Pioneer have announced that they can kick it with the big boys when it comes to satnav, thanks to their new AVIC-F500BT. It’s an in-dash unit – complete with all the power options and amplifier that comes with in-dash satnavs – that can be popped out and used as a portable unit whenever you wish.
So, ultimately, it’s the holy grail of satnavs. When it’s in your car’s dash, you can use it not only as a satnav, but as a control system for your iPod, MP3 player, Bluetooth handsfree kit and, with the right connections, even as a screen for an installed reverse camera.
When you pop it out, you get to take the latest version of Where is mapping on the 5.8-inch screen anywhere you wish, including other vehicles. The text-to-speech navigation is also available in portable mode.
The entire setup can be installed in practically any car, and will be launching in Australia at the end of Autumn. There’s no word on pricing just yet, but don’t expect it to be sub $1,000.
newVideoPlayer("KITT3.flv", 463, 387,"");The new KITT’s dashboard has been officially revealed, confirming the previously leaked image (in high resolution after the jump, along with a gratuitous—but necessary—photo of the new car and the Hoff at the Playboy Mansion) and Knight Rider’s producer David Bartis’ words about the interior design’s similarities with the iPhone:
The Google Gadgets Dashboard integration we told you about yesterday is here, but the bad news is that you’ll need to install Google Desktop to use it. With Spotlight, (pretty great) Widgets, and other applications already native to OS X, is there really a need for Google Desktop just to use Google Gadgets? If you just want that functionality, you can actually get it separately as well. But if you swear by Google as a platform, check out the video to see what you’re getting. [Google]
Google Gadgets, the widget-like plug-ins for your Google start page, is getting a huge port onto the Apple Dashboard platform starting tomorrow. G-Gadgets are nice, and actually have been port-able onto the Dashboard using another widget for a while now, but official support is always welcome. Google slobberers will definitely be happy, but Apple slobberers will probably just throw up a collective “meh.” [MacWorld]
Fast lane daily has a video of the Nissan GT-R, with rare footage of that amazing instrument cluster designed by Gran Turismo game designers. Fast forward past the talking head to witness footage of the boost gauge, lateral and longitudinal G-forces (over time!), among many other stats, at your fingertips. Might have been better to build this stuff into HUD, as you don’t want to be staring at the digital cluster pack for longer than you need to in a 3-second car. [Fast Lane Daily]
newVideoPlayer("widevision_gawker.flv", 475, 376);
The Nippon Seiki Co.’s Wide Vision is a GT-Rish LCD car dashboard kit that not only shows and logs the usual information on speed, rpm and mechanical conditions, but combines it with a nightvision view of the road, rear view camera and some wicked animations to make you feel you are actually flying a Viper Mark VII instead of driving your Honda Civic. The video speaks for itself and to me it says: pew-pew-pew! Make sure to watch until the end to see the amazingly simple customisation feature, as well as the Racing Mode. [Gizmodo Japan]
Allegedly, this is one of the images of the new ultra-thin iMac keyboards that have been spotted in a Hong Kong forum tonight. Unfortunately the rest of the images have been pulled, so until they surface again somewhere, we have done some Jack-Bauer-esque Photoshop enhancement and discovered a hint that may definitely prove that this is the mythical keyboard indeed. You’ll be the judge. [Update: We were right. It's a Dashboard icon next to an Exposé icon. Full picture after the jump]
