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Waze, one of our favorite free GPS apps for Android and iOS, gets a version 2.4 update today that adds text-to-speech guidance, a commuting widget for the Android app, and a host of smaller improvements.

The biggest change is the addition of a text-to-speech (TTS) engine powered by Nuance that adds spoken street, exit, and highway names to its turn-by-turn directions. Users will also receive spoken alerts as they approach road hazards reported by other Waze users. TTS is currently only available to Android and iOS users in the U.S. and Canada, though there are plans to roll … Read more

Crowdsourcing meets broadcast during the July 15th weekend closure of the Los Angeles' 405 freeway, an event that has been dubbed the "Carmageddon" and is expected to cause traffic issues for as many as 500,000 drivers. Social traffic and navigation app Waze has announced a partnership with KABC-TV in Los Angeles to provide live maps, feedback of incidents, and traffic flow for the station's broadcasts.… Read more

Google Maps for Android hit version 5.7 today, and it includes a significant update in the form of Transit Navigation (beta). Now, users in over 400 cities around the world will get to enjoy turn-by-turn and stop-by-stop navigation for public transit systems. The feature is perfect for when you're traveling and you can't read the signage or don't understand the language, and it's difficult for you to decipher your next stop.

Transit Navigation uses GPS to determine your current location along your route and alerts you when it's time to get off or make … Read more

VW says leave the driving to us, Scion upgrades its aftermarket cabin tech, and a Honda Insight goes too fast for the competition.

• VW shows autopilot tech

• 56.2 MPG could be the new Federal requirement

• Apple preparing to take the TBT lead back from Android?

• Scion finally upgrades its cabin tech with the launch of the 2012 tC RS 7.0 and the 2012 xB

• Honda Insight rally car banned for being too fast

Why spend a couple grand on an in-dash navigation system when you can get a portable, better-equipped GPS for a fraction of the price?

To wit, TigerDirect has the refurbished Garmin Nuvi 1490T 5-inch GPS with lifetime traffic for $99.99, plus $2.29 for shipping.

Don't let the refurbished part bother you. Garmin backs the Nuvi with a full one-year warranty, which is the same as new units. And you get a free map update when you register the device, so you don't have to worry about outdated maps. This is, in my humble opinion, good as … Read more

Samsung attempts to improve its relationship with the hacking community by giving free phones to the Cyanogen team and we dig into the dark corners of one user's romantic relationship with our tech advice. Later we debate the merits of the Android Market's app return policy versus T-Mobile's app rental scheme, Antuan and Justin continue to butt heads over the upcoming Droid Bionic, and Nokia's CEO tries to convince us that Apple, and not Google, created Android. Find all of that, plus the answers to your emails, on this episode of Android Atlas Weekly.

Magellan's RoadMate app for iPhone updates today to version 2.0 with a refreshed UI. However, the biggest change is the new POI search, because joining Magellan's standard list of searchable points of interest are new options for Yelp and Google Local.

With Yelp search you can browse all of Yelp's categories and subcategories. Search results include Yelp's star rating for quickly identifying, for example, the best Ethiopian restaurant in your area. Once you've found your destination, the app can call the venue or initiate turn-by-turn directions. Additionally, every search result is a clickable link … Read more

Trying to find a specific location using Bing Streetside View is potentially a bit easier now, thanks to a few new tweaks from Microsoft.

Using your mouse to drag across the screen, you can now pan up and down different streets to track down specific sites and locations. As you virtually stroll along each street, Bing quickly updates the street-level photo view, showing you a seamless perspective of your tour of the neighborhood. You can drag your mouse left or right to travel along your current street. Making a right or left at an intersection is just a matter of … Read more

Skipping CDs, navigation CDs do you even need CDs at all these days? We'll let you know all about it, but first I'm about to totally nerd out about all-wheel drive systems. This is the 14th episode of CNET Roadside Assistance for Thursday, the 26th of May 2011 and I am Antuan Goodwin alongside Senior Editor Wayne Cunningham. This is the show where the car tech guys take a moment to answer your emails and highlight your comments.