Going with the premise that constant travelers are always keen to reduce what they have to pack by one less thing, Deluo have developed the crossover USB powered optical mouse with an in-built GPS receiver. The Deluo GPSMouse will provide location awareness for any software running on the laptop or any Internet location based services. For convenience it comes with a rectractable USB for easy stowing in a laptop carry bag.

The Atmel ATR0635 (ANTARIS 4) compares well with other GPS receivers even matching the well regarded and widely used SiRF StarIII for tracking and acquisition sensitivity. The unit should operate quite well even in weak GPS signal areas such as city centers.

The Deluo DPSMouse is very reasonably priced laptop GPS enabler and is available on Amazon with the option to bundle it with Microsoft Streets and Trips mapping and navigation software.
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Technorati Tags: Deluo, GPS, Deluo GPSMouse, Atmel ATR0635

Like the famous HP, Navman was a garage start-up company however, it began in the very different location - Auckland, New Zealand. The company name was changed in the early 1990s to Navman which came from the name of one of the world’s first chart plotters.

Navman has obviously put considerable corporate experience into developing their new S Series car GPS navigators which have received some 500 individual improvements. The S30 was recently nominated for the Best Buy Gold Award by PC Advisor. The S30 has an attractive, smart look with a silver casing finish with generously curved edges, slim form factor (20mm) and a LCD touchscreen set in a thick black border.
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Technorati Tags: S Series car GPS navigators

Top features to consider with the ASUS MyPal A639 PDA, apart from being GPS enabled, are the combination of a large 1Gb onboard memory capacity with multimedia capabilities and flexible, advanced connectivity in the form of WiFi and Bluetooth.

The front face of the ASUS MyPal A639 has a 3.5″ TFT LCD with 65k Full-Colors, 16-bit Display and QVGA (240X320) resolution touch panel positioned above a horizontal row of three circles containing a speaker, five-way navigation control and a cluster of four application launch buttons. The screen is the same size as many dedicated car GPS units and is anti-glare for improved visibility when dash mounted for car navigation.
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Technorati Tags: ASUS MyPal A639 PDA, GPS, WiFi, Bluetooth

Magellan’s Maestro 3000 Vehicle Navigation System models include the premium 3140 and entry level 3100. The primary difference between the 3000 and 4000 Magellan Maestros is the larger 4.3 inch touchscreen on the 4000’s compared to the 3.4 inch screens on the 3000s.

All the Magellan Maestro models are GPS navigation units only having no multimedia capabilities. Standout features or the 3140 and 3100 models are the sensitive and accurate SiRFStarIII GPS receiver, text-to-speech capability (reads out street names - 3140 only), Bluetooth hands free phone calling capability (3140 only) and the integration of AAA Travel Information.
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Technorati Tags: Maestro 3000, Vehicle Navigation System, SiRFStarIII GPS receiver, text-to-speech, Bluetooth hands free phone, AAA Travel Information

Magellan’s Magellan Maestro 4000 Vehicle Navigation System series includes the premium 4050, mid-range 4040 and the entry level 4000. All the Magellan Maestro models are GPS navigation units only having no multimedia capabilities. Standout features are the large 4.3 inch diagonal touchscreen, the sensitive and accurate SiRFstarIII GPS receiver, voice recognition operation (Voice Command and Control) (4050 only), live traffic updates (4050 only), text-to-speech capability (reads out street names), Bluetooth enabled hands free phone calling and the integration of AAA Travel Information.

Voice Command and Control provides the ability to control the navigation with spoken demands. However, this is one of the first GPS devices to provide this feature and the fledgling technology only allows for a limited set of spoken commands – you can’t have a chat. That said, it is surprising that unlike word processing speech recognition software, it does not require any voice “training” for voice recognition to function. One point to note is that like children in the back seat it will pick up command words even when you are not talking to it so, you need to be careful what you say. This is a technology that will mature and provide every increasing usefulness for hands free navigation. Have a look at the video to gain an idea of how it works.
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Technorati Tags: Magellan Maestro 4000, Vehicle Navigation System, GPS navigation, 4.3 inch diagonal touchscreen, SiRFstarIII GPS receiver, voice recognition operation, Voice Command and Control, Bluetooth enabled hands free

JVC KD-NX5000 in-dash car GPS navigation has won a 2007/2008 EISA (European Imaging and Sound Association) award for the European Navi-Media System category. In describing the KD-NX5000, EISA expressed surprise that all the included functionality could be included in a single DIN in-dash device.

The mindset with which to consider the JVC KD-NX5000 is probably the notion that it is a solid multimedia entertainment unit with GPS included rather than a GPS unit with multimedia entertainment added. From the image you will see that KD-NX5000 is a very compact I-DIN design for in-dash mounting. Other competing in-dash GPS navigation and entertainment units such as Pioneer’s premium model, the AVIC-Z1, are double-DIN and can have a larger screen (7 inches for the AVIC-Z1). The available dashboard slots available may dictate selection however.
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Technorati Tags: JVC KD-NX5000, in-dash car GPS, I-DIN design

Sony’s NV-U92T was an in-car navigation award winner at the European Imaging and Sound Association (EISA) EISA Awards 2007-2008. EISA is the largest editorial multimedia organization in Europe, with a membership of nearly 50 Audio, Mobile Electronics, Video and Photo magazines drawn from 19 European countries.

Sony’s NV-U92T, NV-U82, NV-U52 and NV-U72T all have very similar specifications. The specification given below is for the award winning NV-U92T however, a detailed table of differences between the models is also provided.
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Technorati Tags: Sony’s NV-U92T, in-car navigation award winner, NV-U92T, NV-U82, NV-U52, NV-U72T

Barely released, the new slim design Tom Tom GO 720 has picked up a PC Pro Recommended Award and been placed on their A List. Citing genuinely brilliant innovations PC Pro nominated MapShare as the killer application. The TomTom GO 720 has a sibling model, the TomTom GO 520, which has exactly the same hardware specifications but, has pre-loaded maps covering Western European regions.

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Some headline features (some new to GO range) for the TomTom GO 720 and GO 520 include:
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Technorati Tags: Tom Tom GO 720, TomTom GO 520

Mio’s DigiWalker C710 is Mio’s highest specification GPS portable navigation device. It distinguishes itself as such by being Bluetooth-enabled and having a suite of multimedia capabilities.

It does share some features with lower specification DigiWalker models such as the C220 including a large 3.5″ color, TFT touch screen which has and anti-glare treatment. Its GPS functionality is also powered by the SirRF Star III GPS receiver which is noted for its faster fix times, higher signal locking and tracking sensitivity and much lower power requirements as compared to other GPS receiver chips.
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Mio’s DigiWalker C220 is introduced by Mio as stylish and spunky, which may be so, but, the primary attraction is the low price. Mio’s DigiWalker C220 is Mio’s entry level, pocket sized, GPS navigation device. It’s still a fully functioning GPS device with the same hardware (SiRF Star III GPS receiver) as more expensive models but, without internal memory (SD card instead) or any multimedia capabilities. The SirRF Star III GPS receiver is noted for its faster fix times, higher signal locking and tracking sensitivity and much lower power requirements as compared to other GPS receiver chips.

Mio have not been tempted to save costs with a smaller screen, providing a similar 3.5 inch size, color, TFT touch screen which has and anti-glare treatment. The resolution is and adequate for the task QVGA (320×240 pixels).
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The Mio DigiWalker C310x, an update of the C310 model, is Mio’s entry-level navigation device. It’s a pocket size device (4″ x 3″ x 0.7″) which at six ounces isn’t going to weigh you down. Despite being an entry level device, the Mio C310x does have the same reliable and accurate 20 channel SiRF Star III GPS receiver which powers more expensive models.

The Mio DigiWalker C310x is intended to provide navigation assistance whether you are on foot, cycling or driving. It is also a digital media device having a built-in MP3 player. The Mio DigiWalker C310x comes ready for use with pre-loaded TeleAtlas U.S. maps (50 states plus Guam and Puerto Rico) stored in 1 GB of internal memory. Navigation can be by address, coordinates or by selecting one of the more than 3.5 million points-of-interest also stored. Personal POI can also be entered into the database.

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Mio have designed the H610 handheld navigation system to be a helpful companion in negotiating the urban environment. It’s an ideal traveler’s assistant, capable of locating business destinations, restaurants and other points of interest. The included WorldMate Travel Assistant software by Mobimate adds to the usefulness of the device with information-service mini-applications that can help organize and manage travel needs.

The Mio H610 has a 2.7 inch, QVGA (320 x 240 pixels), color, TFT touchscreen which is a reasonable size for a handheld navigation device. Powering the GPS functionality of the H610 is a 20-channel SiRFstarIII GPS Receiver Chipset which has the best performance in comparison to its peers including accuracy and the ability to lock onto GPS satellites even in poor signal reception areas (eg. urban jungles). The rechargeable Li-Ion battery will last 19 hours when the H610 is operating as a music player and 4.5 hours when providing GPS navigation.
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Nokia are taking GPS capabilities seriously and have GPS enabled mobile phones such as the N95 and Nokia 6110. However, it is not as widely known that they have the Nokia 330, a dedicated car or personal navigation system (no phone capabilities). It’s a device loyal Nokia customers will be able to use in making use of the considerable investments Nokia is making in mapping and GPS location based services.

The Nokia 330 is a comparatively small and light (205 g) compared to other automotive GPS navigation devices. It’s turn by turn directions are driven by a Route 66 Navigate 7 software application with maps by NAVTEQ. As somewhat of a surprise to many the underlying operating system is Windows supplied by Microsoft.
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The Laipac S-911 Personal Locator is a portable GPS tracking device which can be used as an emergency cellular phone with speed dialing for two-way voice communication. Laipac, an official exhibitor at CeBit 2007, was selected by the official CeBit magazine as one of the best personal locators in the market.

The S-911 is based on the accurate and highly sensitive SiRF GPS chipset. The unit operates in both GPRS and SMS modes allowing location tracking by either SMS text messages or the Internet. The location of anyone carrying an S-911 can be tracked using Laipac’s stand-alone software or their tracking site, www.locationnow.com. The stand-alone software supports Google Earth, MSN Virtual Earth, MS MapPoint and .SHP mapping formats. It includes features for individual or group control, geo-zone setting, user databases and on-screen history replay.
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The Magellan RoadMate 860T looks quite different to others units in the RoadMate range, having a circular cluster of buttons on its right hand side. Unlike many other vehicle navigation units, both the touch screen and buttons are used for navigation. A highlight of the Magellan RoadMate 860T is the 20GB hard drive which has 10GB reserved for multimedia use - music and photos.

The units GPS functions are powered by a SiRF Star III receiver which is highly regarded for its GPS performance. The 860T has Bluetooth for hands-free phone calls and is Traffic enabled allowing users to avoid traffic delays using real-time traffic information. Also included is the popular text-to-speech functionality whereby street names are pronounced which Magellan call SayWhere.
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