TomTom to integrate with Vehicles electronics

Came across and interesting development today...TomTom are working with Johnson electronics. Johnson do a wide range of in car systems from opening you garage door automatically to Electronic energy management.

Not quite sure of how these 2 will work with each other, but it is an interesting development...if anybody has any ideas on this, please let me know.

Nokia N95

Nokia are going to launch a new phone in Q1 2007. This phone is packed with packed full of nice features like a 5 mega pixel camera. But most interestingly for me, it has GPS and mapping built in. I cannot confirm what type of mapping, but I am guessing it is the Gate5 stuff that Nokia purchased last month.

There are more and more phone operators with GPS built in to their units... this is going to be a very active space in 2007.

Sydney Buses use Satellite Tracking

All 4000 buses are going to be tracked via GPS, and project worth AUD$135 and will take 3 years to complete. What is interesting is that they are linking it up to the people who control the traffic light, and if buses are stuck in traffic, they can "green light" the buses...clever use of vehicle tracking and other systems...

More info can be found here

Gaurdian Test PNDs

Guardian did a nice test of 5 PNDs - 2 TomTom's, 2 Navmans and a CarTrek. TomTom won easily, and even though it is a good article for people not familiar with these devices, I can never understand why these reviewers never include a Garmin...not comparing like with like...

Here is the article

The HTC P3300

This is one of the first PDAs with a built in GPS unit I have seen being launched. It comes with TomTom Nav 6 auto installed and:

• Microsoft® Windows Mobile® 5.0 PDA Phone with instant access to your emails.
• Standalone GPS and TomTom NAVIGATOR 6 software.
• Full range of connectivity with GSM/GPRS, Bluetooth® 2.0 and Wi-Fi®.
• FM Radio for the latest news and entertainment on the go.
• HTC RollR™ (Trackball/Trackwheel) for easy viewing and navigation

Looks really good and will be launched by Q4 2006. There will be lots of these types of products coming on the market in the next few months.

GPS Tracking for Pets

I think this is kinda cute, and probably very popular...tracking for pets. It can track up to one mile and has Geo Fencing. Which is a great idea, so if your pet leaves the house or garden...you get an alert. I cannot find any pricing for this.

Here is the website for RomEO