GPS News at GPS Gazette

Asus has announced a new dedicated Portable Navigation Device, the Asus S102. The design as you can see looks nice, although I am not too sure about the lime green that they decided to use. The S102 features a 3.5″ full color TFT LCD touchscreen (65,000-color, 240 x 320 resolution), SiRF III GPS chipset, built-in antenna and an external antenna jack. The device offers turn-by-turn voice guidance and hand script and voice recognition technologies that according to the press release:

With hand script and voice recognition technologies, the S102 offers versatile input methods for different usage environments. Keyword search function further permits quick destination setup. The S102 is especially convenient when the user is busy navigating the road, but needs to reroute for a new destination.

Finally the other specs and features that are mentioned in the press release are:

• Memory: Built-in 64MB Flash ROM, 64MB SDRAM, SD card support
• Expansion: SD card
• Audio: MP3 playback support
• Battery: Inbuilt rechargeable Lithium-Ion provides more than 4 hours standard usage
• Dimension: 110mm(L) x 86.8mm(W) x 20.5mm(H)
• Weight: 183g (with battery)

You can read the entire press release here

Sysonchip presented a new model from the Looket series at the CES, the Looket G8 which features a 3.5-inch screen, a 400-MHz processor, and an SD slot for extra maps and storage runs on WinCE.NET and uses SiRF III chipset. No information on pricing and availability yet.

Via Laptopmag.com

While browsing through the companies attending the 2007 CES I came across Coolnavi that is showcasing two GPS units at the CES, the Coolnavi 700 and 430 that appear to be two at least interesting devices.

Coolnavi 700

The Coolnavi 700 has a huge 7″ Touch Screen with a resolution of 800*480, is powered by a DUAL Core ARM Processor and is equipped with the Sirf III GPS chipset.
Other features and specifications include:

• Maps : USA & Canada maps by TeleAtlas
• Video Playback (MPEG, WMV)
• Audio Player (MP3,WMV,WAV)
• Photo Album (JPG,BMP,GIF,PNG)
• Storage Slot : 1*SD & 1*CF 2GB
• Dimensions : 187(W)*127(D)*26(H) mm
• Weight : 470g
• Video Input(NTSC/PAL)

Coolnavi 430

The Coolnavi 430 (the one on the right) is the lower end model with a smaller screen (4.3″ 480×272 QVGA). However apart from that and the fact that it doesn’t have a CF slot all the other specifications and features appear to be the same.

Coolnavi

Axiotron presented the Modbook, the first ever Mac Tablet. Modbook is a modification of the powerbook and comes in three flavors the Good the Better and the Best. The two later version have Built-in WAAS enabled GPS from GlobalSat. An additional feature compared with the PowerBook is the Penabled Wacom digitizer. Some of its other features and specs are 13.3″ screen with ForceGlass™ Cover, Mac OS X 10.4, 1.83GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor for the Good and 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo for the Better and the Best, Built-in iSight, 802.11g and Bluetooth, Combo DVD & CD RW for the Good and SuperDrive™ for the Better and the Best.

The Modbook is expected to start shipping sometime this spring and will cost from 2279$ to 2849$ for the higher end model. However there is currently a discount available if you preorder, plus if you preorder the Good (the non-GPS model) you will get a free GPS upgrade.

Modbook Page
Press Release

TomTom announced the launch of the FM Transmitter Mount. This new accessory will allow drivers to hear driving directions and make hands free calls from their car’s radio.

From the press release:

TomTom GO users simply dock their TomTom GO on the new FM Transmitter Mount, tune the car radio to an unused FM frequency and select the same frequency on the TomTom GO. Turn by turn navigation instructions, hands free calls and music can now be heard in HiFi through the car stereo, without any unsightly cables cluttering the interior. The seamless integration between the TomTom GO and the car stereo also ensures that music stops when navigation instructions are played or (hands free) phone calls are made.

Pricing,Availability and Compatibility

The FM Transmitter Mount is compatible with the TomTom GO range and is expected to start shipping in about a month with a price tag of €49.95

Press Release

A new GPS device from Clifford, the Scout420 Navigation System won a 2007 CES Innovations Award. Obviously the reason is not the design since it looks almost like a copy of the PSP. Design aside the Scout420 has quite a few interesting features. As far as it concerns the navigational functionality and specs it uses the SiRF Star III GPS chipset, will come preloaded with North American maps and 6 million POIs, will provide turn by turn voice instructions and is equipped with a 4.3″ TFT-LCD screen. However, it appears that it is much more than your average GPS device. The most interesting and innovative feature is that it is SIRIUS-Ready, nonetheless a SIRIOUS Satellite radio receiver is required.
In addition to the above it also offers video playback (ASF, WMV, DiVX, AVI, Xvid), music playback (MP3, WMA, WAV) and a photo viewer. There is more than adequate storage space to store all your videos music and photos since it is equipped with a 20GB hard drive and an SD Card slot to expand your storage space.

Clifford Scout420 Homepage
Image from Engadget

XM and Bushnell Outdoor Products, today presented the Bushnell ONIX 400 at the 2007 CES in Las Vegas. According to the Press Release:

The ONIX 400 is the first fully integrated portable handheld device that can simultaneously access GPS location data, XM’s 170 plus channels of acclaimed music, sports and entertainment and personalized local real-time XM weather information anywhere in the United States.

Some of the Features include

• 3.5″ 320×240 pixel full color LCD screen
• Embedded 64MB Micro SD card for data and map services
• Rechargeable Li-Ion battery

Not much but let’s wait for more information.
This new device will become available this summer.

Image Via Orbitcast
Press Release

Sanyo announced today two new Portable Navigation Systems, the Easy Street NVM-4070 and the Easy Street NVM-4050. As the naming of the devices suggests the NVM-4070 is the higher end model of the series. The additional features of the NVM-4070 compared with its little brother are:

• Real-time traffic data available through the Traffic Message Channel
• Image Viewer
• Plays MPEG4/Divx video clips
• Hands-free calling through Bluetooth equipped cell phone.
• Transfer MP3 and JPEG files wirelessly from Bluetooth equipped phone to NVM-4070
• Store up to 500 contacts for quick calling using Bluetooth equipped phone.
• Built-in FM transmitter to play music wirelessly from NVM-4070 over a car’s stereo

The common features and specifications of these two devices include”

• 4″ wide touch-screen display with anti-glare
• SiRF Star III GPS module
• 2D and 3D maps
• Turn-by-turn voice guided instructions
• Built-in GPS antenna
• Continental US and Canadian map data (Navteq) pre-installed on 2GB internal NAND Flash Memory
• MP3 Player
• Navigation Software: Navigon

The SANYO Easy Street NVM-4070 and NVM-4050 will be available in the U.S. in April 2007 at an MSRP of $599.99 and $499.99 respectively

With a press release today Mio announced that it will be showcasing at it’s CES booth a new GPS device the Mio DigiWalker C520. According to the press release it will have a widescreen 4.3″ screen and Bluetooth support. Another interesting feature is the split-screen display, which will allow for address lookup or route information while the map is visible. I also expect it to have rich multimedia features since the call it “widescreen portable navigation and entertainment device”
The C520 is expected to become available in the first half of 2007. No information on pricing yet.
Now the people attending the CES go get some pictures and more information (North Hallbooth #6330)

According to Engadget Medion’s UMPC MD RIM 1000 is expected to become available on Jan 30. The specifications of this shiny gadget include

• 6.5-inch touchscreen
• 802.11b/g WiFi,
• Bluetooth 2.0
• onboard GPS
• DVB-T tuner and webcam

No information about pricing was posted.