Developages - Development and Technology Blog

Filed under: GPS

Navigon’s 2150 Max isn’t revolutionary in terms of design nor specifications, but it does feature a rather delicious list of features for just £229.99 ($458). All-too-trusting UK motorists can look forward to a 4.3-inch display, pre-loaded maps of 39 countries, built-in Bluetooth, text-to-speech and support for live traffic information. Oh, and in case our header was unclear, it’s shipping this very moment in time.

[Via BIOS Magazine]

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: GPS

For those who spend just as much time getting lost in the forest as they do on the highways, Garmin’s nüvi 500 holds quite a bit of promise. Combining four modes covering cycling, boating (optional), driving and walking, this waterproof navigator has nearly every walk of life covered. GPS Magazine recently got to spend some time with the Q3-bound unit, and not surprisingly, it came away very impressed. On the roads, this device performed just as admirably as any other Garmin unit. When traveling off the beaten path, things were just as great. The only real knocks on this were the added bulk / weight and the omission of text-to-speech, but true adventurers aren’t apt to care about that when consolidating four GPS devices into one.

[Thanks, Fletch]

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: GPS

Sure, Garmin’s new nüvi 500 series can get you from point A to point G on paved and well-lit highways, but that’s not the (whole) point here. Instead, these rugged (and waterproof) navigators are geared up to take to the trails, waterways and sidewalks with one-touch transitions between driving, bicycling, boating and walking modes. The 500 includes road maps and topographic maps for the lower 48 US states, Hawaii and Puerto Rico, while the 550 touts comprehensive street map coverage of the US and Canada. Both devices boast a 3.5-inch touchscreen, a removable, rechargeable battery, Garmin’s “Where Am I?” feature and geocaching support to boot. As for USers, you’ll find the 500 and 550 on sale in ̭ for $499.99, while those across the pond will see the nüvi 550 land this September for £299.

[Via GPSTracklog, thanks Rich]

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Laptops

Not content with just ordering a touchscreen-packin′ Cloudbook from Japan, Azazel decided to take matters into his own wonder-working hands and hack up his vanilla unit to include the oh-so-coveted touch support. Based on his reports, disassembling the rig and stuffing the new panel in was a lesson in simplicity (save for one quick round with a soldering iron), but actual usability proved to be somewhat of a letdown. It was noted that using the small screen with just a fingertip was challenging, and while relying on a pen did make things marginally easier, we’d think long and hard about your needs / wishes before taking the plunge.

[Thanks, David]

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Desktops

Everex is popping off a new gOS powered box tonight, given the unfortunate monicker of MyMiniPC. While $500 is way more than enough to get you started on a low-end Windows box (and even most of the way there toward a Mac mini), the MyMiniPC comes equipped with a 1.86GHz Pentium T2130 and 512MB RAM running gOS “Space”, a 120GB drive, DVD±RW, firewire, four USB 2.0 ports, DVI and S-Video out gigabit Ethernet, media reader, and standard audio ins/outs. Everex is all playing up the whole space theme and MySpace integration, segueing that into avatar-based help experience called “Dave” (i.e. use the Ask Dave function to get help). So, what, does that make us all HALs? Too meta, Everex. Larger interface shot after the break.

Continue reading Everex’s new MyMiniPC: $500 and gOS-powered

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Original post by Ryan Block

CES 2008 did have its share of robots, including these two. The first is a prototype from WowWee (which introduced a bunch of other robots at the show). It’s the sexy Femisapien. The second is a helper bot from Fujitsu. Enjoy the video.

Original post by Lance Ulanoff

Korean audio manufacturer FILS makes thin speakers. Really thin. The faces of the speakers are made of a film called poly vinylidene fluoride (PVDF), “plezo film″ for short. Plezo film is lightweight and can be bent into various shapes–like, say, the sails of a miniature yacht.

The FILS representative that I spoke with, Yun Gun-Young, told me that the simply-named Yacht Type Film Speaker is a big hit among executives in Europe and Central Asia, who apparently like to show off their income via novelty audio equipment.

The film doesn’t do so well with lows, though, so the woofer is built into the base of the boat.

The company makes speakers in a slew of other styles too, but none quite so exciting as the sailboat. No word on availability in the U.S., but if you really want to live like a Central Asian executive, price should be no concern.

Original post by Brian Heater