Sat Nav

  •  Garmin portable navigation kit now offered on all Volvos

    The "quantum compass" sounds like something Dr Who might use, or a 1990s special edition car name. In actuality, it's the name of a new device under development with the British military to allow GPS-style navigation in submarines without the use of satellites. The big news here is that GPS itself was originally developed by the military—but now it's in your smartphone, or available for a hundred bucks from an electronics store, or you can spend a little more than that to have satellite navigation embedded in your car's dashboard. In other words, it's not a great leap to imagine every...

  • BMW microNavigation
    BMW microNavigation Offers New Tools For Getting Around: Video

    At this point in the game, satellite navigation is old hat. To really get attention, automakers have to up their game -- and that's exactly what BMW has done with its new microNavigation system prototype. The microNavigation unit works a lot like other satnavs, offering traffic data, suggesting...

  • TomTom GO LIVE Top Gear edition cancelled
    UPDATE: TomTom Ceases Production Of Top Gear-Branded Units

    Earlier this week, we told you about a new, Top Gear-branded satnav system from TomTom. Unfortunately, someone failed to clear the licensing of Jeremy Clarkson's voice with BBC's editorial staff, and now, TomTom has been forced to cease production of the devices. It's a classic problem of the left...

  • TomTom GO LIVE Top Gear edition
    TomTom's Top Gear Edition Puts Jeremy Clarkson & The Stig On Your Dash

    We admit that we've been critical of TomTom, Garmin, and other aftermarket satnavs. After all, in the age of smartphones and factory-installed telematics systems, dashtop devices can seem as outdated as your grandmother's VCR. But you have to give them props for trying, and TomTom is trying very...

  • Traffic Jam
    Tech Blamed For Stressed "Gen Y" Drivers; Some Tips To Help

    If you were born some time between the 1970s and the mid 1990s you're what's known as "Generation Y", and new research has shown that you're much more likely to be stressed behind the wheel than your "Baby Boomer" predecessors. The survey was conducted by Galaxy Research, on 1,010 people across...

  • BMW Pathfinder "micronavigation" system prototype
    GPS Racing: Over 7 Million Brits Try And Beat The Sat Nav

    How long will a journey take from point A to point B? To get the answer, many of us will punch the destination into our GPS satellite navigation devices which give us an estimated time of arrival (ETA). However, a new survey thinks that subconsciously trying to beat the displayed ETA could be...

  • Lexus Enform Mobile App

    Chances are, if you're in the market for a new Lexus then you appreciate the luxury, technology and ease of use thats available to you. If this is the case, why shouldn't your Lexus Navigation System already know where you want to go when you step into the car? With Lexus eDestination, it can. Of course, it doesn't automatically know where you want to go, but you'll no longer need to sit in the car and input destinations before you set off on a journey. eDestination allows you to program destinations into your navigation system from the comfort of your home - or the office, or anywhere else...

  • Charting a new course:  Google maps
    You Have Reached Your Destination... With A Map, Not Sat Nav

    If you're aged between 18 and 24 years old you could be forgiven for having never seen a road atlas. These archaic paper-based devices require you to use planning and a sense of direction to navigate from one place to another, and remain silent throughout your journey. According to research by the...

  • 2012 BMW 1-Series Hatchback
    Bavarian Rhapsody: BMW Makes Music With New 1-Series (Video)

    You might not think of the voice inside your sat-nav system or the sound of your blinkers as being particularly sonorous, but then you're probably not working with BMW to turn those sounds and more into a few minutes of music as the backdrop to production of the 2012 BMW 1-Series. The man behind...

  • John Cleese in TomTom's 'Break Free' campaign
    Break Free Of Traffic Jams With John Cleese & TomTom: Video

    Everybody loves John Cleese, right? Beyond his work on the popular Monty Python and Fawlty Towers TV shows -- not to mention many memorable film appearances -- he's written for stage and screen, and he's managed to inject some much-needed humor into the political climate of both the U.S. and...

  • Pioneer AVIC-VH09CS augmented reality sat nav
    Pioneer Reveals Augmented Reality Satellite Navigation System

    Electronics giant Pioneer has revealed the latest in the world of automotive satellite navigation technology, with its new AVIC-VH09CS double din unit showcasing the first production example of an in-car ‘augmented reality’ system. Using a wireless windshield-mounted camera, the system...

  • Homer Simpson
    Homer Simpson Squeezes Into TomTom's App For iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch

    Given the vast number of free navigation apps available for Apple, Android, Blackberry, and Windows handsets, we've been more than a little skeptical about the future of satnav makers like Garmin and TomTom. After all, why should consumers shell out for a fairly limited piece of hardware when they...

  • Speck Toughskin for TomTom

    Everyone knows that distracted driving is a big problem on the roads these days. U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood focuses most of his energy on combating the dangers of texting and driving -- presumably because it's more common with younger, less-experienced drivers -- but in fact, there are a plethora of distractions to affect drivers of any age, from eating to talking on the phone to putting on lipstick. The situation is likely to worsen as in-dash and smartphone navigation systems become more common, but a new study seems to prove what many had already guessed: namely, that...

  • 2012 Hyundai Veloster
    Hyundai's New Nav System Asks: Do You Want The Shortest Route Or The Greenest?

    Today's navigation systems are great at finding the shortest route between Point A and Point B. Some even integrate traffic data to identify alternate paths if the shortest one is congested. But Hyundai's newest navigation platform will also tell you which route is the greenest, keeping CO2 out of...

  • Garmin Nuvi 660
    Personal Sat-Nav Devices No Longer A Hot In-Car Gadget?

    Not so long ago, companies such as Garmin and TomTom were enjoying strong sales in the PND, or 'Personal Navigation Device' market. Offering inexpensive personal satellite navigation systems for use in your car, they were a popular choice for those not willing to spend sometimes ten times the price...

  • Jolly green giant statue in Blue Earth, MN
    Garmin Makes Road Trips Fun With Maps From RoadsideAmerica.com

    Garmin, TomTom, and other aftermarket telematics systems have been fighting an uphill battle since July 2008. That's when Apple launched the App Store and smartphone users began to realize that apps could serve the same function as pricey dashtop units, but with minimal upfront cost and no...

  • Screencap from DriveSafe.ly
    Smartphones Are Taking Over Your Car -- And The Planet

    Over 3 million of today's smartphone users use telematics apps -- apps ranging from navigational services like Waze to streaming music players like the now-ubiquitous Pandora. That figure is expected to rise dramatically over the next five years; in fact, ABI Research estimates that by 2016, it...

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