about-electronics.eu

NaviGadget: As you know may already know we’ve been keeping a good track of all the GPS navigation apps for the iPhone. We had already mentioned MapQuest there but this is worth mentioning again since they just released MapQuest 4 Mobile for iPhone – which is totally free.
We say it was time for iPhone users to get a taste of free GPS navigation. Android users have Google Maps in the U.S, Nokia users all around the world have Ovi Maps – now one our first internet favorites (late 90’s?) MapQuest comes to the rescue for iPhone users. Read more…

read more

Engadget: Google’s not the only one in the game when it comes to wild mapping tech, and while Microsoft’s excellent collection of bird’s eye photos has never gotten it quite the attention of Google’s Street View, the hope is that lasers and its much-lauded Photosynth tool can do the trick.

Microsoft has done up a Street View-style canvassing of 56 US cities with cars that not only snap photos but include range-finding lasers to map out the architecture in 3D.

The Silverlight-based viewer for this view (dubbed Streetside) is similar in interface to Google Maps, a tad slower, and rather visually impressive. In addition, Microsoft is leaning on its Photosynth technology to collect navigable panoramas of scenery and even building interiors.

Finally, Microsoft has tacked on “apps” of sorts, little overlays that include traffic cameras, restaurants, a Twitter API and so forth. All of this coupled with an improved version of the bird’s eye view is quite a visual treat, but the Silverlight requirement and non-Google-ness of it all might keep away the Bing-averse among us.

But really, with all this tit-for-tat going on between Microsoft and Google, we have to wonder what sort of stone age we’d be stuck in if we didn’t have these two behemoths going at each other like this. The “Beta” is live now.

read more

DVice: Google has just released its free navigation software for mobile phones running Android 2.0, much to the chagrin of the big names in the GPS game.

While folks like Garmin and Magellan have plenty to fear, even companies that use an iPhone app have to be worried too, because this, like most things Google, is just so much cooler than anything out there.

[...]

Garmin has tried to break out of the GPS-only world with its own phone partnership, but it seems to be way too little, too late in that market.

Magellan doesn’t even have a dog in the phone fight. Many companies are going the app route, but given the popularity of anything related to Google, it’s gonna be tough to compete.

One thing’s for sure: say “electronic maps” to anyone, and the first name they think of is the big G. While currently only available on the Android 2.0 system, Google has made it clear that it’s willing to play on the iPhone if Apple will allow it.

New smartphones have been announced by Motorola and Verizon that will be running Android 2.0 and Google Maps for Mobile, which the navigation service is a part of.

You have to wonder if anyone is going to buy a standalone GPS when so many navigation programs are available on phones?

read more

Electronista: Google today provided added details of the turn-by-turn mapping service found on the Motorola Droid.

Google Maps Navigation adds many of the features that would normally exist in a dedicated GPS unit, such as a bird’s-eye view and spoken directions, but takes advantage of Google’s existing Maps features.

Traffic is free in those areas where Google provides service, and Street View can show directions overlaid on top of in-location photos.

Search is naturally rolled into Navigation and lets drivers use voice or typed commands to navigate to a location by search criteria rather than a specific address.

Long-distance travelers can launch a search in mid-drive and find just the points of interest close to the already planned route.

Google Maps Navigation ships first on the Droid as a beta but will be available for all Android 2.0 devices.

The company also says it’s cooperating with Apple to bring the feature to the iPhone through its built-in Maps tool but hasn’t given a timetable for when it expects the feature to be ready.

The unveiling is a potential coup for Google. Although RIM’s BlackBerry line and most GPS-aware Nokia phones include company-made turn-by-turn apps, these either have limited functionality or require a paid subscription to work properly.

Google Maps requires an active Internet connection to download map data but is otherwise free to use where most stand-alone apps, including for the iPhone, often carry a significant initial fee and often charge extra for future map updates.

read more

Electronista: Garmin Asia Pacific marketing director Tony An revealed that the company’s nuvifone will just be the first device in a series of phones.

Where the original touchscreen, GPS-focused phone is now said to be due in the spring, An adds that the firm will develop multiple phones based on Google’s Android platform to ship sometime in the second half of 2009.

Details of the phones themselves are unavailable but should likely focus heavily on GPS navigation and will be helped by the built-in presence of Google Maps.

The hardware won’t be manufactured by Garmin by itself but will instead contracted out, according to Garmin, though which firms will build the phones isn’t named.

read more

Fox Business: Garmin International Inc., a unit of Garmin Ltd., the global leader in satellite navigation, today announced that users can now send locations found on Google Maps, an innovative online mapping service, directly to their Garmin personal navigation device.

“Given the amount of time we all spend at a computer or in our cars, teaming with Google Maps gives users the versatility of planning their travels at their keyboard in addition to their Garmin device,” said Dan Bartel, Garmin’s vice president of worldwide sales. “There’s no need to waste time printing, scribbling or e-mailing locations and directions when you can use Google Maps to search for and save everything you need with just a couple of clicks.”

read more

TheStreet.com: TomTom said it’s teaming up with Google in a pact that will let users search for and send business addresses directly from the Google Maps’ Web site to its navigation devices.Google Maps local search pages have expanded their “Send to” feature with the option to “Send to GPS.”

Google said it was “delighted to be working with TomTom to offer this exciting new service to our users. We are constantly working to make our maps more useful so they become a one-stop-shop for finding all the local information and directions that people need.”

read more

NaviGadget: Google Maps for Mobile’s new feature called ‘my location’ just got announced today. It is a new feature that puts a blue dot on Google Maps showing where you are. The best part is that it does not require your mobile device to have GPS hardware. If you do, that’s OK, Google Maps will use that information for your blue dot. But if you don’t it will approximate where you are using the cell tower you are connected to at the time – in which case you’ll get a light blue circle around your dot.

If you do have a GPS-enabled device, My Location can actually complement it. My Location kicks in faster than GPS in most cases, so you can access your location even faster on the map. It also works reliably indoors (unlike GPS) and doesn’t drain your phone battery at the rate that GPS does.

Here are the currently supported phones:

• Most Java-enabled (J2ME) mobile phones.
• Palm devices with Palm OS 5 and above.
• All color BlackBerry devices.
• Windows Mobile devices with Windows Mobile 2003, 5.0 and above.
• Symbian Series 60 3rd edition devices.

read more

NaviGadget: HP just announced the iPAQ 900 series also known as the HP Business Messenger. iPAQ 914 is the first expected model but the last two digits (9xx) is likely to change depending on your service provider. HP iPAQ 914 is a serious smartphone with a really strong feature set, specially in wireless connectivity. It is a quad band phone featuring GSM/GPRS/EDGE and Tri Band HSDPA networks, does 802.11 b/g with WPA2 Wi-Fi, as well as bluetooth 2.0 with EDR, and of course integrated GPS navigation (Assisted GPS).

HP was also smart enough to integrate Google Maps into the 914 package, which has an interface that everyone is used to and probably smarter than most other navigation software out there. HP iPAQ 914 comes with Office Mobile, Office Outlook Mobile, and IE Mobile, and more specialized software from HP such as iPAQ Data Connect, VoiceReply, and Voice Commander.

read more

NaviGadget: It looks like people at Google were working with just more than BMW in Germany to make their service available in high-end vehicles.

Mercedes introduced a service called “Search & Send” that lets drivers search for a destination in Google Maps or Yahoo Local Maps and send this directly to their vehicles.

However it is not going to work on every Mercedes – only on 07 S-Class, CL-Class, and 08 C-Class with the Multimedia Package and Navigation System so far. And the part that actually send this information to your car from your PC is called Mercedes-Benz Tele Aid System which is complimentary for first year’s subscription.

read more