We asked our readers what their favorite GPS navigation system brand was and they gave us a very clear response: Garmin. Garmin got 45% of the votes – almost twice as many as the distance second, TomTom – which got 24%.
Here are the results:
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We hope you really never have to wear one of these – however if your options are wear this or go to jail then maybe not such a bad thing. Law enforcement agencies in the U.S. may soon start using this device called BI ExacuTrack One. It just passed through FCC tests which means it is good to go.
The company behind this “involuntary” GPS tracking solution – BI – already supports more than a thousand correctional agencies around the world.
Their latest product, BI ExacuTrack One, usually mounts on the ankle of the offender, has a really long battery life, provides web interface for tracking, and is lightweight and rugged.
Different from traditional live GPS tracking system ExacuTrack can also work with a local radio receiver:
ExacuTrack One includes an option for a cordless transmitting device, called a beacon, that is pending patent approval. Designed for flexibility, the beacon enhances the system’s reliability and reduces costs and power consumption. The beacon is installed in the client’s home, place of work, school or other designated location. When the individual on ExacuTrack One enters an area where a beacon is located, the system switches modes from GPS tracking to traditional radio-frequency monitoring, a very reliable communication mode. When the person exits the beacon range, the system immediately shifts back to GPS tracking.
Brought to you by your GPS navigation site News Gadgets.
SamogonBroadcom just announced, BCM2075, a new chip that supports positioning, bluetooth connectivity, and FM radio.
The company is targeting the always shrinking and power hungry cell phone market by fitting everything onto one chip and making it 30% more efficient in terms of energy used.
Check out the video above to see a demonstration of BCM2075 locking onto various satellites, playing an FM radio station (can also do RDS), and streaming stereo audio to a bluetooth headset. Impressive.
It’ll start going to handsets later this year. For more technical details have a look at the press release or refer to the product page.
Brought to you by your GPS navigation site NaviGadget.
At CeBIT trade show which is taking place this moment in Germany, Clarion presented two new portable GPS navigation systems: the Clarion MAP 690 and Clarion MAP 790.
Both devices use the iGO My Way 8 navigation software which is capable of showing certain buildings and monuments in 3D, altitudes, realistic looking road signs, and posted speed limits.
Other features include text-to-speech to pronounce street names, and lane assistance to help you out on freeways.
Clarion MAP 690 and Clarion MAP 790 will also include an RDS/TMC receiver for traffic updates but we’ll have to wait and see if this will cost extra.
Both GPS navigation systems have a 4.3″ touch screen with 480×272 pixel (WQVGA) resolution, SiRF III GPS receiver chip, a handsfree Bluetooth kit, all of which are controlled by the 400 MHz processor. For storage you’ve got a 2 GB built-in space which also holds the maps info.
Clarion MAP 690 will be delivered with local maps and the Clarion MAP 790 will come with maps of 44 European countries.
No precise details to date on their price and their date of release…. via
Brought to you by your GPS navigation site NaviGadget.
Samsung is getting ready to release an UMPC here at the States - as we discovered going thru FCC docs. Possibly called Samsung NP-Q1EX, the device will feature a 7″ WSVGA touch screen with 1024×600px resolution and run on an VIA Isaiah CPU. On the back of the device there’s also a digital camera, but as of now we’re not sure what the specs for this are (maybe 1.3MP). For connection Samsung NP-Q1EX offers Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth.
Even though not mentioned in the semi-complete user manual, a few test setup photos also revealed an SiRF Star embedded GPS receiver which made us very happy here at Navigadget.
Other specs we could dig up were the 4000mAh battery, SD card slot, 3.5mm audio jack, and HDD for storage.
Brought to you by your GPS navigation site NaviGadget.
VDO Dayton PN 3000 is a new portable automotive GPS System by Siemens VDO that can also be integrated into the vehicle like a permanently installed system. It features a 4.3″ Touch Screen Display (TFT LCD), 300 MHz CPU, 64 MB Flash ROM and 64 MB SD RAM and a 20-Channel GPS Receiver. Of course like every new GPS System that respects itself, it offers more than just navigation. It sports an MP3 Player and two games Sudoku and Blockbuster.
Other features include:
Finally the written menus are available in 21 written languages (20 if you consider English UK and US the same :)) and it can also guide you using 24 different voices 24 voices (English UK, English US (3x), Spanish (2x), French (2x), German (2x), Italian (3x), Brasil, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Slowenian, Swedish, Turkish).
The PN 3000 comes in three versions the basic model, a model with with TMC, and a model with TMC and bluetooth.
The price is not listed on the site but it appears that the retail prices for the three models are 470, 500 and 550 Euros respectively.
Garmin Dakota 20 is Dakota 10’s bigger brother. Announced at the same time Dakota 20 has pretty much the same appearance as Dakota 10 but when it comes to specs it hides a lot inside.
Priced only $50 more than Dakota 10, for a total of $350, you can expect the same impressive 20 hours battery life from Dakota 20. It also has a microSD card slot to store more stuff, like maps, a 3-axis compass tilt-compensated electronic compass, and a barometric altimeter. Also don’t forget about the wireless connectivity feature that lets you share waypoints, tracks, routes and geocaches wirelessly with Dakota, Oregon, Colorado and Foretrex devices.
If you’re looking for something bigger and more expensive you should check out Garmin Colorado or the Garmin Oregon series.
Wait until September for Garmin Dakota 20 to come out.
Brought to you by your GPS navigation site space geodesy.
