Filed under: GPS

Though it’s hard to see where Clarion’s NAX973HD fits in between in-dash units installed at the factory and portable navigators, we suppose folks already drawn to a dedicated display or totally infatuated with this thing’s software may be in love. Marketed as a nav system that will churn out directions in Europe much quicker than those disc-based systems, this unit features a 30GB internal hard drive, 12-channel GPS receiver, built-in gyro sensor / RDS-TMC tuner for traffic information, pre-loaded NAVTEQ maps of 30 countries, voice recognition / text-to-speech capabilities, 2D / 3D map views and a VGA output to boot. Unfortunately, word on the street pegs this thing at £795 ($1,579) without a display, so we’d probably steer clear unless you’re crazy about automotive installations.

[Via Tech Digest]

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Filed under: Handsets, Software, Apple, OS X

If you happen to own an iPhone, and you happen to have updated to the 1.1.4 firmware, you can now easily jailbreak, activate, and unlock your phone with a couple of simple solutions. As you may have heard, iNdependence 1.4 beta 5 is out, which will do all sorts of non-Apple approved things to your device from OS X, though if you’re looking for the ultimate cross-platform solution, you probably can’t do better than the latest version Zibri’s all-in-one package, Ziphone 2.5. Both apps make it about a million times easier than this was a few weeks ago, though we’ve seen video of a new solution — jailbreaking directly from iTunes — that could make this process even simpler (though considerably more illegal). Check that out after the break and get a glimpse of your deviant future.

[Via TUAW; Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Read - iNdependence
Read - Ziphone’s Blog

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Filed under: Games, Handsets, Software, Nokia, Sony Ericsson

It seems that several years of taking their lumps on the long road to mobile gaming success has hardened the boys and girls at Nokia just a bit, and they’re ready to come out swinging. The target? Fellow European manufacturer Sony Ericsson, of course, which has been rumored for eons to be cooking up some sort of PlayStation- or PSP-branded handset to go head to head with the likes of Nokia’s N-Gage service. The head of Nokia’s games division went on the assault at a recent press event for its brand spanking new N-Gage client, saying “I’m not scared about anybody. The real question is how do they do it? Can they create a link between the PSP games and a phone? Can they do the multiplayer and online stuff? We’ve been doing this for two years and it hasn’t been easy.” In other words: bring it, Sony Ericsson, because we don’t think you can do it. Kind of funny to be lashing out against a product that hasn’t been announced (much less launched) though.

[Via Tech Digest]

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Filed under: Handsets, Samsung, Windows Mobile, GSM, EDGE, HSDPA, UMTS

It may not be generating a ton of buzz — but a new Samsung smartphone is still a new Samsung smartphone, and so we’re quite pleased that someone’s managed to sneak a prototype i200 out for a little face time ahead of its planned debut later this quarter. At 11.8mm thick, the Windows Mobile 6 (6.1, perhaps?) Standard handset should disappear nicely into a breast or pant pocket, and that’ll have to be a key selling point since it lacks both WiFi and GPS. On the upside, you still get a who’s-who of GSM standards all the way up to HSDPA, there’s a 2 megapixel cam around back, and we’re kinda digging the blue trim. Price this one reasonably, Samsung, and you might have a winner in your midst.

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Filed under: Handsets, T-Mobile, Apple

‘Bout time we got some fresh European iPhone launches under our belts, and it looks like we might finally know where they’re going down. Italian site Macitynet tore down the 1.1.4 update, only to discover packages indicating that support for T-Mobile’s Austrian and O2’s Irish networks are in the cards. We now know the Irish launch is legit, and the Austrian move would make total sense considering that T-Mobile’s got the iPhone locked up in Germany. Only question, we guess, is when it’s going to get official.

[Via Macworld UK, thanks Conan]

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Filed under: GPS

We’ve already seen GPS used to track elderly patients, but some student researchers now look to be taking the idea one step further, with them outfitting some nursing center patients’ walkers with a GPS system that helps guide them around. While the exact technical details are a bit unclear, the system apparently uses GPS when the patients are out and about, and relies on a WiFi-based system to direct ‘em around inside the nursing center itself. The entire system has also obviously been about as simplified as possible, with it boasting just five buttons and large arrows pointing the way to the patients’ destination. As a student project, however, it’s still quite a ways from gaining any widespread use, although it has apparently been at use at the one nursing center their testing it at for several months already. Let’s just hope folks don’t take to relying on it too much — we all know where that can lead.

[Thanks, Jack]

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Filed under: Home Entertainment, Media PCs

Asus continues to crank up its media PC related offerings, its latest are two HDMI equipped sound cards aimed at HTPC users or prosumers. Next week at CeBIT expect to see the Xonar DX sound card, a slimmed-down edition of its Xonar D2X card made to fit any PCI-E x1 equipped computer. Dolby Digital Live and DTS connect support is still part of the package, plus EAX 5.0 compatibility. Next up is the Xonar AV1, complete with three HDMI jacks and Asus’ Splendid HD chip to assist audio and video mastering. Price or release date on these is unknown but we’re sure to get a closer look once the show starts.

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Filed under: Handsets, ATT, EDGE, HSDPA, Apple, OS X

Hold the presses: Apple may be releasing a new iPhone this year… with 3G! Crazy, we know. The latest iteration of this rumor comes to us courtesy of UBS analysts, who say Infineon will likely be building chips for the phone — they’re powering the current iPhone, so no real surprise there. UBS is also betting on a mid-year 3G iPhone launch, and thinks that EDGE production will ramp down early so Apple gets a chance to clean out inventories. We’ve got a good feeling about this one, guys.

[Thanks, Tim G.]

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Filed under: Handsets, LG

Unwired View is reporting that LG is prepping to launch a new barrage of fashion handsets, kicking off the action properly with the KF750 slider at CeBIT next week. A prototype KF750 (pictured) appears to already be up at the auction block on a Romanian site, and we’re not sure “fashion” is the very first word that comes to mind — “hypnosis,” perhaps, on account of those crazy circular lights surrounding the d-pad. Features on this one should include a 5 megapixel cam (impressive if true, considering how slim this thing appears to be), 160MB of onboard storage, and microSD expansion. Meanwhile a lower-end KF240 is said to be hitting any day now — possibly before CeBIT, that is — setting its sights on Latin America and parts of Asia with a 2 megapixel cam.

[Via Unwired View]

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Filed under: Handsets, O2, Apple

We got wind of this in the early AM, but now it’s official: O2 is picking up the iPhone in Ireland, selling the 8 gigger for €399, and the 16GB for €499. Tariffs range from €45 for 175 minutes to €100 for 700 minutes, and all plans include 1GB of data. It sounds like quite the scam compared to O2’s iPhone plans in the UK, but we’re going to just chalk it up to cultural differences not explored in Colin Farrell’s latest masterpiece, “In Bruges.”

Update: Some tipsters have pointed out that O2 Ireland makes no mention of Visual Voicemail on its iPhone pages, which is odd considering the fact that O2 UK highlights the feature. It could be a oversight, or it could mean that those unsightly tariffs are, in fact, true highway robbery.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

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