Asus R300 is now official

Asus R300 is now official

Asus just officially announced R300, a new compact GPS navigation system we mentioned last month. Asus R300 is only 1.38cm thick and weighs only 140g making it really easy to take with you wherever you go.

A neat feature of Asus R300 is the fact that it has a light sensor that automatically sets the backlight brightness for optimal viewing. Other devices have similar functions that set the brightness according to local time but obviously a light sensor is superior. Asus R300 also has hands free bluetooth functionality and can even read out loud your text messages from your bluetooth enabled phone. It also has an FM transmitter so you can use your car’s audio system for voice guidance, etc…

(Via NaviGadget.)

Packard Bell Compasseo 780 T+

Packard Bell Compasseo 780 T+

We had talked about Packard Bell brand resurfacing in Europe with their GPS navigation systems. They must be doing good with their business since they just now introduced the new Compasseo 700 series into their sat nav system line-up. There will be three new models: GPS Compasseo 750, GPS Compasseo 750 T+, and GPS Compasseo 780 T+.

All three are pretty much the same except the amount of memory and maps offered. 780 T+ comes with maps of Western Europe on a 2GB SDRAM, where as 750 T+ only has 256MB which is enough for maps of UK and Ireland. If you go for the basic 750 you won’t get any live traffic updates.

Pricing is not known yet but engadget says it’ll cost £130 or more.

(Via NaviGadget.)

i-navi ES 100

i-navi ES 100

Thinkware just introduced a new GPS navigation system called i-navi ES-100. i-navi ES-100 has a 7″ screen which features picture-in-picture functionality. This can come in quite handy since the device also features a DMB receiver so you watch digitally broadcast channels while navigating. The screen has 800x480 resolution and device runs on a 500Mhz processor.

In addition to carrying various software capabilities such as playing audio files, movies, displaying pictures, karaoke, games, etc, it also supports TPEG service. You can also hook up a rear view camera or even an external HDD.

For the 2GB expect to pay 449,000 KRW ($491) and for 4GB 499,000 KRW ($546)…

(Via NaviGadget.)

XRoad RM-A4000 makes another appearance

XRoad RM-A4000 makes another appearance

XRoad RM-A4000 which we talked about here at Navigadget before made another appearance in Korea just the other day under the Tibo name. Like we mentioned before this GPS navigation device for bikes is a nice alternative to TomTom Rider and Garmin Zumo who are pretty much in control of the whole market right now.

XRoad RM-A4000 features a nice joystick to make it easy to control with your gloves and a big bluetooth button to enable you to pair with your helmet or other bluetooth device.

It is expected to cost about $600…

(Via NaviGadget.)

Nokia N82 has A-GPS

Nokia N82 has A-GPS

Nokia put an A-GPS chip on their new phone Nokia N82. Their other big hit - N95 - had a few issues at first with A-GPS but they had figured it out with a new firmware.

We don’t have any reviews on the performance of the GPS receiver on N82 just yet but hopefully it will work right out of the box without needing any firmware upgrades.

A few other cool features include WiFi, FM Tuner, 5 MP digital camera with Xenon flash,Carl Zeiss lens, and autofocus.

Nokia N82 will come out in Europe and will cost about 450 €. It will probably come to the States beginning of 2008.

A-GPS and preinstalled Nokia Maps help you explore and locate new places, whether in another country or just around the corner. All Nokia N82 standard sales packages come with a free voice guided navigation trial, and you can purchase additional features, such as city guides and longer subscription to the navigation.

In case you are wondering Nokia Maps are free to download but if you want voice guided navigation you will have to pay some money. For only one day it’ll cost you 6,49 €, one month will cost you 8 €, a whole month for 60 €, and a whole year for 70 €.

And if you own a Nokia N82 please let us know what you think of the GPS performance…

(Via NaviGadget.)

Omniscout GPS tracking

Omniscout GPS tracking

Omniscout is getting ready to enter the GPS/GSM asset tracking market here in the U.S. One of their products called Omniscout Portable which just got its FCC approval and will soon probably hit the shelves.

Omniscout Portable has integrated lithium ion battery that lasts about five to seven days of usage. In terms of sensitivity Omniscout comes with not only GPS or A-GPS, but something called AAGPS (Adaptive Assisted GPS) enabling it to communicate with the GPS satellites without a clear view of the sky, even from inside buildings.

The rest of the features are pretty standard - it keeps in touch with the base using GSM signals and Omniscout website provides an interface for its users for live tracking.

We don’t yet have any info on pricing.

(Via NaviGadget.)

adnav GPS

adnav GPS

Get ready for subsidized GPS devices from a company called adNav. Their new device is called Boomerang and apparently it’ll pack in more features then your standard GPS navigation system on your dashboard. Boomerang, which is expected to be showcased at CTIA Wireless I.T. and Entertainment in San Francisco, will have Wi-Fi as well as cellular network connectivity to bring you the latest weather, travel information, restaurant guides, and of course ads.

When a traveler arrives at one of AdNav’s partner hotel or car rental location, they will be offered the Boomerang for a few dollars a day. In addition to full functioning voice guided GPS navigation, the Boomerang will include unlimited access to the web through WiFi and cellular networks. As part of the city and restaurant guides, users will have access to hundreds of pages of geo coded information to allow them simply to touch the desired destination in the city guide and be seamlessly guided via GPS. Users will have unlimited access to live flight information, weather, language translator, currency exchange calculator, tip calculator and, of course, games.

It is expected to be available in November first at hotels and car rental places, and maybe eventually be available for general consumers for a small monthly fee…

(Via NaviGadget.)