Apple to drop Google Maps in iOS 6

Its been rumored recently that Apple plan to drop Google Maps as its map provider in its iOS 6 for iphone. Apple has been using google map as the backend map provider for their map app in iphone. Sources said they plan to replace Google map with an in-house map application. Given credence to this rumor is the fact that apple recently acquired Placebase, C3 and Poly9, all of which are mapping companies. If this happen, it will be a huge setback for Google map considering the wide popularity of the iPhone and other apple products. It is widely believed that this is a direct consequence of the google's new monetization policy for google map which will force developers who utilize Google Maps in their projects and conjure more than 25,000 views per month to pay a hefty premium.

GPSCaddy golf app now offers free course maps

Calton Hill, the Scottish mobile phone application developers, have announced that all golf course maps for their prize-winning GPSCaddy app are now free. This makes GPSCaddy, which retails for just £12.99 or $19.99, even better value for golfers.
GPSCaddy runs on phones that use the Android operating system and won a prize in Google's Android Developer Challenge last year. It was launched on the Android Market at the start of 2010 and quickly established itself as a favourite app for golfers who own Android phones from a wide range of manufacturers including HTC, LG, Motorola, Samsung and Sony Ericsson.
GPSCaddy uses GPS technology to display accurate distances from the phone to the key features of the current hole such as the front, middle and back of the green and hazards such as bunkers etc. Its unique user interface allows you to choose a detailed picture of the complete hole, or the remainder of the hole from the current position, or a close-up of the green and green-side hazards. Or you can choose a text-based display if you prefer.
Calton Hill provide a database containing GPS maps of thousands of golf courses worldwide and create maps of new courses to order for their users at no charge. GPSCaddy also allows users to create or customize the maps themselves using their phone.

Archos Introduces Internet Tablet 5

The french company Archos which has won several awards for its constant technology innovation and leadership in portable media players now introduces a new concept called the Internet Media Tablet. Otherwise known as The Archos 5, the Internet Tablet 5 is the flagship of the new range, bringing customers a new way to enjoy Internet, Media and TV in a handheld device.
It comes in the form of a beautiful, 4.8-inch HD screen with amazingly sharp and high-resolution screen lets you navigate effortlessly through the web just like you would on a PC. The Archos 5 features a very high capacity internal hard drive from 60 GB to 250 GB, in slim and sleek enclosures.
You can thus download a vast number of songs and videos from the unique selection of renowned movie and music partners assembled in the Media Club. You can play movies in HD or DVD quality for the richest media experience on the go.
With the optional DVR Station the device can do VGA TV recording, Schedule TV recordings from any channel on your cable or set-top box in just a few clicks. Then choose when and where you want to watch them. When plugged into a dock and paired with an optional mini-QWERTY keypad (or any regular Bluetooth keyboard and mouse) the 5 becomes a rather nice way to surf the internet on your TV.
The Internet Tablet 5 also has a GPS capability that comes with TeleAtlas maps, with North America and Western Europe mapsets available at launch. Archos offers a free 7-day trial of turn-by-turn GPS, with the requirement of buying the map/turn-by-turn capability (no price listed yet) to continue the service.
There’s also a WebTv and Internet radio plug-in, a TV program scheduler, plus you can tweak the settings on nearly every feature — including child security (no youporn for Junior). It also records net video clearly with the optional $100 DVR dock.

TomTom Announces a New XXL-Size GPS Screen

The world’s leading provider of navigation solutions and digital maps, TomTom has announced the release its award-winning portable navigation product offering - the TomTom XXL 530S and TomTom XXL 540S. Both models come with a 5" touchscreen display that is a snap to read even if you're in the backseat. 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. They both come with advance unique features that include 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 etc. TomTom has made arrangement to make the systems available at several retailers across the United States and Canada in October 2009. The TomTom XXL 530S GPS system will retail for $279.95, and the TomTom XXL 540S GPS system will retail for $299.95.

The Garmin Dakota 20 Designed for Versatility

With the Garmin Dakota 20 outdoor navigation meets touchscreen simplicity. This rugged, palm-sized navigator combines touchscreen navigation, it is designed to be a versatile, do-it-all, rugged, touchscreen handheld GPS that's small enough to comfortably take on a run or mount on a bike, yet substantial enough to rely upon as your main GPS on a multi-day backpacking trip.
Dakota 20 makes outdoor navigation effortless with a tough, sunlight-readable, 2.6 inch color touchscreen display. The interface is easy to use, so you’ll spend more time enjoying the outdoors and less time searching for information. Its compact size (2.2 x 3.9 x 1.3 inches) and lighter weight come handy for those who cherish portability.
Both durable and waterproof, Dakota 20 is built to withstand the elements: bumps, dust, dirt and water are no match for this rugged navigator. Dakota 20 has a built-in 3-axis electronic compass, which shows your heading even when you’re standing still or not holding the device level. Its barometric altimeter tracks changes in pressure to pinpoint your precise altitude, and you can even use it to plot barometric pressure over time, which can help you keep an eye on changing weather conditions. And with its high-sensitivity, WAAS-enabled GPS receiver with HotFix™ satellite prediction, Dakota 20 locates your position quickly and precisely and maintains its GPS location even in heavy cover and deep canyons.
What's more, get into paperless geocaching with Dakota 20 by quickly downloading up to 2,000 caches, with information such as location, terrain, difficulty, hints and description — no more paper print outs and manually entered coordinates. It also comes with built-in worldwide basemap, so you can navigate anywhere with ease. Adding more maps is easy with Garmin's wide array of detailed topographic, marine and road maps, available on microSD card.

Garmin Announces New nüvi 1690

The new nuvi 1690 from Garmin promises to take GPS users to the next level with its advance features. This new GPS device offers you with real-time content on the go. From fuel prices to Google™ local search, you'll be the first to know with Garmin nüLink!™ Services that comes with two free year contract. The 1690 also includes preloaded maps, lane assist with junction view, hands-free calling and ecoRoute™ — making it one smart navigator.
The nüvi 1690 with nüLink! has the most comprehensive set of POI search capabilities offered by any PND thanks to the implementation of Google local search and white page telephone listings. Google’s local search brings online points of interest (POIs) to customers’ fingertips and lets them search for destinations by name or key words just like they are accustomed to doing on their personal computer. In addition, Garmin has created a “quick search” feature that lets users search via categories like food, lodging and fuel, rather than typing a word or phrase into the search box. Detailed search results are displayed for many POIs including a location description, business address, phone number and popularity rating. Customers can also use the nüLink! white page telephone listing feature to search for a person’s street address by their first name, last name or phone number.
Other convenient services included in the subscription are Ciao!™ friend finder, weather, movie times, local events, Send to GPS, flight status, converter, White Pages and myGarmin. The nuvi 1690 will sell for a price tag of $499 and will be available in the fourth quarter of this year according to Garmin.

TomTom Unveils GO 950, GO 750 and GO 550

TomTom announces its new flagship series and they are the TomTom GO 550, 750 and 950. These three portable navigation devices combine TomTom's leading IQ Routes™ technology with a fully optimized user interface. In addition, the TomTom GO x50 LIVE series comes with an expanded LIVE Services offering, completely integrated in the device to deliver the ultimate navigation package on the market today.
The trio promises to calculate routes faster than ever before, and they also include the planet's largest collection of historical speed profiles. Once you're on your way, the units can tap into RDS-TMC services in order to take current road conditions into account and get you from point A to point B in the least amount of time. Also of note, these three now feature voice command and control, and each ships with an active dock with integrated RDS-TMC information.
They all come with new mapping solution that lets you take the most optimal route while avoiding jams when present. For folks who have a heart for nature, the Eco Routes option helps one plan better by taking the most fuel-efficient route. The TomTom GO 950 LIVE will be equipped with maps for America, Canada and 45 European countries, while the TomTom GO 750 LIVE has maps for 45 countries in Europe including Malta, Greece and Turkey. Last but not least, the TomTom GO 550 LIVE features maps of the UK/Republic of Ireland.

Golf GPS Offers you Good Chance to Master the Game

If you love golf and you have been looking for a convenient way of improving your skills, well look no further because that is exactly what Golf GPS does. It gives you the opportunity to improve your game with great features that make imitate the exact layout of a Golf course. The Golf GPS used range finder gives you the precise distance information you need to achieve a higher level of performance. Golf GPS systems are rapidly evolving from only player enhancement to complete course management systems. The primary goal of a golf GPS system is to provide players with distances to all kind of features on the course and especially to the green they are playing. You can get detailed aerial views and flyover views, excellent scoring, stats, and graphics capabilities from this device. Some of the devices use real time GPS satellite information to tell users how far away from the front and center of green they are at any given moment. Golf GPS can also recommend a club if you use the shot by shot option. It replaces your paper scorecard with an easy to use electronic version. There is option for tracking each shot by up to 4 players on a given round, for later statistical analysis. There other GPS that can give you live data as to how other golfers fair on the hole you are playing, longest drives, and many other interesting facts. There are a host of this device in the market and they come with great features that offer you excellent course depending on your requirements and your skill level. Just know your needs and look for the one that is suitable. I am sure you would find it quite interesting. Please let us hear from you if you have used any Golf GPS lately.

Nokia Integrates Navteq Traffic Data Probes into its Smartphones

In what seems to be a right step in the right direction, NAVTEQ announced that the GPS data for Nokia mobile phones are being integrated into products NAVTEQ TrafficTM for Europe and North America. This NAVTEQ Traffic allows more precise routes and improved estimates of travel times based on traffic conditions or probable past.
This approach would allow users to use Nokia GPS enabled cell phones as mobile traffic sensors. It will cover not only highways, but also the side streets, where there is very little; if at all any traffic sensing network. The real-time data will be collected from mobilephone networks to make NAVTEQ Traffic solution complete, updated by the minute. NAVTEQ Traffic delivers detailed information on traffic speeds, incidents and accidents, enabling navigation systems to drivers and to develop an intelligent route or to readjust. The addition of the Nokia GPS data collected from millions of Nokia mobile phones will increase significantly the amount of traffic information to provide the most comprehensive coverage in Europe and North America. With these new data, NAVTEQ Traffic will extend its coverage to include more information on major traffic arteries, where traffic data are mainly collected today, but also on the main and secondary roads.
According to Michael Halbherr, Director of Social Rental Services division at Nokia, "Nokia continues to expand its community and delivers technologies that improve the lives of users. Part of our commitment is to ensure respect for the privacy of users, while offering the best offer traffic information so drivers have the latest information timely."
Nokia Data are collected anonymously from mobile phones and delivered to NAVTEQ Traffic for aggregation with other data sources and verification. The aggregation GPS Nokia does not infringe the freedom of individual users of these devices.

Get Connected with Garmin nuvi 1690 PND

Garmin is not about to go belly up anytime soon especially when more people are showing keen interest in its products. This time around the company has just released nuvi 1690 to get you connected aboard the GPS bandwagon. It is the the first "connected GPS" unit from Garmin, which means the device has a built in cellular modem, allowing it to connect to the Internet and grab real time data, instead of relying on an (often outdated) internal database. Current Garmin units can only receive data in one direction.
The nüvi 1690 uses the new Garmin nüLink! (gotta love! names! with exclamation marks!). NüLink! provides access to online Google searches, traffic, weather, fuel prices, local events and whitepage telephone listings. In addition to this, the nüvi 1690 also holds the distinction of being Garmin’s first mobile navigation device that is able to turn traditional social networking into location-enabled social networking through the use of Ciao!, a patent-pending social network application which will connect multiple location-centric social networks into a single application. This allows you to share your current location with family and friends, while seeing where they’re at as well.
Garmin is introducing this device with 2 full years of free online service. After this, service is only $5 per month. Other units like the now defunct Dash Express wanted $12.95 for each month, so Garmin clearly did their homework picking the perfect price point for their service.
It is obvious that connected GPS units are the future - and at first glance, the nüvi 1690 looks like a true winner - its initial $499 purchase price is a little on the high side, but still in line with what most other high-end GPS units cost, even though this one contains a cellular data modem. It is on schedule to be released in the fourth quarter of this year, which means it should be available just in time for Christmas.