The module relays this information to your GPS unit via Bluetooth where you will be able to view a set of customizable gauges that provide details on things like fuel economy, RPMs, throttle position, intake manifold pressure, coolant temperature, intake air temperature, and emissions.

Awesome? Yeah, sure. Will it save Garmin from destruction at the hands of a possible Google navigation juggernaut? No, probably not. [Cnet via NaviGadget via Ubergizmo via DVICE]

Google Maps Navigation
• Google Navigator for Android Review: Good For Free But Far From Perfect
• Google Maps Navigation: A Free, Ass-Kicking, Turn-by-Turn Mobile App

(An)Droid:
• Motorola Droid First Hands On: It's a Terminator
• A Visual Guide to Android 2.0: So Much Nicer
• No Android Version of HTC HD2 After All?
• GSM Motorola Droid Caught on Video
• How Motorola Stopped Sucking
• Droid Eris Doesn't Look Too Shabby for a Cheapo Android Phone
• HTC Droid Eris Might Be the Cheapest Android Phone at $99
• HTC Hero Among First To Get Android 2.0 Update

Reviews:
• $1000 1080p Projector Battlemodo: Optoma HD20 vs Vivitek H1080FD
• BlackBerry Storm 2 Review: Improving, But Still Mostly Cloudy
• Corsair Flash Voyager 128GB USB Drive: As Big and Fast As a Small Fish
• Canon S90 Review: It'll Never Leave My Pocket (Except When I'm Taking Pictures)
• Samsung Moment Review: The ED-209 of Android Phones

The Copy/Paste Twins Saga
• I Want to Have Twins Just to Get Them These Awesome T-Shirts
• Twin Apple Fangirls Pwn Twin PC Clones
• The Origin of the Twin Copy-Paste T-Shirts

The Rest:
• 12 Things You Need To Know About Apple TV 3.0
• High Res Video of Ares I-X Launch
• http://gizmodo.com/5393755/an-astronaut-explains-how-well-fall-in-love-with-space-again
• Apple Tablet Will Restore Comic Books To Former Glory
• Build The Spirit Radio That Creeped Out Tesla Himself
• Behold, the BlackBerry* Watch: $150, Coming in February

The Game Changer

Brian already went through the details when he broke the news, all the features you need to know about. On paper, this baby sounds like it has everything the $100 apps have, and it's free (for Android 2.0 users). I won't go over all of the features again—live traffic, over-the-air maps, multiple visual layers, search along routes, etc.—so I encourage you to read that. This is what it feels to use the thing day to day, the wheels-on-the-ground perspective, and though it's certainly as powerful as billed, the experience itself is a little more sobering.

On Android 2.0, on the Verizon Wireless Motorola Droid I've been testing, Google navigation is part of the Car Home suite, an easy-to-read, easy-to-reach set of apps including map, turn-by-turn navigation, voice search, text search and contacts. However, as you can probably guess from reading that lineup, the lines are so blurry it can get confusing fast. The sane place to start is voice search.

Voices In, Voices Out

The surprise hit of Google's new software is the voice command. I said "Navigate to Cloud City" and it quickly launched the navigator, showing me a few options with "Cloud City" in the name. On top was my wife's favorite coffee shop (home of my favorite BBQ pulled-pork sandwich). I tapped it and got on my way. I have done this with street addresses, store names and categories like simply "barbecue" and it's worked fine. It's only when I tried text searching that things got iffy.

But voice command isn't the only voice feature that's awesome on this. The turn-by-turn lady may be a tad robotronic, but that's because she tells you everything, including street names and numbers. Text-to-speech is considered a bit of a premium among the iPhone apps (many have it or are getting it, but not all do), so to find it for free is impressive.

Searching Highs, Searching Lows

As I mentioned, the text search is not as smooth as the voice-activated stuff. That's because there are several different places to search, and at times they overlap in ways that make my head feel light. There's the basic directions view that iPhone users are used to seeing, where you type a destination with no predictive guessing on the app's part. Once you finish typing, it picks the most likely destination or offers you some options. Then there's the true "Search" window that gives you a keyboard and lets you type whatever you like, and tries to anticipate what it is you're typing by showing you similar past searches. And then there's a screen of all your past searches, that you can only get to by backing out of the main Search window. It's strange, and took me a while to figure out how to return to this little Narnia of a helpful screen.

If that's not chaotic enough, well, take away any browsable POI menus, any "go home" preset address feature, and any multi-stop trip planning tool. Scared yet? At least its only a few taps to your contacts—which you can fill up with all your favorite destinations—but only if you remember what those taps are.

Street View Blues

One of the things I was super excited about when Brian came back from his secret Google meeting was the Street View feature: When you came to a tricky intersection, Google would show you the actual intersection, and you would know just where to turn. Well, I live in Seattle, one of the biggest cities and certainly one of the most high-tech, and though I've driven with this thing on a few outings this week, I haven't once been shown a photo of an intersection. (Note: Brian says you have to tap the screen to see the picture as you approach an intersection, to which I reply, "Sounds suicidal, I'll pass.")

I do, however, see the photos pop up when I reach my destination, and without exception they've looked awful. Sure, you can flick them around once you've stopped, but I think this highlights the major trouble with Street View on a mobile platform.

Steady As She Goes

The driving directions are, for the most part, just fine. Re-routing is fast when you make an unscheduled turn, and the Droid phone appears to track the road as well or better than an iPhone. I have heard others talk of reliability issues, but frankly, that kind of evaluation takes weeks or months, and results can differ from location to location. Nobody outside of Google knows exactly what the reliability weak points are, especially since Google is using (from what I can tell) its own map data.

When you've navigated, you can pull up layers—traffic view, which shows you where the trouble's going to be; satellite view, which looks neat but I don't know how practical it is; and POI layers, like where the nearest gas or parking is. There's some customization you can do to this, but only in the 2D bird's-eye view.

The power comes when you select the Route Info screen (shown above), by popping up a menu while in your navigation screen. There you can see an icon with a solid arrow and a broken arrow, indicating alternate routes. Tap that icon, and you'll see your route plus two ghostly alternatives. By selecting one of the alternatives up top, you can re-route. The Route Info screen also contains the all-important turn-by-turn list, buried a bit more than I'd like, but clear and readable nonetheless.

Tooling around northeast Seattle has been fine. My gripes about the driving interface are mostly cosmetic: You can see the time till arrival, in hours and minutes, but you don't see a time of arrival, which I prefer. On other navigators and apps I've gotten used to seeing my speed in MPH and even posted speed limits, and Google doesn't show those either.

But at least the screen is clean and easy to read. If the screen stayed like this, I'd live.

Someday We'll Meet Again?

I spent a lot of time telling you what's wrong with the Google navigation app, but that's mostly because I get the feeling we'll all be experiencing it one way or another soon enough, be it on this exceptional Motorola Droid, other Android handsets or even on the iPhone. It's an extremely powerful program, but the execution isn't the best. Not by a stretch.

Still, if this was built in to the iPhone's Google Maps, or offered as a free download at the App Store, damn would it steal customers like a mofo. You might still see the occasional sale of a Navigon or a CoPilot, because of particular necessary features and because of the onboard map databases (which people who go off-grid prefer), but really, this thing would—and probably will—swallow the GPS app market alive.

Because of that, I am hoping Google's developers pay close attention to this review, too. The app is still in beta, but there's a lot of user-interface work yet to be done. Google: If you're going to knock everyone else off the mountain, at least give us an app worthy of a king.

Amazing voice recognition engine

Live traffic and alternate route planner

Text-to-speech

Good routing and fast re-routing

Satellite view and other views not always useful

Text search features are overlapping, confusing

Interface overall needs better flow

No POI category browsing or "go home" feature

No multi-stop trip planner

Esquire is one of the three magazines at the top of the journalistic totem pole—you write a feature for it, and a book deal falls in your lap with an old-timey leatherbound thud. Hallowed as the brand is, its leadership is having a deuce of a time getting digital. There was last year's humiliating venture into E-Ink-based advertorial. And then there's the December 2009 issue.

It will feature, among other actors, Robert Downey Jr. squatting awkwardly and gesturing towards his manhood, a human frame for what looks like a very basic 2D bar code. Yep, it's augmented reality, like they've done with Star Trek and Best Buy. Hold it the image up to a webcam, and, according to the WSJ, you "trigger the video segments, which are similar to some video-conferencing technologies in their lifelike quality." Wow, a video segment as lifelike as video conferencing, springing forth from Downey's balls. So we end up with just one question: Who's the most shameless, Esquire's editors, its advertising department or Downey? [WSJ]

Oh TomTom, your comeback has come too late. While the record should show that TomTom's iPhone app certainly made up for many shortcomings of its portable navigators, the delayed iPhone dock with built-in redundant GPS isn't going to take things to the next level. Since it was announced, GPS apps have dropped to prices so low they are actually free in certain cases. There are enough decent cheap options—and then some—in the App Store to guarantee you won't be paying $100 for TomTom's app. Since the dock sells for an additional $120—with no bundle pricing in sight—TomTom's iPhone navigation experience is suddenly more expensive than any TomTom navigator currently selling to people who aren't idiots. Engadget's dock review highlighted these issues, pointing out that its only real benefit is bestowing GPS reception on 1st-gen iPhones and iPod Touches—even though TomTom doesn't support them with a compatible app. No matter what happens, this product seems doomed. [Engadget]

Sometime in early 2010, Amtrak will be giving highspeed wireless internet access to people who ride its highspeed Acela trains. Some remark that at the outset this will be "free," but I say nonsense: Just because you're not paying for it one way doesn't mean you're not paying for it another. I have fond memories of the year I spent riding the rails from NYC to DC and back again, but that's just because I've blocked out the overpriced tickets, the insulting frequent-rider program, the long lines for the snack bar, and the fact that, if the trains ran at all, they would be remarkably late. So you see the Wi-Fi won't be free, no matter how little money changes hands. [Wi-Fi Net News]

While the rest of the world is talking about how great a tablet would be for books, videos, comics and all other varieties of leisure, the French are building a tablet for cooking. Actually, if they built a tablet for cooking, we'd cover it. QOOQ (get it?) is just some gimped Linux box that happens to be programmed to receive and display food-related videos, recipes and articles and, apparently, not a lot else. Call me know when it's oleophobic, sink-rinse-able, knife-friendly and can grind pepper rough or fine. [Electronista]

Fortunately, that is plenty of time for subscribers to the GPS information service to jump ship. You don't even have to wait for your subscription to terminate—just shut down your service anytime before the end date and receive a refund for the unused portion of your service. Check out the MSN Direct page for the full details. [MSN Direct via Electronista]

To recap the only review we've ever written that didn't even have a "Good" section, the Nuvifone was a failure in about every way that the once-hot handset could've been: It's crashy, it's got a clunky resistive screen, the browser is really, really tough to use, and camera sometimes works, there's a $5/month charge for basic services like weather, traffic and local events, the battery life is horrendous, and the OS acts like a navigation unit firmware with tumorous telecommunications outgrowth. And oh god, that price: $300 with an AT&T contract, which is about how much it'd cost you to buy one iPhone 3G with TomTom and Navigon apps.

So yeah, a price drop was all but inevitable, but it's heartening to see it happen this soon, even if not by Garmin's hand. Next stop: 0. [Amazon via Engadget]

A web interface positions you various little ones on a map marked with your custom "safety zones." But the most enticing feature, if we're studying the GPS tracking page properly, is that you can assign your children with various barnyard animal iconography. That'll teach little piggy the consequences of being late.
The Little Buddy will be on sale at Best Buy shortly, and we assume the service could come with some sort of monthly cost. [Best Buy via navigadget]

The bizarre commentary on global warming, the the fact that it looks like a bomb and that it is part of an exhibition called Laughing Prohibited! makes this quite an amusing peace of artwork. Naturally, the exhibit comes with one of those pretentious and absurd descriptions:

Laughing Prohibited! states this clearly: there is no reason to laugh at all. Is there any (artistic) freedom of speech left after the debates on the Danish cartoons and the AEL counter-cartoons? Should you laugh about the works of these producers, than you are not sincere. Is there the legacy of Theo van Gogh still fertile? We need to concentrate and to focus in order to ask these fundamental questions. To be able to do so, we need clarity and parameters. Therefore, as a start: do not laugh!
Look closely and question: relate!

Oh, I believe my laughter is sincere. [onomatopee via Mocoloco]

The box has a button and an LCD display on the lid. When you press the button, the display will show you how far, in kilometers, you are from the goal location. It doesn't give you directions, so you need to triangulate where you're supposed to go via trial and error. Oh, and you can only press the button 50 times.

There's a pretty sweet disguised back door built-in as well, just in case the battery dies or the GPS unit fails.

Spoiler: the box only opens when brought to Île-de-Bréhat, France. As for what's inside?

With all the electronics, there wasn't much room inside the box for anything too substantial. I put in a few local (US) gift cards to entice them to visit soon, a set of Kazuo Ishiguro audio books (on a USB key), and an overly sentimental card. And of course, as I pointed out in the card, if either of them fancies doing a little Arduino development, there's a perfectly good Duemilanove to play with, not to mention an LCD, a servo, and a GPS.

I guess the puzzle itself is present enough, really. Pretty cool stuff, no? [Arduiniana via Make]

While cellphones often use Wi-Fi to triangulate a person's position in the world, the T301W only works on preconfigured Wi-Fi networks that are coupled with additional beacons. In other words, you sort of build your own Wi-Fi triangulation network in a smaller area.

But the idea is still pretty handy. The $60 waterproof wristband operates up to a month between recharges, and it would allow hospitals to keep tabs on troubled patients, family members to locate one another on cruise ships and, when coupled with a remote detonation device, could make anyone capable of running their own forced labor camp. [Ekahau via Engadget]

Technology is all about what's new and what's next—today's iPhone is just tomorrow's paperweight. What about the things that were "new" and "next" yesterday or the day before? We live in a time of so much change and progress that there's nostalgia for things that kinda still exist. Here are a few that, for better or worse, are fading fast.

Got any more dead innovations you want to lament or wish good riddance? Chances are Anna Jane covered them in her book, but until you pick up a copy, you might as well comment about it below.

Anna Jane Grossman is the author of Obsolete: An Encyclopedia of Once-Common Things Passing Us By (Abrams Image) and the creator of iamobsolete.net. Her writing has appeared in dozens of publications, including the New York Times, Salon.com, the Associated Press, Elle and the Huffington Post. She has a complicated relationship with technology, but she does have an eponymous website: AnnaJane.net. Follow her on Twitter at @AnnaJane. [ Photo of Anna Jane by Amber Marlow Blatt, from Hey Brooklyn]

I am not going to tell you this is the best turn-by-turn road navigation app in the world. The designers made some funny UI choices, there's no multi-destination or point-on-map routing, it doesn't have text-to-speech, and it only runs in portrait mode, taking up awkward space on my dashboard. Still, there's almost no reason not to get it.

I still think Navigon is the slickest, and ALK's CoPilot is impressively full featured for costing just $35. But the commitment required for MotionX GPS Drive beats them all: It's $3 to download, and you get a month of turn-by-turn directions included in that. Then, if you want, you pay either $25 for a year of full turn-by-turn, or $3 for a month—and the charges are non-recurring. You can pay the $3 only when you actually need it.

Compared to What?

Because it's a connected product, its closest comparisons are AT&T Navigator by TeleNav ($10/month) and Gokivo by Networks In Motion (recently reduced to $5/month). It doesn't come with 1.5GB in onboard maps like TomTom, Navigon, ALK and Sygic—instead it downloads them over the air—so you have to be in a service area when you are setting out on your destination. Still, if your phone has less memory to spare, it could be better.

Connected Services

Not only does it download Navteq maps on the fly, but it uses online search instead of stored points of interest. In theory this is better, because it means fewer wrong addresses of business who closed or moved. That's not always the case, but I did find MotionX to have a decent online search—the first in this class that I've seen powered by Microsoft's Bing.

Again, because it's online, it has access to traffic data. At the moment, though, the app only uses traffic information in its routing, says the developers. There's no way to check a traffic report like on other apps. However, the developers appear to be toying with a Dash-like concept too: A future version of the app may be used to gather and share its own live traffic data. There's nothing like that now, and Fullpower won't share details, but it sounds like fun. I also asked about live gas prices, which others offer: None now, but that will change.

Some Superficial Complaints

I did have a few cosmetic issues with the app. For starters, it doesn't have a landscape mode, so the phone is always upright. I want landscape mode because it fits way better when it's horizontal in the dashboard mount (which, like with all other GPS apps, will run you an extra $10-$100). That's a fact, though Fullpower goes out of their way to say they didn't add landscape because nobody's asked for it yet. Until now.

Oddly enough, Fullpower is proud of their in-app compass, which I find extraneous on two levels. For one, if I'm looking at a map, no matter whether north is up or the heading is up, I know which direction I'm pointing. Additionally, that compass only works with 3GS (I believe), and the 3GS already has a compass. When do you ever pull over to the side of the road and say "if I only knew where north was!"? Maybe in the days before GPS that was an issue, but now it doesn't matter so much. (Until the sky falls, at least.)

I would also love to customize the things I see on the main screen. At the moment, next to the upcoming turn information, it flips through assorted trip data: ETA, compass heading, distance remaining and time remaining. I really only care about ETA, so I'd like to freeze that up top, and may be get a speed indicator with speed limit warnings as well.

My final issue is more of a quirk than anything else: To view the list of upcoming turns, you have to tap the iPod button at the bottom of the screen. It's nice to have rich iPod access in the app (all apps have a rudimentary iPod access—as long as a song is already playing, you double-tap the home button—but this does more). Still it's weird for that all-important list of turns to be hidden under a button called "iPod."

How Is The Price So Low?

A guy like me could bitch about this app more, trust me, but the fact is, I've driven with it for almost a week, and it gets you where you want to go, quickly and simply. But it's going to sell like mad because the price of entry is the lowest around, and its two-year cost of ownership—$53 if you use it regularly—is competitive, especially when you consider that's the initial download plus two completely optional $25 increments. By allowing you so many options to walk away, MotionX actually has you by the balls.

I have asked Fullpower and its competitors how pricing could get this crazy, with $100 apps competing with $3 apps. Fullpower's best answer is that they're not in any other GPS turn-by-turn business, so they don't have to protect the price of earlier products the way TeleNav or TomTom might have to. ("If they offer a better value on the iPhone than to their existing customers, they may have challenges.") When I asked TeleNav, makers of the $10/month AT&T Navigator and Sprint Navigator, they said, "Honestly, at a $3-per-month price point, it is unclear how a company could possibly innovate, build out features and work on the quality of the app without losing money."

What they didn't say, but what you're already thinking, is that for $3 a month, it doesn't hurt to find out. [iTunes Link]

Amazing price, and lowest possible barrier to entry

Fully functional spoken turn-by-turn navigation app

Connected to Navteq maps and Bing live local search

No landscape view (which some, like me, prefer)

Navigation screen could show more relevant data, or be more customizable

No multi-destination routing or routing to point on map, as found in other apps

For more on iPhone GPS app, check out our iPhone Navigation Battlemodo Part 1 and Part 2.

Note: It's sort of odd. TomTom sent out different press releases to investors and the media. The investor release includes the USD pricing, but the media release covered by many blogs yesterday did not. It's sort of odd, but given that the investor release is hosted by TomTom's own domain, the US pricing info certainly seems legitimate. Update: We have confirmed $120 pricing and October availability with TomTom US.

The video explains the service in detail but, in a nutshell, Waze maps are entirely user generated. Users can also relay a heads up to others about accidents and other hazardous driving conditions. It even plays a Pac-Man type of game with drivers who are exploring uncharted territory. As you map the area, your car icon will eat up dots and collect points. Apparently, the app also pays attention to your speed to help determine traffic conditions and disable the keyboard to prevent users from typing while driving.

The problem here is that crowd-sourced services have had limited success in the past, so Waze is fighting an uphill battle. But since it is free, it's not like you have anything to lose by giving it a shot. Waze is available for iPhone, Android, Windows Mobile, Symbian and other devices. [Waze via TechCrunch]

First of all, using a HUD while cycling is inherently dangerous—but the display is retractable, so it's not like an eye is dedicated to it at all times. Plus, the iPhone is actually mounted unprotected on to the top of your helmet. Doesn't seem like a good idea to me, but ARider is in the prototype stage, so there is time to work out the kinks before it becomes an actual product—if it becomes an actual product. [zikkir via Core77 via Slashgear]

I must make it clear that the reasons for choosing TomTom, Navigon and TeleNav for the first roundup was based on prior experience and reputation. Costs are higher on those apps, but it's because you mostly know what to expect.

With this second round, things start out on shakier ground: My only experience with Networks In Motion, creators of GoKivo, was their dreadful VZNavigator app. ALK, publisher of CoPilot, has been around, but mainly in the Windows CE space. And Sygic I had honestly never heard of. The good news is, they all beat my expectations, and one of them comes out a real champion, especially when price is a major consideration.

CoPilot Live North America by ALK

The strongest of the lot, made stronger by the $35 price tag. You get a full 1.23GB map database on the phone, which I prefer because it means your device will function even in the Reallybadlands. Still, it's not the best designed app in this category, not by a long shot.

The POI search may actually be the best one out there, because it works like a Garmin: You type in a name, and it continues to spiral outward until it finds the place you're thinking of, even if it's 100 miles away.

There's a trip planner, like Navigon's, that lets you add and delete stops, and even optimize them for maximum geographical efficiency.

The system is built to be connected, with weather and a social function "free" with purchase; live traffic and fuel prices will cost you $20 extra per year—which is still cheap compared to anything else.

ALK is promising a presumably free update with text-to-speech for street names read aloud, and monthly map "improvements," direct to the phone.

The site has a design that would make Jon Ive spin in his grave (were he dead). Not only is it crowded and noisy, but there is too much ambiguity (not one but two get-started pop-up menus) and lack of feedback: After planning a trip you select a gas station from the quick-stop menu—does it cancel the original trip? Or just add the gas station? It sure as hell isn't going to tell you. Some of this becomes apparent with use, but it's still a design flaw.

The software itself was a little shaky. When I first started, it froze on a (mandatory) registration page, saying I didn't have internet access when I did. Occasionally, it still hangs on the opening splash screen, making me force quit.

No iPhone status bar when app is running—no service indicator or clock, and a proprietary battery-life indicator that's on the main screen but not subsidiary ones. (Navigon, TomTom, TeleNav and GoKivo all show the true iPhone status bar.)

Keyboard isn't QWERTY, so I spent what felt like 14 whole minutes looking for the letter "z."

Because the thing is so damn cheap—whiners, stop right here, because full-map apps can't get any cheaper—I can forgive many of its flaws. If all you have is $35 to spend, buy this. [iTunes link]

GoKivo GPS Navigator by Networks In Motion

Like I said, my experience with previous Networks In Motion products has not been pleasant. Compared to TeleNav's Sprint Navigator and AT&T Navigator, NIM's VZNavigator was atrocious. So imagine my surprise when I actually enjoyed GoKivo.

There's a "keep it simple stupid" mentality that seems to work for this interface, especially for areas you basically already know. You find your area on the map, and do a keyword search to find POIs in that particular vicinity (a la Google Maps).

The navigation screen is much improved over earlier VZNavigator screens, with clear maps.

Slide-out music transport is very cool—all apps let you pop up "now playing" to skip or adjust volume, but this lets you browse music, start songs, set shuffle and repeat, all within the navi app.

Connected data means fresh maps and traffic info—I was surprised how well it worked even on a mountain, though spotty coverage does mean unreliable response time, and possible blackout.

Vertical orientation only, no landscape view (which I prefer).

There's no way to drop a pin on the map and navigate to it, even though the interface all but begs for that kind of interaction.

Despite using Yahoo Local database, POI search doesn't always show you places you know are there—this seems to be affected by how zoomed-in your are on the search map, but it's confusing.

If you don't really know where to search for something, you're screwed.

Subscription of $10 up front, plus $10 each month thereafter, is fiscally unsound when compared to standalone apps, even $100 TomTom. GoKivo is, in effect, $120—per year.

I would be happy to give GoKivo a "Most Improved" award, based on how far it's come since earlier VZNavigator days. But in light of the cost structure, there's no way to recommend it. [iTunes link]

Sygic Mobile Maps America

Sygic is, in some ways, the app I liked best of these three, but its proximity in cost and feature set to Navigon renders it more of a discounted impersonator.

There's a powerful routing tool at the heart of Sygic, that lets you not only program a circuit of addresses, but lets you modify that circuit in many ways, simulate the run, and pull up a list of turns. It's also very easy to add destinations straight from the map, a feature not seen on all navi apps.

Like Navigon, Sygic can read street names aloud with text-to-speech functionality.

Fairly clean navigation screen, if you can get past the Euro stylings.

There's no woman's voice for English turn-by-turn instructions, and the US English voice is named Lucien—no offense to dudes named Lucien, but that's proof of what you see throughout the app: Sygic is just too country-agnostic for a great US experience.

Not only does the app block the all-important iPhone status bar at top, it doesn't even match some take-for-granted iPhone interface behaviors. For instance, instead of scrolling down a list by flicking up, you have to tap gingerly on up and down buttons on the side.

POI search doesn't work at significant distances: only searches your surrounding 10 or 20 miles, unless you specify another town. (Navigon has a similar problem.) POI categories are also a little jumbled.

Sygic is, at this point, $30 cheaper than Navigon, and $40 cheaper than TomTom. The thing is, it's noticeably "cheaper" in the way it's designed too. Despite its functionality, it's not a good way to save money. [iTunes link]

In The End

You probably gathered by now that the good way to save money is to buy ALK's CoPilot. If you have the $60 to spend on Sygic, get CoPilot plus a year of CoPilot connected services. You'll still have money left over for an ice-cream cone—or a down payment on the $10-$30 car mount. GoKivo, like TeleNav's AT&T Navigator, is out because the $10/month model doesn't offer enough for its added cost.

If you want something more aesthetically sound than CoPilot—and there's no shame in that—Navigon is still the best bet. And though it's up to $90, that's not a terrible price compared to standalone products, and it does continue to gain features like text-to-speech for free. Whether you want to pay $25 extra for Navigon's live traffic is, for the moment, your call.

Click here for iPhone Navigation App Battlemodo, Part I, with introductory discussion about GPS iPhone apps in general.

In fact, this festival sounds downright awesome. Originally designed as a study on the "geographic environment of behavior" in 2003, the event has morphed over the years into an "art and technology fest," said David Darts, the curatorial director for this year's event, in an interview with the New York Times.

Case in point, the aforementioned golf game, played with iPhones, GPS and plenty of pre-round stretching, is called Gigaputt. NYC avenues are the "fairways," the sidewalks are greens, and a series of 18 local bars serve as the holes. Much like a Wiimote with MotionPlus and Tiger Woods 10, players "swing" their iPhones and the on board accelerometer, coupled with custom software, drives the ball forward.

The fish tech, called Fish 'n microChips (get it?), is the work of NYU professor Natalie Jeremijenko. An array of LED-equipped bouys line the East River, where they monitor water quality and also flash whenever a fish (or body) wash by.

The chess game, also played with cellphones, is an eight by eight block grid mapped out by photojournalist Sharilyn Neidhardt. Human pieces are controlled by two chess master overlords from afar, much like the staff at Gizmodo.

The festival runs from this Friday and run through Sunday. While you're in town, why don't you stop by Elizabeth Street down in Nolita for the Gizmodo Gallery? Tech overload? Yes, please. [New York Times]

The Booklet 3G's key specs include an Atom Z530 processor, 120GB hard disk, 1GB RAM, 802.11n Wi-Fi, and HDMI. It's pretty thin (just 0.78-inches), and will have a hot-swappable SIM card slot and integrated Ovi maps. [YouTube via Engadget]

I've seen the feature in action, and it's about as seamless as traffic integration gets. Data is drawn from a massive fleet of devices, Navigon and otherwise, curated by a third party, and fed live into the app. Each traffic obstruction is listed individually, so you can choose to avoid one while weathering another, or just see what you're up against. This, combined with historical traffic data, means you're probably going to be able to trust Navigon's traffic-avoiding routes, or at least, you know, respectfully disagree.

But eh, that price: This (one time) $25 add-on, which is probably the highest in-app purchase price I've seen so far, brings the total cost of MobileNavigator to $115. Best case scenario, this'll give the other nav app makers, who are kind of taking a beating, saleswise, a little plan for a comeback: free live traffic. TomTom? TeleNav? Anyone? [Navigon]

I want to participate in a hunt for buried treasure. (Preferably lost pirate gold.)

With this concept called the EMIL Experience Outdoors, you can plot your own points on a map and its integrated GPS, instead of providing lame turn-by-turn directions, gives you north, south east and west variants of the way there.

So it feels just like you're using a compass, even though you will eventually reach a very specific endpoint. And If I have a say, that endpoint will reveal buried treasure. (Preferably lost pirate gold.)

The implications, for adventurous but tied-down-by-technology men such as myself, are nothing short of an worldwide race of 8 teams to a prize of immeasurable value. (Preferably lost pirate gold.) Far greater than some lame reality TV show, we will be confined to pre-airplane transportation, outfitted with non-lethal, non-painful weaponry, and encouraged to dress ourselves with strange disguises, sometimes posing as an attractive member of the opposite sex, to mislead our competitors.

There is my idea. Shun me at will. [Yanko Design via ubergizmo]

Basically, these stone markers were a like a primitive GPS—and the accuracy was quite astounding. Researcher Tom Brooks explains:

'The sides of some of the triangles are over 100 miles across on each side and yet the distances are accurate to within 100 metres. You cannot do that by chance.

'So advanced, sophisticated and accurate is the geometrical surveying now discovered, that we must review fundamentally the perception of our Stone Age forebears as primitive, or conclude that they received some form of external guidance.

Yes, "external guidance." Egyptians, Mayans, Stone Age Britons—it's got to be aliens. Either that, or Google has invented time travel conquer ancient landscapes starting with "Pangea Maps." [Daily Mail via Digg]

And obviously, the new TomTom XXL line features large, five-inch screens.

Otherwise, the two GPS units are pretty typical for their pricerange. Both the TomTom XXL 530S ($280) and 540S ($300) include the latest TomTom UI, US and Canadian maps, the ability to correct street names in the database and preloaded emergency locations like hospitals. If you spend the extra cash on the 540S, you get Bender-friendly Mexico maps, lane-specific guidance (you see in the lead shot), seven million points of interested preloaded and, of course, a more premium black finish.

TomTom will be offering the new XXL line this October.

TomTom Unveils New TomTom XXL Range, with New Five Inch Widescreen

TomTom XXL 530S and XXL 540S feature larger, easy-to-read display

CONCORD, Mass.—(BUSINESS WIRE)—TomTom, the world's leading provider of navigation solutions and digital maps, today announces the latest models in its award-winning portable navigation product offering – the TomTom XXL 530S and TomTom XXL 540S. Drivers can now enjoy TomTom's premium technologies, including the highly acclaimed IQ Routes™ Technology, on an extra-large five inch screen.

"The new TomTom XXL devices enrich our product portfolio by providing our customers with new offerings that cater to individual preference and need, like the larger, easy-to-read screen" said Jocelyn Vigreux, president of TomTom Inc. "The introduction of the XXL range is in line with our strategy to increase the depth and breadth of our product offerings, based on customer feedback."

Optimal Routing

The TomTom XXL 530S and XXL 540S devices enable users to always drive the smartest and most efficient routes, whenever or wherever they go. The TomTom XXL 530S and XXL 540S include TomTom's exclusive IQ Routes™ technology. The technology is based on historical speed measurements for every time of day and for every road segment, from large highways to small local roads. In up to 35% of all cases, the use of IQ Routes results in driving a faster route, saving significant travel time, money and fuel.

In addition to the above mentioned features, the new TomTom XXL devices come with:

* Full maps of the US and Canada
* TomTom Map Share™ technology, so users can instantly modify street names, street direction, points of interest and more on their device and benefit from corrections made by others
* TomTom Help Me menu, so users can easily access local emergency service providers such as police, fire stations and hospitals.
* TomTom's newest user menu with an elegant interface that features optimized icons for even easier navigation
* Award-winning Fold and Go EasyPort® mount, folds flat against the device, making it easy for users to transport
* TomTom HOME, the free desktop application to keep users' devices up-to-date at all times

Features unique to the TomTom XXL 540S:

* Advanced Lane Guidance for realistic representations of complex highway junctions and lane-specific visual directions that take the stress out of navigating these otherwise challenging areas
* Preloaded maps of Mexico, the US and Canada
* Seven million points of interest, so users have access to information and location details of more restaurants, hotels, gas stations, etc. than ever before
* High-quality black finish, for a sleek look

Availability and Pricing

The new TomTom XXL devices will be in retailers across the United States and Canada in October 2009.

TomTom XXL 530S: $279.95

TomTom XXL 540S: $299.95

In fact, it's probably the only thing resembling an iPhone ever getting Flash. It comes with a 16:9 4.5-inch touchscreen display, Bluetooth, FM transmitter, eBook reader, and playback support for WMA, MP3, WAV, WMV, MP4, ASF, and AVI, plus a note taking app, a... law app? Pill app? Painting app? Windows XP landscape app? Blob app? Who knows. [PC Online via Cloned In China via UberGizmo]

From the images it looks like the GPS cradle has A/V hook ups and its physical buttons let you control the device for the times you don't want to rely on the touchscreen. The ejectable PMP seems to have 3D mapping and audio and video playback. One of the images shows a TV tuner hook up. No idea on how much on board storage it has. I'm hoping for a good 8 gigs. I'd love to be able to take this thing out of the car, load it up with tunes and vids, and then pop it back in for a road trip.

I wish I could say it was headed to the U.S. but it looks like the device is only meant for the Korean market at the moment. That doesn't mean I don't think it is an awesome idea that I want to be in car dashboards NOW. [Slashgear via PMP Inside]

Leading by example, or you know by gimmick, the candidate believes that the state can save millions by slapping these GPS trackers on nonviolent criminal defendants instead of keeping them in jail. Here is a candidate really trying to relate to all the people. You can watch where he is right now on his website.

This reminds me of when my friend tried out his dog's invisible fence collar. He understood the punishment so much more after he ran through it and got shocked in the jugular. Either way, I'd still keep my eyes on Untermeyer to see if he slips up and forgets he is being tracked at all times. Oh in case you really do track him, the site doesn't work in Firefox. That already has to ignore about half of his voting constituency. [Philadelphia Inquirer]

An otherwise typical premium GPS, the 1690 ($500 by this holiday season) comes with two free years of nüLink! service—a wireless data plan with local Google search, traffic, weather, fuel price, movie, flight, event, and telephone listing information plus a bit of Garmin's proprietary Ciao social networking service thrown in. After two years, the service will cost you $5/month.

But while the nüvi 1690 sounds nice enough, I've had trouble getting excited about any current-gen GPS (based upon SiRFStarIII) just knowing that a faster, more energy efficient SiRFStarIV chip is in the works. [Garmin via GPS Tracklog]

Nokia's Vice President of Devices Kai Oistamo wouldn't answer anything in terms of availability and when asked if the Booklet 3G netbook would be sold before the end of 2009 he again would not "disclose any dates on the product launch in North America."

Now we have to admit that both products look pretty darn good. The N900 could change our tune on Nokia's impending doom and the Booklet 3G has some unique netbook features including assisted GPS. But on the later I'm just not sure it will be worth the wait. And sure there is a lot of interest (Oistamo even says the video of it "crashed the YouTube servers"). Come on, it is Nokia's first laptop. But it will most likely be overpriced ($810 without subsides is ridiculous) with a few special features. You tell me, would you wait on the Booklet 3G?

The Edge 500 can track GPS position, speed, distance, time, elevation, climb and descent. It also has a barometric altimeter to pinpoint changes in elevation. Its high-sensitivity GPS receiver with HotFix also allows it to display temperature readings and changes in time zones.

GPS isn't its only game. When paired with a Garmin heart rate monitor it can track micro changes in a user's heart rate and can calculate the number of calories burned. The Edge 500 retails for $250 and $350 with the bundled heart rate monitor. [Garmin]

I'm relieved to see he called the cops and didn't take chances like the guys that personally tracked down a swiped iPhone back in June. That was an amazing tale, though.

The weekend robbery happened in (the apparently appropriately named) Shadyside. North Versailles police have three suspects in custody, and recovered a pellet gun amongst various stolen items.

So for $99 a year, Apple's MobileMe gets you Find My iPhone, email/calendar sync, photo gallery space, and iDisk online backup. But with so many free online services these days, it's really only the tracking/remote wipe feature that interests me (even though someone can just pop up out the SIM card or switch it off if they get into the phone itself). What about you? [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette via Boy Genius Report]

The study—conducted in Dusseldorf and Munich, in Germany—had three groups: One with GPS without real-time traffic, another with GPS units with real-time traffic information, and a third one—the control group—without any GPS.

The results were clear, according to them: Drivers with real time-traffic information will spend 18% less time going to places. That's four days a year, which—if you ask me—is quite a lot. The study also found that these drives traveled shorter distances and times, which decreased yearly CO2 emissions an average of .79 metric tons. This resulted in 21% less carbon dioxide.

So what's the catch: Those percentages are compared to drivers "without navigation." Their press release fail to provide information on GPS without real-time traffic information systems. Highly suspicious, if you ask me. [Autoblog]

He talked about the possibility of becoming the voice for a GPS system during an interview for Music Sunday on BBC Radio 6. His directions are hilarious:

Take a left at the next street. No, right. You know what? Just go straight. I probably shouldn't do it because whichever way I go, I always end up at one place - on Lonely Avenue. Luckily I'm not totally alone. Ray Charles beat me there.

It was probably a joke, but that bit is absolute genius. This is why I love you, Robert Allen Zimmerman. Here's a song from Mr. Bowie. [BBC News]

It's strange that Magellan hasn't officially talked about the 1700 yet. I mean, its screen size is definitely one way to compete against GPS apps on smaller screen cell phones.

More of that standard fare I touched upon includes preloaded maps of the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico, text-to-speech and turn-by-turn voice prompts, mini USB 2.0, a MicroSD card slot, and 6 million points of interest. It's up for pre-order ($300) at: [Best Buy and Tiger GPS via GPSReview]

The 10.2-inch device has absolutely everything—from integrated 3.5G connectivity and SMS read-back to the obligatory GPS and USB media playback—giving you full access to car diagnostics, night vision, parking assist, and 360-degree camera video. Sadly, no missiles or lasers. Yet. [Engadget Chinese via Engadget]

Until August 31st, Navigon MobileNavigator will cost $70. In my testing, it competed neck and neck with the $100 TomTom, so for the next eight days, it's the best value among the top contenders. But when they're both selling for $100, that TomTom is going to look a lot more tempting. The third app I tested is TeleNav's AT&T Navigator. It's certainly worthy, and has some connected capability that the other two apps here don't, but in the end, the economics are wrong: At $10 per month, it could become frightfully expensive, with no significant added value.

These three navigators are the most reputable in the app store (hence their heightened cost). They're all based on software I've used in the past too, either in other phones or in portable navigators. Because of the familiarity, I knew I could spot anything amiss in the iPhone edition, but I was surprised to discover that, if anything, these iPhone apps are better designed than anything their companies made before—and run great on my iPhone 3GS. It's a relief to know that GPS navigation with an iPhone is, finally, a really real reality.

Navigon and TomTom are completely contained apps that hog upwards of 1.2 GB a piece; TeleNav is a small app that relies on the phone's net connection. Nevertheless, they all work more or less the same. They give turn-by-turn directions on an animated map, just like portable navigators. While they're doing it, you can play music from the iPhone's iPod, and if a call comes in, you see it pop up on the screen. GPS performance on the 3GS was better than I had hoped for—hiccupy at times but never completely gone, even when messing around indoors.

Every app also has direct access to Contacts—this isn't just good for people for whom you've added addresses, it's brilliant for quickly navigating to stuff you've found in Google Maps—you just whatever it is to Contacts with a single tap, open your navi app and it's there.

No matter which app you're using, the GPS runs constantly and the screen generally stays on, which means utter battery drainage: You will need to keep your iPhone plugged into the car's lighter jack. You will also need a dashboard mount, which range from $10 to $30.

Here's how the apps did against each other, followed by some deeper impressions:

AT&T Navigator by TeleNav
Product page; iTunes link

Unlike the other two, TeleNav is very much a connected app. It downloads a fresh map of your surroundings wherever you are, and it checks for traffic and POIs in much the same way. TeleNav's servers are always being updated, so you're never out of date. The trouble is that a) this costs $10 per month forever and ever, b) with the exception of searching for gas by price and the occasional useful traffic alert, the connectedness is hard to appreciate, and c) downloading maps and routes means that if you have poor phone reception, you might not have navigation.

TeleNav distributes its app "free" in the app store, but to get turn-by-turn navigation (the only reason you'd want the app), you have to sign up and commit to paying $10 a month on your AT&T bill. It's a deal for the first 10 months or so, especially since you can cancel it at any time, so maybe you'll only need it on trips. But if you intend to keep it and use it for more than that, you'll kick yourself for not having paid up front for Navigon or TomTom—when you add up all those Hamiltons, the $100 apps are ultimately cheaper.

I had some trouble with the software, too. Version 1.1 of the "free" client app crashed a lot, and it didn't automatically update to the more stable version 1.2i. I had to remove the app from my iPhone, and then add it again. The good news is, it worked and I haven't experienced a crash since.

Though I was pretty pleased with TeleNav's overall usability, but the connectedness did get annoying sometimes. The best example is the map section: TeleNav has very pretty maps, but they take a 21st century eternity to download (we're talking 5-10 seconds here), and the whole screen has to reload when you pan or zoom. Also, when you're in the map, you can't tap on a destination and route there, a fact that seemed to render the maps useless.

The B- I give the program is a combination of the shortcomings, albeit minor, and the problematic economics for anyone intending to use this regularly for a year or more.

Navigon MobileNavigator
Product page; iTunes link

Navigon portable navigators had just started to get good when the company closed shop in the US. I can't say I miss them, really, but what's nice is that most or all of the great features of the portable product have arrived intact in the iPhone app. It really is startling to see how well both TomTom and Navigon have overlaid their core features to the iPhone.

Navigon comes with 1.29 GB of maps and POI data, good because, like TomTom, it's not "connected." There's no live traffic, no online search, nothing like that. I can't say I miss it. The app runs almost exactly like the last Navigon portables, with such nice touches as lane guidance (those screens that pop up saying which lanes you should—and definitely should not—be in). It lays out well in both landscape and portrait modes, and the driving interface, with its customization options, looks the best.

Navigon has always had some trouble with its POI interface—in this case, you can can easily search for something in the wrong place. If you don't know the specific city a POI is in, just putting in the nearest big city is not enough. I recommend sitting down with it and familiarizing yourself with the POI search flow, because once you get the hang of it, you will be better at knowing where to look for stuff.

The biggest glaring omission of this app was the route view, what I used to call MapQuest view back when people remembered what MapQuest was: You get a full rundown of your turns, so you can see where the hell this thing is trying to take you. For the price, it's still reasonable, and Navigon has already updated its software—for free—a few times since launch, so who's to say that a good route summary isn't up next?

I gave it an A- until August 31, when the price goes from $70 to $100. After that, it's probably a B+ or B. On the level it can't really beat the TomTom, but when it's $30 cheaper, it most certainly does.

TomTom US & Canada for iPhone
Product page; iTunes link

I know some of you probably recall my negative sentiments about a recent TomTom portable navigator, and indeed, the whole family of TomTom navigators. I am happy to report that, by leaving hardware design in the hands of Apple, and by making at least a bit of effort to streamline the TomTom interface when bringing it to the iPhone, most of my complaints are rendered moot. There's still the matter of taking four taps to cancel a route (it takes just two on the other two apps). There's also the matter of POIs lacking coherent capitalization and punctuation, rendering them barely recognizable in English, and other hints of one-platform-for-all international scaling. But in general, it's a damn worthwhile, even powerful app.

The next step is to see TomTom's dock is any good. TomTom says it improves GPS performance, gives some voice command control and raises the volume on turn-by-turn instructions. I am currently using a generic iPhone dock, the one that sells for $30 on Amazon, and I plugged the iPhone into the car stereo for both music and instructions. Also, I didn't really have any trouble with GPS performance (surprisingly), so whatever this thing costs, its value is as yet undetermined.

In the portable navigator world, Garmin is still king, but in this world, there is no Garmin, so TomTom will probably ascend to the throne. In the current lineup, TomTom's offering is a B+, but that grade could go down as well as up. I just hope they take their roles as developers seriously and work on what still needs improvement, or else so help me I will nail another series of complaints to their door.

Tips for Using All GPS Apps
• Get a dash mount. Like I said, you can pay roughly $10 to $30 on Amazon, but the $30 version (middle in the pic above) has the nicer joint design. If you don't mount it, you're going to kill yourself. Note: The Amazon links are examples, not recommended products. Stay tuned for our review of TomTom's mount, shown in the photo above at right.

• Never drive without a car charger. These things suck juice like nobody's business. Operate without a charger, and your phone will become a brick within the hour.

• All these apps let you access iPhone Contacts. This means you should paste in addresses for your most visited friends and colleagues. It also means that if the app's POI search sucks, you can go to Google Maps, do a search there (or with an app like Where To?) and then add that Google Map entry to Contacts. Instantly it appears in your navigation app too.

• You can listen to music while you're navigating, if you can handle the navi voice coming on to tell you when to turn. Double-tap the home button to get a floating box of rudimentary iPod functions: track ID, volume, play/pause, forward and back. If you pause your music though, you can't double-tap the home button to start it again. You'll have to exit your navigation app, go into the iPod interface, and start it up.

Update: More Notes
Since I've probably driven with more various GPS devices in my car than almost anyone, and have been doing it since these silly things were a lot harder to use and cost $1500 a piece, I wanted to address some general questions from comments:

• There are two major map-makers in the world, Navteq (now owned by Nokia) and Tele Atlas (now owned by TomTom). Though traditionally Navteq's US mapset was superior, they are both now almost imperceptibly identical, thanks to Tele Atlas' acquisition of a US company called GDT a few years back. They are both very reputable sources of road data now, and it would take you a long time to identify any differences, let alone one's clear superiority over the other. In other words, at this point, since it's one or the other, source of road data doesn't really matter.

• Map updates, however, do matter—but they matter at intervals of at least two years. The map makers named above are constantly updating, but they don't publish updates (even to monthly subscription services) instantly. It takes months—sometimes weeks if you're lucky—for map data to go live, and most tweaks are new housing developments and other things you might not notice. Also, map makers may spend a lot of time and effort on an area where you don't live, and never get around to fixing your particular neighborhood problem. (There's an intersection in Poughkeepsie, NY that has been wrong in Navteq's database for five years, because hey, it's Poughkeepsie!) So it doesn't make sense to argue that you should spend over 2X the money for a subscription app that isn't as good as the fixed ones—even if you have to buy expensive map modules or new versions of them in a couple of years. On the flipside, many people driving with three- or four-year-old Garmins are pretty happy.

• Someone mentioned that certain devices make a "ding" sound at the turn. That was always a signature of Magellan (who like Garmin doesn't make an iPhone app at the moment). Every app tells you when you are approaching a turn. They do so at different intervals. While it seems from a comparative standpoint that the intervals themselves matter, they do not after the initial breaking-in period. You just acclimate to the instructions you're getting from your own device, and make safe driving maneuvers based on those instructions.

• The state of California does mysteriously ban suction-cup windshield mounts. I have still driven in California with such a device, and would encourage people visiting California to not worry about it. Those of you who live in California should probably check out those sandbag mounts, but please, if anyone knows anyone who's gotten a ticket for this "offense," email me about it. I really want to hear this story.

• ALK, makers of the CoPilot software, have been around for many years and have not ever been among the strongest contenders. However, due to their price and the fact that they're still around, I have agreed to check out CoPilot, and will be posting on that app when I'm ready. But don't let that stop you from buying Navigon while it's still on sale.

Update #2Click here for iPhone Navigation App Battlemodo, Part II, with evaluation of ALK's CoPilot, Network In Motion's GoKivo and Sygic.