But you may also be considering a navigational service delivered to your cell phone. One such service is TeleNav’s GPS Navigator, available now to Alltel Wireless customers using selected handsets.
Alltel announced rollout of the service earlier this month. Here’s how it works: if you own one of the supported phones (for now, BlackBerry 8703e or Samsung u520), you can subscribe to the service (unlimited use) for $9.99 per month. One-day use subscriptions also are available for $2.99 on the Samsung phone. You’ll also need an Alltel Wireless data plan (optionally, you can choose to use voice minutes).
Once service is activated, the TeleNav GPS Navigator application can be downloaded directly to your phone.
TeleNav’s GPS Navigator includes the following features:
Voice and on-screen turn-by-turn directions
Biz Finder (find businesses, services, WiFi hotspots, and more)
Fuel Finder (locate lowest gas price in five-mile or wider radius)
Full-color moving maps (pan and zoom)
Easy destination entry (preplan trips online, type destinations into phone using keypad, dictate destination using voice recognition system)
Automatic map updates
Spot marker (e.g. find your car wherever you park it)
My Favorites (save multiple addresses for later access)
TeleNav’s director of business development, Hassan Wahla, exuded the expected enthusiasm in his statement about expanded coverage of the service to include Alltel customers: “With Alltel’s expansive wireless network and reputation of embracing advanced technologies, Alltel’s customers have come to expect the very best from their wireless service.”
Just another thing to consider this holiday season.
]]>At least one report traces the rumor back to a Sydney Morning Herald article published today, in which reporter Asher Moses quoted CIBC World Markets analyst Ittai Kidron as having written last week that iPhone will be commercially launched late in the first quarter of 2007, or early in the second.
The Sydney Morning Herald report also noted that Wall Street analysts acknowledge even speculation about a delayed launch is affecting Apple’s share price.
Of course, all of this is predicated on the idea that Apple is, indeed, planning to introduce a cell phone/iPod combo next year. In fact, as Jupiter Research analyst Michael Gartenberg pointed out in the Herald report, Apple has never verified that there actually is an iPhone in the works.
"Is it possible to call a product that hasn't been acknowledged, much less shipped, delayed?” Gartenberg asks.
Good question.
Expectations have reached a fever pitch as MacWorld, Apple’s yearly venue for major product announcements, draws near. With Apple and its CEO Steve Jobs as tight-lipped as ever, all anyone can do is gossip about what might be the next big thing.
Phone rumors were fanned into flames anew recently when apparently “definitive” information surfaced that manufacturer Foxconn Electronics had received an order from Apple for 12 million iPhones.
And, that was on top of the fact that on August 7, Apple filed a U.S. patent for a phone/music player combo. Why, it’s enough to lead anyone to an inescapable conclusion: the iPhone must be just around the corner.
But, now, it seems more likely (at least, if you believe the Herald) that in January Steve Jobs will instead unveil a home theater content steaming device (iTV, anyone?) that was demoed at a press conference in September but has not yet been commercially launched.
Okay, everyone, hold your horses. January will be here soon enough.
]]>What is Trackstick Pro? The manufacturer (Telespial Systems) describes it as “an advanced GPS data logger capable of continuously recording its own location histories for extended periods of time.” It can log months of travel histories, with user-configurable recording intervals. The oldest location histories are erased first when the 4MB of memory fills up—or data can be moved to a computer using a USB cable.
The device is primarily marketed to government agencies to help them manage vehicles and other assets. It comes with a cigarette lighter plug for charging, and also can be hard-wired to any vehicle.
Trackstick Pro uses Google Earth mapping to provide “an effective solution for tracking moving assets including police, parking enforcement, busses, street cleaning, utility and other city or federal vehicles.”
Just what data, exactly, does Trackstick Pro record? Answer: date, time, location, speed, direction, altitude, signal strength, and temperature.
TrackstickPro.com said its device “is a low cost solution that will document and validate the location of anything that moves.”
Ah, I can hear those concerned about privacy saying it now: “How long until people are outfitted with Tracksticks so the government can keep tabs on their whereabouts?” Perhaps not a silly question, since on its Web site Telespial suggests that Trackstick Pro can be used to find out where you kids have been, verify employee driving routes, or check up on the driving habits of family members.
Yeech, scary stuff. I would rather see Trackstick Pro be adapted for use in house-arrest situations or attached to a wandering pet.
Trackstick is available only through authorized resellers. See www.trackstick.com for details.
Have you spotted similar tracking products that seem cool or give you the creeps? Let me know.
]]>Recently I was meandering down the hardware aisle in a supermarket, and noticed that they were selling portable chargers for cell phones designed to give you a little bit more juice without having to plug the phone in.
Well, to me that proved that grocery stores now truly are “supermarkets.” I mean, if I can buy cell phone accessories there, the sky’s the limit.
And speaking of portable chargers, Motorola Canada today announced the availability of its version of the product.
MarketNews.ca described the $59.99 product as a device “that provides back-up power to its cell phones while on the go.” It connects using a mini USB plug, and once charged up (yeah, you do have to charge the charger) provides “from one to two full battery charges to a handset. It can also power a compatible Bluetooth headset up to a total of 10 charges.”
It seems like a sign of the times that such products are available. And, until cell phone batteries are enhanced with much greater charge lives (maybe with methanol cartridge fuel cells?), a portable charger seems a handy thing to carry around.
Seen any other cool, new cell phone accessories out there? Let me know.
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