this year.

European (French) Mobile Devices Dreevo is starting up its own application store as well as opening up its platform to developers.

Their device – Dreevo 2 – has two way connectivity features, thus it is messaging and tracking enabled. It uses a telematics advanced platform which when combined with open software architecture opens the door for unlimited number of applications; provided they can get some good developers to follow them.

We’ll see how they do in France. Maybe they’ll catch on here in the U.S. as well.

We’ve talked about the SmartMirror here on Navigadget before. We went to Azentek booth and checked their product again at CES 2009.

Their press release we picked up says they’re shipping the SmartMirror and the VP of Sales said “initial sales skyrocketed creating back-orders after launching August, mainly through car dealerships and 12-Volt retailers”, which would explain why we still can’t find this online anywhere.

Anyways, in 2009 they’ll be upgrading the 4″ digital screen in the mirror to a 4.3″ display and make it available for $800. And it still supports a rear view camera.

If you’ve seen this online or at a store do let us know.