smartech

Freescale is already staring eyes towards the CES show, which goes live this coming weekend, and the way things look, there’s plenty of stuff that worth waiting for. In a nutshell, the semiconductor giant surprises with a 7-inch smartbook reference design that fits well the Smartbook Tablet gender, only with a lot more to offer. Make no mistake, it’s a sort of a prototype that Freescale wishes to develop with its OEM partners, and the list of components is admittedly, very impressive, still you should give it at least six month before it gets – this way or another – official. The most attractive thing in here is the price which stands right below the $200 mark and digging into the specs, it ain’t so much at all, considering the fact it has a 1GHz i/MX515 chipset, paired with ARM Cortex A8 processor that seats together with 1,024 x 600 touch display (and ambient light sensor), 512MB of DDR2 RAM, optional 3G WWAN module, 802.11b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth 2.1, 3mp camera on top, and 3-axis accelerometer support. You get between 4GB to 64GB of internal storage, expandable with a microSD, while battery suppose to work all day long at 1,900mAh. And whether you’re fond of portable devices or not, Freescale’s machine offers (for extra $50) an optional docking station fully equipped with QWERTY keyboard and identical color lot – Now that’s definitely something we’d like to have our hands on. Stay tuned for more, images and PR details are just after the slot.

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Details scarce on specs, Chinese corp Teclast has recently rolled out a new PMP device, which technically sports 5 inches of 800 x 600 screen resolution, on one side, but in practice can output any video file to 1080P, from the other – that, of course, cannot be achieved without the built-in HDMI socket the player boasts. Out of the box, the T56 seems to offer the usual integrated voice recorder, paired with an FM tuner radio support, a USB host, and a card reader slot , all stuffed into a nice solid metal case. Other than that, the company impressively added a  GPS navigating system, to ease your way out wherever you are. Storage capacities haven’t been disclosed , while price and availability are yet to be determined, so stick around to get’em out.

Update: Now it’s said there’s a T58 version on the prep, which presumably includes the Android OS inside, that suppose to run under a dual-core ARM9 RISC processor, with an RK2808 chipset, WiFi, GPS, 1280 x 720 touchscreen, 720p support and common formats compatibility. Still no word on price or availability, but a teasing image is right after the break.

[via iMP3]

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It’s a new day, It’s a new dawn and US-based company Trimble has a new UMPC device, which answers the name Yuma. This latest muscular unit sports a 7-inch sunlight readable touchscreen display, together with a surprising 1.6 GHz Intel Atom N270 CPU, 32GB HDD storage, 2 integrated cameras, a built-in GPS system and a rugged outdoor design. Aside from that, the Yuma comes with ExpressCard/SDIO slot expansions and WiFi/Bluetooth 2.0 connectivity, to let you handle your stuff perfectly on the go, as weight stands at merely 2.6 lb. No word on pricing, but shipment is set for April this year.

[Trimble]

We keep saying that media players future should hold GPS navigation systems, and apparantely Cowon thinks the same, as the Korean company officially announces the L3 PMP/PND release, without any pricing or availability details. Nevertheless, we do know the new L3 features 480MHz dual-core processor, a 7-inch 800 x 480 WVGA touchscreen, an FM tuner, 4GB of storage, 128MB of SDRAM and SD card slot. Naturally, this PMP-Navigation device includes a GPS system with Eco Drive module that indicates your fuel consumption on the go. Regretfully there’s no wifi inside, but you can still enjoy wide codecs support like MP3, WMA, ASF, WAV, OGG, AVI, ASF, and WMV files – all packed in 318g of solid sleek design.

[via akihabaranews]

Reincomm has announced the release of the iriver NV mini, a new personal navigation device, running Windows CE 5.0 with multimedia capabilites. This 3.5-inch 320 x 240 touchscreen Nav-PMP device packs a SiRF Star III GPS system, together with SDHC slot, to load Atlas maps into the unit. In addition, the NV mini supports wide range of media codecs, including MP3, WMA, OGG, WMV, JPEG, PNG, BMP file formats, and available in a sleeky-metal design, housing 4GB of flash-based capacity.To get this one, you’ll have to shell out around $130.

[iriver via Aving]

From personal knowledge, I know there’s a great demand for third party GPS system that will be able to upgrade the iPhone and the iPod touch devices with full navigation capabilities. Regretfully, since Cebit 2008, we haven’t seen anything tangible, making its way to the market, until today, as Orange 360 has decided to change the game by announcing a state of the art iGPS360 module, that will be able to hook up to your iPod touch players or your First Gen. iPhone handheld, in order to bring a GPS hardware system and answer the very basic needs of navigating. Despite the fact it’s still in production, the iGPS360 will be available only for the first 1000 buyers, for a reasonable price of $75, so If youcan’t wait anymore, it’s up for pre-order at the company’s website.

[Orange360]

The new Video Touch PMP from Quantum has been officially announced, featuring GPS navigation capabilities, including traffic and weather updates, plus a built-in digital TV with up to 30 channels, using Siano DVB-H receiver inside. In addition, the new PMP supports mp3 audio files – to listen to your favorite music, images  – to collect your entire digital album and video – to watch your movies on the go. The touchscreen is compatible with gesture interface so the UI is expected to work smoothly. Still no word on price or availability.

[via techfresh]

Today, After tons of rumors, speculations and some unsuccessful mockups, Apple is finally releasing the new iPhone second generation – known as the iPhone 3G, across 22 countries, on 8:00 AM local time. The new iPhone 2 will have a 3G HSDPA connection which will allow users to surf the web, download emails, get directions, and watch videos 2.4 x times faster than previous model and 36% faster than the Nokia N95 and Palm Treo 750 devices in pageloads (according to Apple).

The second biggest thing, other than moving to 3G network, is the built-in GPS navigation system that was added to the new iPhone 3G. GPS technology and iPhone software come together to bring users mobile phone mapping, enabling fast fix on your location, track your progress as you go, help you get from point A to point B, by using GPS-based iPhone maps and A-GPS technology, which assists getting the signals from GPS satellites, Wi-Fi hot spots, and cellular towers. Once you get the signal, a GPS blue indicator will turn on, so you will be able to start using the relevant applications. However, GPS on iPhone is active only when you need it. iPhone powers the GPS unit on and off quickly and automatically, so it won’t adversely affect the battery life. With the new technology, assimilated inside the handset, you will be able to get from the App store some cool applications that will let you take a photo with the camera, for example, and iPhone will geotag it with GPS location information. Another neat application is the Loopt, that will let you use location feeds to help you find friends on the go, within your range, wherever you are. Moreover, you will be able to receive live traffic information, indicating traffic speed along your route in easy-to-read green, red, and yellow highlights.

As for look and specifications, the new iPhone 3G has a nice rounded sleeky design with a curved glossy back, coming in black or white flavors. It has the same good old 3.5-inch multi-touchscreen, identical 2 megapixel camera at the back (no front camera for video chats) and a flush 3.5mm headphone jack. Battery life presents substantial improvement, with 300 hours of standby, 5 hours of 3G talk, 8-10 hours of 2G talk, 7 hours of video and 24 hours of audio. Dimensions pretty much stay the same, although the new iPhone 3G is a little bit thicker, with 12.3 mm or 0.48 inches. However, we hear that it is hard to feel this extra inch difference and the sleeky arched design makes it much more comfortable in your hands.

You can find the complete keynote video here.

To learn more about the 22 countries to launch the new iPhone 3G and to see full specs and tips, just hit the jump and move forward, after the break.

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Korean manufacturer Digitalcube has released the new i-Station U7 PMP,  coming up with a 7-inch WVGA touchscreen (800 x 480) and many other features, including a GPS SIRF Star III navigation system, 4GB of storage capacity, a DMB tuner and more. The PMP-NAV device is compatible with MP3, WMA, AC3, OGG, WAV, JPEG, BMP, PNG, GIF, MPEG4, DivX, Xvid, WMV9 file format, sized at 191 x 114.2 x 19 mm and weights 454 g.  Price should be around $385.

[via gmp3]

Remember the Cowon N3 PND (personal navigation device) ? turns out Cowon has decided to give it a wooden touch, as the company has revealed a new N3 version, designed with a wood frame and available in Korea only. No further details but to recall, this impressive device comes with a 7″ touchscreen, an AMD Alchemy AU1250 @ 600Mhz processor, an integrated GPS chip SiRF Star III navigation system and many more. In addition, it houses a great media player, compatible with wide variety of known media formats, and runs a Windows CE 5.0 OS.

Update: It will be available next week for around $437.

[via akihabaranews]

Archos announces the release of a new GPS navigation device for its fifth generation PMPs. Equipped with an integrated SiRF Star III chip, the new in-car GPS cradle turns your entertainment 605 player into a full-fledged navigation system, by simply snapping the Archos into the GPS In-Car Holder, which is connected to the car windshield. By doing so, you get an intuitive interface that allows you to easily pick any address, remarkable location or point of interest and find the best way to get there, with a full voice and video navigation system, presenting the sharp, precise and fast solution. The new system provides any road info you want, including traffic assistance, route planning, tunnel simulation, radar locations and even speed control assistance in some countries. The ARCHOS GPS In-Car Holder is compatible with any Archos 605 player and will cost you only $129.99. You can also buy this GPS device bundled with a 30GB Archos 605 player, for $399.99. Both packages will be available in May 2008.

Update: Check out the video preview after the break.

[via Archos]

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Remember the new BenQ mobile internet device, presented at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona back in February? seem there are more details coming out, making us very curious about it. Apparently, the new MID will include an Atom processor, along with 512MB of RAM, a 4GB SSD drive, an optional GPS system, voice activation and a G-Sensor function, to easily switch between tracks, application and internet navigation. In addition, it will support HSDPA, WiFi 802.11 b/g and bluetooth 2.0+EDR connectivity, together with a built in camera and a 4.8-inch touchscreen. Still no word on price or availability but we’re getting close to zero hour.

[via slashgear]

Cowon has finally released the N3 personal navigation device in Korea. The new premium nav-system was first announced 2 months ago, promising 7-inch PMP, integrated with GPS system and TPEG(Transport Protocol Expert Group) service. The N3 is packed with loads of features and supports almost any format you’d think about, it has a slick design and great capabilities. Unfortunately, the unit houses only 32MB of internal memory, so here goes your plan to store your entire movie collection. The N3 is available in Korea for $552.

[via aving]

Full specifications after the break.

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This application, written by Jahanzeb Sjerwani, is pretty cool, as it turns your iPhone device into a wireless trackpad, enabling all of you, couch potatoes, lay back and navigate your desktop with your wandering fingers. In order to add this app, you need a jailbroken iPhone, then go to Installer > Sources > Add http://cnp.qlnk.net > goto utilities and install Touchpad. The software is a VNsea-based (http://code.google.com/p/vnsea), so enjoy your new remote.

Please enable Javascript and Flash to view this Flash video.

[via engadget]

TG presents the Favicon, a new PMP-navigation device with dual DMB – PIP functionality (thats two TV channels at once) and a 532MHz Freescale CPU. This 7″ WVGA player houses TPEG GPS navigation system (providing traffic info), 4GB storage size, SD card slot, multimedia player and a Windows Vista OS (!). Release date is unknown but you will be able to find it only in Korea for 420$ .

[via akihabaranews]

E-TEN unveils its new Glofiish M810 GSM quad-band HSDPA at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. The new handset is equipped with a full QWERTY keyboard and a 2.8-inch LCD screen. The device features the following specs:

• Display: 2.8” LCD TFT, 65,536 colors (320 x 240).
• Processor: Samsung SC32442 500 MHz.
• OS: Windows Mobile 6.
• Memory: 256MB flash ROM, 64MB SDRAM.
• Camera: 2MP with auto focus.
• Connectivity: WLAN, Bluetooth2.0+EDR, WiFi.
• Other Features: microSD slot, GPS navigation system.
• Dimensions: 109.5×59×17.5mm, 179gm.
• Availability: unknown.
• Price: unknown.

[via Aving]

Motorola wants to go all the way with the new DH01n portable 4.3-inch DVB-H TV, sporting GPS navigation system and Tele Atlas maps. The new DH01n is a personal DVR device, including pausing and playing back live TV signals, automatic channel scan, High-quality widescreen LCD display with stereo sound, SD/MMC slot and more. No details concerning price and availability.

[motorola via engadget]

Garmin announces the release of the Nuvifone, a new 3.5G GSM HSDPA smartphone, combined with a media player, full GPS navigation system, proprietary OS and many advanced elements. The Nuvifone sports the following features:

• Display: 3.5″ touchscreen.
• 3 major icons: Call, Search, Maps
• Built-in camera with longitude / latitude tagging system.
• Full GPS navigation system, loaded with North America and European maps.
• Google local search capability.
• Garmin Online Service: an online updates information service, including weather, traffic, stocks, news, sports, hotels, etc.
• WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity.
• Email, SMS/MMS and IM support.
• Nuvi navigation service, providing “Where Am I ” function, for an accurate location info, on and off the road.
• Integrated media player, supports MP3 and MPEG4/AAC .
• Availability: Q3 2008.
• Price: Unknown.

I’m definitely looking forward to snack one of those and see it in action.

[via gizmodo]

More pictures after the break.

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iRiver is pumping us with new products every day, at the CES show. This time, it is the M20, a media player, combined with a GPS navigation system. The M20 turns to be an update version of the iRiver NV device, with a 7″ LCD touchscreen,  DMB TV, FM radio tuner, video and audio capabilities. Other details are still vague.

[via engadget]

Pioneer introduced the AVIC-F500BT GPS navigation system. The new device features  a 5.8″ WVGA  touchscreen, Bluetooth 2.0,  USB port,  SD  slot and more. The new system supports voice control of iPods and Bluetooth enabled devices. Release is expected to be in the spring.

 [via engadget]