Sony just announced the Dash (or as they call it, the “dash”) is a crazy convergence of what we think of as a tablet with a stand-up widget device like the Chumby. It looks badass.
DASH, a UC Berkeley-designed, cockroach-inspired robot, manages to take what makes cockroaches so resilient and even retain the cockroach’s singularly creepy movement. This thing is near-indestructible.
A RIM spokesperson has confirmed that RIM has acquired Dash Navigation—the maker of GPS Dash Express—sparking rumours that BlackBerrys may get even better connected GPS functions in the near future. [BoyGeniusReport]
newVideoPlayer("/TELESHOT.flv", 494, 298,""); Just as Dash—makers of the internet-connected, traffic-terminating GPS—is bailing out of the hardware game to sell its awesome software to other companies, TeleNav is officially doing the exact opposite: Jumping in with its first GPS device, which sounds a lot like the Dash Express (on paper, anyway). The internet-connected Telenav Shotgun delivers real-time traffic reports with intelligent re-routing, dynamic maps, automatic updates, web search, cheap gas locator and online pre-planning, which lets you plan your route on PC and shoot it over to the Shotgun automagically. galleryPost('shotgunpeek', 3, '');
We’ve always been fans of the Dash Express, with its real-time web-delivered traffic monitoring and its constantly evolving app platform. Somewhat sad news today is that Dash Navigation will be pulling out of the consumer hardware business entirely and cutting 50 jobs (two-thirds of its work force)–enabling them to move toward licensing their innovative software platform to other GPS nav makers, as well as to mobile phones and MID platforms in the future. But in a lot of ways, the move makes perfect sense.
Call up “DIR-ECT-IONS” (clever) on your way to the car and tell the friendly robot who answers where you want to go, and you can have a route beamed to your Dash GPS over the web instantly. Dial Directions already works with a few other online and mobile services, but this Dash integration is a pretty great trick. Just pair your mobile number with your Dash to get started, and start entering routes without having to stoop over and tap in your directions. [Dial Directions - Thanks, Dave!]
