Magellan is coming out with GPS car kits for the iPhone and iPod mobile devices. Magellan is a navigation and positioning company, which markets its Magellan brand GPS products in vehicle navigation and outdoor markets. The new GPS car kit will be compatible with the 2nd and 3rd generation iPod touch and likewise the iPhone 3G and 3GS. This is another addition to the ever-growing number of non-telco applications for the iPhone and the iPod. The car kit will have a built-in speaker and a noise-canceling handsfree speakerphone with charging capabilities. It will also work with Magellan’s own RoadMate program and other navigation or location-based applications. Rumors are the GPS car kit for the iPhone and iPod will be available in the market at a retail price of $130 starting on December 11.
A highly sensitive tracking device will soon be used by FedEx in tracking and monitoring information about a shipment. The device, FedEx SenseAware, will be placed inside the shipment and will tell customers if the package was opened give temperature readings and track exactly where the package is. It merges a web-based collaboration platform with a GPS sensor device. The device has been allowed for use in planes by the Federal Aviation Administration but won’t be able to give updates while the shipment is airborne. Customers can, however, monitor the shipment’s status if it travels by land. It will be initially available to life science and the healthcare industry customers in the US.
Navigon, a leading supplier of GPS navigation solutions, has announced it is coming out with a navigational application for Android. Google Maps Navigation may be about to take the US market because it’s free but outside the US, Navigon is set to step in while Google is trying to get its act together. The Navigon Android satnav app can be used in all phones running Android 1.5 to 2.0. Its features are similar to the existing Navigon iPhone application, with slight changes to fit in with Android phones’ interface and screen resolution. Navigon’s Android satnav app will hit the markets on December 10, but pricing has yet to be announced. It will probably be similar to the Navigon iPhone app, which costs somewhere around $140.
Dynamics Controls has been a leader for three decades in innovations in the field of wheelchair controls. Now, it has taken the technology to the next level by utilizing the iPhone as the control device. This will allow disabled individuals the freedom to control their electric-powered wheelchairs via the iPhone or the iPod Touch. The communication between the iPhone and the wheelchair controller is via Bluetooth eliminating those messy wires. This iPhone app is expected to be available in the first quartet of next year. The freedom and independence to be offered by this technology to the handicapped is immense. This will pave the way for them to have more control not only of their movements but more importantly of their lives.
Nintendo have kept to its promise that it will release the latest version of its DS portable gaming devices, the DSi LL. Japanese game lovers got a taste of the new DS last Nov. 21, ahead of the much anticipated release in North America and Europe (to be known as DSi XL) in the first quarter of 2010. It is bigger than its predecessors and measures 161 x 91.4 x 21.2 mm. It weighs 314 grams, heavier than the DSi’s 214g, the DS Lite’s 218g and the DS’s 300g. The screen is also larger at 4.2 inches as compared to the DSi’s 3.25 inches and the DS Lite’s 3 inches. The Japanese version came out with three colors: Wine Red, Dark Brown, and Natural White. Nintendo has made no announcements yet regarding the available colors for the other regions. There are also preloaded applications in the DS LL like the Browser, Flipnote Studio, Brain Age Express: Arts & Letters, Brain Age Express: Math, and Meikyou Kokugo Rakubiki Jiten, a dictionary program.
ioSafe Solo is a rugged fireproof and waterproof external hard drive that you can connect to your computer via USB 2.0. It allows disaster potection for your personal files at an affordable price. The available models have storage capacities from 500GB to 1.5TB. The Solo hard drive takes advantage of ioSafe’s patented technologies such as the HydroSafe waterproof barriers, FloSafe air flow cooling, and the DataCast fire safe insulation. With the Solo hard drive, you are assured that precious family, school or office digital photos are protected even when disaster strikes like fires and hurricanes.
Bose has came out with its giant iPod dock, the SoundDock 10, a heavyweight at 18 pounds. It has a nice solid build and produces decent sound quality that comes from a compact, single-speaker system. The unit plays loud sound without distortion and can fill a large room. It conforms to classy and minimalist styling, and simple to operate. It has interchangeable dock system and composite video output/line inputs. The unit also has its cons, like you can’t charge your iPod/iPhone when using the Bluetooth accessory and video-out is limited to low-res composite connection. While it’s expensive and not loaded with so much features, the Bose SoundDock 10 is classy looking and sounds excellent that is just right for a compact iPod/iPhone speaker.
Canon’s EOS 7D is a decent piece of image-recording equipment, both featurewise and pricewise. It comes with an amazing 18 megapixel APS-C sensor and dual DIGIC 4 processors, capturing superb images at up to ISO 12800 and speeds of up to 8 fps. It has a new all cross-type 19-point AF system for sharp focus on whatever situation. The EOS 7D’s Intelligent Viewfinder, provides 100% coverage and displays user-selected AF modes. Another amazing feature of the EOS 7D is the ability to capture Full HD video with an array of manual controls. The EOS 7D is ruggedly built with a magnesium alloy body that is dust- and weather-resistant, and with shutter durability of up to 150,000 cycles. With a host of brand new features at an affordable price, the new EOS 7D represents a whole new class of camera.
Safa, a Korean firm, will come out with the new Xing MP3 player that looks more like a colorful toy than anything else. It has five tactile buttons on the surface that are used to control 1GB worth of stored songs. What is unique with this gadget is its face features 27 LEDs that can be either programed to display the icon of your choice or used for a game of Rock, Paper, and Scissors. Its dimensions are 50mm × 22mm × 13mm and weighs only 12.2 grams making the Xing small enough to fit in any pocket or tiny compartment. This device looks cute enough for kids, but may not be that attractive for adults.
Creative has launched the new Zen X-Fi2, a second-generation gadget that adds a touch screen and TV-out capability to the earlier X-Fi model. The new device features a 3-inch, touch-sensitive, TFT LCD that is capable of up to 262,000 colors. This new unit carries over the superb icon-based menu found on the earlier versions. It is a bit longer than the first generation model and approaches the size of the iPod Touch. It standouts from the rest of the MP3 players by orienting the unit in landscape mode, allowing an excellent viewing experience. Creative continues to offer support in this model multiple audio (MP3, secure WMA, Audible, AAC, and FLAC) and video (WMV9, MPEG4-SP, DivX4/5, and XviD) formats plus JPEG and BMP photos. It has an external speaker for sharing the tunes, a built-in mic for making voice recordings, and a built-in FM radio. The X-Fi2 also has basic PIM features for syncing calendar and contact information plus an alarm clock feature. This next generation model is indeed armed and loaded.
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=f7cdf2be-f330-46f5-a7da-59f43758acfa)
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=c1bafb0e-40ea-4cd4-a99e-bbaccc6f64da)
Gadgets | cesar | 
November 30, 2009 6:29 am | 
Comments (0) 
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=a1f65365-e647-4723-ab93-59c9b70e9a4e)
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=4acce946-2a0e-41c8-b928-c6e3f1846124)
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=daf43e78-8071-47c1-a30d-2384784b860a)
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=e1724e0a-9e99-4e1a-9be9-e8f3e0fc093a)
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=0aaaa777-f9ec-47b6-b0d1-484d551f1e5b)
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=f0d440d8-7ece-43c3-ad33-9080c7a5ecb4)
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=50e764bf-bd40-4313-8539-bae67e262a77)
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=519c8513-0b37-49b6-9cc7-bfd0f54f51c1)
Subscribe