GPS News at GPS Gazette

Navigon is presenting two brand new navigation systems at the CeBIT this year, the Navigon 7100 and 5100. The first impression is that they have a really stylish design. The main difference of the two models is that the Navigon 7100 has a 4.3-inch display (16:9), while screen of the Navigon 5100 is 3.5″. Some of the other features of the two systems include Bluetooth for hands free calling, free traffic information, 2D or 3D map view and voice input. A new function that we will find in these new Navigon systems is called “Real View” or “Reality View” which if I understood correctly is a new view mode that will display signposts realistically in a way that will help the user navigate more easily.

The Navigon 7100 is expected in Europe sometime this summer with a price of 450 euros for the version with regional maps and 500 euros for the Europea maps version. Finally the Navigon 5100 will cost 350 euros.

Via SlashGear

Nokia unveiled the 6110 Navigator a a quadband mobile phone with sat-nav capabilities that according to Nokia it was designed for the mass market. Besides GPS the 6110 Navigator also features A-GPS (Assisted Global Positioning System). The Nokia 6110 Navigator has almost everything most people would ask for from their GPS. It comes with preinstalled maps, and users can easily access the navigation features with the click of the phone’s one-touch Navigator key.

With the Nokia 6110 Navigator, consumers can quickly and easily view their current location on the map, search for destinations, find specific routes, or locate services such as restaurants, hotels or shops that are nearby. Featuring full turn-by-turn 3D navigation, the Nokia 6110 Navigator suggests the best route to follow to reach a location by car or on foot. Clear instructions by voice guidance and turn arrows on a map ensure finding the fastest way to the destination.

Nokia 6110 in addition to all of the above has some pretty interesting specs as a cell phone as well, which include:

• Symbian OS (S60 platform)
• HSDPA for fast web browsing and downloading
• WCDMA 2100 HSDPA, GSM/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900
• 2 megapixel camera with integrated flash, 4x digital zoom and panorama mode
• Real-time video sharing and video calling
• 40 MB free internal memory
• Support of microSD memory card up to 2 GB

The 6110 is expected to start shipping in Q2 for an estimated price of €450/$580 (before subsidies or taxes.)

It only took less than a day to verify my previous post about the new Navman GPS systems including the Navman F30, F40 and the Navman F50 was right. Navman has now posted details about the new F Series systems on their site.

The tech specs of the F30 are the ones we have posted about earlier. The main difference of the F30 compared to the F20, Navman’s first model of the F series is the subscription-free, real-time traffic updates (UK, France, Germany, Belgium, Denmark and the Netherlands).

The Navman F40 has also similar specs but also has a Bluetooth connection feature (to pair compatible phones for safer, hands-free calling) and 1.5GB of integrated memory with European maps preinstalled in addition to what the F30 has to offer. However, it lacks the subscription-free, real-time traffic updates.

Finally the Navman F50 combines what the F30 and the F40 have to offer in one device.

What I like about the product pages of these GPS Systems is that they all contain the following:

The Fxx contains a wealth of features previously only found on much more expensive GPS navigation systems.

The pricing of these systems is:
F30: £199
F40: £229
F50: £249

Official Announcement

Nokia announced today that their Smart2Go navigation software will be released for free. Smart2Go was originally developed by Gate5 that was acquired by Nokia last Summer. Smart2Go software is the navigation software that comes preinstalled with the Nokia N95.
From the Press Release

The
platform allows for mapping and routing in over 150 countries and has
support for full turn-by-turn satellite navigation in over 30 countries.
The application allows people to view where they are on a map, search for
points-of-interests (POI) around them and create routes to get them there
free of charge. Nokia plans to start offering the smart2go application for
free, on Saturday, February 10th, for selected Nokia S60 and Windows Mobile
5.0 devices initially and has plans to roll out support for most of the
major mobile OS platforms including Nokia S60, Series 40, PocketPC, Linux
and other Windows Mobile devices.

Read the entire press release here

SkyKap LLC presented at the PGA Merchandise Show a rather unique and interesting new Golf GPS accessory, GPS enabled Golf Caps and Visors that will help you improve your Golf game . The name of this unique GPS Golf aid is Advisor. This new accessory is completely hands free operated and is controlled with voice commands. If you are afraid that during a windy day or in high noise spots the Advisor won’t pick up your commands or that someone might sabotage your game by shouting the wrong commands, fear not, since sound is picked up from bone conduction and as a result Advisor is unsusceptible to wind noise and side chatter as it only “hears” the wearer. The GPS data collected by the cap are continually tracked against the map of the selected golf course in order to calculate the distances to green leading/center/trailing, water bunkers and fairway boundaries and whisper them in your ear upon your “voice” command. In order to download course maps from Skykaps website you will have to connect your hat to your PC’s USB port. The product hasn’t been released yet as far as I can tell and there is no information about pricing for the caps or the course maps services.

u-blox the Swiss manufacturer of GPS chips has announced that they will present a new GPS chip at the 3GSM World Congress in Barcelona, the u-blox 5. This new chip will be Galileo-ready and will feature acquisition and tracking sensitivity of -160 dBm, a 50-channel engine and a power consumption of less than 50 mW. According to the press release the u-blox 5 features an acquisition performance of less than one second. The specs look really good, I guess we will have to wait to see the first devices that will be using it.

Press Release

After a report yesterday and quite a bit of press coverage TomTom issued today a press release verifying that a number of TomTom 910 manufactured between 9/2006 and 11/2006 were infected with a virus. However, they state that

The viruses that were detected present an extremely low risk to customers’ computers

Press Release

Technorati Tags: TomTom GPS, GO 910, GPS, Virus

BEOND is a company from Hong Kong that is entering the GPS market. They presented their new line of GPS devices at the CES this year but I wasn’t able to find a lot of information about that. It appears that they started releasing their newly created army of GPS devices. First in line is the BO-A410 which is powered by the Samsung 400MHz, S3C2440A processor, uses a 20 channels SIRF III GPS Module and has a 4.2 inches 65K colors TFT display touch screen while the OS used is the Microsoft WinCE.NET 4.2. Besides the Navigation capabilties it also has (surprise surprise) multimedia functions [supports MP3 audio playback and voice record, (MPEG4 video playback and voice record (optional) )]

Pricing and availability will probably depend if a distributor bring them to Europe and the USA

GolfLogix today announced a new Golf GPS unit that is powered by Garmin and it will be showcased at the PGA Merchandise Show (January 25-27, 2007). The GolfLogix GPS appears to be an easy to use with straightforward interface device.
Some of the features and specifications include:

• Provides distance information for
  • Front, Center Back of Green
  • Bunkers
  • Water Hazards
  • Lay-ups
  • Carries
• 12-month warranty
• Auto-advances to each target on the course for completely hands-free use so there is no need for complex button layouts to learn or lasers to point during your round
• A large LCD screen (1.25” wide x 2.25” tall), with a resolution of 64 x 128 pixels
• Large number displays that are easy to read for all ages and eye-visions.
• Excellent visibility in direct sunlight with adjustable screen contrasts
• Backlight screen setting for dark playing conditions
• Completely waterproof case (submersible)
• Shock-proof and impact resistant for rugged outdoor use
• Displays in Yards or Meters
• Includes multi-use belt or bag clip
• Up to 22-hour battery life
• 12-channel GPS receiver with precise accuracy (+/- 2 yards)
• Serial and USB cables included
• GolfLogix Course Manager PC software CD-ROM with USB drivers
• Weighs 5.3 oz with batteries
• Size: 4.4″H x 2.0″W x 1.2″D
• Holds multiple golf course maps
• Thousands of worldwide golf courses available to download ($29.95 annual membership)
• Free golf course download included with purchase

The GolfLogix GPS will be available with a suggested retail of $349

Product Page
Press Release

There have been a few reports that Asus is going to release its first 3G PDA Phone called Asus P735. According to the reports it will look very similar to the P535 and the pictures that have been posted along with these reports look like they are from the P535. Nonetheless, Asus seems to be popping more and more GPS enabled gadgets and is becoming one of my major “companies to watch for news and updates target”. I guess we will just have to wait and see.

Via GPSAndCo