adNav Boomerang, the ad-based GPS "conceirge"

With your average non-connected GPS unit costing hundreds, we can easily get behind the idea of an ad-subsidized navigation hardware company that hooks its users up with heavily discounted (and possibly eventually free) GPS devices own or borrow (like, say, from a rental car agency). And that seems to be the angle adNav is after with their new supposedly forthcoming Boomerang GPS device, intended to be a cheap alternative to the other guys, even incorporating some less frequently used features in the GPS world, like WiFi and cellular data to browse the web or collect data (read: ads), and other connected travel utilities (translation, weather, flight tracking, etc.). Will adNav actually begin trials in San Francisco next month, as claimed? We'll let you know.

Source: www.engadget.com

Videos from PC to TV with a simple drag and drop

Well, it takes just a tad more than that. But thanks to SanDisk’s TakeTV, video fans can now download their favorite DivX, Xvid, and MPEG4 videos from the web and watch them on TV simply by dragging them onto a USB drive and then plugging the drive into the PC via this special gadget. There’s no encoding, no authoring or burning to DVD, no networking. Just a simple drag and drop. The TakeTV does this thanks to the video-out docking station, which translates the PC video format into a signal the TV can read. The TakeTV docking station accepts the USB drive an, like a palm sized DVD player, sends the TV signal via the composite, S-video, stereo audio outputs. The Take TV couldn’t be simpler.

Source: www.coolest-gadgets.com

SanDisk's Sansa View gets unboxed

Barely a month after getting reintroduced, the 16GB SanDisk Sansa View has been acquired, unboxed and lovingly photographed for your viewing pleasure. No real surprises here (well, aside from the Best Buy logos scattered about), but inside you'll apparently find a stash of paperwork, the player itself, a USB cable, earbuds and an Installation CD. For a closer look at what's waiting within, be sure and hit the read link.
[Thanks, Randall B.]

www.engadget.com

NASA's third Space Elevator challenge falls short

The third time 'round hasn't brought any luck to the space elevator crowd. The NASA-sponsored challenge is in its third year of running, and while technology is improving at a rapid rate, it's still not quite ready to meet the Space Elevator challenge's demands. Speed requirements have been boosted to 2 meters per second, and this year's contest seems have gone off without the geeky rule disputes of last year. The University of Saskatchewan came closest to claiming the prize with its ground laser-powered bot, and only fell a few seconds short of the required speed. Hopefully next year will see a winner, and we'll all get our shot at being fried by ionizing radiation before the century is up.

Source: www.engadget.com

CTT-Net intros TouchSense-enabled navigation systems

It's been a while since we last heard about Immersion's TouchSense technology for LCDs, but it looks like the tactile feedback technology has now managed to squeeze itself into one of its biggest potential markets, with CTT-Net now introducing a pair of TouchSense-enabled GPS units. Aimed squarely at the Korean market, the CSN-7040 and CIN-7000 models each boasts 7-inch touch screens, and support for DMB mobile TV, along with the usual array of GPS and PMP features. But, of course, the real selling point is that tactile feedback, which Immersion says will "minimize driver distraction" by reducing the time spent glancing over at the unit. No word on pricing or availability just yet, it seems, or any word of the technology making into GPS units outside of Korea, though we're guessing Immersion is far from giving up on that last point.

Source: www.engadget.com