Is Apple looking to take it to Google and its uppity Maps app? That certainly looks to be the case, with AppleInsider noticing that the company has four new job listings which specify “Computational Geometry or Graph Theory” and “experience developing navigation software” as “valuable knowledge.” The obvious implications here are that Apple’s looking to craft first-party, full-fledged, turn-by-turn navigation and bring it to its GPS-equipped devices, but maybe the company’s previous new hires simply got lost a lot and this is just an attempt to nip that problem in the bud. Either way, the software job market just improved by four. Giddy up, coders.
Google’s never been afraid to “blow it out” with Google Maps, most famously with its inclusion of Navigation, which knocked the legs out from under a lot of the GPS device and navigation app market. Google Maps 5.0 for Android might seem similarly earth shattering, but it marks a significant change to the basic technology of Google Maps. Most importantly, Google is now using vector graphics for its maps, which are scalable and much lighter weight than the traditional stitched together images used in most Google Maps incarnations. The vectors also enable something else a whole lot sexier: a two finger swipe can “tilt” the map and now you’ve got a 3D view of the landscape. It’s not quite as flashy as Google Earth, but it looks a whole lot more useful. The other thing these low-bandwidth vector maps enables is offline caching of maps, specifically your most frequently visited locations, and entire trips that have been routed in Navigation, including potential reroutes. Anybody with an Android 1.6 or higher device can download 5.0 right now for free, but the 3D and offline features are 2.0+ only.
SEOUL, Korea (AVING Special Report on ‘VIP ASIA 2010′) — 3D navigation ‘Mpeon SEN-220′ which is helpful for secure driving of Scommtech(representative Oh Se-Young) is awarded ‘VIP ASIA 2010 Product of the Year’ by AVING, a global news network.
‘Mpeon SEN-220′ shows information about phone call and SMS interlocked navigation on navigation screen and it can deliver a message like ‘I’m driving now. I’ll call back soon’.
There are wireless mouse function which uses smartphone touch as mouse without direct touch of navigation screen and wireless remote control function which conduct starting and canceling of program with smartphone instead of jog remote control. Thanks to wireless remote control function, users can control navigation at the back se…
SEOUL, Korea (AVING) — Air Point(www.g-pass.co.kr) presented ‘GpassAP100′, the hybrid high pass terminal adopting secondary-recharge of solar.
The ‘Gpass AP100′ is a wireless high pass terminal in the way of RF communications (5.8GHz). It has 900mA high capacity lithium ion battery inside and is easy to use without power cable attaching photovoltaic solar panels to the main body.
Ah, the games that grown-ups play. It’s a situation that’s beginning to feel an awful lot like the Google Voice fiasco that made the rounds in mid-2009, but if it ends in a similar fashion, you won’t find us kvetching about the teases. As the story goes, a bona fine Google Latitude app made its appearance in Japan’s App Store hours ago, only to be yanked before it could sashay over to any other nation. TechCrunch reckons that it was El Goog doing the pulling — it’s quite possible that the folks in Mountain View weren’t quite ready to publicly reveal it, and with all that Chrome actiongoing down yesterday, it’s not hard to imagine how an impending launch was overlooked. At any rate, the description of the app as well as most of the screenshots were in English, so we’re cautiously optimistic that it’ll resurface in the near future once a few Is are dotted and Ts crossed. With iOS 4 supporting background location, there’s hardly a reason to wait any longer, right?
SEOUL, Korea (AVING) — Thinkware(representative Kim Jin-Beom, www.thinkware.co.kr) announced that it releases 2types of ‘iNavi Ready R100′, a premium built-in 3D navigation.
‘iNavi Ready R100′ has a 2 models with 7 inches and 8inches and shows rapid processing speed and strong multimedia function loaded Core 1Ghz CPU and 512MB memory domestically for the first time.
The latest Ublox6 GPS shows more rapid and exact GPS performance at multi pass area such as forest of buildings. You can watch vivid video without encoding supporting HD video playing function.
Dual Display is the function that you can enjoy various multimedia separated to navigation screen when you connect one more monitor.
Magellan may not be the head honcho when it comes to standalone PNDs here in North America, but that’s not stopping the outfit from keeping its iOS app up to snuff. With TomTom, Navigon and Garmin all introducing iOS 4-compatible apps over the past few months, Magellan has finally done likewise — version 1.3 of the app now enables navigation to occur in the background, meaning that iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4 users will still hear turn-by-turn guidance while using another application. Better still, real-time traffic information is provided free of charge through NAVTEQ, alerting motorists to accidents, traffic flow and the nearest ice cream truck. If you’ve already sunk cash into this one, now’s a solid time to check those updates — otherwise, you can hit the source links for a trifecta of versions catering to various regions.
SEOUL, Korea (AVING Special Report on ’2010 Korea Communication Conference’) — Korea Communications Commission (KCC, www.kcc.go.kr) held a press conference for global news media and foreign news reporters who visited Korea for the 2010 G-20 Seoul Summit during the 6th Korea Communications Conference at Chosun Hotel in Seoul, Korea on November 8~10, 2010.
GeoCross(www.geocross.co.kr) introduced its auto black box ‘VisionDrive VD-7000W’ at the press conference. Equipped with WDR(Wide Dynamic Range), it can provide clear images even under back light circumstances where intensity of illumination can vary excessively. WDR enables the capture and display of both bright areas and dark areas in the same frame, in a way that there are details in both areas. …
Based on our experience with relationships, we’ve learned that it takes two to tango. It also takes two to produce co-branded wares, and with ASUS already withdrawing (respectfully, of course) from the ill-fated Garmin-Asus smartphone partnership, this here is more a formality than anything else. That said, those worried that Garmin would try to loop in another handset maker in order to manufacturer yet another Garminfone that 3.4 people would consider buying can rest easy. In the company’s Q3 2010 earnings, it confirmed that it is “winding down” its smartphone efforts, and rather than continuing on a path to doom and destruction, it’ll be ramping up marketing efforts in the aviation and maritime sectors. As for quarterly results, the company did see net income rise to $279.5 million (up from $215.1 million a year ago), but shares fell as it issued a depressing outlook for Q4 amid weakening demand for standalone PNDs. Hate to say we told you so…
Germany navigation firm Navigon’sturn-by-turn app for Android has been available in some European countries for much of the year, but it’s hitting the US for the first time this week. Major features include the so-called “Reality Scanner,” Navigon’s take on augmented reality, lane-level navigation, a database of speed and red light cameras (seriously, don’t go through red lights, okay?), and “MyRoutes,” offering you a selection of up to three routes to your destination based on your driving habits. It’s available in the Android Market starting today; Navigon’s running a two-week special for $39.99, after which it’ll go up to $59.99. Follow the break for the full press release.
