Roundabound

And to just tickle your funny bones some more, the good people at TomTom have also released a funny behind the scenes video of old Darth doing his recording session, and its brilliant.

If you weren’t already clear on the significance of today’s release then, we are pretty sure that the new voice packs aren’t aimed at you, but for all Star Wars fans out there the pun on May the 4th is just too good to miss.

TomTom will be releasing a series of Star Wars Voice packs over the coming months with a C-3PO and Yoda pack coming in June and Han Solo pack following in August. We at the Gadget Helpline have heard the Yoda track and… well once the initial humour has worn off its pretty annoying but we still love it.

The Darth Vadar pack is littered with all of the quirks you would expect from the Dark lord, from his signature heavy breathing to the navigational prompts being inspired by lines from the film  such as; “Bear left, to the Dark Side…”

As well as Darth Vader’s voice, the TomTom download includes music and sound-effects from the films including the whoosh of light sabres, the sound of TIE fighters and John Williams’ Imperial March. That should lift your spirits when you’re stuck in a tailback on the M1.

Check out the Video below, and if it tickles your funny bones then you can purchase the TomTom Darth Vadar pack from TomTom Home or Online for £7.99.

May the 4th be with you.

The TomTom Go 1000 is the latest handset from the GPS giant but is the company’s first GPS unit to use a capacitive touchscreen, which enables it to support multitouch and is much more responsive, plus the unit comes with an improved display resolution and contrast ratios.

Other features of the TomTom 1000 in include an ARM 11 500Mhz processor, 128MB RAM, 4GB of storage, Broadcom GPS, and a 3-hour battery. It’s worth noting that the updated design makes the TomTom unit more iPhone-esque in design.

Extra features include the volume automatically adjusting depending on the ambient noise, so the change between a quiet village drive to a noisy drive down the motorway will increase the unit’s volume automatically.  Other features include a webkit platform for the new user interface and the ability to add more features above and beyond the ones which come pre loaded and users will be able to download additional applications and features via either wired or OTA connectivity.

The Go 1000 is TomTom's the latest flagship satnav

As an added bonus for users purchasing the new flagship handset, TomTom are also offering 12 months of free TomTom Live services which includes HD Traffic, with a discount on the renewal every subsequent year.

We have been advised that more features will be announced so there seems to be a lot of bang for the TomTom 1000’s buck.

The TomTom 1000 is expected to be released this summer but we currently have no current pricing information.

The Mio Navman 470, 475 and 575 are all IQ route based satellite navigation systems which means that routes will be adapted to suit the time of day, thus cutting out lengthy traffic Jams around home time for example by taking into consideration areas around schools and other busy areas.

All three units also benefit from the inclusion of a new LearnMe feature which will adapt its routes to fit your driving style whether you prefer country drives or to race up and down the motorway, the LearnMe will adapt and automatically update your routes and on top of this there will be 3D junction views, spoken street names and speed camera data.

The Mio Navman 575

The Mio Navman 575 will sport a 4.7-inch touch screen and a slightly more slender design than its partners, the 470 and 475, both of which have a slightly smaller 4.3-inch screen.

The only difference between the Mio 470 and 475 is the real-time traffic information support which is only available on the 475 and the larger 575.

The Mio Navman 475 and 470

An unusual and interesting aspect is that Mio will also be offering users the ability to “rent” maps for a short period of time, so those thinking of taking a weekend drive to Paris for example will be able to download the relevant maps at a cheaper rate for a specific timescale. Nice.

We at the Gadget Helpline have been big fans of the Mio units for some time as they offer a seamless operation system at a discounted cost, the new units are a further update for an improving brand.

All three models will be available in May with prices to be confirmed but check out the Mio Navman website to see more features on the 470, 475 and 575.

The Motonav TN500 and TN700 are pretty much the same unit but the big difference between the two is screen size, the TN500 sports a 4.3 inch screen whereas the TN700 has a much larger 5.1 inches of screen to its name.

The Motonavs host a wave of accessible features when using Bluetooth to connect to a handset, once connected to the TN500 and TN700 mobile phones can to connect to the network and download updates of traffic, petrol prices, weather forecasts and safety camera alerts.

The Motonav TN700 has a 5.1" screen

Also the user will have access to the MotoExtras service which will allow further features (at a subscription but the original purchase will come with a free 3 months trial).

On top of this, other features include 3D landmarks, lane assistance, text-to-speech, voice destination entry, local search, and multiview display.

Check out the full video above for more information on the Motonav GPS units. Both the TN500 and TN700 should be available in the first quarter of 2010 with the TN700 costing “Under £300” upon release.

See the video below for a view of some of the features.

The Powermats have been available since September in the US but over here in Europe we are having to slum it up and settle for a wired charge. So at the MWC event in Barcelona it was good to see the latest innovation in charging and also see the future Powermat products.

The Powermat itself is  an ingenious and very useful gadget, it lets users charge 3 devices  simultaneously, from a single power source, completely wirelessly by simply connecting an adapter and placing your device on the mat. The device will automatically start to charge and will continue to charge until t is removed from the mat or until the built-in termination feature stops the charging automatically after it reaches the fully-charged mode.

The Powermat currently supports a wide range of products including; iPod, iPhone, BlackBerry, laptop or Netbook and even a Nintendo DSi.

Powermat

But at the MWC event it was the new Redesigned version of the Powermat on display, featuring an expansion of the Powermat itself into one, two and three position mats, slimmer design and a minimalistic style.

Powermat have also released information on a new portable range of Powermatts which will be able to store multiple charges. These will come in both two and three position versions, the latter of which has a single enhanced position capable of charging a portable laptop or Netbook and on top of this the portable mats will come with multiple adaptors covering most of the major laptop brands.

Powermat portable

Neither are Powermat neglecting the GPS market, They have announced that a wireless car charger for TomTom units is also on its way. The TomTom version will be similar to the travel mat in the sense that it will have a built in battery that can dispense a limited number of charges.

Powermat were  on an all out mission to impress by also showcasing some other uses for the Powermat wireless contact based charging for example by implementing the technology directly into a few household gadgets and placing them directly on the Powermat to showcase what the future may be for them. There was also talk of plans to move directly into the mobile handset market by creating product specific batteries which have a contact-based charging technology built into them, thus eliminating the need for the wireless connectors.

The standard Powermat and new Travel Powermats will be available in the UK before the third Quarter so check back for any updates in the coming months for release dates and pricing info.

The future looks very good for Powermat and with some of the things showcased at their stand, the future also looks wireless sleek and most importantly, Cool.

The Ovi maps software will be getting a update then with immediate effect ten recent Symbian handsets will be able to download the new version of completely free.

The newer version offers navigation for driving and walking (using Navteq map data that includes pedestrian-only paths and alleyways) as well as 3D maps for over 70 countries worldwide as well as additional map services from Lonely Planet, Michelin, Facebook, Time Out and wcities.

The first ten devices are:

• Nokia E72
• Nokia E55
• Nokia E52
• Nokia N97 mini
• Nokia X6
• Nokia 6730 classic
• Nokia 6710 Navigator
• Nokia 5800 XpressMusic
• Nokia 5800 Navigation Edition
• Nokia 5230

And all future handsets will be pre loaded with the map data for UK & Europe, allowing a full navigation experience without having to access maps over-the-air.

For more information of how to dowlaod click HERE.

A manufacturer named RCA aims to combat this problem with their new product Airnergy- a wireless charging device that utilises Wi-Fi signals to refill batteries.

Airnergy resembles a 3g dongle and can be attached to any device that boasts a mini-usb charging port (sorry iPhone users) and additional power is sourced from surrounding Wi-Fi signals then routed to your battery.

Obviously the rate of charge relies heavily on the strength of Wi-Fi signal, however the RCA have suggested that Airnergy may be able to feed off of ambient electromagnetic signals emanating from cordless phones and other mobile devices, thus allowing for unlimited ‘free energy’.

Either way, with the device priced at $40 (£25) this product should be carefully considered as a superior alternative to Powermat and a worthy rival to other CES 2010 exhibitors of this nature Powerbeam and WiTricity. RCA have also indicated that they are attempting to incorporate the technology into device batteries themselves; an exciting prospect from every angle.

This new variation of the Google Map software is called “Google Maps Navigation” and it comes with a whole bunch of cool features. But there is one important thing to note, it is an Internet based product. On the plus side this means that you don’t need to download huge maps and store them permanently on your phone, however it also means that you need to be connected to the Internet to use it. If your tariff doesn’t include unlimited data then this could be a problem. On top of this, you need to have access to a 3G network. Of course 3G coverage is good and is expanding all the time but if you find yourself in some more remote area your phone will switch to a slower system which could be a bit painful.

There is another gotcha, but I will leave that to the end but I will try and soften the blow by listing some of the great features of Google Maps Navigation (other than the fact it is free):

• Like Google Earth and Google Maps you can do fuzzy searching for locations, you don’t need to enter an exact address or postcode but you can search for things by name like “Wembley Stadium”.
• It has voice recognition! You just speak destination and it works out where you want to go. The example Google gives is “Navigate to the de Young Museum in San Francisco”.
• Google Maps Navigation downloads current traffic information and an on-screen indicator glows green, yellow, or red based on the current traffic conditions along your route.
• It also has “search along route” which makes it easy to find the next petrol station or fast food restaurant on your way.
• As well as a map view, you can also see where you are going using satellite imagery like in Google Earth.
• In top of satellite imagery there is also photos of your route and turnings using Google’s Street View
• There is also a car dock mode that makes it easy to use your phone at arm’s length (while in its dock on your dashboard or window-screen).

Now here is the next gotcha, Google Map Navigation is only available for phones running the next version of Google’s mobile phone operating system Android 2.0. Although technically the iPhone would be able to run this software, my guess is that Google will keep it for themselves, at least for the time being, as it is a killer app and it is free!

Google Maps Navigation is currently in Beta and is only available in the United States but it expected it will be available in the UK either as part of the Beta or when the full product is released.

TomTom have released information on the latest  line of  their Satellite navigation systems the TomTom Start. The Start is a simplified version of the TomTom system designed to be affordable and easy to just pickup and use for new and casual SatNav users.

The new entry level unit boasts a simpler menu system and a super quick start-up where you simply plug in and touch the screen to start navigating. Other features include the ability to download a different start-up screen in the colour and design of your choice, interchangeable covers (which retail at a pricey £14.99 each!) or StartSkins as Tomtom are branding them and a new lightweight (128g) design with a 3.5” screen and semi-fixed EasyPort™ mount. All in all it’s more of a stylish mini offering than a full on satellite navigation beast that we are used to from TomTom.

The Start does still support the IQ routes function that calculates the fastest route possible, based on average speed and time of journey and the map share feature so that any map corrections that are noticed by the TomTom masses will be corrected, as well as the all important speed camera locations.

The Start is currently set for release on the 06/11/2009 and will be retailing at £119.99 for the UK maps version and £139.99 for one of the European maps versions, the Start is still not as cheap as many would have wished for (we at the gadget helpline were thinking under £100), but it is the cheapest TomTom available and with 6 available colours and Christmas looming it is sure to be a nice addition to may cars across Europe.

With the price of Satnavs coming down and the number on the market rocketing, it can be a tough call when shopping for one to know which would be best. There are a number of features which can be expected and some more fancy features for which a premium may be paid.
Some extra features to look out for when looking for a new Satnav unit may include the following:

• Traffic information service, either RDS or Cellular.
• Lane guide for motorway driving.
• Bluetooth Sync for mobile phones, this makes the unit double up as a handsfree kit.
• Extensive street-level mapping.
• Expandable memory using memory cards.
• Quality support and data maintainence in the form of updates.
• Safety camera and road speed information.

Also many mobile phones nowadays possess the capability of running GPS navigation software, and feature benefits including Assisted GPS which helps the device lock to satellites more quickly. If you have a ‘Smart’ phone with a GPS reciever or can get a GPS device to suit the phone, you can save a packet and come away with adequate assistance having spent far less in just purchasing the relevant software.