The Azentek SmartMirror was a hot topic in August, with only a few units available, many back orders and waiting lists began popping up, along with a few disgruntled customers who were tired of waiting. If you find yourself in the disgruntled customer category, today is your lucky day! Azentek is ramping up production of their GPS mirrors and stated the mirrors will be available at major retailers by the end of the year. If you’re not sure what I’m talking about, the $800 rear view mirror crams a 4″ GPS unit alongside its standard sizedrear view mirror. The GPS system doesn’t skimp on features and has hands free Bluetooth calling, a built in speaker, and text to speech functionality. The mirror also has an SD card slot for expansion.

Tags: Azentek, bluetooth, GPS, Mirror

With the expected October launch date for the Nokia N79 and N85 in Europe coming on us fast, it’s high time that the specs of both systems get solidified.

Considering these phones have already received an FCC approval (just no set date as of yet for a stateside launch) we’ve got all the information you’ll need to decide if these phones are for you.

The N85 is a powerhouse with it’s 2.6 in screen, GPS, 5 megapixel camera, N-Gage compatibility, 8GB of storage, WiFi, and a purported battery life of 28-hours when it comes to playing music.

The N79 bumps the N78 out of the way, offering a 5 megapixel camera with dual LED flash, GPS, 4GB storage, WiFi, swappable covers, and up to 24 hours of music playback.

Either choice seems like a winner in our book.

Tags: Cellphones, GPS, htc, music playback, Nokia, nokia n79, nokia n85, wifi

HTC has managed to win over many phone users in the past several years. Whether swinging them from their existing smart phone or breaking them into the scene, HTC has been there for it all. But the main turn off for a lot of people interested in the HTC was the lack of standard keypad for dialing if it had a keyboard.

HTC has decided to fix that issue by revamping their old S710 series, but making it tough enough to stand with the big dogs. The phone runs Windows Mobile Stanard and offers a full QWERTY keypad that can be slid out from underneath. You’re also looking at 7.2Mbps HSDPA speeds on both 900 and 2100MHz bands, quadband EDGE, a 3.2 megapixel camera, WiFi, GPS, and a very sharp 2.4 inch QVGA display.

The candy bar styling will keep things nice and simple until you truly need to bust out that full keyboard for whatever reason you may have.

Tags: 3.2 megapixel camera, Cell Phone, GPS, htc, htc s710, Nokia, qvga, wifi

TomTom has really been stepping things up over the past few days. We’ve seen the announcements for the PRO 4000 and PRO 8000 series the other day, plus the GO 940 Live has even been discussed. So what makes us suspect that there going to continue this GPS rampage? Well, with the IFA coming up soon, there’s no real reason for TomTom to hold back.

We’ll have to wait and see exactly what will surface from the upcoming IFA, however the price tag for the GO 940 LIVE ($871) may be enough to stifle your interest. For now, it’s a safe bet to hold off on buying any new GPS devices.

Tags: go 940 live, GPS, ifa, ifa 2008, pro 4000, pro 8000, tomtom

LG seems to be pumping out a few different cell phones lately. While this isn’t exactly the Prada II, LG has released a bit more information for the follow-up to their KC910, the Viewty. This little device is only 14 mm thick with a sharp touchscreen. The phone also sports an 8 megapixel camera with a quad-band GSM /7.2Mbps HSDPA radio, plus the usual features such as Bluetooth 2.0, WiFi, and a microSD.

The Viewty is a pretty unique phone, considering that it runs on a built in Xenon flash and has great multimedia capabilities such as video recording, TV output, and is capable of playing DivX and XviD right out of the box. Throw in some GPS for some good measure and you’re looking at a really great phone overall. This phone is expected to be out this October.

Tags: GPS, lg, lg kc910, lg prada, lg prada II, lg viewty, microSD, touchscreen, wifi, xenon

The issues surrounding the iPhone as of late have been attributed to firmware miscalculations. So when the latest firmware hit the streets, the 2.0.1 update, everyone assumed that the little hang ups here and their would be fixed. Unfortunately, this update has apparently caused more problems then it fixed.

Owners of 3G iPhones have been experiencing GPS issues as of the latest update, ranging anywhere from slightly off or slow in reading to not working at all. While these exact issues have been present prior to the launch of the update, more individuals are reporting this as the problem they’re experiencing.

Have you run into any issues with your 3G iPhone?

Tags: 2.0.1. firmware, apple, GPS, iphone 2g, iphone 3g, Mac

GPS is amazing for when you get lost. But the potential for it to be one of the gaming worlds most popular add-ons in existence is through the roof. With the 3G iPhone, games are already being developed that can take advantage of the GPS functionality, bringing Desktop Tower Defense style games into the real world.

What’s really impressive, however, is the plan to utilize the PSP’s GPS add-on for exactly this purpose. Sony and several other third party studios are already planing on developing games that can take full advantage of this system.

Too bad, of course, that no one has a PSP….

Tags: GPS, psp, sony, third party

In an interesting turn of events, a case brought to court in California over a $190 speeding ticket was recently appealed. Not much of a story until you explain the fact that it was appealed due entirely to the fact that his GPS unit logged exactly how fast he was going.

Shaun Malone, the recipient of the $190 ticket, lost the initial case brought up against him, where a police officer clocked him going 62MPH in a 45MPH zone. But after a specialist took the stand during the appeal to not only explain that an email was sent to Shaun’s parents whenever he exceeded 70MPH and also kept a log of his general speed. The specialist confirmed that these devices were accurate to within 1MPH, so with this information, the judge ruled in Shaun’s favor to throw out the original conviction.

In October the final verdict of the case will be decided and the potential for GPS devices to hold a higher sway over radar guns may be a far reaching one.

Source: Gizmodo

Tags: california, GPS, radar gun, shaun malone, speeding

GPS devices are great, but one of the biggest issues that people seem to run into is where to place them. You want maximum visibility of the road and of the GPS unit so that you can avoid that person on their bike yet still make that sharp right hand turn. So where’s the best place to put it?

Apparently, in your mirror.

The DS400GB SmartMirror is a really neat addition to any car. Loaded with Navigon Mobile Navigator 6.5, a 4 inch touch screen, integrated speakers, bluetooth, and an SD card reader, you’ll be good to go. If you’re car has rear-view cameras, it also has two inputs for those as well.

The DS400GB SmartMirror launches August 1st for $799.

Tags: bluetooth, GPS, smartmirror, speakers

With June just beginning, the number of iPhone rumors seems to be increasing. But while the certainty of the next iPhone generation arriving with 3G capabilities becomes more and more solid, we’ve begun focusing on other nifty feature possibilities that have a substantial amount of evidence supporting that they’re true.

Few other devices are as prime to handle GPS like the iPhone is, so when that rumor came about, it made enough sense for people to take solely on merit. So with news coming in from GigaOM stating that two key factors, a GPS contract found by a private source and the public information relating standards of GPS in cell phones to the newly placed E911 system in the US, this one is looking more and more likely.

With all these additions, I’m assuming the battery is going to be nuclear to have to power this iPhone for more than half a day.

Source: GigaOM

Tags: apple, GPS, iphone, iphone 3g, Mac