Posted on Jul 7, 2009 by emily at 10:21 am
An interesting article in Business Week duscusses AT&T’s newest initiative–the Emerging Devices group. Led by Glenn Lurie, formerly the president of National Distribution for AT&T National Mobility, the new group will focus on “strategic initiative to drive the innovation that will bring wireless connectivity to a host of new consumer electronics devices and applications.”
Among those devices? Digital cameras that link to the web for sharing and printing, connected GPS, eBooks, notebook computers, devices to tell city traffic departments the status of parking meters, and even when vending machines need to be refilled.
Click here to read the full article.
Posted on May 22, 2009 by emily at 12:10 pm
The TomTom GO 740 LIVE device enables users to always drive the smartest and most efficient routes, whenever or wherever they go. Pre-loaded with TomTom’s exclusive IQ RoutesTM Technology, the device incorporates historical speed profile data for both day of week and time of day to calculate the fastest route available based on when the user is actually driving to their destination.
In addition to TomTom’s embedded IQ Routes Technology, the GO 740 LIVE wirelessly receives real-time traffic speed and incident reports every two to five minutes. Traffic delays can be heard audibly on the device as well as displayed on the screen.
The powerful combination of TomTom’s IQ Routes Technology and real-time traffic feeds uniquely enables the TomTom GO 740 LIVE to provide drivers with the fastest routing and most accurate travel times without the need for Bluetooth connectivity or wires.
In addition to real-time traffic, the TomTom GO 740 LIVE also comes with a range of other relevant services delivered directly ‘over-the-air.’ All LIVE Services work right out of the box via a built-in wireless modem. Some include; local search powered by Google, TomTom fuel price service, TomTom weather, and more!
For more information, read TomTom’s full press release here.
Posted on Mar 13, 2009 by Sam Costello at 2:48 am
Given the production cycles of cars, adding new in-dash components like GPSes means planning years in advance. And, as a result, the devices most manufacturers can offer are rarely cutting edge.
That may change, though, thanks to a modular GPS system being developed by Harman International and Mercedes.
The system would come in pieces – one piece displaying the content in the dash, the other a “processing box” buried in the car that supplies that actual processing power and data connection. The system will make its debut on eight Mercedes vehicles in the second half of 2010.
What I find interesting about this is that it portends an easy upgrade path to adding new in-car computing features to these boxes. Right now, changing the capabilities of in-car electronics is more complex than an equivalent PC software upgrade. With this system, perhaps it will become easier, leading to new partnerships to deliver content to the dashboard besides just directions.
Posted on Feb 26, 2009 by Sam Costello at 2:26 am
For a while now I’ve been touting GPSes as potentially great information appliances in cars. After all, they’ve got network connections and screens – what else do you need?
Well, for one thing, if you’re doing to do anything data intensive with them, you need a fast network connection. Most GPSes don’t really have that. Some offer pokey EDGE connections, other have sporty 3G connections, while a few even have WiFi, when there’s an available network.
The new G5W GPS from dmedia does all of those options one better by adding a WiMax connection. WiMax is a wireless broadband standard that offers up to 75 MBit/second connectivity, much faster than 3G’s 14.4 MBit/second rating. The G5W also offers a 5-inch touchscreen and Bluetooth connectivity.
No word on pricing or stateside availability (dmedia seems to be based in Hong Kong), and of course you only get the WiMax benefit where a network is available, but the possibilities for in-car computing using GPSes would truly expand with fatter network pipes serving them.
Posted on Jan 19, 2009 by Sam Costello at 2:16 am
The Telenav Shotgun is a new GPS device that delivers all kinds of content to the dashboard over the Internet: everything from real-time traffic alerts, web search, gas price locator, restaurant reviews, and more.
The device, which run $300 with a $12/month subscription for updates, sports a 4.3-inch touchscreen, 2.5-hour battery life and built-in speaker.
Updates are delivered to the Telenav GPS via GPRS – a somewhat slow cell phone standard. It would be great to see WiFi or 3G added in a later revision to speed up the delivery of content over the web.
Posted on Dec 12, 2008 by Sam Costello at 2:59 am
As covered here extensively in the past, GPS devices are adding network-connected screens to thousands, maybe millions, of cars and are building a platform for in-car computing.
Few of these GPSes offer screens as big as the Holux GPSmile 62’s 5-inch WQVGA screen. The device also sports an SD card slot, speakers, a built-in multimedia player, and Bluetooth.
A screen this big is just begging to be used for more than driving directions, I think. The multimedia player is a good start. Imagine using that screen to show other web-delivered content, though – photos, cartoons, jokes. That could catch on.
