Mio Moov 300 and Moov 400

Mio has unveiled a pair of new low-cost Moov GPS navigators for the United States–the Moov 300 and Moov 400. The Moov 400 and Moov 400 have 3.5-inch and 4.3-inch reduced glare, touchscreen displays, respectively, but otherwise share most features. Included are pre-loaded maps of 50 United States and Puerto Rico, a rubberized bezel, 4 million points of interest, text-to-speech, voice-guided turn-by-turn directions with spoken street names, lane guidance, predictive keyword search, and NavPix Photo Navigation. My favorite feature for both models, however, is undoubtedly the price tag. The Mio Moov 300 will only set you back $119.99, while the Mio Moov 400 is a remarkably affordable $149.99. Both GPS devices will ship across the United States later this month.

I’m also assuming that the new units will include Mio’s relatively new Spirit user interface, something I was impressed with when I reviewed the Mio Moov 501 earlier this summer.

Sanyo and TomTom team

According to WSJ TomTom and Sanyo are joining their forces to sell their devices to car makers.

Japanese Sanyo announced yesterday that it will team up with Dutch TomTom to grab more market share in North America and Europe where the auto industry is supposedly picking up.

The collaboration between Sanyo and TomTom will supply auto makers with customized in-dash GPS navigation systems as early as 2010.

Sanyo has been making GPS navigation systems in Japan since 1993 where factory fitted sat nav system are more common place. On the other hand North Americans and Europeans are more into after market, windshield mounted, unsightly, portable systems.

Sony NV-U75

Sony NV-U75 GPS

Sony Japan announced yesterday the NV-U75 portable navigation system. The feature-rich GPS device features a 4.8-inch WQVGA display, maps of Japan, voice-guided turn-by-turn directions with lane information, direction signs, 3D intersection views, and real-time VICS traffic information. The unit has 8 GB of built-in flash memory, Bluetooth, and Blu-ray disc playback compatibility as well. The Bluetooth feature allows KDDI cellular subscribers to transfer data from their cellphones over-the-air to the NV-U75. The new Sony GPS unit will only ship in Japan.

NAVTEQ maps Jordan

Mapping data provider NAVTEQ today announced the availability of the first complete, navigable map of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan (or just Jordan to the rest of us), on the heels of the first commercial GPS release in the country back in January.

The maps cover over 28, 000 kilometers of Jordan’s road network including speed limits, and more importantly, 13, 000 points of interest which are key to navigation in a country where infrastructure is still in its infancy.

As NAVTEQ points out in its press release:

“With mail delivered to post office boxes, street addresses rarely used and most places of interest (such as government buildings, hotels and restaurants) in Jordanian cities and towns well known, directions are usually given based on nearby landmarks. With its usual attention to local detail, NAVTEQ has therefore included a particularly wide range of POIs which can be used as destinations. The commonly used 1st to 8th Circle names for the central jabal junctions have also been retained but NAVTEQ has also added the alternative official names where they are available.”

All of the Jordan map info is available in both Arabic and English, and includes all major tourists destinations.

The addition of Jordan brings NAVTEQ’s Middle Eastern map coverage to seven countries, also including Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

TrafficTweet: GPS and Twitter Tweets

TrafficTweet is the latest take, albeit a creative one, on the aggregation and distribution of real-time traffic data.

While TrafficTweet is an iPhone application, and performs the same function as waze, which I wrote about yesterday, it uses a combination of GPS and Twitter updates to help drivers navigate real-time road conditions. The app lets users send road condition updates from their iPhone to Twitter, eventually making its way back to TrafficTweet where it is displayed on a map.

Interestingly, clicking on a Twitter link brings you to a Yahoo! Map. I’m not sure why Washington-based Mobomo, creator of TrafficTweet, chose to use Yahoo! Maps rather than Google or Bing, but most of the links are for cities that Yahoo! covers with real-time traffic information supplied by TrafficCast.

While it’s arguable how useful TrafficTweet will be given that it requires the user to manually update it while driving, its use of GPS simplifies the process enough to cut the process down to a few clicks. I would still find any traffic app that requires manual updates a HUGE hassle while driving; possibly even more of a hassle than hitting a traffic jam.

One thing is for sure: TrafficTweet will only succeed if it can acquire a critical mass of users. While it’s eye-catching in that it hitches on the current Twitter popularity storm, I think there are just too many real-time traffic apps and services available that are much simpler to use. As a novelty app though, the $0.99 TrafficTweet (iTunes link) is definitely interesting.

MapQuest revamps developer platform

Google Maps and to a smaller extent, Microsoft’s Bing Maps, are the major online mapping platforms attracting developers right now. The once dominant MapQuest has been working hard over the past year to update its platform in order to get back in the game. From an end user perspective, the MapQuest brand seems to be more engaging than Google Maps, though the latter has more monthly traffic.

But without developers using the platform to innovate, MapQuest won’t stand a chance at the end of the day. A preview announced yesterday of its MapQuest 6.0 Platform: JavaScript SDK seems to have made some serious upgrades for developers. Not only is the new SDK easier to use, according to the company, it also has a completely revamped, more modular code base that has a much smaller footprint resulting in a faster response time.

The most significant new feature addition is that of Draggable Routes which allows developers to create applications, inside of which end users can edit their routes right from the map. MapQuest also reorganized its developer documentation so it’s more linear and easier to follow.

You can check out the 6.0 SDK here.

Google-maps gets layered

GoogleMaps has been updated with a new Layer feature. The new same feature allows you to see multiple content at any one time. Nice addition as it can sometimes annoy when one must remove local landmarks to search for something in particular. Out now for Symbian and windows Mobile, check after the break for a rundown of the new features and some bug fixes.

New features

• Layers: Layers (’2? shortcut key) allow you to view locations and additional info overlaid on the map. You can add multiple layers or remove only certain layers so you control exactly what information you want visible on the map at the same time. Familiar info now available as layers include search results, Traffic (with new traffic incident icons and info), Directions, and Google Latitude. New available layers include My Maps (view-only), Transit lines (w/upcoming station departure info where available), and Wikipedia.
• Browse categories: Browse popular categories from the Search menu to search the map for businesses or points of interest by type. Category searches are currently available only for results in the US and China.
• Additional search results: When you search the map, Maps for mobile will now show you additional search results beyond the top ten results. The additional results will appear as “dots” on the map that you can select to see more info. As you pan the map, more search results will appear. Just zoom in to select a specific dot if there are lots of results for your search.
• My Maps: Add the My Maps layer from the Layers menu and sign in to your Google Account to access your custom My Maps created and edited from your computer. My Maps are currently view-only from Google Maps for mobile. You cannot create or edit your My Maps.

Fixed issues

• Symbian S60: E61, E61i, and E62 devices: Shortcut keys work properly using the standard numeric shortcuts. Previously, shortcut keys were not working as intended on these devices.
• Windows Mobile: Copy and paste has been re-enabled for most text entry fields (Search, directions, and user name)Troubleshooting
  • Symbian S60
    • N82 and N95 devices: we strongly encourage that you back up your device and consider upgrading to the latest device firmware version (see http://nokia.com/softwareupdate). A very small number of users report experiencing a device hang during installation, and we haven’t yet been able to reproduce this in the lab or determine the exact cause.
    • For some S60 3rd ed. FP2 phones (Nokia 5320 XpressMusic, 6210 Navigator, 6220 Classic, 6650, N78, N79, N85, N96, N96-3), you may need to set a default destination using the following steps: Go to Settings > Connection > Destinations > Options > Default connection. Select “Internet” (if you have it) or whichever APN group you want it to use.
  • Windows Mobile
    • If you install Maps for mobile to your memory card instead of your device memory, you may experience issues due to a corrupt memory card or files. Please try a clean install using these instructions if you experience errors during installation:
      1. Uninstall Maps for mobile by going to Settings > Systems > Remove Programs > Google Maps.
      2. Do a soft reset / power off.
      3. Delete any remaining files under “Program FilesGoogleMaps” (if installed in the internal memory) or “Storage CardProgram FilesGoogleMaps” (if installed in an external memory card).
      4. Delete any remaining files under “Application DataGoogleMaps” (if installed in the internal memory) or “Storage CardApplication DataGoogleMaps” (if installed in an external memory card).
      5. After that, re-install the latest version from m.google.com/maps
    • Some users may see scrambled text upon loading Maps for mobile the first time after installation. Please try rebooting your phone first and seeing if this issue persists.

[Via Tiltmobility]

news gadgets

Navigon has an iPhone GPS app on the way

GPS maker Navigon has announced it will release an iPhone version of its MobileNavigator software later this month after the iPhone 3.0 operating system is released. Like TomTom’s newly announced navigation app, Navigon’s paid iPhone app provides turn-by-turn directions, but will also provide some of its proprietary features such as Reality View, Lane Assist and speed camera notifications.

Users will be able to simultaneously navigate and listen to music in their iPhone’s library, plot routes to contact addresses and automatically resume navigation after taking a phone call.

Navigon hasn’t announced how much its paid app will cost, but it will also offer a free Lite version that simply provides map and POI search without real-time navigation. The company also hasn’t given any indication as to if it’ll release a dash or windshield mounting accessory like TomTom, but it wouldn’t surprise me.

TomTom iPhone app car kit announced

Really turn-by-turn navigation from TomTom for the iPhone? Really? Yep, really. Yesterday TomTom announced two new upcoming products for the iPhone. First is a dedicated navigation application which will soon be available in the App Store. It’ll include TomTom’s IQ Routes and Tele Atlas maps. Second, and pretty interesting from a PND maker, is a TomTom car kit for the iPhone. It will include a special docker, voice directions, hands-free calling over Bluetooth and in-car charging.

It’s about time. There has been rumor of a TomTom GPS app for the iPhone since last July when the iPhone 3G was released. While some sort of development restriction hampered the app’s time to market, the company did say it would eventually release an iPhone app. Things were pretty quiet for awhile, until last month when TomTom posted a job advertisement for an iPhone developer. I never thought that the company would pursue what seems to amount to an all-out partnership with Apple. It’s a smart move.

We’ll have to wait for pricing and availability details until later this summer after the iPhone 3.0 OS is officially released. But for iPhone owners out there, the complete package will probably be a more economical (in price and hardware) solution to in-car navigation than a traditional PND.

Garmin nuvi 1260T gets reviewed

PCMag’s Craig Ellison recently had the opportunity to test out the Garmin nuvi 1260T, one of Garmin’s 2009 models that comes complete with a pedestrian navigation mode, Bluetooth, voice directions and subscription-free real-time traffic information. I was expecting the nuvi 1260T to blow the review out of the water, but the reviewer clearly feels that for most of us the Garmin nuvi 265T is a better buy. Why is that?

First of all, the $300 suggested retail price is a bit on the high side. And though the nuvi 1260T is the thinnest GPS navigator on the market because of its pedestrian aim, it isn’t particularly accurate with its public transportation routes. In fact, the reviewer tested out a pair of routes that incorporated the subway in New York City and found that both HopStop and Google Maps produced more economical routes. That said, the nuvi 1260T would still be handy if you’re visiting a strange city with a complicated public transportation system.

For the rest of us though, the Garmin nuvi 265T will do the same navigational job as the nuvi 1260T, but for half the price.

Garmin nuvi 1260T–$299.99 from Amazon; shipping June 28
Garmin nuvi 265T–$179.99 from Amazon