NaviGadget

Radar detectors and speed cameras are quite popular in Europe, and so are the devices that detect them. Lately they’ve been adding GPS to the mix so a whole database of fixed radar detectors and speed cameras can be downloaded to your device. One of these devices is Inforad v4e from France.

Inforad v4e is quite similar to their preceding model v3 on the outside, but inside v4e features SiRF Star III GPS receiver chip as opposed to the older SiRF Star II receiver.

There’s also a new firmware from Inforad -version 5.6- which should reduce the number of false alarms greatly. But the real good news is that updates of the radars are free with life of the product. There’s a trade off though, it does not come with an integrated battery but the brand offers a kit that’ll last for about 10 hours in case you don’t have access to the car charger.

v4e measures 7cm in diameter and is 2.2 cm thick weighing only 40 grams. It’ll cost you 99 € and is guaranteed 2 years… via

GPSMirror is a rear view mirror driving aid. GPS mirror uses GPS location to check it’s position against an on board database of accident black spots, common mobile cameras, and fixed safety camera locations. When you are approaching any of these, the GPS mirror provides a warning. It also displays your heading and speed and warns you if you are above a predetermined speed. Since all of this is hidden in the rear view mirror - which fits on top of your existing mirror - it is usually undetectable by thieves. You can, and probably should, spend some time on hardwiring the power cord to the cigarette lighter to keep clutter out of the way too.

Here are some more specs and features:

• wide angle rear view mirror helps eliminate blind spots
• blue anti-glare coating enhances night vision
• SiRF Star III chipset
• visual, spoken, and audible camera alerts
• 10 different GPS camera warnings
• 8 different GPS advisory warnings
• Ability to store your own locations
• Free access to Trinity database
• Updates through PC w/ internet
• 120,000 location memory

The GPSmirror costs $300. And if you want you can connect your GPSmirror to a compatible radar / laser detector to benefit from the Pro features.

Pogo Alert is an ultra portable GPS enabled radar detection system from Origin Technologies. In addition to utilizing one of the most extensive speed camera databases to alert you in advance, Pogo Alert also includes a highly sensitive infrared laser detector to provide the fullest protection against mobile laser based speed traps and safety camera vans. This infrared part is made detachable so if the law prohibits them it can be taken off and you can always just rely on GPS satellites and the database.

The full colour LCD display measures 1.8″ across and the device itself measures 40 x 60 x 50 mm. It costs £250 inc VAT and comes with USB2 update lead, windscreen mount, dash mount, a software CD, and users guide.

Europeans are getting really advanced at avoiding speeding tickets. The PogoDrive from Pogo GPS of UK is the latest device that comes with Origin360 database included. This database contains locations of all kinds of speed cameras, danger zones, average speed cameras, accident hotspots, and all other kinds of speed traps. Of course it also knows the speed limits to every road.

The origin 360 data collection team operates in the UK, maintaining a database that consists of well over 100,000 co-ordinates.

In addition PogoDrive is also a full featured GPS navigation device. It comes installed with detailed street-level mapping of the UK and full major European roads; all from Navteq. Since Pogo specializes at avoiding speed cameras they built in three different modes of operation into PogoDrive: navigation with pop-up safety warnings, map view only with pop-up safety warnings, and safety warnings only mode. So everybody gets what they want.

Pogo Drive hardware is pretty standard with 3.5″ touch screen, internal rechargeable battery, and a few buttons for interface. The only feature that stands out is what they call ‘dual full range speakers’ to provide clear, high quality audio. If you want to know more about Pogo Drive you should check out Averatec 320 which looks identical to Pogo Drive.

Here are some of the other features of the navigation software:

• Clear turn-by-turn voice guidance
• Full postcode search
• 2D or 3D map views
• On-screen trip info - ETA, distance to destination etc.
• Auto re-calculation of route
• Day and Night operation modes
• Points-of-interest including hotels, petrol stations etc.
• Route optimization preferences eg. quickest/shortest/fast car/slow car/pedestrian etc.
• Favorite destinations memory
• Memory of recent destinations

Pogo Drive costs £350.

A French company called GPSPrevent released a GPS integrated radar detector device called G200.

The G200 warns drivers about fixed radars, danger zones and mobile radars for France and Europe. It will tell you the distance and speed limit as well as the type of the radar based on its frequency. As far as danger zones, it informs driver on the type of danger such as a sharp turns, accident zones, and dangerous intersections.

G200 can warn you with a beep, human voice and/or visual signals, usually 600 meters upstream of fixed and mobile radars. The update of the radars is free and unlimited, and for vocal alarms, one can choose a female or male voice and complete or simplified vocal alarms. The volume of the vocal messages is adjustable (4 levels) to adapt to the ambient sound level.

G200 also allows the user to record his/her own points thanks to the integrated flash memory. It connects directly to the car cigarette lighter and its digital screen can be set for day or night with adjustable contrast and brightness.

It will cost 130€… via

Yes, this GPS based system actually projects your speed and direction on your windshield so you don’t have look down to read your dashboard. Just like jet fighter planes. The image may look like it is only a rendering of a concept device, but apparently these guys will receive this device via FedEx to do a review in the next week or so. It is manufactured by a company called GlobalTop and is officially named GPS HUD Speed Meter - it will be displayed at CeBIT.

Here are some of the features:

• displays speed and direction
• speed warning function which can be set up by user
• receives 32 channels ensuring high accuracy speed and position information
• integration via Bluetooth for connection to Smartphone or PDA navigation programs

Not sure how and why this device would need to talk to your PDA though. Maybe to setup those speed limit warnings… We’ll keep you posted.

A new addition to our GPS radar detector series is the Escort Passport 9500i. This $450 radar detector has some unique features. The True-Lock Signal Rejection remembers the location of those ‘false-alarm causing’ door openers and motion sensors, including its exact frequency, so next time when you drive by that strip mall it won’t bug you. However it is small smart enough to detect the police car that may have parked there the next day.

Another feature that helps eliminate false alerts is the variable speed sensitivity that will turn off the sensitivity when you are at parking lot speeds or at a stop light. Smart eh?

Escort Passport 9500i also lets you mark down locations of known traps:

The PASSPORT 9500i’s “Mark Location” feature allows you to quickly store a specific location in memory. Simply tap the “Mark” button a couple of times and the 9500i will store this location in memory. The next time you approach this area, the PASSPORT 9500i will provide an alert well in advanced to remind you of the potential danger. This specific location reminder could keep you from being ambushed by instant-on radar or laser the next time you approach.

Also it is capable of adjusting the volume based on the ambient noise. These are all nice features. But with a $450 price tag it’ll have to save you from getting about three speeding tickets. Not for all of us but definetely a nice GPS radar detector. via

Indago is one of the most popular brands in Europe for combining GPS navigation and radar detector. In addition to giving you door-to-door directions with its detailed maps, it can also alert for all the fixed speed safety cameras all over Europe. Emphasis on ‘fixed’ - since this deviced is not equipped with hardware to detect a patrol car with a speed detector.

Made by Snooper, Indago, comes with street level UK mapping pre-programmed on a 256MB SD card. You can search and plan a route to your destination by simply keying in street name, a town or city or even the postcode. Regular routes can be saved and can be reached in seconds. A file also records a history of your most recent trips so that you can return to them later easily.

Indago also features voice prompts for turn by turn instructions accompanied with a colourful, moving 3D map.

Here are the rest of features:

• Anti-reflective full color 3.5″ LCD touch screen display
• Route Preview - review calculated route before you start travelling
• Built-in rechargeable battery
• Integrated GPS antenna
• Mapping provided by Navteq
• Electronic Compass
• Genuine Speed Camera detection using Snooper’s Enigma database
• Smart Mute - Automatically mutes alert if you are below the speed limit
• Logic Modes - Detects cameras only if they are considered a risk. (ignores cameras on the opposite side of the road)
• Speed limits at point of alert
• Detects & visually identifies ALL fixed cameras by type.
• Voice Alerts confirm camera type and speed limit

It costs £400 and you can pick one up from here. If you are looking for something similar but cheaper check out Snooper Syrius we mentioned a few days ago.

Snooper Syrius is a GPS navigation system loaded with an extensive database of speed cameras around the UK and Europe. The database is called the Enigma database and is claimes to incorporate camera locations across Europe, from Manchester to Monaco.

Syrius offers even more unique features by using Snooper´s camera location technology. Unlike other portable navigators, Syrius provides full, clear alerts, confirming the speed camera type, the speed limit at the point of the alert and counts down accurately to the hazard.

The alert system on the Snooper Syrius is also somewhat considerate and smart. If you are already under the speed limit while approaching a speed camera it will only warn visually, but if you are over, it will also warn with sound. If you are in a 30mph zone you’ll get this warning 200 meters before, and 500 meters if in a 70mph zone.

The Snooper Syrius has a 4 inch touch screen and a built-in rechargeable battery and it can provide you with turn by turn instructions to your destination with helpful voice prompts and a colourful, moving 3D map (with clouds!). Syrius uses maps provided by Navteq and measures 140 x 90 x 20 mm.

The price ranges between £280 - £390.

Road Angel Mobile is a British company that designs GPS applications for the Nokia Symbian S60 to keep you out of trouble. When you combine your Nokia Symbian S60 enabled phone (coupled with a bluetooth GPS receiver) with their software they promise to warn you with visual and audible alerts for all Fixed Safety Cameras, Temporary Roadworks Cameras, Average Speed Monitoring sections (SPECS), Accident Blackspots, Primary Schools and Congestion Charging Zones in the UK.

The application costs £5 (currently free with 2 day trial) per handset and phone number, however it is a subscription service so you’ll have to pay another £1.50 every week. The subscription gives you access to all the updates using the GPRS connection. Currently the compatible handsets are Nokia 3230, 6260, 6600, 6620, 6630, 6670, 6680, 6681, 6682, 7610, 6670, 6680, 6681, 6682, 7610, N70, N72,and Nokia N90.

In addition to warning against speed cameras, Road Angel can also alert you whenever you are over the speed limit. You can set this limit somewhere between 20MPH and 115MPH.

Give us a comment if you’ve used this service. We would like to know how well it works.