Tom Tom for iPhone

Tom Tom has announced its new car kit for iPhone, which lets you use your iPhone as your GPS device rather than having two pieces of equipment in your car.

The Tom Tom kit is separate from the app and is a physical device which holds your iPhone and enables it to function much as the traditional GPS device does. The mount includes  a built-in speaker, an audio output jack and a microphone for use with the iPhone as a Bluetooth speakerphone.

The kits will run about $120 and will be available in October.

Found via Wired

Zoombak helps you keep track of what’s important

Zoombak is a personal GPS locator device that can be used to keep track of children, cars, bikes, luggage or even dogs.

You can use your cell phone or the Internet to access the location of your device anytime and even set up zones to be alerted when the object or person leaves a pre-set area. A popular use of the Zoombak is to track teen drivers (including speed information) or business vehicles.

The devices are now available at Best Buy and retail for $99.99.

Driving Along in an Automobile

Cars today are well equipped. Many come with rearview cameras, other help you parallel park, and even more come with DVD players installed. But lets be honest, cars are not as safe as we’d all like them to be in this day and age.

That’s where the AWS 4000 collision warning system comes in. With a camera that faces the front of your vehicle the warning system will alert you about probable accident situations, your distance from the car in front of you, and can even recognize certain situations where you’ve drifted over road lines.

The AWS is expensive, and requires professional installation. Perhaps a smaller model would be more popular, but how do you price safety?

A Game of Direction

GPS isn’t just for those 16 and up anymore, it’s been awhile since GPS was only used for driving directions.

Now there’s a GPS specifically designed for the young (and the young at heart I guess too).  Geomate Jr. is a GPS at its most basic, it gives directions on where to go.  It’s not about getting kids to school or to a friend’s house it’s a game in and of itself.  The Geomate Jr. is like a tech hand held treasure hunt.

The GPS comes uploaded with the location of thousands of caches (or locations with small trinkets of log books) for you to find.  Take a treat, sign a logbook, it’s all in good fun, and you don’t have to download your own information.  I suggest keeping a close eye on kids, wandering off along with the Geomate it probably not the best idea, I don’t think there are backtracking directions.

Gaming’s New Directions

So GPS is already travel friendly, but it’s always nice when you don’t have to invest in a completely new handheld.

The iphone and most other cell phones now come with GPS capabilities but what about gadget options?  Well now, Gameboy DS can work just as well as a GPS navigator as any phone.  Ranger will be the first navigation system suitable for Gameboy handhelds.

The Ranger is a plug in (rather than an application or game) for the DS and has 32 MB of extra storage.  It comes with both visual and audio guidance and detailed information about local sites and locations.

If the Ranger had come out a few years earlier it probably would have been a bit more popular than it will be now.  With cell phones, Garmin, and the ipod touch kids aren’t the only ones carrying around fun gadgets anymore.

Gas Saving GPS

Garmin’s new ecoRoute software update for its nuvi GPS was announced at the recent Consumer Electronics Show.

The free update helps drivers conserve money and gas by showing the most fuel-efficient route.  In  addition to “faster time” and “shorter distance” route preferences, drivers can now select “less fuel.”

The software also has a Fuel Report feature that tracks fuel usage over time and a Mileage Report that monitors mileage and fuel usage on a per-trip basis.  The program allows you to customize for your vehicle type, fuel economy and the current price of gas.

Yes, the price of gas has gone down significantly in recent months but it is probably only a matter of time before it bounces right back up. This program makes sense if you are interested in saving green or saving fuel or both!

Advertisement to Go

Billboards are so last week, lets bring television commercial style to the stagnant style of city advertising.  That’s just the idea behind a new evolution in New York City Busing.

The buses won’t only come equipped with the equivalent of a side style television screen but a GPS system as well, ads will then specify themselves depending on the neighborhood and time of day.

It’s quite an idea in the advertising world, and I won’t say it’s not going to work, it probably will.  What I do have to say is it’s getting creepy how far into my head advertising is beginning to penetrate.