GPS

Terrain crawling tech lets the 2009 Range Rover Sport HSE maintain its rugged reputation, but an upscale price means luxury elements, such as real wood trim and a refrigerator in the console. Offroad enthusiasts may think the lack of a fold-down windshield keeps the Range Rover Sport in the soft-road class, but this tank enhances its locking differentials with an air suspension that moves it into high-clearance mode. Terrain programs fine-tune the Range Rover's handling for the slippery and jagged.

The basics of cabin tech are here, including navigation and cell phone integration, but integration is poor. The navigation … Read more

It seemed as if everyone who we spoke to about Mazda's Mazda5 said the same thing: "It's a mini-minivan." As cheesy as that sounds, there isn't really a better way to describe what Mazda has created with the Mazda5. As fuel prices soar and its full-size MPV minivan continues to grow, Mazda hopes to do for the van market what crossovers have done for the SUV market. Based on the compact Mazda3, the Mazda5 inherits performance that comes very close to Mazda's promise of "zoom-zoom." The Mazda5 isn't really a vehicle … Read more

RadioShack scored huge* Friday, announcing it secured exclusive rights to the Mio Knight Rider GPS. For $270, you too can get the voice of KITT (actor William Daniels, not Val Kilmer) to give you turn-by-turn voice guidance.

The 4.3-inch antiglare touch-screen LCD is flanked by voice synthesizer lights that move with every instruction, and the GUI is Knight Rider-esque as well. And just in case your name isn't Michael, there are more than 150 male and female names each to choose from. (I can only imagine how painful that recording session was. "OK, Mr. Daniels, here's … Read more

Most navigation systems with traffic-monitoring capabilities make you pay an extra $60 or so per year for the service. Not so the Navigon 5100: Its real-time traffic features are included subscription-free. Right now, Buy.com has the Navigon 5100 (refurbished) for just $129.99 shipped.

That's a decidedly entry-level price for a GPS, but this model goes way beyond entry-level features. In addition to the traffic service, which will advise you of trouble spots and suggest alternate routes, the Navigon offers text-to-speech capabilities (it announces actual street names) and a lane-assistant function that recommends the best lane to be … Read more

After recently revamping its NAV-U line of portable GPS devices, Sony dropped by to give us a first look at their top of the line NAV-U94T model that should be hitting store shelves soon. We've already covered many of the new features offered by this device, but hands-on time with the device gives us a little more insight. In order of importance, here are the features we liked most:

The first feature demonstrated was the Position Plus technology which uses a gyroscope, an accelerometer, and (interestingly) a barometer to keep track of vehicle position to continue navigation when satellite reception is lost. We chose San Francisco's Stockton Street Tunnel as our destination, which is approximately three blocks long, and set off. Partway through the tunnel, we lost satellite reception, indicated by the display's position triangle turning orange, but the U94T seemed to keep track of our position.

Applying the brakes, we began to slow, then briskly sped back up. The speed readout on the display kept track of these changes as well. Emerging from the other end of the tunnel, the device quickly locked on to satellite reception and we moved on to the next part of testing.… Read more

This may be the best thing since the invention of the electric wheelchair.

A group at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has invented a wheelchair with all the self-navigating abilities of a GPS device.

Only instead of being inhibited by the need for a satellite signal like a GPS device, MIT said Friday, the location-aware wheelchair uses Wi-Fi and can work indoors.

Just like with a GPS navigator, the wheelchair has programmed favorites. Better yet, it works by voice recognition so you don't have to type in a request.

All you have to say is "to the boardroom&… Read more

The first clue that the 2008 Porsche Cayenne GTS isn't like other SUVs is the shifter, which works the six gears in a manual transmission. Another clue comes when you get it in the twisties, and feel its utter lack of roll in hard cornering. The Cayenne GTS offers the most sports car-like handling of any SUV, even surpassing the BMW X5 in this regard. We've heard comments around the office that the Porsche badge shouldn't be this high off the ground, but purism aside, our friendly neighborhood Porsche rep tells us that the Cayenne sells, giving … Read more

Q: 1. Is there any in-car GPS that allows me to review the route from start to finish without driving, once I input destination address in the device? If yes, which portable navigation device (PND) lets me review the route before actually driving? - Wize Chap via e-mail

A: Dear Wize Chap, turns out you have a lot of choices. Most in-car GPS offers route simulation or fly-over simulation (the name varies by manufacturer) that provides a running demo of your route from a bird's-eye view. It's useful in that it gives you an overall idea of what … Read more

Jobo AG, purveyors of digital-imaging accouterments, announced availability of a GPS receiver for a digital camera's hot shoe. Dubbed photoGPS, the $159 device captures raw GPS data and time and stores the info to its 128MB of internal memory (that holds up to 1,000 locations).

Included software can then be used to match the receiver's recorded data to photos transferred to a Windows or Mac computer (though the Mac version won't be available till the end of 2008). Jobo also set up a PhotoGPS server that works with the software for calculating locations and geotagging images … Read more