| New Magellan RoadMate GPS units navigate by landmarks, steer clear of pesky traffic cameras May 8th 2012, 01:52  It's been a long while since Magellan comprehensively updated its RoadMate GPS mapping units, so the company's making up for lost time in style by introducing no less than seven new models in one shot. The RoadMate 2210, 2210T, 2220-LM, 2230T-LM, 5220-LM, 5230T-LM (pictured) and 5235T-LM all bring in a new Landmark Guidance option to give directions based on landmarks, not just those occasionally impenetrable street numbers. Traffic Camera Alerts are just as new and help you stay on the sunny side of the law when speed cameras and traffic light cameras are nearby, albeit at the cost of $30 a year after the first year is up. As Magellan is wont to do, the new GPS range is dictated by screen size and what features you'll get for life: the 2200- and 5200-series units carry respective 4.3- and 5-inch screens, while the LM and T badges signify lifetime map updates and traffic alerts. The range's prices start off at $100 for a RoadMate 2210 and scale up to $170 for a fully decked-out 5235T-LM. New Magellan RoadMate GPS units navigate by landmarks, steer clear of pesky traffic cameras originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 07 May 2012 21:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink |  Magellan | Email this | Comments | | Hands-on with Escort SmartRadar May 8th 2012, 01:43  Escort has long enabled heavy footed -- but ticket shy -- drivers a little more freedom with just how quickly they're able to complete the daily commute. Escort's SmartRadar is set to extend that fun and cut the cord by including Bluetooth connectivity in the detector itself and enabling users to have a mostly out of sight installation -- as your handset becomes the interface to the radar. The SmartRadar integrates with Escort's Live ticket protection app which shares other users of the system's radar / laser hits and updates them in real time on your phone's display. Check the gallery for some pics of it installed behind the rearview mirror and a simulated laser notification. Joseph Volpe contributed to this report. Hands-on with Escort SmartRadar originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 07 May 2012 21:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments | | Clarion Next Gate hands-on (video) May 8th 2012, 01:29  CTIA, while focused on mobile technology, often gives us the chance to peek at other devices that bridge into our beloved mobile world. Clarion's Next Gate is one such device, running on a 7-inch WVGA display and interfacing with your iPhone via the dock connector. Once you're hooked up -- which should be straightforward as it only needs plugging in -- the Next Gate allows control of apps on your device. First off, we like the idea that your iPhone is controlled by the Next Gate -- in fact when firing up an app in the demo you can see it cycle open on the iPhone display -- but its lower resolution display, hung adjacent to an iPad, made us immediately yearn for an upgraded display. The selection of usable apps includes such niceties as Twitter, Facebook, streaming radio, and of course navigation. All the apps we saw seemed to perform quite well, though we weren't on the open road in bright sunlight with the top down and the quadruplets screaming bloody murder in the back seat, thankfully. Have a peek at the video and gallery below for a tour of the interface and some of its functionality. Joseph Volpe contributed to this report. Continue reading Clarion Next Gate hands-on (video) Clarion Next Gate hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 07 May 2012 21:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments | | Kyocera teases bone conduction audio technology for mobile phones at CTIA May 8th 2012, 01:12  Can you hear me now? It's a common phrase in the mobile industry, but if Kyocera has its way, the saying could quickly become a thing of the past, thanks to bone conduction technology that it plans to integrate into future handsets. Rather than operating with a traditional earpiece, we were told the display itself vibrates to create sound waves. The end result is an aural experience that can be perceived with your facial tissues and bones, and it's said to dramatically improves perceived audio quality within noisy environments. Bone conduction technology was initially created for those with hearing difficulty, and while Kyocera isn't the first to reveal an implementation within mobile phones (a distinction that belongs to KDDI), the technology is Kyocera's own. During our brief hands-on demo, we were rather impressed by the noticeable difference created by tissue conduction in comparison to a traditional handset -- this applies to both quiet and noisy environments. In case you're curious, no, the vibrations aren't jarring, and yes, we'd genuinely like to see the technology take to the mainstream. Kyocera teases bone conduction audio technology for mobile phones at CTIA originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 07 May 2012 21:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments | | Hands-on with Edgewater's WiFi3 May 8th 2012, 01:10  Edgewater may not be a familiar name for even the most tech savvy, but its WiFi3 chipset is poised to propel the wireless industry beyond the limits of traditional access point tech. Aiming to leap past the low power solutions provided by the likes of Cisco, the company's developed a proprietary standard that delivers multiple channels per radio -- three channels over 2.4GHz in the showfloor demo -- versus the typical single channel currently employed. The chipset's not necessarily an end consumer product as it's intended for use by carriers, enterprise and ISPs, but it does stand to clear up the clutter when network congestion gets unwieldy. Check out our galleries below for a closer look at the outfit's next gen step in wireless infrastructure. Sean Cooper contributed to this report. Hands-on with Edgewater's WiFi3 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 07 May 2012 21:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments | | Hands-on with SuperTooth Disco2 May 8th 2012, 01:06  Move over Jambox, there's a new portable audio contender entering the market. The Disco2, shown off at this week's CTIA 2012, is SuperTooth's smaller, more compact sequel to its O.G. 28 watt powerhouse of the same name and a direct threat to the niche market occupied by Jawbone. Housed in a colorful hourglass-shaped design that should please the style-minded, this rechargeable speaker connects over Bluetooth to your device of choice, outputting 16 watts of 360 degree sound through two speakers and a subwoofer. It's set to hit the market mid-month priced at $99, but for consumers that want a bit more of an aural punch, an additional unit can actually be paired up to deliver a fuller stereo effect. Judging from its powerful performance on the noisy showroom floor, however, you'd probably be fine with just the one. Click on below to take a better look at the company's curvy offering. Sean Cooper contributed to this report. Hands-on with SuperTooth Disco2 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 07 May 2012 21:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments | | HTC Droid Incredible 4G LTE for Verizon hands-on at CTIA 2012 (update: video) May 8th 2012, 00:59  This handset didn't surprise anyone when it was officially announced at CTIA Wireless 2012, but we're still happy to spend time with the HTC Droid Incredible 4G LTE for Verizon Wireless regardless. After catching enough glimpses of the smartphone over the past few months, we already had a good idea of what to expect: Big Red's latest LTE device will have Ice Cream Sandwich dressed in Sense 4, a 4-inch Super LCD qHD panel, a 1.2GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 (Krait), 1,700mAh user-removable battery, microSD support and an 8MP BSI f/2.2 camera with a 28mm lens. If you're familiar with either the OG HTC Droid Incredible or its sequel, you'll instantly recognize the trusty hump on the back of the third iteration -- Verizon and HTC haven't strayed too far from the design formula here. Aside from the Sense 4 firmware hiding inside the phone, the Incredible 4G LTE has little in common with its cousins, the One X and One S. Frankly, we're still left pondering if the carrier will come out with a version of its own, since we've seen the other three national powers get a high-profile device from the Taiwanese manufacturer. We had a very similar feeling when holding the new Incredible, one easily related to how we felt with its predecessors. It's quite light, and it actually feels thinner than it really is. All in all, the phone is very comfortable to hold, and from our few minutes of using it, it seemed to be rather smooth. Naturally, as we expected, Verizon reps warned us that it's running on preliminary firmware at the moment, so we don't take a lot of stock in its performance, good or bad. All in all, it's exactly how we thought it would be -- a refreshed version of the Incredible 2, with a much better processor and a few other notable bumps in specs. Head below to check out a few images of Verizon's newest darling. Update: Our hands-on video is now live after the break. Myriam Joire contributed to this report. Continue reading HTC Droid Incredible 4G LTE for Verizon hands-on at CTIA 2012 (update: video) HTC Droid Incredible 4G LTE for Verizon hands-on at CTIA 2012 (update: video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 07 May 2012 20:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments | |
