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Download Free technews From viewzoft Oh how we wish it were all just a horrific dream, but somehow, the engineers behind Clarions flashy new MAX9700DT in-car navigation unit still felt it necessary to include support for a format that just refuses to die. Granted, the system is loaded to the hilt with features and supported formats, but we have a hard time believing that even the Japanese really still find MiniDisc and ATRAC all that attractive. Nevertheless, the unit also boasts a seven-inch touchscreen display, built-in 1Seg TV tuner, DVD player, a 40GB hard drive, iPod compatibility, 50-watt x 4 amplifier, AM / FM radio, and support for a whole host of audio formats including WMA and MP3. Getting around shouldnt be too difficult given the expansive screen and "3D maps," and just in case that 40GB of internal storage isnt quite enough, you can cram an SD card or Memory Stick into it for a bit more space. As nice as all this sounds, few from crowds other than the elite will be pondering a purchase, as ¥341,250 ($2,868) isnt exactly bargain basement (or even "good deal") territory. ( Read More )
Download Free technews From viewzoft While the GPS navigation market is hella crowded these days, all that competition hasnt exactly led to the sort of plummeting price drops that inspire the random Saturday impulse buy -- youre still looking at around $250 for something like a barebones Garmin i5, which gets you mapping on a tiny screen but not a whole lot else. UK outfit Maplin is hoping to edge that bang / buck ratio a little closer to your heart with its first GPS unit, the pun-erifically named AYTOBE. Features include a 3.5-inch touchscreen, an MP3 player, 64MB of built-in memory with SD expansion, a remote control, and the most important spec of all -- a £99 ($200) price tag. Virtually no deets on availabilty other than UK-only, but lets hope this is just the calm before the storm. ( Read More )
Download Free technews From viewzoft Wow, those Brits sure do love surveilling each other. Even as both Houses of Parliament conduct independent investigations on how nearly-constant CCTV monitoring is affecting British citizens, a group of researchers issued a report on future transportation policy that recommended the growing British traffic problem be solved by tracking every car on the road with GPS. While every-car tracking in the name of security is nothing new for the Brits -- they already do it with cameras -- the GPS scheme is primarily meant to reduce congestion and pollution, an idea wee definitely heard before. The researchers say that satellite-tracking will allow for variable speed limits and road-user access charges, making for faster journeys and fewer carbon emissions. The major hiccup in the plan, of course, is outfitting all 30 million cars in Britain with the appropriate transceivers, a rollout that the researchers say will take up to 10 years, but can be aided by requiring auto manufacturers to build the devices in -- something they claim is a "simple extension" to current GPS navigation units. Oh, and how do they plan to deal with those pesky personal privacy issues everyones getting so worked up about? With "appropriate laws," of course! Yep, thatll be enough to keep those stalkers at bay. ( Read More )
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