GPS

Can the automotive industry rescue Google Maps?

Google isn't saying much about how it's going to rescue its mapping product from the expected upset of losing the Apple deal. We're going to learn exactly what it's doing tomorrow at a press event that I'll be live-blogging. (Join us Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. PT.)

All Google has said so far is:

Brian McClendon, VP of GoogleMaps and Google Earth, will give you a behind-the-scenes look at GoogleMaps and share our vision. We'll also demo some of the newest technology and provide a sneak peek at upcoming features that will help … Read more

Cool or creepy? Alohar tracks your location, always

In 2006, Sam Liang of Google started to work on the company's geolocation project. It was his team, he says, that created the back-end technology that enabled the creation of the blue dot on Google's mobile maps: the one that tells you where you are.

Now, six years later and at his own company, Alohar Mobile, he's working on a new blue dot: one that's both more precise and that uses far less battery life.

What he's trying to do is create an "ambient" location tracking technology. (Mark that word: ambient. It's … Read more

Remove your location data from photos with PhotoInfoEraser

When you upload photos to Facebook, Twitter, or elsewhere on the Internet, you may be sharing more information than you know. Your photos can have hidden data in them, like exact location data. If it's a well-known public location, like Disneyland, you might not mind sharing that, but what if it's your home, or where your kids go to school?

The easiest way to avoid sharing location data on your photos is by turning off geotagging in your Android camera's settings. But maybe you've already taken photos that have location data on them. Or maybe you … Read more

Five OEM navigation systems that are worth your bucks

While just about any navigation system on the market will get you where you're going, not all of them are created equally. This is especially true in the world of OEM in-car navigation systems where screen size, interface design, feature sets, and (most importantly) price vary wildly from manufacturer to manufacturer. Some automakers offer cutting-edge GPS navigators with innovative features that you'll wonder how you ever got along without. Others will make you wish you'd skipped the pricey navigation package and just packed a smartphone.

We've taken a look back on the most recent OEM navigation systems to have graced the Car Tech garage and picked out a few manufacturers, in no particular order, that consistently knock it out of the park when it comes offering the best in-dash technology for getting from where you are to wherever you want to be. … Read more

Roadside Assistance: An iPod receiver and in-dash navigation

Greetings Car Tech fans and welcome back to CNET Roadside Assistance. Listeners of the podcast formerly known as Car Tech Live will no doubt remember that we used to devote an entire segment to answering user e-mails. Well, we're back, only in a less auditory format. So if you've got a car tech question you'd like to have answered, and you may find the answer to your query right here on the Car Tech Blog.

And now, let's get to the questions. "Twoheadedboy8" asks:

I am looking for a car stereo that focuses its … Read more

Franken turns up heat on Holder, wants info on cell phone tracking

Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) wants the Justice Department to hand over any information it might have about law enforcement agencies getting their hands on location data from cell phone companies.

Earlier in the year, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a case, United States v. Jones, that law enforcement agencies needed to first obtain warrants before using GPS devices to track people. In that case, the justices said law enforcement could not install tracking devices without a warrant, because that fell into the definition of a "search."

But in a letter yesterday to Attorney General Eric Holder (… Read more

Get a universal smartphone dashboard mount for $12.95

Recently I asked if it still made sense to buy a GPS, what with smartphones more than capable of navigating folks from point A to point B.

Many readers commented that, yep, their phone gets the job done. Of course, there's one small challenge to using it for this purpose: smartphones don't come with car mounts. You need a way to position it at eye level so you can see your maps.

There are countless universal-mount options out there, many of which use suction cups to adhere to your windshield and gooseneck arms to hold the phone. Not … Read more

MotionX GPS Drive for iPhone

In the face of a few solid free navigation apps for the iPhone, such as Bing or MapQuest, MotionX GPS Drive would seem to have trouble justifying its price, even at only 99 cents. But it has proven a popular enough navigation app that Pioneer integrated it with the AppRadio head unit.

Two features of MotionX GPS Drive give it an edge over the free apps, its destination search capabilities and the ability to preload maps. MotionX GPS Drive is a connected navigation app, meaning it relies on an iPhone's data connection to get its maps. However, it is … Read more

U.K. government funds elder-friendly navigation research

We're all aware of that corner of the market filled with products targeted at elderly users: mobile phones with limited functionality designed not to confuse, remote controls with huge buttons that are easy to read, and landline phones like the FotoDialer. Could the next product in this niche be a GPS navigation system for your grandma? A £12 million grant from the U.K. government is pushing in that direction.

Newcastle University Prof. Phil Blythe, who is heading up the team researching the project, cites waning eyesight, nervousness, and decreased confidence as issues for older drivers. The navigation … Read more