“The nüvifone is an all-in-one device offering unmatched integration of utility and function in a single mobile device,” said Cliff Pemble, Garmin’s president and COO. “This is the breakthrough product that cell phone and GPS users around the world have been longing for – a single device that does it all.”

The nüvifone is an innovative mobile phone that has a wide range of advanced yet easy-to-use features. The all touchscreen device is the first of its kind to integrate premium 3.5G mobile phone capability with an internet browser, data connectivity, personal messaging, and personal navigation functions in one device. The 3.5-inch touchscreen display reveals three primary icons – “Call,” “Search,” and “View Map” which allow the user to effortlessly master the nüvifone’s functions.

The nüvifone is the ultimate multi-tasker. Calls are easily initiated by tapping the “Call” button and selecting a name from the contact list or by using the on-screen keypad. When the user is trying to juggle talking on their phone while entering their vehicle to start a trip, the nüvifone makes the transition simple. When the nüvifone is docked onto the vehicle mount, it automatically turns on the GPS, activates the navigation menu, and enables hands-free calling so that the user never misses a beat in the conversation and is able to begin routing to their destination with ease.

Customers familiar with Garmin’s industry leading nüvi® product line will feel right at home using the nüvifone’s personal navigation features. It includes preloaded maps of North America, Eastern and Western Europe, or both, and allows drivers to quickly find a specific street address, establishment’s name or search for a destination by category using the nüvifone’s built-in database with millions of points of interest. Turn-by-turn, voice-prompted directions guide the user to their destination. If they miss a turn along the route, nüvifone automatically recalculates a route and gets them back on track, speaking the names of the streets along the way.

The nüvifone is Garmin’s first device to include Google local search capability, which harnesses the vast point of interest information available from the world wide web. Nüvifone users can search for locations like “coffee shops” and Google will sort the results based on the user’s current location and relevance. Information provided by Google includes a web-based rating so that users can select the most appropriate destination and route directly to it. In addition, the nüvifone includes a web browser incorporating premium features and touchscreen operation for an optimum mobile browsing experience. The nüvifone also includes personal messaging functions, including email, text, and instant messaging.

For the ultimate in safety, the “Where am I?” feature lets users touch the screen at any time to display the exact latitude and longitude coordinates, the nearest address and intersection, and the closest hospitals, police stations and gas stations. The nüvifone also helps drivers find their car in an unfamiliar spot or crowded parking lot by automatically marking the position in which it was last removed from the vehicle mount.

In addition to navigation, the nüvifone includes access to Garmin OnlineTM, an online service offering constantly-updating information such as real-time traffic, fuel prices, stock prices, sport scores, news reports, local events and weather forecasts.

The nüvifone also includes numerous mobile entertainment applications. The built-in camera allows individuals to take a picture that will automatically be tagged with the exact latitude and longitude reference of where the image was taken. The user may then save the image so they can navigate back to the location, or email the image to a recipient who can navigate directly to the location. The nüvifone also provides direct access to millions of geo-located landmark and sightseeing photographs available through Google’s Panoramio picture sharing site. The Panoramio photo search feature enhances the enjoyment and adventure of sightseeing in an otherwise unfamiliar location. Other multimedia functions of the nüvifone include a built-in video camera, MP3 and MPEG4/AAC.

Garmin anticipates that the nüvifone will be available in the third quarter of 2008. Specific details about pricing and sales partners will be announced in the future.

The project has already captured images at street level in 17 US cities and attached them to the highly popular Google Maps online application.

It was launched in the US in May, and quickly attracted controversy after claims several images breached privacy.

Some images identified men outside strip clubs, women sunbaking in parks and even captured a woman’s g-string as she emerged from her car. Soon after, Google modified several images to remove or mask the identity of individuals.

Google Australia’s head of corporate communications Rob Shilkin said Australia’s privacy laws were tighter than those in the United States, and that no one’s privacy would be compromised.

“We’re giving very considerable thought to how best to safeguard Australian’s privacy, including consulting experts and community groups, while enabling all Australians to benefit from this new feature,” Mr Shilkin said.

“We’re focusing on finding ways to ensure that individuals’ faces are not identifiable in pictures taken in Australia and that licence plate numbers are not identifiable in Australia.”

Cameras mounted on top of “Google-labelled” cars will travel around Australian cities and towns, pausing to take a 360-degree photo, record the location of the image using GPS, and then move to the next location.

The images will be collected throughout summer and are likely to appear online in the second half of next year. (via news.com.au)

“Take your favorite restaurant, for example. Now you can find it on Google Maps and move the marker to its front door. You might just save someone’s date with this information! Fixing markers can be downright addictive. I’ve spent hours using Street View to locate businesses and houses, and then moving their markers.”

To avoid vandalism the software also records the original location marker so that users can compare the two wiki-style and correct incorrect changes. Users require a Google Account to take advantage of the new feature.

The vans represent the next stage in maps. For nearly 42 centuries, maps changed very little. They became more accurate, but they remained a two-dimensional representation of the land and water underneath us.

But cartography has come a long way in the past 40 years. And Rochester and its surrounding communities have just been recorded.

Tele Atlas, a global corporation based in The Netherlands with American headquarters in Lebanon, N.H., is in the second phase of a three-year project, mapping the United States and Canada precisely.

They have completed the mapping and photographing of all the highways in the country and are now working on doing precise measurements of the secondary roads.

“This is being put in on an ongoing basis,” says Dan Adams, vice president of operations for the Americas. “On any given day we have about 700 people who are working on updating the databases.”

The newly compiled data is released to their clients every 90 days. Tele Atlas doesn’t provide maps for the end user. Instead, they provide the information to a company like Google, which uses it in their own mapping applications — like Google Maps. And the information collected is miles ahead of anything a paper map could display. The vans collecting the data are equipped with several computers, each continuously compiling images from multiple cameras. Gyroscopes measure the slope and cant of the road. The computers know if the road is tilted and if the vehicle’s Global Positioning System fails, there are sensors on each van to measure precise distances. Vans traveling in big cities are even equipped with cameras that will allow the end user to simulate looking up at skyscrapers.

The company is working with stereo imagery and LIDAR sensors, similar to radar. But Adams says the most exciting prospect for the future will be in working with the end-users themselves, which will allow very rapid updates to maps. It will help with very accurate updates on things like closed roads and repair work.

Adams notes that the company uses algorithms to figure the most effective routes for the vans to travel, but also relies on drivers to make decisions based on what he or she deems to be an important part of the road. Everything in the van, he adds, is completely automated. All the driver needs to do is turn on the computers and drive. (via Rochester Times)

Apparently, Microsoft and DeLorme still think there is. Both companies offer extensive trip making programs updated for this year. Microsoft’s Streets & Trips 2008 comes in various versions, but the basic US$40 package includes road maps of the United States and Canada, as well as 1.6 million points of interest, like A.T.M.’s, hotels, and restaurants.

DeLorme’s US$40 Street Atlas USA 2008 includes similar mapping and planning features, and the company says it has more than four million points of interest, as well as highway maps of Mexico and the ability to transfer maps to an iPod.

To picture how these programs are supposed to be used, just recall how mom and dad used to spread out maps on the dining-room table to plot the family vacation weeks in advance. That’s who these products are aimed at: people who enjoy planning ahead and then printing out maps of their route.

To compete with satellite navigation systems, both products can be decked out with an optional Global Positioning System antenna to deliver live, spoken, turn-by-turn directions, albeit from a laptop computer in the front passenger seat.

Nevertheless, neither can compete against the portable navigation devices available from Garmin, TomTom and Magellan. It’s just much easier to spot an approaching turn on a small screen perched on the dash than it is to glance at a computer on the seat — or at a map in your lap, for that matter. (via The New York Times)

Mountain View-based Google Inc.’s mapping service will be integrated into Gilbarco’s Applause media system, which has been incorporated in its Encore pumps with color screens and Internet connections.

“Getting directions at the pump is safer than using Internet-enabled devices from the driver’s seat and far more reliable than just asking a stranger,” Kirsten Paust, VP of global retail systems at Gilbarco, said in a statement.

Participating stations will provide a color screen where users can go online to search for directions and landmarks. A hard copy will be available off the receipt printer.

Gilbarco plans to roll out early next month, initially at about 3,500 gas pumps. (via East Bay Business Times)

Provides directions, interactive maps, and satellite/aerial imagery of the United States. Can also search by keyword such as type of business.

Yahoo Maps

Find businesses and services with Yahoo! Local. Information on local services and businesses including user reviews, maps and driving directions.

Whereis

The Whereis OnLine Site is a destination directory of Australia’s major cities based on UBD digital maps. Users can search for a map showing almost any metropolitan address Australia wide or find turn by turn walking or driving directions between two specified addresses.

MapQuest

Find places. Get maps, driving directions, and gas prices. View satellite maps and aerial photos. Display an address on a map, view nearby restaurants, business directory listings and explore street maps and cities.